49 Consolidation of Power(1)

The group arrived at a clean-looking building. Kai took note that compared to the rest of the buildings in this town, this one was well maintained.

They walked into the reception area to find that it was relatively empty. Kai walked up to the friendly-looking male receptionist and asked about the prices. It was indeed pricey with each private room costing 10 copper per night, while the shared rooms cost 5 copper per bed.

Kai paid for an entire shared room which had 5 beds in total, adding up to 25 coppers. This would be cheaper than getting everyone an individual room. Just because Kai had suddenly gotten rich, didn't mean he was now willing to waste money.

The group walked into the room and Kai fell onto the bed tiredly. He had to pull the wagon all the way here which was a little annoying. "I wonder how much mounts cost..."

Kai had seen many different mounts and beasts pulling the carriages. Some looked vicious while others looked beyond cute. Lao Ren heard Kai's whispers and felt guilty for being old and a burden when it came to physical labor. He would have already offered to pull the cart himself had he been in his youth.

"My lord, I think you should have enough to buy a decent [Grade-1] beast now. They go for a minimum of 5 gold but with about 10 gold, you can get a very good one in its prime", Lao Ren said as he tried to give Kai as much information as possible.

He had already realized that Kai was peculiar in that he didn't know a lot of common sense information. This was not abnormal for powerful warriors who have been in closed-door training their whole lives so he did not question it.

"Is that so?", Kai answered with some interest. "It's still early so let's rest for a bit then we'll go out and look for a mount. I need something strong and fast"

Kai took the bed by the window and lied down comfortably. Ryu decided to take a break as well. His master was back so he didn't have to go around delivering packages and would serve him by his side.

Lao Ren had given Mina basic first aid on the way here so her wounds were recovering nicely. She didn't have Kai's insane healing rate, but it seemed that her [Grade-3][Divine Yin Physique] was helping her recover a little bit faster.

Lao Ren sat quietly on a chair as he tried to think of methods he could use to help his new lord. He had only now realized how high Kai's ambitions were and hoped he could stay alive long enough to see him realize it. He looked over to Kai and saw him staring blankly into the ceiling. "What a fascinating man. I wonder what profound thoughts he may be having now..."

Kai, as the person in question, was looking for a cool new name for his skills. He had fused [Primordial Dragon Stance] with his new defensive Martial Arts, creating his ultimate scaled armor skill, however, he was struggling to come up with an epic name.

"How about...[Dragon Form]...no wait, that sounds too average. [Earth-Dragon Form]?...Hmm..."Kai debated this for a while until he decided on [Primordial-Dragon's Scale Armament].

Kai nodded his in approval then moved on to his 'telepathy' skill. He had only used it once to speak to Mina, but he felt it would be useful in the future so he didn't want to neglect it. "I'll call this one [Dragon's Whisper]".

Kai once again praised himself for his magnificent naming sense then tried to use the skill on Ryu. The skill activated but to his surprise, he found that his mind couldn't connect with Ryu's.

"Well, that's weird..." Kai then looked over to Lao Ren and tried to communicate with him, but the same problem occurred. "I feel like I'm missing something here..Why did it work with Mina?"

Kai tried to use the skill on Mina and was immediately able to send his thoughts to her. "I see...it looks like it's piggybacking on the existing Qi connection with our cores. Does that mean I'll only be able to use this skill with people I have Qi connections with?..."

Kai was a little disappointed, but understood that the skill would have some limitations seeing as it was just an [E-Rank] skill.

With that, Kai had given all his new skills names. He checked his Qi and noticed that he only had about 100 Qi left. "Let's try absorbing Qi from the surroundings again, I refuse to believe that I can't recreate that phenomenon"

Kai closed his eyes and started to feel the small Qi particles in the air. He also noticed that there was vastly less Qi here when compared to the [Rock-Wyrm] cave.

"That cave must be a decent cultivation place then, no wonder why those bugs don't leave the caves..."

Kai took a deep breath then he activated [Dragon Subduing Law]. He circulated the Qi inside of his body until it reached peak circulation, then inhaled deeply. The revolutions of Qi within his body attracted the outside Qi into his body a lot faster.

"This is it!" Kai thought as he felt the Qi settle down in the pit of his stomach. He had thought about this a lot and was finally able to get it right. Kai had noticed that after each breakthrough, his Qi circulation would be at its peak, so Kai simply tried recreating that feeling until it worked.

Kai concentrated on the newly acquired Qi in his body and forcefully brought it under his control. He sent it to his core for refinement which was a lot easier this time. It only took about 15minutes which was less than the 20 minutes it took last time.

