The village head, together with the village's elders advanced towards Maren with obvious apprehension apparent on their faces.
"Sir... Cultivator?"
"That would be me then."
Maren decided to lessen the tension in the atmosphere by replying half-jokingly in a soft voice. He saw some value in the little village, as he would need some mortal helpers in the future when he'd raise up his business. He didn't plan on doing the dirty work by himself, it was just beneath him.
The villagers' bodies straightened up as he unconsciously released a slight amount of pressure whilst not concentrating.
The village head gave a deep bow when he heard Maren not denying the title.
"I hereby want to thank you, Sir Cultivator, for saving my daughter Sea from those thugs."
He spat out the last two words with hatred evident in his tone.
"But..."
It was obviously hard for the man to go ahead and finish his sentence, as he knew he could probably offend the unknown cultivator with his next question.
"...Sir Cultivator, what about my son!"
Tears welled up in the grown man's eyes. He was under a lot of pressure recently due to his two children just disappearing from the village with a notice that they'd be back in half a day. But even after two entire days passed by, they had not returned. As a father, he couldn't help but blame himself for neglecting his children, resulting in them running away from home.
Seeing her father's expression succumbing to anxiety and fear about the fate of his son, Sea wanted to speak up and make the situation clear, but before she could talk, Maren waved his hands.
"Don't worry my friend, I've already sent my two disciples to help with the matter regarding your son. They are guarded by a strand of my Soulforce, and should anything happen to them it would let me know immediately and I'd rush over. But as of now, I can ensure your son's safety. They should arrive back at the village in a few days."
The village head's face was instantly filled with delight.
"Thank you, thank you Sir Immortal, I will never forget that favor."
*DING*
Mission objective fulfilled:
Name: "Getting started, hello world it's me"
Description: Find a way to contact the natives, form a relationship with them and choose an appropriate place to create your base.
Steps completed: (2/3)
Reward(s): 500 Shopping points, Beginner's Bag (lootable), Mantled in Night Skies (Guiding-Type Qi Technique)
Hearing the system's notification Maren felt quite surprised.
'That was easier than I expected.'
The village head, still drowning in happiness, got sober after an elder walked up to him and whispered something into his ear. After the elder finished the village head shot Maren an approving glance.
"Sir Cultivator, you said your disciples still needed a few more days to arrive here?"
"Yes."
"Then, Sir Cultivator, please, we'll give you our best house for you to stay in."
The village head wanted to show his gratitude to Maren, but the latter just dismissed the idea.
"It's not necessary."
Hearing his reply the village head started to pale, thinking he had done something wrong and offended the Cultivator.
Seeing the man having feelings of worry again, Maren explained,
"I'll continue to roam around in the vicinity of the village, I'm still quite unfamiliar with the area after all, but should my disciples come back you can offer them the rooms."
With those words he turned and walked out of the village entrance, not giving a second look behind. But inwardly he was sneering
'I basically have the entire village in my palm now, with a little bit of guidance it'll become my first loyal asset. Only I still don't have and idea on how to use it properly. If I'd find some uses for it soon, that would be for the best.'
While thinking, he turned towards the mountains.
'I'll build my base in there so I should search for a good location. Settling near the wine brewing apes would probably be beneficial in future expansions.'
He started walking around the mountain range at a leisurely speed, occasionally finding some strange plants, or hidden caves. Unknowingly he ventured deep into the forest, and the animal noises he heard before were turning quieter, with birds only occasionally letting out cries. The atmosphere gradually turned gloomy, and some mist seeped through the dense trees.
-Information: Following-Ascension aura detected in the vicinity of [Host]
'Hm?'
Maren snapped out of his thoughts. He looked around wondering where his two legs brought him while he was daydreaming. A few hundred feet in front of him was a small hill, with an unnormal looking pine-tree on top. He saw something glimmering in the twigs of the tree, but couldn't determine was it was, as he was distracted by the giant snake currently glaring at him from top of the hill. Looking closer, the snake actually had a pair of shining white claws which it used to assume a threatening stance aimed at Maren. Judging by the claws it might actually not be a snake, a type of lizard maybe, or was it a dragon? Anyway, it didn't really matter to Maren, as at this moment the system gave him a piece of information about the tree on top of the hill.
-Information: Extremely rare type of spiritual fruit detected.
Name: Celestial's Blood
Description: Celestial's Blood is a type of artificial spiritual fruit, created by severing the foundation of a Stairs-Ascension Realm Cultivator, resulting in the Cultivator falling a minor Realm, and planting it in soil nourished by the Cultivators blood. After 66 years the tree will bear fruit which can allow the Cultivator to reach the peak of Stairs-Ascension again, letting him feel the strings of Reality, making the breakthrough to Reality's-Fabric easier.
The tree will bear a lesser version of the fruit every 2 years, which can help Perfection-Practitioner Cultivators hear Heaven's Call, allowing the possibility of an earlier breakthrough to Calling-Ascension. The pollen released while blooming help Cultivators in Perfection-Practitioner Realm and below solidify their foundation, making them stronger than average Cultivators in the same realm.
Hearing the description of this divine tree, Maren's eyes shone with incredible greed. wasn't this tree basically a cheat for an entire sect?
