Crunch, crunch, I heard the snow sound out as Tao Fang and I made our way back to our current residence.
Neither of us spoke as we walked. Honestly, Tao Fang being my maid/servant rarely spoke, so it was usually me that initiated a topic.
Crunch, crunch, came the sound from our feet meeting the slowly falling ice crystals.
I was unaware of the planet's trajectory around the Sun or its orbital rotation speed, hence I have no idea if the days and nights are of the same numbers as they had been on Earth.
From my general sense of time, that I had gotten used to and to which I felt was similar to Earth, today's and yesterday's events took about three to four hours. With today's taking longer as the previous generation had taken to the stage.
The annual tournament was separated into two parts.
The first one is for the newest initiates and the second one for the previous ones. It stayed that way for four years and changed on the fifth one, I was told.
Every five years one generation enters and leaves.
To make it more memorable for those that just entered, those who graduate put on a compelling show. By displaying their might not only to the recruits but also to those that trained them, they leave behind this chapter of life and enter a new one.
The chapter of adulthood in a cultivator's world of Strength is King.
It was an event that I will have to wait at least 3 years to see, but if it is close to anything I have seen today, it will be a good show.
Crunch, crunch, we made our way to the warmth.
Thicker and multiple layers of silk clothing did not spare us from the cold as I and my maid might have wished and a warm residence along with a warm dinner is the only thing that could free us of the chill we had.
Once we fed our stomachs and warmed our bodies by the hearth in my bedroom I spoke.
" Tao Fang, we both enjoyed the show that much I can tell, but tell me something? " I say to her. " What do you think of them, if you consider the fact that you are a Cultivator, even if only at the very start of its journey. "
" Miss? " I saw her puzzled eyes watch me before they started shifting left and right, up and down as is so common for humans who are recalling memories and thinking about them.
I let her. There was no need to rush such things. She was just starting on such a path, after all.
Being exposed to such masterful fighting skills in both hand-to-hand combat and weapons combat does change one's perspective of things.
I know because it did mine.
Yet, all those skills gained over years of effort can not hide the truth of the World in which we live in.
Blood, violence, and brutality are the three most common things all Cultivators had to experience.
Either one will experience all three on one's journey of ascension into Immortality, as it's commonly called, or become emancipated from the scars one obtains while seeking it.
Whatever happened to me on Earth might not have been any of those three, but sometimes it is their absence that is the problem and not the cause.
In this new life, I would fight for whatever fancies my emotional investment, but I could not say the same of my servant.
Will she accept and serve me for her whole life or will she change after she has experienced all those things?
" Miss, every commoner knows not to cross a Cultivator. " She stated. " They have strength and speed that no mortal will ever have. They have mystical arts and were said to summon fire and lightning if you angered them. " That I have yet to see. " No matter what a commoner desires, when we cross them, we can only bow our heads and hope that nothing bad happens. Like a natural disaster that we could do nothing about and when it does happen, we can only beg on our knees for their mercy. "
" I can finally understand the tales my parents told me. " She said with a forlorn expression. " It was only by becoming a Cultivator ourselves that we had any chance to fight for our Destiny. Those who enter a sect are the lucky ones. Not everybody can be lucky, so in exchange for safety, we enter servitude if we can not become cultivators. That is why those doing evil have to first consider to whom we belonged before doing their evil deeds and if they do them, then at least we know that we would be avenged as the one thing we commoners know is that disregard a Cultivators reputation, and the group to whom they belong to, is the same as seeking death in return. "
" I see. The stronger those they serve the safer they are. Usually, that is. Sometimes it's those that are served that forget their duty and abuse those that serve. And when it does happen it's better to sacrifice the few for the benefit of the many, is it not? " I muse at the wording and she nodded.
" When I was told I would become Miss's servant I hoped that I would be given a chance to Cultivate. I tried my best to serve you at the beginning but as time passed that hope vanished and I still considered myself lucky. Being under the Yu Clan is a fortune in itself and, and. "
She stuttered so I finished for her. " And now you can not only cultivate but, it will be something very unique to you. "
" Yes, Miss. " She nodded, multiple times. For a few seconds, I imagined she would cry too in gratitude. Sadly I saw none of those.
' Better that she does not cry now, she will in the future. '
" Good. That being the case, consider this. " I chuckled a bit at what I was about to say. " Good Fortune seldom comes alone. For every bit of Fortune, you gained by being in the right place at the right time, you will have to pay the price of keeping that Fortune. Do you have an idea of how to pay for that fortune? "
That took her down a peg. I noticed immediately, how her face went from sheer joy to panic. It took her a few seconds to find a way to answer my question.
