Immortal Freeloader 76 (Patreon)

The departure from Markas had been easy. After everything I had offered, Marana and Falnaher were quite tense, for very justifiable reasons. I might have given them the methods to fight against the upcoming army, but while that resolved their most immediate problem, it also meant their future just had become far more complicated. 

There had been no mention of the city lord during my visit, making me wonder whether he was wounded, or he had some other reason for not appearing. However, ultimately, I said nothing. Being an ordained city lord was clearly a complicated matter, and their distrust was understandable. 

I might have tried to force my way to a meeting somewhat under different circumstances, but it worked to my benefit since I wasn’t planning to spend any more time in Markas. 

On my way back, I stopped a few times to examine the plants, trying to see if I could somehow discover the source of savage beasts from the differences in their growth rate as I guessed. A few stops confirmed that, yes, it was possible, though it required considerable expertise in gardening, along with the sharp senses of an apothecary. 

Not exactly a common skillset for a scout. 

After spending some time, I was sure that the source of the disaster was in the official borders of Markas, but near enough to fall into the surrounding forests with next to no population even before things had started to escalate. 

I was just happy that it was away from the spot of my summoning. That was one complication I didn’t want to deal with. 

While I managed to roughly identify the direction of the source, visiting was a completely different issue. I didn’t go there, because I didn’t dare to. I had no idea of what there might be there. 

Technically, they might even have a cultivator or two waiting on guard. Admittedly, it wasn’t likely, as the presence of the Tiger Fist army was evidence that they wanted to limit their involvement as much as possible, but I didn’t want to risk it. Moreover, even without a direct presence, there might be a plethora of surprises there. 

As a cultivator, I was reluctant to poke into a potential disaster like that. My current stage was troubling enough, but it wasn’t what kept me back. I might be at the third stage, but I only required a couple hours to push myself safely to the ninth level. 

What kept me back was my lack of knowledge. My cultivation knowledge was limited to talisman making, and even for that, I had the designs for four talismans, two of them completely useless in battle. Formations, poisons, puppetry, flying swords, mystic flames… There were too many different ways they could rig a trap that I wouldn’t know where to start. 

No, it was too early. I needed more. 

I once again passed the border, the savage beasts unable to catch up with my speed. I left Tiger Fist forts unmolested, and soon, I was at the cave. “Good,” I muttered as I arrived at the cave, and saw that none of the protections I had added was disturbed. 

No surprise last-second saving was needed. Maybe it was paranoid of me, but as the saying went, it was not paranoia when they were out to get me. 

I entered the cave. Pearyin was sitting with her legs crossed, trying to meditate. It was not a proper cultivation meditation technique, lacking the conceptual patterns triggered by it, but Qi motes that surrounded her didn’t care about the distinction as they gathered around her.

She was consuming all the production of the six spiritual plants easily, pulling motes with more ease than I could do despite my unnatural competence with meditation technique. 

Another evidence of her having some kind of unusual physique. Too bad my knowledge about different physiques was non-existent. 

I moved back slightly before I knocked against the entrance, not wanting to scare her too hard. Her eyes opened in alert, only to relax when she saw me. “Sir, you’re here,” she said, her relief clear. “I thought you were going to stay away for two days.” 

“Things went better than I expected,” I answered, which was an understatement, but I didn’t want to talk about Markas. Instead, I sat down next to her, and grabbed her hand to check her general state. The way she presented her hand showed she understood my intention, but that didn’t prevent a blush from appearing. 

Her mind was clearly going in a naughty direction. Admittedly, I wasn’t against it, but I first needed to make sure she suffered no adverse effects from her cultivation. It was tough, while I was an expert on ordinary medicine and problems in essence, I knew next to nothing about Qi. 

That meant, I couldn’t assess her condition directly. The best I could do was to test the direct aspects, like the development of her dantian, and hope that the lack of physical symptoms meant she wasn’t facing any problem, at least the immediate kind. 

The long-term consequences — the kind that cultivators measured in terms of decades — were less of a concern. Sooner or later, I would find a way to get a lesson on medicine, and it would give me the solution. 

“So, how does being a cultivator feel?” I asked. 

“I don’t know,” she muttered as her gaze bounced between me and the nearest wall. “It’s hard to process. It’s supposed to be impossible. Only a chosen few even have the aptitude, and even then, joining a sect is supposed to be just as impossible. Most join cultivation families as servants, but there are stories…” 

Her voice faded, not knowing what to say. I didn’t say anything about the stories, as I had heard too many of them, ranging from benign to complete horror, but without evidence, I decided to ignore those. The cultivation world was scary enough without starting to believe baseless conspiracy theories. 

“Any second guess about following me now that—” I started, but she cut me off. 

“No, I will follow you as long as you allow me,” she answered, the most assertive I had ever seen her. That weird mentality … not that I was complaining. I had already been planning to use her to gather information, and her status as a true cultivator increased her value thousands of times in the long term in that aspect.

“As you wish,” I said as I caressed her cheek, her blush thick. 

She asked no question, and now that I made sure she wasn’t about to spiral, I didn’t plan to ask more questions. Instead, I started examining her body. The first thing I noticed was the incomplete state of her dantian. The strand of Qi produced by the six plants for most of the day, along with the spirit stone she had consumed hadn’t even come close to fulfilling the requirements of her dantian. 

Not even close, but pinning the exact amount was difficult. It was certainly less than ten percent, but I wouldn’t be too shocked if was closer to one percent. Unfortunately, that meant that, she required somewhere fifty strands at a very optimistic minimum. 

With the way my luck was going, I wouldn’t be shocked if she required a thousand, or even more. 

However, that wasn’t the worst news. No, that honor went to the signs of starvation I could detect in her. 

From the moment they started cultivating, cultivators required Qi along with food to maintain them — though the gossip implied that, once they reached higher realms, food even stopped being a need, turning that into a need for Qi only. That was the practical reason that kept cultivators away from mortal kingdoms. 

Portable sources of Qi, like spirit stones, were expensive. Staying in mortal kingdoms offered no benefits — especially with the cultivation families blocking more profitable endeavors — yet cost a fortune. 

Pearyin was already showing signs of suffering from it. I had assumed that her body would have prioritized keeping her fed over increasing her cultivation. The body should burn muscle first before cutting vital functions. 

However, cultivation — at least in Pearyin’s case — didn’t work like that. Her dantian devoured the available Qi, not letting it support vital functions. 

Fuck. 

I would have brought her to the cultivation market, but even with my speed, the journey took a week. Bringing Pearyin with me, even if I carried her, extended that time considerably. Then, I had to spend some time making arrangements… Of course, there was the chance that they were still searching for me. 

Luckily, I had a better source of Qi nearby. The Spring Palace. 

Too bad I couldn’t bring Pearyin near the capital without risking her getting caught by cultivators. Not just Aisnam — though that was a possibility — but also other cultivators around the capital. 

“Stay here. I’ll go away for a moment. I’ll be back in less than an hour,” I promised, kissed her, and left. 

I might not bring her to the source of cursed Qi, but I could always bring cursed Qi here…