The Jade Lotus Sect compound was expansive. I hadn't realized it looking from above, but it was easily the size of several large mansions from earth. I let a frown form on my face as I crawled around on my chubby baby legs.
"Qin-la." I attempted to speak, the familiar blue snake coming to attention as he slithered around in front of me. The dirt on the ground was rather irritating to me skin, small pebbles and rocks digging into me.
I babbled for a few seconds, unintelligible to anyone but myself. "Bwa bwabwa bwa bwa bwa bwabwabwa!" Qinglong had a sage look on his face.
"Yes, Ming Yun. You're so smart. I never thought of it that way." I sighed and slapped the snakes face, smiling triumphantly as he flew several meters to the side.
I hadn't checked my status page in a few months at this point. With a mental command, I brought it up.
Ming Yun
(Kuan Yin) Mortal Rebirthing, Third Ascension
(Qi Infusement, Body Reconstruction) Jade Body Scripture
(Sun and Moon Celestial Body) Regional Rankings Identify Technique Gacha
I continued crawling forward. I had advanced again, that was good. Jade Body Scripture was the most advanced technique except my own that I had seen so far. Again, it had been developed by Mei Lei. That woman was a genius.
She'd apparently studied nearly twenty different techniques before its creation -- a decent portion of the total I'd bought. I wondered briefly about the amount of land they had to control for that.
"Ming Yun! Ming Yun! Where are you!?" I heard desperate shouting in the distance, before deciding I should probably crawl faster.
With the energy of a thousand suns I pushed forward. Through dirt, grass, and shrubbery -- today I would see the outside of this compound! A shadow loomed over my being as my blood ran cold. Qinglong slithered across my forearm with a quiet sigh I'm sure only I heard.
"Ming Yun." Mei Lei spoke calmly as she grabbed me from the ground, turning me to face her. "For a child so talented, you are even more difficult to control." She patted the dirt off me before we turned together and headed back to the living quarters.
I grumbled what I hope she understood as a curse in my baby language.
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In the past three years, there were several things I had noticed. Firstly, the Jade Lotus Sect was annoyingly good at keeping tabs on me. Secondly, Ming Yun's body -- that I had only technically stolen, really it was mine from the start anyway -- was growing older to look exactly like the body I had constructed in the admin room.
Lastly, talent was truly such a ridiculously stupid kind of cheat. The Qi density in the Jade Lotus sect was no more than a fifteenth of the admin room, and yet I was already nearing the peak of the fifth ascension. That's not even mentioning the inferior cultivation technique.
Right now, however, was a time far too important to waste on these meaningless reflections. A large portion of the Sect was out busy doing something, and most importantly, Mei Lei was out doing something.
For the first time in years, I could finally return to the admin room.
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My eyes darkened for a brief moment before the light returned. In front of me was an ethereal garden with a gazebo standing front and center. Power surged into me as my cultivation was temporarily restored.
I let a breath of relief leave me before noticing several things all at once. First, I had a shit ton of notifications. Second, I was no longer in Ming Yun's body. Panic surged through me.
"Qinglong! Why am I no longer in Ming Yun's body?" I nearly screamed this as I spun towards the floating body of the dragon, now returned to his full size.
"Because, Kuan Yin. You are not Ming Yun." He lazily flicked his clawed dragon hand out, the globe floating to it as he brought it between us. It spun briefly to show me the exact scene I had just left.
Ming Yun's body was laying still on the floor, though still breathing. Relief washed over me. At least she was safe.
"That's good," I turned my focus to the notifications.
Congratulations! You have earned a new achievement!
For learning one of the techniques from your world, you earned the Copycat achievement. +10 points.
Chat request has been received from Sun Wukong. Do you wish to accept?
Chat request has been received from Gu Changge. Do you wish to accept?
Chat request has been received from Zhang Xuan. Do you wish to accept?
...
I'd earned several achievements, netting me a total of 125 points. The chat requests, on the other hand, I didn't particularly want to bother with. I only accepted Sun Wukong's. He had been the first person to send a chat request and likely knew what all the attention was about.
I hadn't even thought about there being other Keeper's, but, it did make sense for there to be others. I read the first message he'd sent just after I'd gone down to the world as Ming Yun.
Sun Wukong: Hey, Jade Beauty, you've gone offline again! What's happening?
Sun Wukong has sent a visitation request.
Sun Wukong has sent a visitation request.
Sun Wukong has sent a visitation request.
Sun Wukong: Jade Beauty, where are you!?
I groaned. Who the hell was jade beauty?
I responded to inform him of the fact he mistook me for someone else.
Jade Beauty: Sorry, Sun Wukong. You have the wrong person. I am Kuan Yin.
I turned to Qinglong with a fierce look in my eye. "Why is my name Jade Beauty?" I let the words sit like daggers at his throat as I waited for an answer.
"The first Keeper of this universe chose that as their name, so every Keeper -- here at least -- since has been stuck with it." He lazily floated around, his tail flicked as he floated under a tree and bit an apple hanging from a low branch.
I frowned. "Is there any way to change it?" Qinglong didn't respond. For what felt like the millionth time today, I groaned in frustration. Why the hell did my name have to be Jade Beauty? I turned back to the message request, startled. Sun Wukong had already responded.
Sun Wukong: Damn! So there's been a change in the Keeper!
Sun Wukong: Are you a woman?
Sun Wukong: I bet you're even more attractive than the last Keeper!
Sun Wukong: Hey! Jade Beauty! Where did you go?
For a moment, I debated not responding. I turned to glance at QInglong. No, responding would be a good idea. Getting any information was better than nothing, and QInglong wasn't really at liberty to tell me more than I already knew.