Chapter 5
Playing With Lightning
The black clouds continued to swiftly gather, soon stretching from horizon to horizon. Lightning flickered in the clouds and constant thunder crashed and rumbled.
Ling Mai gazed upward in amazement. She was not the only one, everyone else was wonder-struck by the unforgettable scene. She managed to tear her eyes away to ask Grandma Tang, “What is causing such a sudden storm?”
Grandma Tang kept gazing at the clouds and whispered, “Heavenly Tribulation Lightning. Someone near the town is advancing.”
Ling Mai looked at the clouds and extended her energy sense, She felt a rapid buildup of power so great she felt afraid. The high intensity of lightning energy made her whole body tingle and her two vortexes tremble. Taking a deep breath to settle herself she thought, “I need to get stronger. I should try to absorb some of the lightning energy and create a new vortex,” she paused in thought, “I can siphon off some energy and once my vortex is created and filled, I can try to create a lightning crystal similar to my light crystal.” She grinned in anticipation.
The centre of the lightning energy buildup was located outside of town, downriver from where she had discovered the sword, knife and storage ring. Using energy from her cores, Ling Mai created a very small lightning vortex to act as a seed and extended her energy sense as far as she could in the direction of the lightning energy. She focused her energy sense on any lightning energy within her range. A very small lightning bolt zapped out of thin air and struck her seed vortex. Luckily she had created it outside of her body!
People screamed and started running. Ling Mai looked around, “Oops!”
Grandma Tang was looking at her in disbelief, “That is Heavenly Tribulation Lightning, so stop playing around!”
“It is okay. I have it under control,” Ling Mai reassured Grandma Tang. “I only need two or three more lightning bolts.”
“Dunderhead! Kids these days think they know everything,” she shook her head in dismay. “Only Tribulation Realm cultivators can handle Heavenly Tribulation Lightning!”
“It’s okay. It sort of behaves once it is absorbed by my vortex,” stated Ling Mai, causing Grandma Tang to shake her head in disapproval.
Ling Mai examined her newly created vortex. It was quite different as it showed signs of discharging its energy. She could sense it wanted to join back up with the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning in the clouds. She was struggling to keep it in check as it was total chaos. Nothing she did calmed it down. She was fearful of it escaping from her vortex as it could discharge in any direction though it seemed to ‘want’ to join back up with the energy in the clouds.
“How do I sever the link or modify it?” she wondered to herself. “Can I change the affinity for gathering together with larger amounts of energy to a more short-range affinity? I want the energy to stay together unless I need to discharge it for an attack.”
She looked back to the clouds and sensed the flow of energy. It almost seemed alive. A yellow energy, similar to what she had observed before on the jade chest, was mixing with the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning energy.
“Should I use this energy or use what I already have? The yellow energy in the clouds almost seems to be alive, so I think I will listen to Grandma Tang and not ‘play’ with what I don't understand.” She extracted a small amount of her own yellow energy and slowly introduced it into her new vortex. The previously uneven flow of energy smoothed out the more she merged the two types of energy. Once the flow was laminar, she ceased adding the energy.
“I'm glad I did that now instead of later. Much easier to sense and manipulate it while I have a small vortex. It could have escaped my control if any larger!”
Not wanting to miss this literally ‘heaven-sent’ opportunity, Ling Mai repeated the energy gathering two more times, stopping in between each lightning strike to add more yellow energy to calm the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning energy. She created a second external vortex to compress the purified Heavenly Tribulation Lightning energy, though she soon realised the energy didn’t need purification. “Is this due to it being Heavenly Tribulation Lightning?” She wondered.
With each progressive strike, the size and power of the lightning strikes more than doubled the previous ones. Making a decision, she thought, “My two external vortexes are full to overflowing, I’ll extract some to create a Heavenly Tribulation Lightning crystal, then re-top it up, ready to then form my third internal core.”
Having practiced forming her light energy crystal, and tweaking the light energy gathering vortex, the only aspects she needed to calibrate were the size of the external crystal relative to the internal storage crystal, and the way in which the external energy gathering vortex handled sudden large quantities of lightning energy from a lightning strike. Other than the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning not needing purification, all other aspects of handling the energy were the same as for ordinary light energy as long as she used the stabilising yellow energy. She was able to ascertain this by comparing the energy to that which she had previously gathered in her core vortexes.