She stood up and kneeled to the ground with her head hitting the cold floor. " I, Tao Fang, Swear by theeeeee. "
She grunted as my phantom's hand appeared behind her and with its fingers stopped her from uttering any more words.
The phantom's hand was sized proportionally to fit her mouth, similar to how an adult's hand covered a child's mouth plus cheek. I knew she panicked. Through the hand, I could sense her facial muscle structure and how it spasmed as they tried to convey her emotions.
With a thought, the hand raised her head so that her eyes could look upon mine, instead of starting on the floor
Still, I glared at her for a few seconds before speaking.
" Firstly. You, Tao Fang, are already paying the price of cultivating by using a brand new Mantra, at least I think it is. Who knows if it exists somewhere else in the World. Anyway, by being a test subject you are and will be paying the price of that as long as you stay alive. Understood? "
Seeing the nod I continue.
" Secondly. I, Yu Jiao, daughter of Clan Leader Yu Liwei, do not need an Oath and I do not want an Oath from you. " I let that echo in her head for a few seconds, as I glared at her before the real thoughts rolled out of my mouth.
Once I saw the signs that they did, I continued. " If I need an Oath, to enforce your servitude to me as your better in this Cultivator Society of Master and Servant, it would mean that I do not have the skills needed to gain your service in exchange for your labor. and would have to rely on an outside force just to trust you. No, I will not let that happen. Our relationship will be based on Trust and Truth. "
Seeing her slight confusion at the terms that I used, I explained. " From me, you can expect Trust. That I will have your best interests in heart and that I will not abuse our relationship as Master and Servant. In exchange, I expect Truth from you. Meaning that there will be no lies and betrayals. But most of all, I expect that every time you have any problems or grievances, you will be honest with me about them. So that we can address them and fix them. "
Another dramatic pause to let that sink deeper before continuing.
" In the future, if there comes a time that we can not see eye to eye as Master and Servant, or that I have failed your expectations of Me in any way, you can seek to disband our relationship. There will be no repercussions if the problem is from my side. We will see how it will go if it comes from your side but I doubt short of anything but straight out betrayal will not change much. " There I stopped again, as we glared at each other, but in my mind, I considered if I had forgotten anything to say in regards to our relationship.
Not finding anything at the moment I come to the end. " Thirdly, I still have not said what the price is for that Good Fortune you had by being in the right place at the right time. Remember this and engrain it into your memory. The price you have to pay will be your excellence in whatever you do. Whether it be your servant duties, your cultivation, or your combat skills, I want you to give your all in favor of those three things. Is that understood? "
Seeing the clarity in her eyes at all the things I declared I saw her nod.
Nodding in return I release my phantom's hand and stand up. By her side, I picked her up by the clothes and pulled her up.
At first, she tried to stop me but I held firmly and pulled her up.
SLAP
With a light slap of my phantom hand on her back, I spoke again. " Straighten that spine. Remember what I said to you not long ago. I do not want you to bow down to anyone, including me. If you feel awkward at not doing it at all, I will allow a small one, with your head and shoulders. But no more and none of that kneeling on the floor. I dislike it. If somebody forces you due to higher cultivation, come to me and I will have them pay the price. Is that understood? "
Currently, she is bigger than me so I had to stare upwards at her when I saw the nod. " Repeat what I said. "
" I, Tao Fang, as Miss's servant, will not bow to anybody. If I am forced by anybody I will seek Miss to enact revenge for the slight that was done upon me. " She stated and I nodded.
Still, when I looked into those eyes I knew they frowned and she had a question to ask.
With a little nudge from my side, she spoke. " Miss, I know you're doing this for me. But, what if, what if I stumble upon an Official of the State? Or maybe somebody from the Imperial Palace? "
" Hmm, that is an excellent point. " I said to her.
Tilting my head as I considered such a situation I reply to such a scenario. " You… will bow to them of course. Now before that contradicts my previous words, listen first. If such a situation arises, you will bow but it will be considered a forceful action upon my servant, meaning you will tell me if it happens. As such I will try my best to make amends for you. "
" Even if it's the Emperor? " She asked, a bit stupefied.
