17 Xi Family
...
I turn my head to find 3 people. Two of them are cultivators and the one at the front is a mortal, he is wearing a silky white robe while the cultivators are ragged. Both cultivators are in the 2nd stage of Qi Condensation.
"Oh, it's not a cultivator." The mortal says. "Good, kill him."
Before the two cultivators can move, I instantly draw my sword and decapitates both of them.
!!!!!
"Y-You are a martial master?!" The man trembles as he drops to his knees. "Wait! I am wrong! Please don't kill me, I am part of the-"
Blood sprays at grasses nearby after Azrim slashed his neck.
"Ugh...I'm..."
Now that they are taken care of, I loot the corpses and find a key belonging to the mortal's corpse, it unlocks the cage.
Li Ruo crawls out and stands up, staring at me.
I bite my finger and drip the blood on the array, the array emits blue light and blue energy consumes both of us.
When the energy clears up, I smile. "I am now your master."
Li Ruo nods.
That array is a slave array, anyone who drips the blood on the array(if it is not activated)will form a body and soul connection, making the slave unable to harm the owner and obey every command.
I infect her with the main virus by using 500 points.
I have neither the tools nor the manpower to modify the genetics of viruses. Thus, I will have to execute a forced mutation...
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Manuel Mutation attempt detected.
0.1% complete to obtain property: (????)(2 days left)
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Azrim, can a human beast have the properties of the beast they originate from?
(Definitely. Contrary to beliefs, half-beasts have stronger beast genes than regular beasts, thus allowing beasts' genes to integrate with human genes.)
I see.
"Li Ruo, is there anything you can do?" I ask.
"I...can...talk to them."
"Them? Do you mean the beasts?"
Li Ruo nods.
So that's why the wolves were protecting her...?
...
There doesn't seem to be anything else.
Whatever.
I look up at the sky, blue spectrums mixed with orange, the sun is rising. I jump up the trees and look around to find a waterfall nearby and take Li Ruo there to clean her up.
Since Jiangxi is the closest, it won't hurt to visit Jiangxi for a start before going back to NieLong.
-------------------
With many tall buildings and one giant residence at the end, Jiangxi can be called a city and is ruled by the Xi family.
A few guards at the entrance place their hand on my shoulder and channel qi into me.
?
"It's clear, he isn't a blood sect disciple." The guard says and lets me in. The news of the blood sect moving again has already travelled to Jiangxi.
I walk through the streets. People are much more hygienic here with a wealthier appearance.
*sniff sniff*
Li Ruo's stomach growl as she smells the delicacies, indeed the food here looks more appealing than the ones at NieLong, I should try some. We stop at a large inn.
The waiter glares at Li Ruo when he ushers us to a table.
Now that I realised it, almost every passerby throws a glance of disgust at Li Ruo.
"Ugh...a human beast...why do we have to sit near her, she smells."
"That guy is her owner, right? Is he out of his mind? Bringing her into the inn."
...
"Order whatever you want," I say, I have plenty of money.
I order plentiful amounts myself: rice with dumplings, meats, and some wine.
However Li Ruo...
The waiter places 6 plates of meat and 4 bowls of rice, Li Ruo has been chompings them down like no tomorrow.
I bite on the juicy meat as I indulge in my food.
"...The Xi family managed to win against a core formation cultivator despite only being a foundation establishment."
The table behind ours is gossiping, I stop eating and focus on their conversation.
"So that is the power of body cultivation? Wow, I wish I can cultivate my body because body cultivation is not reliant on one's spiritual roots or anything. The Xi family is a family of body cultivation." The person with a rough voice replies, it seems to be a male.
"You can dream on. Ordinary old folks like us who can't even feel the qi in the atmosphere have no chance of cultivating our bodies, not to mention the techniques required to cultivate the body." Says a hoarse voice. I turn around and realise a skull above that man, he is infected by my virus. The man clears his throat a little before gulping down the cup of wine.
"Oh yeah! Speaking of them, despite their uniqueness, they couldn't close the gap between the 3rd stage of core formation and the 6th stage of core formation purely by body cultivation. Their eldest son, Mi Lang, was defeated and crippled by the Mu Xue family last week."
"Crippled?! How cruel. Looks like body cultivation has a limit."
