Before I knew it, ten days had passed. It is currently March 27, 2012.
“I think… you should incentivize these treats.”
“Hm?”
My usual routine with Kiana (i.e., eating outside) did not change. Rather, it only became more absurd.
Kiana’s breakthrough ten days ago caused her stomach space to expand to a black hole.
Porridge? She will inhale it all in ten seconds.
Crepes? She fits ten of them all at once, like a squirrel.
Pancakes? She stacks twelve of them at once.
Nothing can stop her gluttonous feats.
Nothing.
“The cooks told me about it. Some of the kids eat less in anticipation of your treats. It is better to use them as rewards for chores or studying.”
Seele’s words made a lot of sense.
I looked at her differently.
Aside from her cowardice, she is a smart girl. She’s one of the few children who learned how to read and write from Cocolia.
“Can you ask Bronya to do the announcement?”
“Um… The children… Some of them want to meet you two.”
“Hm?”
The past ten days revolved around cultivation and practice. I did not meet up with the other unfamiliar kids. I do not know any of them except Seele and Bronya.
I thought the twins, Rozaliya and Liliya, will be here. They are not.
The same goes to Sin Mal, though I am not sure about her. My interest peaked when I read her entire storyline… in a completely different game.
I don’t know if it applies in Honkai Impact 3rd
Anyways, they are the named characters inside the game. I haven’t met them yet. I arrived too early.
“So… we can say it to them?”
“Um.”
“Got it. Thanks for the heads up.”
“U-um.”
Seele walked away from me. She went to her room which is across from ours.
“Good night, Seele.”
“G-goodnight, too.”
I opened the door to our room.
Kiana is scrolling on her phone. It is around 8:30 PM in the evening. Her schedule begins at nine.
Her diligence did not remove her habits during leisure time. It is much more acceptable than before, though.
“What’s it about?”
She asked as her gaze moved away from the phone.
“The snacks we give. It’s better to turn it into a reward of sorts for the other kids. Some of them are skipping meals to eat more sweets.”
“Oh. That’s right!”
“...”
Let’s forget you are also like that.
I held back the urge to say words like ‘pot calling the kettle black’. In Kiana’s case, sweets do not affect her. The only difference is that sweets won’t matter to her.
Cultivator perks, I must say.
I sat down on my bed. I looked at the clock.
Ten days had passed. Meaning, I can receive yet another spiritual material.
Hum.
A strange sound rang in my ears. It confirmed my thoughts. It did not take long for my eyes to be greeted by that floating golden orb.
Once I willed the treasure to appear, a golden dot emerged atop my palm. It slowly separated into three different portions. Small spheres are formed.
“...Aren’t these apricots?”
The golden light is unveiled. It revealed a set of familiar orange fruits.
I ate apricots before. They are not that bad. Some of them are sour while some are sweet.
First, mint leaves. Now, apricots.
There’s no use complaining. I am not so ungrateful as to spurn these fruits. The spiritual qi they emitted is right before my eyes.
I returned to the real world. Like I expected, the three apricots appeared frozen in midair.
“Ah? Since when are there frozen fruits?”
Kiana nearly dropped her phone on the face. She hastily stood up from her bed and crawled beside mine.
“Remember my master?”
“The one that dropped you off?!”
She vigilantly looked around.
“Master gave it to me. It seems like she saw my efforts and wanted to reward me.”
“Is that so? She’s uber sneaky!”
“...”
I knew I had to explain more things later on. I can freely pass it off as a magical spell casted by cultivators with higher realms. You can really teleport things starting from Golden Core Realm.
It is better to build up a background based on half-truths.
I did not lie once.
The golden orb can be considered my teacher. It gave me the techniques I needed. Now, it’s also providing me with materials when I am broke.
As for revealing the entire truth…
I will consider it after gaining enough strength. It’s better to stay low-key while I am still weak. Immortal cultivation’s upper limit is very absurd—far higher than even the Aeons outside the solar system.
For now, I am borrowing the ginger's backstory with his master.
“I will test it myself first.”
“Um.”
Looking at her casually sitting on my bedside, in her pajamas, I became speechless. Her boy-ish traits could be traced to Siegfried.
The Tuna's upbringing is one of the things Siegfried did right.
“Fu…”
I touched one of the apricots. I did the usual operation as before. Its medicinal effects are tested with my fingertip.
Mental interference plus spiritual qi. It’s the same as the mint leaves, though it is quite stronger. Its difference… I can’t accurately say.
My eyes went to my second dantian. It now maintains a pure white look. The mint leaves’ effect had been fully absorbed seven days ago. There is only a bit of spiritual qi left to break through the late stage.
If I eat two of these apricots…
Unhesitantly, I touched the second apricot. It got out of its frozen state and fell to my palm.
Kiana moved to my opposite side. I can feel her eyes sweeping my body. Being intently watched by her feels somewhat… embarrassing.
It took a while to get used to it.
Not long after, the sweet taste of the apricots exploded in my mouth.
*****
‘You can really grow stronger by eating!’
Kiana’s impression of cultivation is stale and boring. Although meditation feels like ‘sleeping’, she experiences mental fatigue after a session. It’s not as good as a real sleep.
Seeing Shi Tian ingest the spiritual plants opened her up to cultivation’s other side.
Unstable foundation?
It’s not a problem with Shi Tian’s Golden Era techniques. Every single technique spat out by the Great Dao has zero flaws. It contains the crystallization of countless cultivation civilizations across all realities.
All the unnecessary things and high requirements are removed, leaving behind a technique optimized to its utmost limits.
Without specifying its ceiling, the default levels of the techniques will be at the highest possible level.
‘But… normal food definitely is not enough. I would have become uber strong if it did!’
Kiana finally felt what Shi Tian did when mulling over cultivation-related problems.