I could guess her thought line. ' Who would dare to go against the Emperor. It would be instant treason and numerous people would rush to kill the offender. '
" Yes, even him. Just don't expect such an amendment from him any time soon. Frankly, until I became a one-man… I mean a one-woman army, do not expect it to happen at all. "
" Umm, understood, Miss. " Finally acknowledging all that I said, she answered. From her expression, I could notice that my words touched her deeply.
" Miss, this servant thanks you for the Trust laid upon me. I will strive to serve you to the best of my abilities. " With a small bow of her head and shoulders, she said.
" Good. "
Finally done with that, I laid back in my seat by the hearth. It wasn't that big but it did warm up the bedroom enough. Best of all, after inquiring if there was a way to warm up the bed, Tao Fang had told me about a neat little thing.
Since the hearth is fueled by coal, it is possible to pick a few good chunks of coal that were neither too hot nor cold and encase them into a bed warmer, as it is called.
It looks like a durable double-sided frying pan, that I used for pancakes in my past life.
It wasn't anything good-looking but simple enough that it was easy to use and easy enough to make if you had a decent hearth and enough metal and coal.
Since I was from a rich household, in this world, it was easy to get both for the whole winter. " Prepare the bed warmer and after that prepare yourself. We will need to do another Qi recharge session for you. "
Seeing the blush appear on her face, I knew she could hardly wait.
Once she had the contraption, she sifted through the coal inside it and picked the right chunks, she placed them inside. Once they were inside, the contraption that would heat the metal just enough was placed under the layers of leather and cloth that made up my bed.
' It's a shame, this bed has no pockets of space inside it. If it had it, then the bed warmer could stay for much longer instead of just warming up the layers of leather and cloth. Still, better than nothing. '
Leaving it like that for a bit, time passed and it was time to cake ourselves inside the bed.
The Qi recharge is a simple exercise.
Me and Tao Fang, under the bed, doing some naughty stuff before sleep takes us.
***
Morning came, and it took but a small rustling of the bed cover to wake me.
Tao Fang, as a servant, was used to waking up super early and doing servant stuff.
I, on the other hand, would love nothing more than to continue sleeping but if it was early enough for a servant to wake up, then it was early enough for Gao Junjie to call for me if he wanted.
Uncurling my body I uncovered the bed cover and shivered from the cold.
These wooden houses did not have the heat insulation I was so used to, back there.
These moments where I had to choose between the comforts of warmth and sleep versus the cold of the harsh outside world, did not make it easy.
There was always that voice in my head telling me to stay.
Still, I had to get up.
With another shiver caused by cold water hitting my face as a wake-up call, I fully woke up.
Layering myself with clothes I made my way to the back of the house.
Once there, I saw the thick layer of snow. Yet the sight didn't get to me as it did back on Earth.
" Haha. " Seeing this sight I had no choice but to chuckle slightly. " Behold my Powers you White Fiend of Cold and, and Wakeiness. " With a thought, I summoned the hands of my phantom.
Next, I had them enlarged to about one meter in width and three times that in length. and have them shovel the snow out of the way.
Once I had a nice enough clearing of undisturbed space for my practice, I considered my routine. ' Usually, I do The Heavy Fist first, to steady my body first thing in the morning, but I think The Power Fist for warming the body is a better choice. Then The Fluid Fist maintains the motion and the Heavy Fist for the finisher. '
" Ok, let's do this. " I say and engage my body.
It was after I was doing my third rotation that the sun finally showed itself on the horizon. With its warmth, I finished my current routine.
Steadying my breath I looked around me. The circular, if much wider, absence of snow on the practice ground, made me trigger a memory of a certain old man that practiced in similar conditions for years.
Shaking that memory away I replace it with a different one. One that was much fresher and this one had happened to me. It was yesterday's fights that I observed.
The first thing that those memories bring forth is the sound, unlike the pictures that I imagined I would.
Clang, clang, the sounds echoed in the memories as a sword beat on a sword.
The fighters' moves were less fancy than shown in movies that I was used to. There were no fancy twirls and only methodical movements of the body and the sharp tools that could be seen.
They faced each other, unsheeted their swords and the clangs sounded as the swords hit each other.
It was closer to the choreography seen in the good movies but the problem is those were fake.
I remember watching a show on real swordsmanship and swords hitting each other like that is a bad, bad thing.
Not only are they prone to chipping if used like that constantly, but they are also prone to break if the force behind the swing and the object that they are hitting is hard enough.
Yet, that is what happened in front of my eyes. Their sounds echoed and echoed as their wielders used every motion they knew and their bodies trained to execute. And when a winner was declared all they did was sheath back their weapons.