A light energy crystal emitted light constantly unless it ran low on light energy or she ‘turned it off’. With the Heavenly Tribulation Lightning crystal, she wanted to have zero emissions until she triggered a Heavenly Tribulation Lightning release. She needed a way to regulate the amount of energy in the strike and the direction and range. She realised this new structure would be needed for some other types of energy such as fire energy. It could also be applied to her own personal light crystals, as she could do the turning on and off, and the expanding and contracting of the outer crystal to modulate the output. Any light and heat crystals she sold would be at fixed outputs depending on the needs of the buyer. Those for room heaters would be small and so have low output while stoves and ovens would be larger. She started to think of stove and oven designs so a customer could vary the temperature but then got sidetracked by a thought about fire energy and heat energy.
Fire and heat energy seemed to be related to light energy, the difference being she could convert fire and heat energy into light energy though the resulting light energy was hot, versus an illuminating light energy. Light energy came in different colours, heat just being one of them. She wanted to investigate the relationship between fire and light energy but she needed to finish fine-tuning her Heavenly Tribulation Lightning crystal first.
A few minutes later she was finally finished and awoke from her deep concentration to find the marketplace deserted save for Grandma Tang and Kitty. They were ignoring her as they were watching Heavenly Tribulation Lightning strikes raining down on a location outside of town. The incredibly bright lightning flashes and crashes of thunder were overwhelming. “How was I not aware of all this? I must really lose myself when I work on things to not be aware of something of this magnitude. Though to be fair, playing around with Heavenly Tribulation Lightning is tricky and dangerous.”
The storm peaked shortly thereafter, and then the clouds rapidly dispersed. Blue skies returned and the sun shone brightly once more.
Grandma Tang turned to Ling Mai and said, “An eighth-level Heavenly Tribulation. I never expected to see one at that level in our remote town.”
“You have seen a Heavenly Tribulation before?” Ling Mai was keen to find out all she could about cultivation.
Grandma Tang’s face showed signs of melancholy, “Even though I was only in the sect for one day, it was a very eventful day. When I arrived in the sect, an elder advanced to the eighth level and had to undergo Heavenly Tribulation. Whoever advanced today is near the peak of cultivation in the mortal realm.”
“Mortal realm?” Ling Mai was intrigued.
“I don’t know anything about higher realms. All I know is after nine Heavenly Tribulations then you are forced to ascend.”
They were interrupted by some stallholders returning to the marketplace. People were slow to return to the marketplace, but they eventually did as their temporarily abandoned stalls contained their goods and so couldn’t be left unattended.
“We can talk about it more when we return home tonight.” Grandma Tang said as she started to pack up in preparation for closing her stall. “We have to deliver the skin and entrails, then go visit the Trading Post.
After packing up, they started walking to Tanner’s place with Ling Mai talking excitedly about the events of the morning, how she discovered the knife and sword, the storage ring, and her meeting with the cultivators. Grandma Tang looked concerned at the news of cultivators but after all, they had just witnessed a Heavenly Tribulation so it wasn’t that unexpected to find out that a number of cultivators were in the area.
She was very worried about Ling Mai’s description of the young lord’s behaviour and what that could mean if he were to still be in the area. The behaviour of the elders in attempting to rein in the young lord did mollify her somewhat.
Soon the stench of tanning skins permeated the air. It was enough to stop them talking so they could keep their mouths shut to help reduce the effect on their olfactory senses.
The Tanner was as cantankerous as ever. He tried to only pay them two coppers for the much larger skin. When Grandma Tang told him the price was five coppers, he started arguing with her. She pointed out that a large skin could be made into more types of things without having to match the colours of several pelts or having to stitch skins together. He shut up and paid the five coppers when Grandma Tang glared at him and told him that he was an ornery old wartfart who was ugly and smelly.
Ling Mai had been trying to distract herself from the smell by trying different trigger methods for her Heavenly Lightning crystal when the word ‘wartfart’ distracted her. Grandma Tang normally didn’t swear but she did have a colourful turn of phrase if she was scolding someone.
The momentary lapse in concentration caused her to trip the experimental trigger.
ZOT!
