"Ah? Sister Bronya ran an errand in the town."
"You can ask us to do it next time. It won't take up much time."
I chatted with Seele for a while. Kiana remained dead silent. It made me give her a second look.
What I did not expect was her gaze. She is already looking at me. Our gazes met. Her shoulders jolted in surprise.
Just then, my eyes caught Bronya's small figure. Aside from the small bag she was holding, her other hand has a bloodied pipe.
Seele opened the gate in a panic.
"Close the gate. There are monsters outside."
"Hm?"
"Undeads." She replied to me. "There are undeads in the woods. I am afraid the town…"
Kiana gave me a look. She's definitely thinking of saving people.
"Bronya. Can you hold the fort?"
"Da. The Bronya will do her best."
"Miss Cocolia should have some means to protect this orphanage. I asked just in case…"
I was forced to halt my words. My eyes looked at my right side. The sun is setting.
In that direction…
Honkai.
My meridians trembled. It is an instinctive reaction. It explains the feeling from my first minor eruption.
When I tested the honkai blade I received, the honkai energy did not actually hinder my spiritual qi circulation. I expected them to clash or something, but they did not.
After being tense for a while, it went back to normal. It acted nonchalant facing the honkai energy within the blade. Its nature is neutral, as opposed to the honkai's innate destructiveness to those with lacking adaptability.
Weird, but explanation is for later.
"Honkai eruption."
"How strong?" Kiana asked.
"Stronger than the one in that town."
The distance looks very far. The only town, or city in that direction…
It's worth thirty minutes of driving.
"Fu…"
I sighed for a moment.
"Don't stray further in the town."
"Got it!"
Kiana took off first. I placed the silver case on the ground and opened it. The jian inside it floated with a thought.
"Remember to lock the gates. I will scout the area around the orphanage first."
My [Cloud Seeking Steps] operated flawlessly. My feet remained stuck to the floating jian.
Under the girls' eyes, I started flying. I carefully controlled it with my spiritual consciousness to rise two meters at a time. Not long after, I reached the top of the orphanage.
The moment I unveiled my spiritual consciousness, nothing escaped my sight.
Several wild boats ran aimlessly at the woods. We are very lucky to have avoided them until now.
I thought for a while. The [Nine Dragons Purple Qi] is messy. It is also overkill for these beasts. But, it is my strongest means of wide-scale attack.
Wait.
The [Life Extending Heavy Water]!
A plan brewed up inside my mind.
*****
"Woah… He can do that?"
"..."
Bronya expressed her surprise with silence.
In her life as a mercenary-slash-assassin within Siberia, she witnessed a lot of things. The honkai's effects alone made her fight with these small beasts, sometimes encountering huge beasts whose solution is to run away.
Siberia is a land separated from the outside world. It is normal to see 'impossible' things happen.
Still, seeing one leaves a sense of disbelief.
The surprises did not stop there.
Bronya looked at Shi Tian who remained up above. She saw a bunch of silver lights flashing in the sky.
Bam-!
Bam-!
Bam-!
These lights came down one by one. Some of them are near the orphanage while some are not. The thing they had in common was their semblance to mortars. In truth, these are droplets of [Life Extending Heavy Water] coated with sword intent.
The volley of 'cannons' stopped after three minutes.
During this time, the 'uncles' stationed as guards went to their respective positions, patrolling the orphanage's surroundings.
Bronya and Seele are sent inside along with the other kids.
"It sounds like fireworks!"
"But it's still daytime…"
"Look! A shooting star!"
"Where…"
The kids' states are different from the two. They are innocently talking about the recent occurrences.
"Will they be alright? Kiana did not need to head to the town. She must have wanted to help others, right?"
"Nyet. They will be alright."
"Huh?"
"The Bronya thinks they are strong. Strong enough to win."
Bronya's calm response threw Seele off. It is completely different from her worries. Outside peacetime, Seele easily loses her composure. It is something that can't be easily changed.
Just then, Bronya heard a loud 'whisper'.
"Things are settled here. How many undeads did you see in the town?"
She looked around in bewilderment. Seele's reaction showed she did not hear it.
"Sorry for confusing you. It's Shi Tian. Only you can hear me."
Bronya coped with the changes quickly.
"...Fifteen undeads. The Bronya took the way to the orphanage. There could be more." Bronya mumbled softly.
"Copy that. Thanks."
The connection was cut off.
"Big sis? Did you say something?"
"Nothing."
For the first time, Bronya encountered the capabilities of an immortal cultivator.
*****
"Bad timing. There is…"
"I saw it just now. Honkai eruption."
Using the 'teleportation' technology developed by Anti-Entropy, Tesla went over to Siberia in a blink. Cocolia's territory naturally has 'anchors' that help in this regard.
She brought along a Titan mech with her. Einstein was left at their Salt Lake base.
"500 HW… Schicksal will move at this time. You need to find a proper place for extraction later."
"Yeah, I got it."
Tesla moved towards her goal—Kiana Kaslana. The Titan mech's interface is loaded with a UI that shows her current condition.
"Zero again." She frowned upon looking at the recent results. "It's really her."
For a moment, Tesla does not know what to do. The world is not yet ready for the Second Herrscher's return. There is also a crucial plan with Kiana being a central figure…
"Ugh, damn it. Let's see what happens when I am on it!"
Turning on the Titan's quantum state, it became invisible to the naked eye. Scanners won't pick them up either. It is Anti-Entropy's specialty that allowed them to contend with Schicksal's Valkyries.
Fifteen minutes later, she arrived at her destination. The first thing she saw was not Kiana, but a boy riding on a flying sword. The moment he stepped down on the main street, the flying sword moved on its own.
Psshk-!
Psshk-!
Psshk-!
"..."
Tesla was speechless, not because of the flying sword itself, but the analysis fed back by the Titan interface.
On the place he stepped on, the honkai energy within the atmosphere is nigh zero. All that's left is the ones left inside the infected zombies.
This made her realize something.
"He has a problem too."
*****
A/N: Teleportation tech is shown in the Anti-Entropy Invasion Manhua. Anyways, xianxia is one of the founding fathers of aura farming. Face slapping? That's aura farming. Saving the beauty? Aura farming. Arriving just before someone dies? That's aura farming too. Immortal cultivators do it, whether it is deliberate or not.
TL;DR: By cultivating, we are aura farming actively or passively.