In my eyes, I saw no worry about the swords in their users. There were only two possibilities of such a thing happening.
Either they had magical swords, of which I had no doubt existed, or they could reinforce their weapons with Qi to maintain their structure during combat, or at the least mitigate the amount of damage they took.
An interesting thing is that almost all of them, of those that used weapons, used swords.
In this case being the one-handed double-edged sword of between 50 cm to around 80cm, if my eyes saw it correctly.
Those that did not use the Jian=sword, used variants of the said sword, like the Dao's single-edged sword of similar length, or sabers, which are curved single-edged swords.
The other variant was the larger cousin, the two-handed version.
A few used spears and the staff. Another few had gauntlets.
' Swords reign supreme, it seems. '
Shifting away from the weapons I consider the speed and power those fighters had displayed.
Being in their sixth year, all of them were still in the Qi Gathering stage yet my eyes couldn't follow them properly, especially the weapons.
Those appeared as a blur to me when they were in motion.
It was only when I accelerated my internal perception of time, aka the bullet effect, that I saw much clearer as my brain had more time to process the images and make a coherent whole of it, that I watched.
Immersed in the memories, I lost focus of the here and now. When I finally felt a touch on my left shoulder, I didn't bother wondering how much time passed in the real world.
After having used bullet time long enough, without adverse effects, I fundamentally stopped wondering how much time passes after it was used.
Craning my neck behind I saw Gao Junjie. " Why were you just standing there? " He asked.
" Just remembering stuff. " I replied to him as I pointed to the other side of the cleared space I had made not long before. " Say, can you stand over there? I want to test something. "
Looking at where I pointed, he nodded and made his way there. The point I pointed at was about ten meters ahead of me. It was the perfect distance for me.
Summoning my phantom in full, well half full, since only the upper part of the body was visible currently. But to him, it's the full version since I had yet to show its whole body.
Once it was out, I had the Jade Intent inside it grow and assimilate its whole body. The second it was done I enlarged it enough that its outstretched arms and hands could easily reach Gao Junjie and had it swing its right hand at him.
I knew he would not be surprised by this action itself at all, since I could feel his Divine Sense on the phantom. When the large phantom hand made contact with his left palm and nothing happened to him, I was not surprised either.
Unlike what he was used to though, I didn't let up after just one attack and had my phantom's left hand do the same.
Once it showed no difference I pulled them both back and had my phantom make a fist and punch straight at Gao Junjie.
The size of the phantom made it so the fist was just as large as an adult human. It made no difference to him, though.
Once again a simple outstretched palm of his stopped the much larger fist.
A few more angles changed nothing as I simply couldn't even budge him even a tiny bit.
' Hmph. Today will be different. '
Taking a stance I concentrate for a second. Activating bullet time, I gather my Intent.
' Earth is steady and from it, I gather my Power. ' Placing my left foot forward and my right foot back, I imagine my feet drawing force from the earth.
' Water is flowing and with it, I guide my Power. ' My left-hand moves forward to achieve balance, while my right rises behind my head as it strains the muscles in the back, chest, neck, and arm.
' Fire is Power and Intent is my Power. ' Displaying my Intent by having my hand become an imaginary ax, I swung down with the intent of chopping wood.
My phantom followed and with its phantom hand, it chopped straight onto Gao Junjie's head.
I knew it wouldn't hit it but when a Clack or something alongside it sounded out, I knew my attack reached its target.
It took a few seconds but above his head was his right hand with its palm facing my phantom's and on it, I recognized something I had seen him use before. Jade Green was covering his right hand and a bit above the wrist.
Changing back my stance to neutral I spoke to him. " I have seen you use something similar before. Is that the Jade Skin Armor? Does this mean that that move had enough power to rival a Foundation's attack? "
" No and yes. " I think he saw my confusion a bit and began explaining. " Your attack did indeed have enough strength to rival a Foundation. As such I could no longer defend with bare flesh and had to use Qi. Look closer and see if I have summoned my Jade Skin Armor. "
' Bare flesh? ' I think I felt my left eyebrow twitch at that unintentional flex, but I did stare at his Jade Green hand.
Recalling my memory of it, I indeed noticed the difference. While the hand looked Jade Green, there was no crystalline anything on it, much less Jade.
" Are you done testing yourself? " His question broke my idle recollecting.
" No. I am not done until I have at least made you move from the spot. " With that declaration, I closed my eyes for a second.
There in the center of my phantom's chest, where one usually found the heart of a human laid my true Ability.
