章節 44: Pay On Delivery
Returning to his room, Li Ao took a moment to change his clothes and sat on his bed. The window was shut. The blue light from the hallway reached out under the door.
Qi circulated within his meridians and flesh, pumping them with fresh blood. A few minutes passed.
Calmed down, he looked up.
''What are these?''
There were three notifications blinking in front of him.
Curious, Li Ao opened the first one.
*Unlocked: Fast Travel*
*Fast Travel: Enables agents to travel to any realm at a certain cost*
*Unlock Condition: Leave behind enough Core Memories to travel (1 Core Memory per 100 billion Kilometers)*
*Available Realms: Six Fold Immortal Domain(3000 UC), Four Mountains Realm(0 UC)*
Li Ao blankly stared at the screen.
''...I can go back?''
His eyes lit up.
''Holy shit I can go back!''
He roared in laughter for a few moments, then cleared his throat.
''Let's be composed...but still.''
He understood what Core Memories served for now.
He also understood how broken of a thing it was.
What was special about Core Memories? Why could they 'enable' him, or make the system 'willing' to enable him travel 100 Billion kilometers away?
What kind of a distance was 100 billion kilometers anyway?
Were people truly so distant from each other?
Li Ao felt his mind turn a little numb.
''Is that a counter?''
When he clicked on Six-Fold Immortal Domain, he saw two other sentences.
*Core Memories In Existence: 31*
*Soul Memories In Existence: 5*
''What's a soul memory?''
Perhaps it would have some use later down the line. For now, Li Ao was just glad he had a way to go back without relying on missions.
''Does that mean I'm encouraged to form relationships?''
His face darkened.
''I won't be able to go back if there is no one I know left, then, right?''
Thinking for a few moments, Li Ao shook his head. Since he decided to take a break, he would think about these matters when he needed to.
And again, 3000 Universal Coins weren't that big of a number. Especially with his current cultivation.
If he could pick up a mission requiring him to eliminate some people, he could gather it in no time.
In that regard, he became curious about second-grade missions' rewards. If just first-grade missions could reward some 2000 high-grade spirit stones, what would the higher grades give?
''Senior Dogshit once mentioned skills and perks as rewards. What kind are they?''
After fantasizing about some divine sparks and magical arts, Li Ao wiped his drool and clicked on the second notification.
*Obtained Title: Fist Of Men*
*Fist Of Men: A newly emerging agent with righteousness. Grants the title holder 'Blessing of Men', increasing favorability in the eyes of others. Unlocks 'Log Panel'.*
*Unlocked: Log Panel*
*Log Panel: A comprehensive summary of the mission that can be viewed; detailing acquired information, current mission difficulty evaluation, and current mission evaluation percentage.*
*Unlocked Perquisite Condition For a Perk—Shepherd(2nd grade perk)*
*Shepherd: A symbol of selfless saints. Grants the title holder 'Blessing Of Mercy'. Unlocks 'Karma Sight'.*
*Karma Sight: Allows one to see basic karma of a person.*
*[Perk Conditions] (1/2)*
*1- Aid Two Thousand People In Need (542[+]/2000) [X]*
*2- Leave Behind a Soul Memory (2/2) [O]*
*Equip Available Title?*
It took Li Ao a few minutes to digest everything he read.
Then, he began dancing around the room again, clapping like a monkey.
Two minutes later, clearing his throat, he sat down.
''Equip!''
With his shout, he felt something flow right into his dantian. Spooked, Li Ao closed his eyes and sent his Divine Sense into his dantian.
The dantian was like a hole within the body, a small pond that housed Qi in liquid form. Meridians spread out of it like riverbeds and, alongside blood vessels, rounded the body in a wide network of lines.
After using more than a dozen 100% purity pills, Li Ao's dantian was at least ten percent bigger than those of the same realm.
At the center of this network, Li Ao saw a very faint green mist, almost incorporeal.
''Isn't this Heaven's Blessing?''
This green mist seemed similar to the green halo around Heaven's Children. Except, its aura was rather weak and he couldn't even budge the mist no matter how hard he tried.
A little intrigued, Li Ao left his room to find Li Ru and Li Nan, the most easily offended among the family.
Ten minutes later, he returned with burns in his hair and a red fan mark on his cheeks.
