Chapter 34: The statue

I slowly opened my eyes. I was kinda afraid to see my sculpture because I was naturally worried since this is the first time I made something this big. The last handiwork that I did was making a Christmas star in a school competition where we won the prize, but I personally contributed literally nothing to it other than cutting the decorative papers with scissors. Even that was messed up since I couldn't hold a pair of scissors properly. Ah, I'm a damn mess…

Anyway, with that on mind, I opened my eyes completely. I wanted to believe in the flow and I gotta say… The flow didn't disappoint me. Before me was a beautiful dragon statue, looking all ferocious, giving out a strong green glow, unlike Goldy, who gave out a gold glow. It was beautiful!

"Whoa…" I could just stare and mutter the same word again and again. I was in awe. A novice making something like this… the people back on Earth will surely freak out if they learned about it.

"So, how is it?" Goldy asked. I nearly forgot that Goldy couldn't actually see the sculpture right now.

"It's beautiful. It's green. My goodness!" I caressed the huge statue. It was the product of my efforts after all!

"Green? Really? I wanna see!" Goldy sounded really excited as he spouted those words.

"Sure, why don't you jump in here as well?" I asked. He's the dragon, right? Surely he could do stuff like that!

"Did you forget what I said? Only the stray souls can enter into someone else's spiritual space… without permission." Goldy spoke.

"I remember you saying about the souls, but it seems like I forgot about the permission part. Sorry." I really forgot that part. Seems like ever since arriving in this world, my memory power has slightly diminished from my earlier self. Like, during my past life, I could remember who said what kind of shite about me at a particular time, even if the said time was ten years or so back. But, here I had a hard time even remembering a conversation that I had a few minutes back, like right now. It's astounding to me that I was somehow able to remember the important parts of this game. Well, even if I forgot a bit now, there's Goldy who can look into it, right?

"Don't be. I don't think I have explained the permission part to you." Goldy replied.

"Well then. What is it?" I asked.

"Remember how I used my Qi to check the condition of your Qi core and stuff? I basically entered your spiritual space there." He replied.

"Wait, I didn't actually give you permission to do so, though! So, what are you talking about then?" I asked.

"Ah, you don't have to verbally give permission. I released a really minute amount of Qi and…" Goldy was about to tell the entire tale, before I interrupted him.

"Minute amount of Qi, huh? If it's you, even that would be enormous. So, how much was it?" I asked.

"Ah, don't worry. I did my best to use just ten years of my Qi back then." Goldy chuckled.

"Ten years… As much as a normal pill." However, if you consider that this is a dragon's Qi and not some random guy who has been squeezing out his Qi for years, people might even consider the Qi to be something really rare. That was amazing. Thinking about it, Qi pill… Those are made by people, right? So, what if Goldy made something like that?

"Well, people can only make normal or refined Qi pills by themselves. Starting from the sacred pills, they can't actually mass produce it. It forms naturally. That's why there's a steep increase in Qi supplements starting from the sacred pills." He replied. What he said rubbed me in the wrong way. I actually started feeling bad about the Raging Thunder sect and our future victims, since the pills she stole/ gonna steal are valuable. However, that was a solitary thought that came and went by my mind in the speed of wind. I can't survive if I start feeling sorry for literally everyone.

So, rather than that, there was another thought in my mind. "You can make Qi pills, huh��" Even though he can only make the pills that are useless for me, there's one adorable person who can actually grow leaps and bounds if I give it to him. However, should I really make him into a much bigger monster than he is in the game? Well, there's no harm in it, right? He can protect our sect from the open, and I'll do it from the shadows. We will make a good team. Ha, even thinking about it makes me happy.

"Ah, what are you even planning to do without my consent, huh?" Goldy asked.

"Well then, you're not gonna make him pills then?" I asked back.

"Hmm, you see, I came here with you because I was interested in you and your life choices that you might take. As much as you love your little brother, I don't. However, it's not like I despise him either. But, I don't see much in him, even with the game stuff that I saw. So, how about this? If I saw a considerable increase in his strength and skills in the next two months, starting from that day, I'll supply him with a pill with my Qi each month." Goldy brought forth his proposition to make the pills. You know what, I'm sure that he's a tsundere. I mean, who doesn't love Ao? I still remember him in the hundred most handsome faces list one year. Although he was the hundredth, if you think about it, people considered a fictional character for the first time in that list. And Goldy's here saying that he doesn't love that cute kid?

"... I'm not a brocon like you… You know that, right?" He asked. Well, he might be right about me being a brocon. The thought of that kid getting married to some random girl really pains me. What if that girl abuses him or something, and he receives it because he truly loves her? Oh, Ao… You pitiful child. Big sister Hua will save you! I will never allow you to marry a person that's abusive like that.

"You're crazy…" Goldy sighed after hearing my inner thoughts. I mean I don't deny it. Although, I heard that people who admit that they're crazy, just wanted to act like crazy at least once and are not really crazy. And if I consider that theory, I'm not actually crazy, right?

"..."

Goldy, you bastard! I know you're listening. Why aren't you replying right now, huh?

Goldy cleared his throat. "Well, it seems like we deviated far from the topic… What was I saying? Yea, I poured some of my Qi into you and your system gave me the permission to enter into your spiritual place. I just took a brief glance, so I didn't enter into your boat and stuff." He replied.

He wasn't wrong about us deviating from the main subject, so I decided to stick with it as well. "Then why don't you head here, and we can enjoy the sight of the dragon I made together?" I asked.

"Ah, I can't do that. Only one person is allowed in a single spiritual space. Those are the rules. Also, you have to be conscious as well. Or else, any bloke could freely enter your spiritual realm and gauge your Qi center, right?" Goldy asked.

"About that. Didn't Zhangsun Shan do the same to me? So, doesn't that directly contradict your statement?" I asked.

"Well, there's something that I didn't specify to you back then. That guy wasn't actually surprised by your Qi level or Qi center. He was surprised by the level of defense that your Qi center had. Your system completely blocked him. He was suspicious because you were a person without cultivation. So, he thought why would a person like have such a defense if you're not hiding something. There's nothing wrong with securing one's Qi center, but he didn't expect it from you. Then, I showed the illusion to him, and he subsided… a bit." Goldy explained.

"Is that so…" I was personally relieved that I had such a high defense protecting my secret. But, I still gotta be careful around people like Zhangsun Shan and ask Goldy to put an illusion beforehand.

"So… Are you coming back?" He asked. He sounded really eager to see my dragon statue.

"Sure." I paddled my way back to where I came from. When I stepped out of the boat, it actually sank into the Qi river. That's when I noticed that there wasn't much Qi for the boat to actually sink. It seemed like sculpting the entire statue in one go depleted the Qi a little too much. I hope that there's still some pills left in Goldy's custody. Or else, the cat burglar would have to re-emerge much sooner than I previously expected.