"Even if you learn just the fundamental stage of the Star God's Broken Shadow, you would be capable of facing two people of the same level at once… and not necessarily lose. In the later stages, your speed alone will allow you to defeat opponents three or even five levels above you! However, you should not get too excited as even geniuses can take a year to learn just the fundamental stage… never mind you. In truth, this princess doubts that you will even comprehend the fundamental stage. However… I don't want you crying to me that I didn't teach you anything so here it is. Whether or not you learn it is solely up to you."
'Wow…'
"Brilliant," Rokas replied, nodding his head once Jasmine transferred the Star God's Broken Shadow to him. After taking a read of the 'manual', Rokas was thoroughly confused. It was like trying to decipher Egyptian Hieroglyphics without any knowledge of them.
After three hours of sitting down and trying to make sense of it all, Rokas' excitement died down drastically.
'I am baffled as fuck… someone help me. Is my comprehension just too low? Didn't eating Yun Che give me some of his bullshit-OP comprehension skills?'
[System: Nope.]
'... What a drag.'
Rokas sighed, deciding to give up on learning the Star God's Broken Shadow for the moment. As his comprehension was too low… he thought of ways to increase it.
'I mean… the way to increase comprehension would be to read more, right? Especially things right around or slightly above my level. That means… I'll still have to go to one of the Profound Palaces.'
[System: Were you asking me something?]
'Is my logical theory correct? Then again, logic usually doesn't apply to cultivation worlds… so I need your confirmation.'
[System: In your case, yes. Your comprehension grows the more you experience and understand the Profound Way.]
'Sweet… thanks for answering at least one question of mine.'
[System: My pleasure.]
[System (The World) Confidant Rank: 2 → 3]
[System: You're gonna love the perk that comes with the third confidant rank.]
'That being…?'
[System: Any food or drink that you desire, any time. Through your memories, I've recognised that you were quite the glutton.]
'I beg your pardon…!' Rokas refuted, although he did stroke his chin in excitement. 'We're talking ANY food or drink? Burger King? KFC? What about kebabs? Pizza? Pastries? Spaghetti? Coke? All the eastern european dishes?'
[System: Yes, even your precious chebureks.]
'Oh man… make me one right now, I'm starving!'
Rokas sat down and observed as a cheburek appeared before him. In all its crescent shaped, deep-fried, glory… it fell into his hands. He sniffed its nostalgic aroma and was instantly reminded of home. Without even caring for the grease, he gobbled it down inch by inch, tasting the delicious exterior and delectable ground beef inside.
Once he was done, he cleaned his hands with profound energy.
'… I'm going to need that coca-cola right about now.'
[System: Alright, here you go.]
'I feel like we're best friends all of a sudden.' Rokas remarked.
The System dropped him a can of coca-cola, which he enjoyed for a minute or two before giving the emptied can back to the System. He might be a vicious flood-dragon demon… but he had the common decency to avoid littering still!
'Did Jasmine catch any of that?'
[System: Nope.]
'Alright, what would be the wisest choice here? Pull up to the New Moon City and snag some trash profound arts… or reach the Sky Profound Realm first and do the same later?'
[System: Dunno, do what you want.]
'... I mean, I'll be doing both either way so the order doesn't really matter. Then again, I kinda want to see Cang Yue…'
[System: Sad thing is neither of the ATG protagonists you wrote got with her. Maybe you were saving her for yourself all along?]
'Don't be absurd.'
While Rokas continued to get a better grasp of his true form alongside meditating towards the Sky Profound Realm, someone caught him lacking in the next few days. A fairy descended from the skies, although her appearance was more akin to a goddess. The curvature of her chest, their bountifulness… even Rokas in his nine-headed flood dragon couldn't help but stop and take a long look.
'GYAT… she got all the damn assets.'
"Nine-headed flood dragon, so it is true…" The fairy spoke, looking down on Rokas as she opened her palm. "Still, a beast of this strength is no threat to me."
Suddenly, the entire surrounding area grew cold and ice began to form around Rokas, slowly sealing him away.
'Damn… this isn't looking good. Since I ate the fire seed, which supposedly gives 'complete control over fire', shouldn't I be able to…'
In his time of struggle and desperation, Rokas tried to bring out the power of the Fire Seed… and it worked. All nine of his heads unleashed a hailstorm of fire, easily melting away the flames. If Rokas was in his human form, you'd see him grinning.
"..."
The fairy took a step back, flying upwards and out of reach from the flood dragon. Then, she unleashed a rain of ice spikes which plummeted down like thunder, straight towards Rokas.
'Fuck, she's cheesing my ass like I'm some trash NPC!'
The scales of the nine-headed flood dragon suddenly turned scarlet as Rokas swiftly slipped away from the area of attack. He continued slithering his way around the Scarlet Dragon Mountain Range, dodging the fairy's attacks. In the end, he managed to get into the dead Scarlet Dragon's lair.
'Alright, if you want to run my fade that badly, it's going to be in a more constricting place…'
"To think that I'm having so much trouble with a beast that is not even in the Sky Profound Realm…" The fairy frowned, following him into the lair and confidently accepting his challenge.