''Despicable bullies! Who said it increased favorability!?''
Sitting down, frustrated, Li Ao looked at the Log Panel.
He could access it through the Missions tab. Beside the floating portraits of the missions, which he now saw four left, there was a parchment he could grab.
Once he touched it, a panel opened in front of his eyes.
*Past Logs:*
*—Protecting Heaven's Child!*
*—Investigate The Missing Disciples!*
*—Envoy In Danger!*
*Current Log: None*
Curious, he clicked on the latest log.
A wall of text appeared in front of him—most of it notifications he received during the mission. Only, after his latest kill, there was a different notification.
*Mission Difficulty Evaluation Change: Hell-> Easy*
There were seven difficulty grades: Minimal, Easy, Laborious, Hard, Hell, Improbable, and Fateful.
The change should have happened around when they entered First Capital.
''We made the right choice, then.''
Nodding to himself, Li Ao closed everything and took a deep breath. After absorbing too much exposition at once, he needed some time to get back his bearings.
Some time later, Li Ao clicked on the last notification.
*One New Mail!*
*Rene Bruno/3rd-Rank Agent(1 Attachment)*
*Title: Answer Regarding Your Complaints*
*Mail: Universe's blessings upon you. Let me begin by apologizing, little friend.*
*From your writing, I could feel the deep grievances you must have felt, as well as your trauma.*
*It was a mistake on my part that has caused you to suffer, and you can rest assured I will not repeat such a mistake in my future endeavours. On the other hand, I am deeply impressed by the accuracy of your report. You have my praise.*
*As for your asked compensation; Being tangled with a third-grade mission, I cannot spare much of my capital. There are too many lives dependent on my performance.*
*Instead, I hope you will be pleased with my little gift. I do believe it will be beneficial to your breakthrough to Nascent Soul. Then, if you are still willing, I'd like to commission you for a few other missions—you seem to be just next to the source of the time anomaly I am investigating.*
*As such, it would be greatly appreciated if you could aid me further in investigating the source. Even if you don't, it is all fine. This is a matter for senior agents like us to solve.*
*Do let me know about your decision once you reach second-rank. With respect— Rene Bruno, Director Of Bruno Space Logistics Committee Of Expansion*
*This is not an automated message!*
*Mail Attachment: Genetically Engineered Bruno Brand Nascent Soul Tablet (Mass-Produced) (Pill Purity %97)*
*Receive Attachment?*
Li Ao scratched his cheeks.
''...he took it seriously?''
Li Ao read the letter again and again, then once he could wrap his mind around the whole matter let out a deep sigh.
Li Ao was honest. He didn't think of himself as a very smart person.
But even then he could sense something wrong with this letter. He wasn't really sure why his report was praised, or whether Rene Bruno truly wanted to repent.
From browsing the universal store for a long time, Li Ao had expanded his horizons much too far compared to his fellow peers. He knew how small a thing he was compared to the wide, desolate space that he lived in.
As such, he harboured deep suspicion about Rene Bruno's interest in him.
He was a nobody.
He was just a single, young man out of sixteen billion other agents.
His comment on Li Ao being closer to the anomaly was something he didn't really trust either.
Who could say it wasn't a side-along comment to make him worried? To make him invested in this investigation matter?
Again, Li Ao wasn't smart, but he definitely wasn't stupid. If this person could think of his life as a mere tool to be used once, then he wouldn't hesitate to do it twice.
In the end, Li Ao only had doubts and no conclusions.
Still, having some compensation made the whole affair better.
''Should I call senior dogshit?''
After a moment, Li Ao decided against it. Not because he wanted to do something stupid like hiding it, but simply because the man was too busy.
He also had a long time before reaching Nascent Soul.
When the time presented itself, he would let Klein know about the matter.
Planting his finger on the 'Receive' button, Li Ao saw a red light flash in his eye.
*Balance Insufficient!*
*Delivery fee: 1200 Universal Coins(1 Coin=10 Billion kilometers)*
''...you motherfucker!''
*********
When he calmed down, Li Ao spent a week with his cousins, getting wasted each and every night, eating cakes and snacks he received at the Bai Dynasty, and another week with his grandpa and Aunt Shu.