The Black Hole Energy Generator Ability, whose name I hated, consisted of multiple layers and I had its inner layers start increasing the speed of their rotation.
Each layer subsequently rotated faster than the one before it. Immediately more Qi was engulfed from the surroundings inside it and as the layers achieved their full speed.
In the center of the Ability, the Flame of Life began to stretch into a disk as more and more Qi fed it. Once it became one from its poles in the center Life Essence and Mana spewed out creating a slightly purple accretion disk.
Mana I could not use, yet, but Life Essence was my bread and butter.
Drawing from the excess of Life Essence generated in my phantom chest, I had it enter my body.
The draw took a bit of time since my Ability usually only generated a bit above the needed amount to sustain the Ability, the phantom, and some more if needed for an emergency.
Now, though? Now I needed much, much more. Once I had enough, I had it scatter through my whole body and take form.
It took my form and if one could see inside my body, one would notice that the Life Essence construct that I made was very life-like. Every bone, muscle, organ, and vein was represented in it, yet the details were not as life-like as they could be.
That was left for later when I made this into an ability.
Once this construct was there I split some of my Will into it and gave it a simple order.
Enhance.
The order, which was backed by my Will, echoed upon my body like a bell and just like a bell that announces something, this one carried my declaration.
My lungs started to suck more oxygen which was carried to the blood veins, which widened, and my heart started to increase its beating rate.
Its goal was to transfer all that oxygen where it was needed and would be needed.
Everything started waking up. My internal chemical process initiated and like a cascade of warnings they initiated processes to a system that no human had access to, under normal circumstances.
" Gao Junjie, did you know that any biological lifeform that is alive can be termed as lazy bastards? And humans are the epitome of that. " Seeing the slight rise on his right eyebrow, I knew I got his attention. " Our bodies' continued existence is its number one priority. Our bodies care not what we think and what we want, as long as its continued existence is guaranteed it will stay in what I, I mean the original Me calls the Low-Power-Efficiency mode to preserve its resources for as long as possible. " That got his attention even more.
" It's only when its continued existence is threatened that its Fight or Flight response activates and that changes, but even that he only calls Medium-Power- Efficiency mode. Why do you think that is? " I asked him.
With the rise of his other eyebrow, I knew he recognized what I was meaning to say. " Are you sure? "
" Yes, I need to test this out, if I want to improve my Ability. "
That said, I placed my palm ahead and stretched my right fist back, and punched forward.
Clang.
My giant phantom right fist and Gao Junjie's right fist met and produced a different sound compared to before.
Pulling back my giant fist I saw his right hand encased in green crystalline-looking armor.
" Haha, you used it. " I proclaimed to him as I positioned my body to punch again only this time with my left.
Clang.
Again I pulled my punch and readied another and another and another.
Every time I punched he stopped it, only every time he did I see his body encased in more and more Jade Skin Armor.
As I continued punching him and he continued defending, I switched tactics. Straight punches did not work so my plan changed.
Stopping the punches I stretched out my arms as wide as possible. With my chest puffing out and the arm reaching slightly behind the body I executed the motion and my phantom's palms almost encased him almost fully.
Only by using both arms did he stop me this time, but I had a different plan. It consisted of a simple thing. If punches don't work, then go for kicks.
Raising my leg I kicked straight forward. Having not seen my phantom's lower body before, I failed to see his surprised face before my phantom kick reached him.
Clang, again echoed in my ears, only much stronger than I was used to.
Hearing it a suspicion came to me.
Dematerializing the said leg I saw Gao Junjie in a similar position as me only his arms were outstretched to the sides and his leg forward.
While I didn't see the Jade Armor per se, it was easy to imagine it there, under his clothes.
" Did you think, I would not have considered that your phantom could imitate your whole body? Even if I did, I can still react much faster than you could attack. You still have a long way to go, Jiao. "
I don't know if it was my brain adding me to all the chemicals, but I could sense a sneer in his remark, even though all his words sound pretty much neutral.
" Are you done? We should stop sooner, otherwise, your body will be in danger due to prolonged combat. "
" No. I refuse that I can't move you from the spot. I still have one more thing to try. "
With that said I shrunk my phantom. Gone was the slight vagueness of its form and it gained more definition.
Once it was done, it stayed around two meters in height.
It pretty much looked like a Jade statue as the full body was displayed with all the muscles I gave it, minus the mojo I had in my previous life.
The muscles changed nothing, but it did look very aesthetic.