Suddenly, someone shouts "The Xi family is here!"
"What?!"
"Wow, to think they would come to such an inn. Is this place that special?"
"Look! Look! That's the elder! But his body is so..."
"That woman behind the elder too, Xi BaiMing, even though she is only a Qi Condensation, she has the strength of a Foundation Establishment."
A group of people showed up in the inn, an elderly, woman and two men.
Everyone turns their heads when the Xi family walks past, they sit at a table at the edge of the room.
!!!!
The elder widens his eyes when he looks in our direction.
"What's wrong, patriarch Xi?" Bai Ming says.
"..."
The elder stands up. An old person with long white hair that's tied up to a ponytail and a beard that goes down to his chest walks toward us, the patriarch of the Xi family.
Despite his obvious age, his skin has a subtle glow and is as healthy as a young cultivator.
He stops at our table as he looks at Li Ruo.
"This girl... How much do you want for her?" He says.
"I'm not selling her," I say as I bite into a radish.
"10 times, I will give you ten times the price you bought her."
...
I smile.
"100 gold ingots," I say.
!!!!!!
"Y-You!"
The pressure was exerted on everyone in the inn. Mortals' body was slammed onto the table or forced into a kneeling position on the ground.
This old man is holding back, exerting just enough pressure to not destroy the inn and overpower mortals.
"I do not like to be lied to! Answer me, what is the price of that young lady!" He shouts.
I sigh.
I negate the force by exerting an equivalent pressure of my own.
!!!!!
The old man jolts back, startled by the outcome.
"W-What just happened?!"
"Did he...what...?"
...
"I won't repeat what I said," I say.
"...Young lady, do you want to leave him? I can take you in-"
Li Ruo shakes her head. "No, I will never leave Wang Ji."
Patriarch Xi clenches his fist. He grits his teeth as he turns around. "Such a pity..." He mumbles.
"My lord-"
One of the two men tries to speak up but Patriarch Xi stops them. "We are leaving."
"...Understood."
...
I ignore the awkward atmosphere and continue eating.
--------------
Patriarch Xi assembles the three people who accompanied him to the inn when they get back to their residence.
The three bow at his presence when they enter.
...
"Take a seat."
They nod and sit behind three respective tables.
"What did it look like to you, the situation at the inn?" Patriarch Xi asks.
"The patriarch retracted his aura, no?" Says BaiMing.
The patriarch shakes his head. "He released an equivalent power to negate mine."
"What?! How can this be possible?!" The man beside Bai Ming exclaims. He notices his raised voice thus composing himself. "My apologies."
"It's alright. Anyone would be surprised by a mortal resisting my aura. However, there are two explanations for this: he might be a martial expert hidden as a mortal or someone powerful is backing him."
"How can a martial expert hide as a mortal with broken meridians and dantian? The best a cultivator can do to hide his strength is by suppressing his cultivation." Says Bai Ming.
"If he is from the upper realms. I've heard of techniques that can help one disguise his entire body as crippled. Nevertheless, it is extremely difficult for a cultivator to move from a lower realm to an upper realm and impossible for one to move back down. Alas, that crippled mortal cannot be a martial expert." Says Patriarch Xi
...
"Bai Ming, I have a task for you."
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I yawn as I rub my eyes. Li Ruo and I have been touring around Jiangxi for the entire day sightseeing, I didn't have this much freedom back in my previous life so I take full advantage of it.
Night fell and I decided to rent a two-bedroom at the inn I ate at.
After changing and washing up, Li Ruo and I immediately went to bed for the day.
...
...
Without any notice, my survival instincts peak. I start to have goosebumps.
...
I open my eyes in the nick of time and grab the wrist of the invader, he or she is holding a dagger that was going for my throat.
!!!!!
One swift kick to the abdomen and the assassin flies and crashes through the walls to the hallway, alerting nearby occupants.
"Ack!"
A woman.
She attempts to escape but a red thin Qi forces her to freeze. Her eyes follow the Qi to my sword.
"S-Sword Qi...!"
"Oh? Who do we have here?" I say.
I pull off the cloth on her face to reveal Bai Ming.
Behind her is pasted with some talisman that is the cause of her incredible stealth.