A teensy bolt of Heavenly Tribulation Lightning zapped the Tanner on his bent-over rear. He had been bending over a storage box in the process of putting away the newly acquired skin.
“AYYAYIYA!”
The Tanner screamed and jerked forward, ending up sprawled in the box of smelly skins. Grandma Tang took one look at the struggling Tanner who was trying to extract himself and burst into laughter whilst simultaneously grabbing Ling Mai by the arm and dragging her swiftly away.
“It serves him right but you need to be more careful!” She scolded Ling Mai.
Suitably chastised, Ling Mai bowed her head in apology. “It was lucky I had it set to the absolute minimum of power. I needed a temporary pretend target so that is why he got zapped when I got distracted.”
Grandma Tang’s facial expression morphed from disbelief to alarm, then to determination, “You will promise me that you will only ‘play’ with Heavenly Tribulation Lightning away from other people and out of town!”
Ling Mai bowed low in acknowledgment, “I promise.”
As they walked to the pig farmer, Grandma Tang could not stop chuckling to herself every now and then. Ling Mai was relieved. She knew Grandma Tang truly trusted her to keep her promise. If not she wouldn’t be laughing at the image of the grouchy old Tanner sprawled in smelly skins. Ling Mai shivered at the thought of herself being in that situation.
Worrying about being totally immersed in her ‘projects’, Ling Mai decided she needed to be able to have two or more trains of thought concurrently. It would solve the issue of being unaware of the world and leaving herself vulnerable. “How can I do this?” she thought. I need to have my consciousness divide itself or alternatively, I could create new consciousnesses to handle multiple tasks?” She thought about how to accomplish either of the two methods. She didn’t like the thought of cutting or tearing apart her mind, so she focused on formulating methods of creating new consciousnesses.
After a few minutes of fruitless contemplation, she thought, “Why don’t I just give it a try?”
Focussing hard, she imagined a part of her mind to start to think of being aware of her surroundings. A feeling of stretching and flowing then she became aware of two separate but connected streams of thought. “Success?!”
There was no feeling of needing to manage keeping the two separate or from continuing to exist. Ling Mai was somewhat in disbelief at what she had achieved. Before even thinking of any issues that may arise from having two minds, she tried forming another mind, this one was tasked to cultivate one of her vortexes. She tried again but ended up straining to duplicate this feat. Internally grumbling to herself she thought, “Why can't I do it again? Can I only form two or am I not ‘doing’ it right? What actually am I sensing as my mind? Can only certain sections be used for conscious thought? It worked on that section last time so if I further subdivide it then it should work?”
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She tried focusing on only this section and finally managed to split it in two. It felt much harder and it didn't seem perfect. She examined her new ‘minds’ to ascertain their functionality. They seemed to work okay though she couldn't really make out much detail. She decided to set them mathematical tasks to test their intelligence and functionality. Adding a sequence of numbers together was almost equal but subtraction was a differentstory. The results were puzzling as one mind was faster than the other by a large margin making her question her testing methodology. Trying a few other types of tests she found her new minds were better at different tasks depending on the type of test. She then tried to compare them to her own mind. She either equalled or surpassed their performance except for the mathematical tests where she didn't quite perform as well as the better of her two minds. She concluded that she would need to test each mind to determine their forte then assign them suitable tasks. She would experiment with tweaking their functionality later after some time passed to see if they learned to perform more effectively over time.
With no problems arising from the splitting of this portion of her mind, she split off another section of her original mind then tried merging it back together. It worked more smoothly than she thought it would. There was no straining or subsequent issues.
Smiling happily, she formed separate minds to cultivate each of her vortexes and one to concentrate on research. Her original mind just did what it normally did which overlapped at times with each of the other minds’ assigned tasks. She decided she needed to keep a close watch on if this splitting of minds affected her in any unusual way. It was a relief that she could easily merge them if any issues arose from having multiple minds.
Ling Mai was amazed at herself, “Being aware of my surroundings will be a potential life saver. Also, Grandma Tang won’t get frustrated with me being off with the fairies.”
If other cultivators knew she could cultivate at all times and so quickly, then they would just kick themselves. “Why is my mind so malleable and flexible?” She wondered. “Can other cultivators do the same? Is it a result of having my vortexes in my head or is it something to do with my parents' background? I can communicate with Kitty whilst it seems Kitty can not communicate with Grandma Tang or does he just not try to ‘talk’ with them?”
