The Maelstrom carried on into the morning, and so Fushaka went off to her nice little corner. A whole day of circulation should wear away The Rock, and she had these cool little pills that were meant to help. But, it was not to be, and she got accosted by a group of six men as she was heading off. Not exactly the same guys she had gotten beaten up by last time, but same look and same collars. So clearly the same group.

“I don’t want to get into any conflict today, so can we just…make a deal?” she asked them.

“A deal where you join us?” the guy replied, to guffles of his friends.

“No. A deal where I show you what I’ve learned as a Gregari, and you leave me alone for today” Fu offered, giving with her best customer-hooking smile. It definitely did the work she wanted it to, as the guys confident visage cracked and they started sweating. Virgins, she could smell it in their nervous jitter. They looked just like the guy who had snuck out with a handful of coins and a dream. The girl who had come here, trembling and not even sure what she as doing here. Occasionally, she even got guys who wanted to be better at it for their girlfriends, which was romantic in a way.

Putting on her most sultry smile, she crooked her finger, and the boss stepped forward as if jolted by a puppeteer. Six guys weren’t exactly easy for her, but they were very new to this, so they ended pretty quickly before her jaw started to ache. Once the sixth was done, they staggered away and she took a seat in her corner. Popping the pills, she began her energy circulation. They certainly did their job, as the energy lept into action, her gut roiling from the new influx of energy, setting her body to jitters. It sandblasted the Stone, and while it stood stubborn by the end of the day, she could feel that it was diminished.

So it was that she had a nice schedule while she waited for things to die down a bit. Guys accosted her in the morning, she dealt with them, and then spent her days wearing down the Stone. By the fourth day, it was down to the nub, and she could even feel some energy threading through tiny holes into her Dantian. It felt amazing! No wonder people wanted to do this their entire life!

However, it was not all sunshine and roses, as she was noticing that less guys were turning up, and the ones who did were looking more gaunt and worn as the days went on.

“Is she abusing you because you aren’t hurting me?” Fu would ask the boss, after only one man who looked like he hadn’t slept in a week turned up with him.

“Na. She’s fine with whatever. We do here. I think it is more. That she wants you. Bothered, than actually. Beaten” he would keep running out of breath in the middle of his words, which was bad given that Breath was very important for a Cultivator.

“Then, are you pushing yourself too far after seeing what Raimaa and Talia could do?” she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.

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“Also na. I’ve actually….been neglecting all that. I’ve been tired. I think I ate something. Wrong”

Fushaka would nod, and then gesture away.

“Go get some sleep” she said, before heading off herself, to the Martial Hall. The librarian in charge looked a bit drowsy, but that was much more understandable given what he had been through this week. Fortunately, everyone who would come here had come here, and it was nice and quiet once again.

“Hey. I need” she’d start, and then pause, not sure what she was even looking for. “Books on…food’s effect on Cultivation” she finished. He had said that he might have eaten something wrong. The man nodded, and stood up, heading off to lead her where she needed to be. There was, however, another option. One that she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to just blurt out like that, but it might help.

“Also books on sex’s effect on Cultivation” she’d state with conviction.

“Ha! No, you don’t want to be doing that with Talia. Ci’s wrath aside, it won’t do you any good” the Librarian put in, shaking his head.

“It’s not Talia. I bribed some guys to leave me alone” Fu would reply. That got a real reaction, as he swung around and looked at her with some real emotion in his eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m a Gregari, it’s no different to cooking food for people tilling your garden” Fu would reply, staring back.

The man would stare some more, clearly warring with his chivalrous nature. But eventually he nodded.

“Well, I can’t fault it if you are using the skills life taught you. Just come to any Elder if it gets out of hand, ok?” He would ask, a rhetorical question from the tone, and then pulling two books from the stacks to hand to her. Points were spent - cheap, since she wasn’t taking them out of the pavilion - and she spent most of the day reading.

Nothing in the food book would imply what she was seeing. A lot of foods can cause problems, but nothing like these ones. The sex book, was very matter of fact. It was kind of amusing as how the author just wrote as if it was a recipe book for chili. Sex seemed to have a real effect on one’s Cultivation, as the two shared energies and nourished each other. They even gave it such an official name, ‘Dual Cultivation’. Eventually, she got a sort of relevant bit.

‘Female on Female Dual Cultivation has no effect on either participant. Water can not nourish Water, though in her guise as the Nurturer, a woman has an unlimited amount of energy to expend.

Male on Male Dual Cultivation, is detrimental to the participant. Earth can not nourish Earth, and in his guise as the Provider, a man has a limited amount of energy to give.

One may give rise to her partner orally, but never finish him off orally. This drains the limited energy the Man can produce and gives him no nourishment in return, this can prove to be hazardous to their health if done repeatedly’

Fu would stare at the book, and let out a groan. This was why she was doing so well, wasn’t it? Why the Stone had ablated so quickly. With the cultivation resources and a big influx of energy that she was stealing from the guys, no wonder her pace had accelerated so quickly. She needed to fix this, right away. She couldn’t think. There was only one thing in her head right now that made any sense as to a solution. Shutting the books, she ran from the library, ignoring the cries of a fine from the Librarian, and headed up the mountain. . Rangou Five Steps gave a fleetness to her steps even if it didn’t do anything mystical. And even now, her brain was dissecting what she had seen at the exhibition, and splicing bits of it into Rangou to shore up her lack. Making it…..Rangou Six Steps. Fu gave a gentle smile despite the situation at the joke, and kept running, up and up and up.