'Bet…'
The nine heads all focused on gathering fire while the fairy prepared a much more lethal attack of her own. After a few seconds, she unleashed a wave of ice to seal away the nine-headed flood dragon once and for all.
"Realm of Heavenly Snow Invocation!"
'BERSERK… FIRE!!!'
BOOOOOOOOOM.
~
As the dust cleared, Rokas woke right outside of the collapsed lair… naked. Fortunately, he had gotten used to taking off his clothes before transforming so he wasn't running low in that department. The fairy… looked awful. She had suffered burn marks and even fallen unconscious from the overwhelming profound energy that struck her. As for her own clothes… she was just as naked as he was!
[System: How gentle-man like to take the fairy out of the collapsing lair.]
'... Oh my god…'
Rokas turned away from her body, becoming completely flustered. He had never seen a naked beauty in person, right before him. Even if she had suffered some burn marks, she was still a complete goddess!
'Uhm… what am I even supposed to do in this situation? Wait… is she waking up? I didn't even put on my clothes yet! She can't get the wrong idea…'
As swiftly as he feasibly could, Rokas got into a set of clothes. However, when he observed the fairy once again, he realised that she was still very much unconscious.
'Phew… my luck isn't THAT bad. What the hell was she doing here, anyway? In the Blue Wind Empire, Sky Profound Realm beauties aren't all that common… could she be from the Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace?'
[System: Turns out that occupying a town led to word spreading of your shenanigans. A little tweaking from the Mirror of Samsara and you get this… how amusing.]
'The Ancestral Goddess gotta try harder than that to screw me over. Anyway… what the hell do I do here? I mean, I can't just leave her naked in the middle of nowhere. Some beast could eat her up… oh, better not to think of that.'
Rokas hesitated for a long time before sighing and gathering all of his courage to try shaking the fairy awake. His attempts, however, were all for nought. She was fast asleep!
'Fuck's sake… don't tell me I have to carry her.'
Rokas took a deep breath… swivelling his head around, observing his surroundings.
[System: Isn't this what you always wanted? You can touch her whatever way you want.]
'Are you mad??? I might be the definition of down astronomical, but I have morals!'
…
When he checked the fairy's storage ring, he found another set of snow robes and so he due diligently dressed her from top to bottom. It was an excruciatingly difficult process for him… but he managed. After that, he gathered the courage to take her into his arms and carry the fairy away somewhere safer.
He found a nice and comfy cave. Caves weren't all that bad… he had gotten used to them over the weeks. Sometimes he wondered if he was really becoming a caveman, in truth.
'Alright, that's settled.'
Rokas let out a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall as he sat down and relaxed. Using 'berserk' had taken quite a toll on his body so he needed a good break. Afterwards, he took out the Mirror of Samsara and felt the desire to break it. Unfortunately, Heavenly Treasures were not so simple.
'What if I just dump it somewhere?'
[System: Ill-advised. You must realise that bad karma eventually turns to good. Look at Xia Qingyue… she would have been rather irrelevant if fate left her in the Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace. Instead, she grew to become the Moon God Emperor!]
'... I guess.'
While the fairy slept, Rokas decided to proceed with his meditation. He got to around an hour before deciding on a snack break. Eventually, his sights turned back to the slightly burned fairy. If she was a fairy from the Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace, that meant that she was suffering under the use of the Frozen Cloud Arts…
He crawled forward a few steps, observing her beautiful face that seemed to almost glow with a warm lustre. She wasn't nearly as soul-stealing as Jasmine but she had something Jasmine could only ever dream of… those huge melons!
'...'
He lifted up his hand, wishing to give them a nice squish… but he stopped himself with his other hand.
'I'm not that shameless.'
Instead, he placed his hand on her stomach and pondered on whether or not to make use of the Sky Poison Pearl. If he did, he could open all fifty-four of her profound entrances and alleviate her from the consequences of the Frozen Cloud Arts. However… what would he have to gain from such an act?
'As beautiful as she is, it would bring too much unnecessary attention to me. Besides, it's not like I'd be repaid with anything but an excited thanks or whatever… even then, knowing these fairies, it would likely be a dry ass thanks. Not worth it at all.'
Rokas turned back to himself and continued meditating.
~
After a few more hours, the fairy slowly opened her eyes to a Rokas who was munching down a slice of pizza. Her eyes widened more rapidly before she swiftly lifted herself up, looking down on him.
"Who… are you? Where is the nine-headed flood dragon?"
"I think it collapsed under the lair…" Rokas replied, finishing off the slice and turning to the fairy as he tried his best attempt at lying. "I found you near the rubble as I was exploring… given that you were completely defenceless, I took you to safety here. Now that you're awake, I guess I can go…"
Rokas made a swift excuse to go and dip out… hoping she didn't notice his absurdly high profound strength. However, there was no escaping a keen Sky Profound Realm expert!
"The… peak of the Earth Profound Realm? How old are you?" She grabbed his shoulder.
'Fuck.'
She turned him around and observed his youthful face with a shocked expression. Rokas, meanwhile, found it hard to look her in the eye. Never mind his college crush, these types of beauties completely killed his confidence.
