WARNING: 18+ Scene ahead but a small one.
Divyat was still bound to his bed even after two weeks, and that was saying something seeing how fast and quick his ability to regenerate was. But in the end he was able to sit up now, and after dealing with Cao Lin's poking and prodding for over an hour, she had laced his rewards from the trial on his lap.
He had received a bottle of Qi condensation pills, medicine that was extremely effective in gathering qi and helping advance cultivation in the qi condensation realm. And then there was the bottle of qi refining pills each giving off a soft fragrance.
The qi refining pills increased the purity of qi, making it more pure, resilient and effective. That way much less qi can be used for techniques and training would be much easier as you will get twice the results for half the effort.
Next was a pouch with 1100 spirit stones, it was quite the tidy sum, if he could find a market to use it, then he would be able to do much with it.
Off to the side was a cage covered with a dark cloth. There was a musky smell coming from it that Divyat associated with animals, so probably that was the demon beast he gained for coming first.
Then there were the trio of cultivation manuals on his bed. One was actually a sabre technique, which was the go to weapons for bandits. Unfortunately Divyat had no love or need for the sabre, it just didn't agree with him. The second was shockingly an ice element spell technique.
And that was definitely saying something as spells were a lot rarer and harder to master than martial techniques. And the caveat about spells was that they couldn't be used until you were in the qi condensation realm, where you had the qi to maintain and draw upon for its casting.
Finally Divyat laid eyes upon the ancient cultivation technique that would increase his cultivating efficiency by a whopping 600%. It was hard to believe that such a technique existed, at least not without a few side effects to go with it.
[Bagua: 8 Trigrams Technique]
There was something about the technique that seemed familiar to Divyat, at the same time just being in the presence of it left him with chills. There was something positively ancient about the scroll in front of him.
Suddenly as if he was hit by a bout of enlightenment, moves, specifically five steps and eight energies, specific moves from his taichi theorem seemed to superimpose themselves on the diagram on the front of the scroll.
All of a sudden he was beset by a sudden feeling of enlightenment as he realized belatedly that his [Tai-Chi theorem] was definitely born from the [8 Trigrams Technique]. It was a welcome experience, and would at least help consolidate his abilities rather than spread it too thing over multiple techniques.
Divyat smiled, then laid back to sleep, closing his eyes in the process and falling into dream land as he prepared himself for when he would finally be off his feet and ready to practice again….after all, the qi Condensation realm was right around the corner, and he could not wait to get there.
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Zeres watched on with an impassive look on his face at the groveling form of Cao Man, he found it amusing that the snake thought he was so wise and wily.
But Zeres even if it was only a part of him; was a devil. Wiles, secrets and schemes were what they were good at. He shook his head once again as he looked at the report in front of him.
"So what you're saying is that I will have to take in the human as my apprentice and teach him our ways….. What's to stop me from just killing him? If he becomes my apprentice, it means he becomes my successor, and that means he can either challenge or kill me for the spot or plot to have someone else do it for him when he gets tired of waiting."
"Not at all Bandit Chief! He is a human and he is definitely not worthy. But we have to avoid getting the eyes of the council upon you, I suggest you give him missions to complete. Send him on raids for resources and into the human territories, he probably knows it better than we do." Cao Man responded, But Zeres frowned.
"We already do that, raising the villages and small towns on the fringes have been lucrative, what do we need more for?" he asked, keeping with his façade of being small minded, lazy and unambitious.
"We need to expand Chief Zeres, the cold has weighed too long on our bones, and we need the warmth of human empires, their technology and skills. This time instead of just food, wine and money, we take people, slaves! We need to build a power fortress and army that can stand up to any bandit chief or lord and the humans aiming to take our land."
"All to what end Cao Man?" Zeres asked, his voice growing higher.
"Security and power! We are the closest bandit outpost to the Rizal Empire. Our location has been coveted for as long as it has stood, and now an alliance from the Vortos and Kijukus are aiming to wipe us out in three winters! We no longer have the luxury to sit back and be comfortable."
Zeres stood up, quite shocked by what he had just heard. Of all the things he was expecting from the old Nagas mouth, an alliance from his two worst enemies was not one of them. And Zeres knew, Cao Man will never lie about something like this.
"What part does the human have to play in this?" Zeres asked as he sat back, his gaze flickering to the side where Cao Lin stood, her body shivering as she felt his gaze upon her.
"Misdirection Chief Zeres! Give him a few pointers and then send him to the human empire, all eyes will be on him and his success or failure, then we can make moves in the shadows to bring the Vortos and Kijukus down one after the other.
Swallowing up their outposts will catapult straight to bandit lord, and it will give you more power and security and a voice on the council! Then we can consolidate our gains against the humans outside and our people inside. You get to live your carefree life without worries ever again.
We have made a monster in that human, I advise we nurture it some more and then set it loose into the world that he was born from. It will also make us rich."
That was always Cao Man's selling point to Zeres, and while he does embody the sin of sloth or so he has led everyone to believe. His true embodiment was greed, and from that greed came shrewdness.
"Very well then, do what you want and make all the necessary arrangements. You can leave now Cao Man, however Cao Lin stay back, I will like to ask you some questions concerning the human." The aforementioned Cao Lin shivered in fright as her adopted father made his way out of Zeres's tent, leaving them alone.
"What do you think my love?" Zeres asked, his voice taking on a husky tone as Cao Lin's entire expression change, and her form seemed to ripple as the Bookish Rakshasa disappeared and in her place a more confident woman with plumage of violet, red and gold, the colors of royalty.
"My father does believe he is the smartest in the room at any given time… but that is his own fatal flaw." She said to him as she moved up to his throne before getting down on her knees and resting her hands on his thighs, her nails scratching the insides as Zeres took a sharp breath.
"He thinks the human will finally let him have the title of Kingmaker, that he would be able to advance his race if his spiritual self-actualizes it that image….he's a fool and a dreamer." Zeres said as Cao Lin ran her hands higher, caressing the bulge on his pants that just appeared causing his breathing to get even deeper.
"Perhaps he is, but it is time we stop playing possum my love, this dreary and cold land doesn't suit me well, I want to be a queen!" Cao Lin said as she jumped and sat on his lap, somehow ripping his pants off in that same motion as she exposed his manly bits to the air, standing at attention.
"I understand, let us allow the human make headway into the Rizal empire, I do believe he has a lot of hatred for them and will cause enough damage and grow in power to keep the eyes of the council over me. He might be my apprentice but I will give him free reign to act on his own."
Zeres arranged himself and thrusted upwards, gasping in tandem with Cao Lin at the warmth that wrapped around his shaft.
"I have all the arrangements made with our spies, we can start making moves now, the council will be losing some members and gaining new ones soon enough. Finally ahhhh! We will rule all of Ghadovara soon my love!"
Zeres grunted as his upwards thrust picked up speed.
"Not just the mountains…. But all of this world will fall to me and my brothers….this time it will be an Era of the Infernal realm!" and on they went, the sounds of their lovemaking hidden from the rest of the world, but their schemes screaming out in the air as a new war brewed on the Horizon.