'No wonder this lizard was guarding it, it's probably their tree. Well, it was.'
Thinking up to this point, Maren started to release his Aura. While he never cultivated, the level he got from his father was more than enough to scare the shit out of the snake. When the fluctuations reached the monster, it abruptly spat blood and fell to the ground. Since when did a divine being let some puny Ascension-Realm small fry threaten it?
The only reason the snake didn't instantly die was that Maren still saw uses for it, and hence restricted the violent aura he had. The snake knew that too and instantly changed their form into a muscular, middle-aged man with scales all over his body.
The man jumped down the hill and landed before Maren. He cupped his hands, and while bowing was measuring up the Cultivator that nearly killed him just now. When he saw that Maren was a 17-year-old youth he nearly wanted to kill himself in shame. While a Cultivator's life would be prolonged with every minor Realm he reached, that didn't mean time would just stop for him. The Cultivator's body would still age, just slower. Considering that, Maren's youthful look meant that he reached the Divinity-Realm in no time at all, a feat not even heard of in legends.
"I greet the young master Expert."
He definitely had to butter up this expert standing before him, it might just open up a few chances for him in the future. He certainly felt a sting in his heart thinking about losing his hard-earned chance to obtain a breakthrough but brushed the thought aside. Maren could obviously read the intentions of the man by his body language.
"Hum hum, I'm quite surprised to find such a strong being here on this island, very surprised indeed."
Maren of course, wouldn't say anything against obtaining some powerful subordinate, and thus chose a neutral tone.
"It's nothing Sir Expert, I'm just here to find myself the opportunity to breakthrough without getting disturbed. May I ask what leads Sir Expert to this remote place?"
"I decided to open up a.. sect, after my closed door Cultivation."
Maren obviously couldn't tell the snake that he was reincarnated and just sought some fun. Hearing his words the man wasn't really surprised, as he guessed the reason beforehand. While there was no major power with knowledge of this place yet, it was only a matter of time for them to find a place filled with nature aura like this. If he could accidentally stumble across the island, so could they. He instantly decided to submit to the being in front of him.
"May I ask Sect leader to initiate my humble self into the sect?"
It wouldn't hurt him to join a sect lead by a Divinity-Realm Cultivator, even it did not have an established sect ground yet.
"No, not at all, I've been thinking about asking you to join the moment I saw you. What's your name, snake?"
The snakeman didn't take any offense by Maren's casual attitude.
"It's Ato, sect leader."
"Then, Ato, let's perform a soulbind."
Ato's eyes instantly lit up with the same light Mark and Tori's eyes had back then. After the blue flash of the systems soulbind, he decided to ask about Maren's future plans.
"Where do you plan to build your sect grounds, sect leader?"
"Wouldn't here be great?"
Maren chuckled after seeing the anxious expression of Ato.
"Don't worry, I wouldn't take away the fruit of my sect elder's work, Celestial's Blood isn't useful for me anyway."
Ato released a sigh of relief.
"Thank you very much, sect leader."
Then, some system notifications rang out.
*DING*
Mission objective fulfilled:
Name: "Getting started, hello world it's me"
Description: Find a way to contact the natives, form a relationship with them and choose an appropriate place to create your base.
Steps completed: (3/3)
Reward(s): 500 Shopping points, Beginner's Bag (lootable), Mantled in Night Skies (Guiding-Type Qi Technique)
--QUEST COMPLETED-- Rewards obtainable at every time convenient to the [Host]
*DING*
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Name: [Maren Sente]
Nickname: [None] (Information: Forged name, available to fake documents and the like)
Public Title: [None]
Alternative Title: [Crime Boss (Stats copied from former Host, can be hidden)] | [Mafioso (Charisma +3, can be hidden)]
Hidden Title: [Transmigrator (Charisma towards Expert-level figures +1] [VIP-customer, can trade valuables with the System)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level: 113
Cultivation: [None]
(Information: [Can emit up to Reality-Fabric Fluctation])
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inner Qi: Formed
Outer Qi: Formed
Material Qi: Formed
Heaven's Lantern: Formed
Intelligence: 11
Qi: 15
Strength: 9
Agility: 9
Charisma: 3 (+3 (+1 [Special Circumstances]))
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Recruited Personnel: Mark - Cultivation [Mortal Realm, Level 2, high aptitude for [Ascension-Realm]
Tori - Cultivation [Mortal Realm, Level 1, high aptitude for [Ascension-Realm]
Ato - Cultivation [Following-Ascension Realm, Level 88, lesser aptitude for
[Divinity Realm]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*DING*
Completed Hidden Objective:
Description: Your first recruited Sect Elder is in the Ascension Realm
Rewards: Butterfly-Knife 5x
Assassination Weapon
Infused with Divinity-Inscription: Clouded Night (The wielder's presence will get harder to notice and the weapon's presence is completely hidden)
Seeing the System's reward he was surprised but chuckled slightly about getting the all so familiar weapon.
'I guess I'll have to polish my skills then.'
After getting an Item from earth, he was full of anticipation of the future, Although his shopping points weren't nearly enough, the fantasy of riding a Ghosthawk helicopter to an Immortal gathering amused him so much that he had to laugh out loudly, scaring the shit out of Ato.