The duo took him out to sightsee the Southern Frontier, which wasn't much of a place to sightsee but a battlefront against Dragon Worshippers.
Unfortunately, Aunt Shu wasn't a free person by any means—she had a duty to supervise the Outer Space and make sure no stray asteroids or corrupted remains struck the world.
Once her colleague contacted to complain, she left the estate. With her departure, his grandpa returned to the palace to oversee the ongoing investigation regarding missing Demonic Emperors, So Li Ao also holed up inside his room.
'I should begin my preparations...'
Thinking so, he cast a look at the wobbling Bubbles. She tried to climb up a dresser only using her limb-shaped appendages.
Only, she couldn't grab onto things without any fingers.
With a small bubbling, she plopped on the ground, then picked herself back up to try again.
Sighing, Li Ao waved his hand and several dozen jade bottles appeared in front of him. Then, taking out the bag Zhu Qiu gave him, Li Ao poured out the contents alongside the others.
''200 8th-grade Blood Replenishment Pills, 100 7th-grade Blood Enhancing Pills, 60 7th-grade Misty Qi Pills, 10 7th-grade Bone Strengthening pills, 400 high-grade Spirit Stones...''
At this point, Li Ao had a certain immunity to Blood Replenishment Pills. They did little to aid his bodily cultivation, but still provided some energy to progress.
Blood Enhancing pills, the ones from Zhu Qiu, could help him reach the 6th Tempering, then perhaps even push him into completing the first tempering of the Silver Body.
Misty Qi Pills were Qi gathering Pills for Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Just one of them could push him back into Thirteenth level of Qi Condensation, while five would help him reach Foundation Establishment at an instant.
However, that would do him no good.
What he wanted to reach was not a silver or Gold foundation, but a Violet Foundation!
To increase the grade of a foundation, one needed simply a single factor: Qi!
With enough Qi, even a dog could have a Violet Foundation.
Of course, to people with enough talent, achieving it would require a thousandth of Qi any dog would use.
As such, there was another question Li Ao had in mind.
''Is there a quality above Violet?''
Common sense dictated that there should be.
After all, when browsing through cultivation arts and what not, Li Ao didn't just see his cultivation system.
Some arts required strange forces called Mana, Astral Energy, Ghuch, or whatever name it was—and many of them had their own quality systems as well. Circles, Veins, Genetic Locks, Third Eyes...there were too many prerequisites and whatnot.
He simply didn't believe that within that rich ecosystem, Violet Foundation was the ceiling of what he could reach.
The only source he could learn the truth was, of course, Senior Dogshit.
For now, Li Ao decided to achieve the most he could with Rick's Body Tempering, then contact the man to begin his real preparations.
With that thought in mind, Li Ao looked at Bone Strengthening Pills and his Spirit Stones.
Bone Strengthening Pills could improve the density and durability of bones—even Core Formation Cultivators could use them to gain a little boost to their strength.
Li Ao received a few of them before. Apart from his bigger dantian and tempered body, this pill also contributed to his combat strength, which enabled him to go toe to toe with Heaven's Children.
These ten could push him to another level—the effect could be counted as another re-tempering of the Bronze Body.
And with the 400 high-rank Spirit Stones, he would buy anything else he needed on the way.
After making inventory twice, Li Ao brought out Qing Yan's gift—the formation base.
In tow with his formation flags, Li Ao spread them around the room and created a 7-th grade gathering formation.
The jade pills unscrewed open in the air and Blood Replenishment Pills fell into the formation.
Making a hand seal, his Qi shattered them, then the formation melted them into swirling scarlet liquids.
Right then, something tickled Li Ao's divine sense.
Frowning, Li Ao watched trickles of Hell Thunder seep from the formation base. Crackling, scarlet tendrils of thunder shot into the liquid pills in a flash.
A few moments later, the scarlet liquid turned deeper in color.
To his surprise, the traces of Hell Thunder could further purify these pills!
It looked unimportant, but even an increase of one point would bring benefits.
His mood improved, Li Ao drank the liquid and began tempering his body...
創作者的想法 
TheMonkeyMonk
TheMonkeyMonk Exposition! Lots of exposition! Too much Exposition...?
Why, this is a trash cultivation novel!
Of course you will have to suffer through at least 200 chapters of meandering!
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