Immortal Freeloader 47 (Patreon)

In the morning, another servant visited the Spring Palace, carrying a tray of food. It was another blue robe, who looked smug and proud as he talked with the Queen, once again disguised as the maidservant. 

He received no protective talismans. 

Admittedly, now that I knew how it was made, I found myself questioning how actually received one. Drawing a talisman was a dangerous affair, requiring focus and strength … and most importantly, some sacrifice. 

Its structure had to be stabilized, which required Qi that was subdued by the creator to act as a core. It was what allowed the talisman to last. The amount that was used varied based on many factors. Material quality, the skill of the creator, the strength of the talisman, the design of it … Under ideal circumstances, she could probably stabilize a weak talisman like the protective one she gave me with Qi she could subdue in minutes.

However, Spring Palace was not ideal. Nowhere near close. 

Thanks to my ability to understand what Qi was, I started to get a better sense of the cultivation process. One of the most fundamental aspects … the processing speed of an Immortal Root was constant, regardless of the cultivation level. According to the Queen, it was impossible to improve the Immortal Root of a cultivator, with its nature and purity limiting the cultivator forever. 

My system-enhanced bursts weren’t helpful either, because apparently, it was only useful to awaken the dantian and activate the first gate, which equaled the Qi-2 stage. From there on, there were specialized techniques to improve the first gate and activate the follow-up gates, which was critical for faster cultivation. 

While the Immortal Root had constant, it still processed different types of Qi differently, so by essentially preprocessing Qi to a version fitting to the Immortal Root, the cultivation got faster … which meant, the follow-up cultivation techniques were extremely critical. 

Unfortunately, when I tried to probe her more about the subject, she clamped up. Apparently, the meditation technique she had given me was pretty basic and relatively common, while the other techniques were more of a secret. 

Ultimately, it was not critical. With the way my System worked, I could afford to show some patience. Especially since the Qi she passed me was not subdued Qi but merely purified one, yet, the System reward was already subdued. 

The Queen was once again upstairs, but I didn’t know whether she was awake or not, meaning, I was limited in my actions. Instead of walking around, I pulled the cleansing talisman she gave to me, examining how it worked. 

Ironically, it was doing something very similar to what I had been doing with my meditation technique, only weaker. It acted like a magnet, pulling the cursed Qi, and storing it in a unique storage component. 

It was weak, but still, it would have cleansed my essence in less than a week if my poisoning problem was as bad as I reflected … inconvenient, as it meant there was no more pure Qi to heal me. Worse, my biggest excuse to stay was already gone. She could send me away the moment the alert level went down. 

It was the time to take a little risk. 

I decided to practice once again, but this time, I got naked. She might be a cultivator and a Queen, but she was also isolated and bored. I was hoping that she wouldn’t turn down some eye candy. Not something I initially planned to do, but the function of the cleansing talisman forced me to act faster.

Operation honeypot, initialized!

I practiced in my room but left the door cracked. Then, I turned to the sole mirror in the room and started practicing Forest Dance. I kept my moves to the Initiate set, and I didn’t use any essence since it was supposed to be cursed, but I still pushed myself to the limit. 

I waited until I built a nice sweat before I started to make some noise, and closed my eyes. Since I was an expert martial artist, I needed an excuse not to notice her presence. 

It still took more than an hour for me to hear her soft footsteps closing in, getting closer and closer to the door … only to freeze. 

Success. 

I gave no indication of noticing her presence, and continued to go through Forest Dance. I used that above the other martial styles, not just because she had seen me using that many times, but also because it was a calm, collected, and elegant martial art, far different than the utilitarian techniques the others used constantly. 

Like a beautiful light drawing the butterfly close … 

Then, without a warning, I threw one punch from Black Tiger Onslaught. Just one, but it was enough to break the monotony of the Forest Dance, its aura raw, merciless, daring … and, if I read the soft gasp she let out, very sexy. 