“Kitty, can you communicate with Grandma Tang or other people?”
“No,” was his succinct reply.
“Are you not able to or are you just not interested in talking with them?”
Kitty looked at her with his deep emerald green eyes, “You are the only human that I know of that can receive and transmit thoughts. I think you are a special human. I have heard that there are other special humans but that is all I know.”
Ling Mai was very excited to learn there were others like her. She wondered if she would be able to mind-talk with them similar to how she talked with Kitty.
Her mind allocated to being aware of her surroundings let her be aware that they were approaching the pig farmer’s building. “So handy,” she thought. She wondered if she needed any more minds but couldn’t think of anything urgent or important enough to warrant another dedicated mind. She wondered what her limit was, and would her limit for creating extra minds grow as she cultivated to higher levels.
Kitty perked up at the smell and sound of the pigs. He looked at Ling Mai and transmitted a feeling of hunger.
“Yes, we can get you some pork. You are very hungry all the time. You must be growing fast.”
Kitty stood taller and paced forward majestically as though he was king of the land. Ling Mai giggled at his antics.
This time the door was open as it was much earlier in the day. Walking in, they saw the farmer busy cutting up a pig into portions. Belly fat was being thinly sliced and then tossed into a vat of brine to make bacon.
Looking up, Big Ming, the farmer spotted Kitty. “No animals in here!” He said loudly and emphatically.
Grandma Tang said, “He is not a normal animal, he is a magical beast. He wishes to purchase some of your pork.”
Big Ming did a double-take, “My apologies. What takes your fancy?” He pointed to the hind leg of the still mostly whole pig he was butchering.
Seeing Kitty nod, he prepared to cut off the leg. Kitty meowed in disgust.
“He wants the whole pig,” said Ling Mai. “He eats a lot.”
Looking at Kitty she got a feeling of ‘many’. She turned back to Big Ming and said, “We will take ten pigs.”
Big Ming smiled at hearing the large order, “Does he want big pigs or young pigs?”
A more detailed ‘feeling’ came from Kitty.
“A mixture, as he hasn’t had pork before today.”
Ling Mai thought to Kitty, “I need to learn ‘Ghost cat’.” Kitty smiled. Ling Mai realised Kitty was happy that he wouldn’t have to learn and articulate ‘human’ mind-speak.
As Big Ming placed the pigs one by one onto the counter, Ling Mai checked with Kitty if he was happy with them. Kitty would give it a sniff to check, and then look expectantly at Big Ming to see which pig would be presented next.
Once ten pigs were on the counter, Big Ming calculated the price. Grandma Tang didn’t try to bargain with him. She handed over the money and thanked him. Ling Mai had a feeling that there was more to their interaction than she could see on the surface. They both were ex-cultivators so they may have formed a bond of sorts from having a common history.
Feeling she could trust Big Ming, she transferred the pigs into her storage ring. Big Ming’s eyes widened at the unexpected sight of the pigs disappearing but he didn’t comment.
Ling Mai bowed deeply and thanked him. Big Ming bowed even more deeply in response and said, “Thank you for your business.”
They left and started walking towards the Trading Post. Ling Mai was spending the time ‘visiting’ each of her minds to get a detailed update on their progress. She came to realise she needed a way of summarising and transmitting periodic or necessary updates and notifications. She was currently semi-aware of what each mind was doing but if her main mind was busy with something important then she could miss things. She decided the sub-minds needed to talk with each other so as to facilitate a consensual relationship and an exchange of information. She decided to create another mind to oversee the sub-minds and be a sort of second-in-command. She would need to keep adjusting how they interacted as circumstances dictated. Luckily her sub-minds didn't argue with her or with each other. That would be a problem and likely to give her a headache!
Once this extra mind was operating smoothly, she started talking with Grandma Tang, “I thought it was okay to trust Big Ming with the secret of my storage ring. He seems like a nice man. What relationship do you have with him?”
Grandma Tang was nodding as she listened to her but suddenly turned red when asked about her relationship. “Ahum. We share a common past with the same sect. He befriended me on my first day and showed me around before we went on that disastrous mission. He was a Junior disciple with the sect for a couple of years and was at the peak of core forming. After the mission, he would have earned enough resources to advance into Core Morphing. We met a group from another sect who issued a challenge to our Juniors. He was one of the combatants and he was badly injured. He was taken back to the sect by one of the Elders but couldn’t afford advanced healing. Sects don’t give free healing unless you are a prodigy.”