'I just have to waffle for a bit… and I'll be fine.'
"Sixteen," Rokas admitted, shrugging his shoulder as if it wasn't a big deal. "I come from the… Grand Asura Nation where this kind of profound strength is common at my age."
"Why are you all the way here, then?"
"Experience… of course, I've always wanted to see more of the world so I kinda used that as an excuse to leave home, hahaha." Rokas scratched his hair, waffling along. "It's been going pretty well so far for me."
"... I see. That does make sense." The fairy nodded. "For how long was I asleep?"
"A few hours… that I know of."
"These clothes… are fresh." The fairy suddenly realised, turning away from him slightly. "Last I recall, the flood dragon breathed fire onto me. Which means you…"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Rokas swiftly shook his head several times. "When I found you, you were just like that. All I did… was carry you here."
"So you did touch me."
'How else should I carry you??? Telekinesis?'
"I thought leaving you there wouldn't be right." Rokas gulped, wondering if he would suffer the wrath of a karen-type fairy. Then again, he was confident in beating her again.
"Hmph… no matter, you did it with good intentions in mind."
"If I may ask… what's your name?" Rokas wondered.
"Murong Qianxue." She replied, calm as ice.
'Ah, the second-ranked one with the best assets. No wonder…'
"... Oh, you're one of the Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace's seven fairies! Even from my hometown, I've heard all about you ladies. What they say is true… no doubt."
"And what do they say, precisely?"
"Well… they're always talking about your extraordinary strength, talent and beauty," Rokas stated rather enthusiastically.
"Talent…" The fairy scoffed, shaking her head. "In regards to talent, you would be number one in all of the Blue Wind Empire. I suppose that is the difference between my nation and yours. Anyway, I must thank you for taking care of me while I was unconscious. As for the reward… do you need anything in particular?"
"A weapon would be nice. I kinda came here without one…"
"A weapon, you say… no, I don't happen to be carrying any spares."
"Unfortunate… well, in that case, I don't really need anything." Rokas shrugged, smiling slightly. "Your thanks is more than enough for me."
"Well, I do have a few cultivation resources… these should be good enough."
Murong Qianxue took out some pills from her spatial ring and handed them over to Rokas.
"I mean…"
"Take them." She stated rather resolutely.
"Fine…"
He took them into his hands and watched as the fairy swiftly turned to leave. Once she left, he let out a massive sigh of relief.
'Now that was an arduous affair!'
~
"No sign of the nine-headed flood dragon other than a couple of scales…" Murong Qianxue frowned as she went through the rubble. "How strange."
Afterwards, she scouted around the Scarlet Dragon Mountain Range but found nothing of interest. In the end, she decided not to waste any more time loitering around and left.
…
Meanwhile, Rokas was swiftly making his way to the New Moon City since his cultivation spot had been compromised.
'No matter how clever she is, a demon in the Profound Sky Continent is far too much of a stretch… still, more people might try and come to hunt me.'
"I see what you tried to do back there, you perverted fiend. Taking advantage of an asleep woman, hmph… you truly have the elegance of a mountain dweller." Jasmine remarked.
"I'm not a… you know what, fine. What should I have done? Left her naked in the open?"
"Well…"
"That's what I thought." Rokas shrugged his shoulders. "Some women seem to love their bodies so much that they'd rather die than be touched a little. It's absurd."
'I'm looking at the karens who claim rape when a mf saved them from drowning!'
"Of course, someone like you would say that. Anyway… what progress have you made?"
"Your Star God's Broken Shadow was far too complex for me…"
Jasmine chuckled, shaking her head in contempt. "It is as I thought, you are rather talentless. Perverted, lacking in wisdom and slow… what shall this princess ever do with a host like you?"
'First of all, maybe hop off my dick?'
"Nothing. Just because the current me is unable to learn it… does not mean that I never will."
"As a master, I really should take some responsibility for my disciple's lack of talent…" Jasmine remarked, stroking her chin. "I will produce a much simpler profound movement skill that even you can learn."
"... Really?"
"As long as you keep your word and bring me the resources that I require in the future." Jasmine nodded. "Besides, your battle power is laughable. You rely on your demon form for every challenging battle… and that will only get you so far, in the end."
"You're the best…" Rokas smiled slightly as he praised. "Besides, what's your name? You haven't told me that quite yet."
"Hmph… this princess' name is Jasmine."
"Jasmine is a pretty name." Rokas remarked. "Rather fitting… actually."
"... I have no use for your flattery."
"I was being very honest… but alright."
[Jasmine (Fortune X) Confidant Rank: 1 → 2]
~
Compared to the Demon Imperial City, the New Moon City was laughably small in scale. More over, just by being a peak Earth Profound Realm 'expert', Rokas could easily mow through pretty much everyone there. The first thing he did was look around for the New Moon Profound Palace… and, after some traversing, he found the entrance. However, he was met with a frown.
"Sorry, we're not taking in any new disciples at this time. You're going have to wait till next year."
'I can body your strongest instructor and you're telling me to wait till next year? Kinda mad.'
Rokas rolled his eyes and walked past the disciples.
"Wait… stop! You can't enter!"
He ignored them and kept walking.