It was a deliberate shift. She helped me a lot, but all the while, she was driven by her sense of pity. It had been different with Elsana. The general sense of pity she felt didn’t stop her when her competitive nature drove her to take the lead. 

Not to mention, the source was different. Elsana pitied me, because I played a scholar about to lose his freedom to serve his family’s interest. For the Queen, I was the valiant yet injured martial artist. 

Therefore, I used Black Tiger Onslaught when I was naked. It was rough and murderous, and even without using my essence, I could sense a slight shift in my mentality. 

It paid off, and she stayed to watch, even as I alternated between the two, like I was using Forest Dance to keep my dangerous, wild nature chained. 

Eventually, she still walked away, which was not a surprise. As much as I would have loved her to walk in directly so that I could show her a different style, she was too proud of it, even with her as the handmaiden. 

Still, the impact was clear when she called me to share the dinner, which was followed by another lesson. Her gaze lingered longer, particularly when I acted like I was looking somewhere else, her gaze wandering. 

The System confirmed it as well. 

[Cultivation Difference Bonus - 30; Pity Bonus - 15]

[45x Return - Thousand Petals Meditation Technique Lesson, Major Familiarity]

[45x Return - Verdant Brush Talisman Technique Lesson, Beginner]

[45x Return - Calligraphy, Perfection]

Losing some multiplier was unfortunate, but it was far better than being sent away for my own good. I slowly ‘healed’ from the cursed Qi. With the cleansing talisman in place, I didn’t receive any Qi blast in the first place, so my so-called sickness hurt more than help.

And, I started to increase the intensity of my naked practice sessions, and more often than not, I had a secret visitor enjoying the show. Another week passed in that routine, and things mostly stayed the same. I finally reached Perfection in the Meditation technique, and reached Minor Familiarity in the Talisman Technique, both I had already triggered. 

In contrast, I reached Minor Immersion in Calligraphy, but that, I didn’t dare to trigger. I didn’t want to test whether cultivators could notice that light show somewhat.  

 The most exciting thing was that she had another breakthrough in her martial arts — thanks to my hidden help — reaching the Advanced Bone Forging Stage, which increased the multiplier further. 

She still tried to keep her martial cultivation a secret. 

Normally, keeping one’s martial cultivation was not a simple thing. It required great expertise and talent. She cheated by using her Qi to cover her essence, essentially reversing my own trick of using essence to cover up my Qi. 

It worked surprisingly well. I would have never guessed that she had already reached Advanced Bone Refinement without the system notification. 

It got more interesting, when, at the end of our lessons, she asked me a fateful question. “Can you teach me martial arts?” she asked. 

“Of course,” I said immediately, finally receiving the excuse I needed to push things more. “But, may I ask why?” 

“I want to protect her Highness better,” she said. “Even the skills of an Initiate may prove critical.” 

“It would be my honor,” I said, then raised my hand. “May I check your pulse, to check your talent?” I asked, blushing just a bit. With her attraction already in place, adding some shyness to the mix wouldn’t be harmful. 

She lost some of her hesitancy at my display of vulnerability. She raised her hand, and I touched her wrist, forcing my blush to deepen at the touch. Then, I sent a blast of essence. 

I had to admit, she had planned well. Not only did she keep her intense essence wrapped tightly to disguise herself as someone who had never practiced martial arts, but also she made several critical essence channels vital to achieve Muscle Reinforcement look like blocked, disguising herself as someone who could never go above Initiate Realm. 

“I will do my best,” I said resolutely but mentioned nothing about her supposed lack of talent. “Any preference? I think I know enough to teach you about Imperial Sword?” I offered. 

“How about Forest Dance?” she said, choosing a martial art that required a lot of touching, caressing, and otherwise close contact. Even with her veil, her smile was impossible to hide. 

She clearly didn’t expect to learn anything, which worked well for me, as I didn’t want to teach either.