Ling Mai was fascinated by all aspects of cultivation and sects, but hearing how callous the sects were to their disciples she decided not to join a sect anytime soon unless the sect was more benevolent.
“Is that why Big Ming didn’t recognise Kitty as being a Ghost Cat?”
“Yes, and Ghost Cats are not talked about as they rarely interact with humans.” Looking at Kitty, she hypothesised, “Kitty could be on a ‘learn about the world and get experience’ trip. He is young but still big enough to look after himself.”
Kitty looked over at Grandma Tang from the other side of Ling Mai and nodded in agreement.
Ling Mai asked, “Can you communicate with your mind with Kitty?”
Grandma Tang stopped and looked at Ling Mai in amazement, “You can read minds?”
Ling Mai laughed, “Of course not! Only Kitty when he talks with me.”
If anything, Grandma Tang looked even more shocked. She started mumbling to herself, causing Ling Mai to start to wonder if anyone else could communicate mentally.
“Can communicate mentally with another species. Different brain structure, language, instincts, intelligence…” Grandma Tang’s mumbling became more intelligible. Drawing in a large breath of air, she started walking again. “Let’s get to the Trading Post before it gets too late.”
The Trading Post was a large two-story building on the edge of town near the gate. Ling Mai wondered about the location but assumed it was so travelling merchants and hunters could easily bring goods to sell there.
Grandma Tang turned her head towards Ling Mai and instructed, “Don’t touch anything or ask how much items cost. Quietly let me know what you are interested in, and let me do the haggling. Try to learn from my example for your future purchases from trading posts such as this. And how come you have not zoned out on the way here?”
“I created some extra minds to handle problems I’m working on, cultivating and being aware of my surroundings at all times. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it earlier. It is so much easier and safer!”
Grandma Tang stopped and stared at her. Her mouth opened and closed a few times. Shaking her head she started walking towards the door of the trading post, “Uses clouds as taps, makes friends and mind talks with Ghost Cats, plays with and tames Heavenly Tribulation Lightning, and now just decides to be multi-minded?!”
Ling Mai didn’t know how to respond, as Grandma Tang did have a point if one were to think about it. She decided not to worry about it as all these new abilities were just a product of her discovering cultivation. “Don’t other cultivators discover abilities such as these?” She asked.
“Not that I have heard of, though I am very inexperienced with exactly what is possible for cultivators, especially at higher levels,” she looked at Ling Mai and then continued, “But you are still new to cultivating and at a low level, plus you are extremely young.”
Ling Mai decided to just go with what she discovered she could do and not worry about others. Besides, all these new abilities were very useful, and she had so many other questions about her existing abilities, let alone new ones.
“Can we keep the beast cores? I can use them to cultivate. We should have enough gold nuggets for anything expensive?”
Grandma Tang carefully scanned their surroundings and dragged Ling Mai into a side alley. “Show me,” she asked quietly.
Ling Mai retrieved the gold nuggets into a pile behind a barrel so as the conceal them from view of the main street. “This is all of them, but I can get lots more from the river if we need them.”
Grandma Tang looked at the gold and then at Ling Mai, then back at the gold. “We won’t have to work in the market anymore with this much wealth. This is at least fifty years' worth of income from my food stall. A veritable fortune in this town. The mayor, being a cultivator, probably has more money but I don’t really know.”
Ling Mai was extremely excited. She could have more than one set of robes, good food for every meal, and help Grandma Tang with expenses. She felt as happy as a dragon in a lava bath. She smiled hugely and transferred the gold back into her storage ring.
As they walked up the front steps of the trading post, a thought occurred to her. She needed to ‘lock’ her storage ring so others could not steal from her. She set her problem-solving mind to work on a method. “I don’t want a lethal trap the same as it used to have. Hmm, what about an external, to the storage ring, normal lightning vortex linked to an internal lightning crystal which triggers a zap if not given a specific signal? It could have a number of ever-increasing series of repelling attacks if the robber persists.” Happy with the concept she left the task of creating this to her sub-mind.