==[Host has absorbed [1 Qi] using [Main-Core]==

Kai had a smile full of pride on his face. "Looks like I won't have to keep relying on killing beasts to gain Qi. With this, I can get about [4 Qi] every hour!"

This would translate to [96 Qi] per day if he cultivated every day nonstop. While it was slow when compared to killing beasts, he at least wouldn't have to expose himself to danger while doing it.

Kai turned to his followers and had an idea of how to give them strength. He needed people who could help him, not liabilities. To get them to become useful, they all needed a certain amount of strength. Kai looked back at his own status with a bright smile. "I need to get them started before I end up leaving them in the dust..."

==[Status]==>

[Name]: Kai (No Last name)

[Age]: 14 [Life expectancy = 45 years]

[Internal Cultivation Level]: 6th Level of Qi Condensation

[Body Grade]: [Mortal Grade-3]

[Health]: 60 /60

[Qi]: 101 /700

[Qi Gather Rate]: [1 Qi /day]

[Status]: Healthy

==[Stats]==

[External Strength]: 8+(0)

[External Defense]: 15+(8)

[Internal Strength]: 12+(0)

[Internal Defense]: 8+(0)

==[Equipment]==

[Headpiece]: Desert hood (Grade-1: External Defense 1)

[Necklace]: Desert Cloak (Grade-1: External Defense 2)

[Body]: Desert Robes (Grade-1: External Defense:3)

[Feet]: Desert boots (Grade-1: External Defense : 2)

[Ring]: None

==[Cultivation Manuals]==

=[Internal Cultivation Manuals]=

>[Dragon Subduing Law] [F-Rank based on [Grade-1] Fishing Rod]

[Limit]: Twelfth level Of Qi Condensation

[Qi Gather Rate]:1/ day

[Ability] You can absorb Qi from a beast you have caught yourself. Limited to 7 Qi per beast. Limits are increased based on cultivation level.

[Current level]: Level 6

[Qi Breakthrough Requirement]: 700 Qi

==[Body Cultivation Manuals]==

>[Primordial Dragon Physique] [D-Rank] based on [Grade-2] [Fungus-Ape]

[Limit]: Mortal Grade-6

[Action]: Consume the Life Essence of defeated foes to increase your Body cultivation]

[Life Essence is stored within the heart or gallbladder]

[Passive]: Body automatically produces parasites that boost metabolism, detoxification, and physical recovery by 100%]

[Body Cultivation Progress: [Mortal Grade-2]

[Life Essences required for next promotion]: 50 /400 [Grade-1 Essences].

==[Martial Arts Cultivation Manuals]==

>[Twig] [F-Rank] based on [Grade-1] Twig]

[Technique]: Passive Footwork. slightly increase balance when standing still]

>[Hare Leaps over Moon] [F-Rank] based on [Grade-1] Vicious Hare]

[Technique]: Active Footwork, Can perform a short leap at unprecedented speed in any direction

[Cost]: 1 Qi

[Cool down]: 1 minute

>[Corrosive Dragon Stance] [ E-Rank] based on [Grade-3][Roaming Spider Venom]

[Ability 1, Active]: Adds a corrosive attribute to physical attacks

[Cost]: 2 Qi per attack

[Ability 2, Active]: Infects any attacker with corrosive poison

[Cost]: 1 Qi, lasts 30 seconds

>[Primordial-Dragon's Scale Armament] [D-Rank] based on [Combination] of [Grade-2][Rock-Wyrm] & [Fungus-Ape]=

[Ability-1, Active]: Gain Stone-Scales that significantly increase physical and Internal defense. When attacked, defense is further increased]

[Cost]: 5 Qi per minute

[Duration]: 1 minute

[Ability-2, Active]: Gain 'Stone-poise', making you immovable for 3 seconds]

[Cost]: 1 Qi

[Cool-down]: 30 seconds.

>[Dragon's Whispers] [E-Rank] based on [Grade-2] Rock-Wyrm]

>[Ability 1, Active]: Gain the hive mind ability, allowing you to communicate telepathically.

[Cost]: 1 Qi

[Duration]: 30 seconds

[Distance]: 1Km

==[System Functions]==

>[Create Manual]

[Create a manual random manual from selected base material]

>[Qi Detection]

[Detect the value of Qi within an object. Detection limit is based on host's cultivation level]

>[Sub-Core Manual]

[Grants host ability to transfer manuals to Sub-Cores]

[Grants host ability to enhance or destroy Sub-Cores at the cost of Qi]

[Sub-Cores cannot be enhanced past the level of the Main-Core]

[Current Sub-Core Limit]: 1/5

>[Manual Customization]

[Manuals can be combined with a chance to create Manuals of a higher Rank depending on the Qi spent]