Opening the door for Grandma Tang and Kitty to enter, Ling Mai peered into the large entrance room. Guards just inside the door were giving them the once over. An obese man walked over from behind a counter and greeted Grandma Tang with a deep bow. Straightening, he caught sight of Kitty who had entered after Grandma Tang. He had a momentary flash of fear on his face, causing his jowls to quiver. Seeing Ling Mai come up beside Kitty and pet him, the man relaxed. Kitty played up to the image of an almost small horse-sized domesticated cat by purring and rubbing his head against Ling Mai’s cheek. Ling Mai started using both hands to pet Kitty, thinking, “Lucky you don’t suffer from cat-breath.”
Kitty gave her the insulted look of an emperor who had just been told by the chambermaid to wash his smelly armpits. Ling Mai asked, “How come you don’t smell?”
An image of an animal sniffing the air, formed in Ling Mai’s mind. She gave Kitty a startled look, “I didn’t know you could send images!”
Kitty sent a feeling of pleased accomplishment. “You have just learnt how?” Asked Ling Mai. “Well done, my clever cat.” Kitty deigned to acknowledge her comment, though he did sport a smug look.
Several other customers were examining the wares in display cases. A man in his thirties with expensive-looking robes was disparaging a sword in one of the display cases. His young companion looked resigned to his tirade. Finally getting exasperated, she interrupted him, “It is only one gold. It is a good price for a low-tier sword.”
“Sure, but why can’t they have something decent?”
“They probably do, but they don’t want to risk high-priced weapons in this room being stolen. It is pretty lawless here as we are near the frontier.”
“I would prefer a spear anyway. Losing my earth-ranked spear to that giant white ape bear was a huge loss.”
“You were lucky you didn’t lose your arm at the same time, or more important bits.”
Ling Mai stopped listening to their conversation and turned back to Grandma Tang. “I will have a wander around then ask if they have anything better. Okay?”
“Just keep away from that guy. He is potential trouble. No brain in his big head or… Ahem. His sister or partner seems relatively sensible, so you should be safe.”
“I can always zap him if he is rude to me.” Seeing Grandma Tang’s look, she assured her, “Only if absolutely necessary.”
Looking somewhat dubious, Grandma Tang nodded and turned back to the man serving her, “What do you have in the way of beds and bedclothes?”
“For me?” Interrupted Ling Mai.
“For you and Kitty. He won’t fit in your bed, so if you share then you will need a bigger bed; plus you are still growing.”
Kitty looked at Ling Mai with curiosity. “A lair to curl up in and sleep.” Kitty looked interested.
“Thank you, Grandma Tang.” She said with a bow.
Ling Mai started following Kitty around the room, moving from one display to the next. Kitty would sniff the item, and if interested, examine it carefully. Not many items caught Ling Mai or Kitty’s eyes.
As they were examining an object that looked like it was halfway between a vase and a large cooking pot, a young female voice came from behind them, “That is a pill or medicinal cauldron. It uses herbs and sometimes beast cores to create pills and elixirs.”
They turned to find a young girl about the same age as Ling Mai. “Is the price correct?” She asked as it was five golds.
“Yes, it is discounted as the manager wants to get rid of it fast due to there being no customers for it in our town,” the young girl replied honestly. “My name is Li Na.”
“Thank you. My name is Ling Mai. Can you help explain how to use this?”
“I can’t, but it comes with a set of pill-refining scrolls. We also have a set of herbs, but unfortunately, only two beast cores are for sale,” she pointed to the back of the counter to a doorway going into a rear room. “They are very expensive at one hundred and fifty golds each,” Li Na explained somberly.
“I’ll take the cauldron and herbs, but I already have a few beast cores. What type are yours?”
Li Na looked shocked, “Wha, what?” She stuttered. “You have beast cores? And you maybe want more?”
She looked utterly shocked as normally beast cores were hard to get. Ling Mai wondered if there was a reason that the new type of animal she had hunted was appearing and that some of them had beast cores.
“Yes, if they are earth or metal, and maybe if they are air. I can use them to cultivate,” she stated. Seeing Li Na’s slightly stunned look she continued, “And of course this cauldron and all the scrolls and herbs. Do you have any information on runes?”
Li Na agitatedly waved her hands around, “You are a cultivator? I don’t know the type. I’ll ask my mother.” Still flustered, she quickly trotted over to a woman who was attending to the man in his thirties and his young female companion. She whispered in her mother’s ear. Her mother whispered back. The man who was being served perked his ears, “You have beast cores? What type and how much?”
By this time, Li Na had returned to Ling Mai, “Metal and air,” she excitedly informed Ling Mai.
“I’ll take them,” she replied.
“Mom, she will buy them and the cauldron and herbs!” She exultantly shouted out to her mother.
“Wait a minute. I was going to buy them,” the belligerent man angrily shouted.
“I’m sorry sir, they have just been sold to that young lady,” explained Li Na’s mother.
The man stormed over to Ling Mai, “Look at her. Can she even afford them?”
“Actually, yes,” said Ling Mai. “I said I would buy them first, so go buy something else.”
“You…” the man was rendered speechless.
His companion interrupted, “Take care brother. If she can afford over three hundred golds at her age then her background must not be simple.”
“She doesn’t have any guards so it doesn’t matter as we are leaving this town after this,” he replied. Turning back to Ling Mai he demanded, “Sell them to me. I’ll pay two hundred golds each.”
Poor Li Na or her mother didn’t know what to say. The obese man who met them noticed the confrontation and quickly walked over, “Now, now. I’m sure we can work something out. We get beast cores all the time from the merchants from the coast but unfortunately, we are currently low on stock. Young lady, we can sell you beast cores later.”
“No, I bought them first and I don’t want to sell them as I want to use them today.”
“Ha ha.” The belligerent man laughed. “You are still young and probably are only at single core forming.” Examining Ling Mai he asked, “What treasure are you using to conceal your cultivation?”
“Don’t be rude, Brother. I think you should apologise and stop aggravating her. You know what happened the last time.”
The man blushed. “That was an exceptional situation. How was I to know she was the daughter of the patriarch of the Soaring Cloud sect? She was in ripped and dirty plain robes.”
The young woman examined Ling Mai’s clothes, “What sect are you from?”
“I don’t belong to a sect.”
“See, I told you she was just trash,” the belligerent man crowed triumphantly.
“She is eight or nine years old at most and already cultivating. She is not trash.”
“I don’t care. Might is right.” Saying this he took out a shield and a whip.
Kitty snarled and crouched, ready to pounce. His eyes started glowing red.
Ling Mai looked at the guards and the obese man. They were looking apprehensive but they were not moving forward to stop the man from attacking Ling Mai. She quickly looked at Grandma Tang, who gave her a reluctant nod.
Putting her hand on Kitty to stop him from attacking, she formed Heavenly Tribulation Lightning energy into a bolt of lightning and bounced it off the floor under the man’s shield. It unfortunately struck the man in the groin.
“AYEEEEEEE!” The man screamed and fell to the floor clutching his family jewels.
Ling Mai thought, “So you think, might is right?” She walked over and picked up the whip and shield. Examining them she noticed they were of high quality. The shield was of great interest to her as it was covered in runes. She transferred the whip and shield into her storage ring, then turned to the man who was still whimpering on the floor. “Give me your storage ring,” she demanded.
The young woman who had been beside the man had taken several paces back. She was ashen-faced. “Who are you?” She asked while shaking.
“Ling Mai. Get the ring for me or else!” She commanded. She was feeling very disgruntled. How dare he threaten to hurt and rob her. She decided that if he thought might was right, then he could suffer the consequences!
Hesitating for an instant, the young woman then darted forward, grabbed the man’s arm and raised it to pry off the ring. She threw it to Ling Mai, obviously too scared to approach. She pulled the man to his feet and dragged him, still whimpering and bent over, out the door.
Examining the contents of the ring, she remarked with a cheerful grin, “Well that went well. A nice profit.” Turning to look at the obese man, who had beads of sweat running down his fat cheeks, she asked, “So, you wanted to sell my beast cores to him instead of me?”
“My mistake, my mistake! My apologies!” He cried while bowing repeatedly.
Later, when they were walking back home, Grandma Tang simply remarked, “Having a powerful cultivator around whilst negotiating prices certainly helps get a bargain.”
Ling Mai smiled up at her. She had a family now. Grandma Tang and Kitty, and even possibly a friendship with Big Ming. She was very happy.
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