The eventful day came to an end, and before he even knew it, a week had passed. Jun lay on his bed, staring out the opaque window into the streets below. In his mouth was a cow femur, which tasted better than average. Jun gave it a few more chews before circulating the Bone Essence Art, filling his body to the brim. The bone in his mouth turned to dust, which melted on his tongue.
“God, how many bones will it take me to complete the skin stage?”
Over the course of the week, he had done a lot of thinking. After all, he had lots of free time, being a jobless freeloader. A neet, really. Now that he thought about it, the reason why people in the past were so busy with work was because they had nothing to do with their time. What could a cultivator even do with their spare time? Go drinking or whoring? Most didn’t even have friends. It was all work, work, and work. Jun bet there weren’t even any of the “good” pills here. Thank god for movies and games on Earth, which brought countless hours of entertainment.
“Alright, that’s too much thinking,” he murmured, trying to get his mind on track.
After closely observing how his body interacted with bone essence, he began to notice an order of operations. Namely, his skin took the majority of the bone essence. The second most went to the flesh, then to his bones, and finally, his blood absorbed the least.
After days of performing the art whenever he could, Jun sensed a certain type of “limit” that would eventually halt the skin from absorbing more bone essence. Thus, he came up with a simple system, which he named the four stages of body tempering. When his skin was smooth and tough and could no longer take in essence, he would move on to the flesh stage.
To test his theory, Jun took his paw and bit down on it as hard as he could.
“Ow! Fuck! Shit! It still hurts!” he shouted in pain, clutching his mouth. A part of his tooth had chipped, and not a single mark remained on his skin.
The pain swiftly faded away. It was exciting to see tangible progress, and his new plan of finding fighting techniques was also in motion. He was beginning to look like a proper cultivator!
“I should go check up on my candidate.”
Jun wisely nodded before hopping out of the bed, opening the door, and heading downstairs to the common room. The hustle and bustle of it all was familiar and even a bit comforting as he made his way through the place. Several drunk patrons jumped out to pet him, and he indulged in it for a few seconds before making his escape.
Today, like usual, the common room was full. Part of the reason was that this place had superb food. but the other part sat on a chair in the corner of the inn. There he was, a dashing young man wearing a green cap with a gorgeous multi-coloured feather stuck on it. The green cloak, the red long-sleeve shirt with an unnecessary amount of frills, and the numerous rings made Jun think of medieval nobility. Then, the red and gold zither brought him back to the cultivation world.
The young man from the Harmony Sect (an awfully simple sect name for a world so pretentious) had come along with the delegation and sought employment here, along with a chance to practise his skills. No one else objected, and thus the inn was graced with some of the best instrumental music Jun had ever heard. The melody he played was simple and peaceful most of the time, but once the man got going, the entire inn would be up on their feet, dancing to a heart-pounding tune.
Jun tapped his feet to the rhythm, making his way over to a table featuring Chen Hao and He Ming.
“Argh! How many times must I teach you? What’s important is where the target is looking and what they’re focusing on.” He Ming said, animatedly waving his hand around. He raised his right hand and gestured at the boy, and as Chen Hao briefly glanced at it, the server picked up the empty plate and quickly hid it behind his back. The boy, now glancing back at the table, widened his eyes in surprise at the missing item.
“When you take something, the most important thing is precision. One swooping, flowing motion from the item to wherever you’re going to hide it.” He once again demonstrated it, much slower this time.
Jun glanced at the sleight-of-hand techniques being taught before continuing to waddle along. This new dynamic of teacher and student was a recent development. Their old meat-stealing plan had gone awry when the butcher lady threatened to kill Chen Hao because he wasn’t improving in his butchery techniques. Naturally, the amount of ruined meat was reduced, which forced the boy to beg He Ming to teach him some new tricks.
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For that purpose, Chen Hao had a new set of clothes. The ragged undershirt remained, but now the boy sported a short, grey robe that was tied around his stomach. It featured numerous sewn pockets, where one could easily hide pieces of meat. This was also thanks to He Ming, who directed him to an old tailor with a criminal past. Frankly, Jun was ecstatic about this development—no longer would he have to carry raw meat like some sort of pervert.
Once he left the inn, he was guided by the last bits of sunlight shining down on the sect. Walking a path now familiar to him, it took him to the very edges of the sect, where stone buildings, easy to make and identical to the rest here, were being constructed using magical techniques. On Earth, such developments would cost an arm and a leg, but here, the new buildings were occupied only by the poorest of wretches.
Jun had to orient himself by smell until he found the right stone house. He settled in the narrow crack between this house and the next, peering inside a muddy window. He ignored the chipped wooden tables, moth-ridden cloths, banged-up pots, and worn-down washbaskets. Instead, he focused on two figures in the corner of the house.
One of them was lying on a mattress of straw, a hand on their head. It was a girl, no more than six or seven, wearing a sundress that had been stitched and repaired numerous times. Her long, black hair spilled on the floor behind her, and her face was pale-white. She weakly reached up towards a metal spoon, holding a portion of a porridge.
The other figure was a teen boy, older than Chen Hao, but only by one or two years. A brown, hemp tunic and very similar pants were all the boy had. His hair was the same black, but it was short and uneven as if he had quickly cut it with a knife without looking. He was currently blowing on the porridge, making all kinds of silly noises to get the girl to eat the food.
The boy was named Xu Peng, and the girl was Xu Mei. Both of them were siblings with no parents in sight, and, presumably, they had a tragic backstory that Jun still didn’t know. That’s what he could tell after almost a week of observation. As for the reason he was doing so, it came from an idea more than a week ago.
The problem Jun had was that he had inner qi, but no way to utilise it besides strengthening his body. To solve this problem, he had to find a good technique, and how the hell was he supposed to do that with this dog body? With a very dubious appearance and no way to speak, it would be a herculean task. Thus, he needed someone to do it for him. Someone who wouldn’t ask too many questions. Before he had gone out searching, he made a mental list of all the requirements.
1. Low cultivation base.
2. No powerful friends or important background.
3. Not too smart or wise.
4. Someone who wouldn’t question anything.
The criteria weren’t too strict, but he had still spent days searching for suitable candidates in the outer edges of the sect. Xu Peng was perfect. His young age meant he couldn’t be too strong or wise, and from the numerous days of observation, he found out that the pair had no one but themselves. Sure, other people shared the rent and lived in the same building, but no one would stick up for them if things went awry.
The rest of the tenants were still working, leaving only the two of them. Jun spent a few more minutes making up his mind before he grabbed the bamboo slip he had hidden yesterday. After making sure no one else was watching, he dropped it next to the front door before tapping his claws against the wood. Then, he dashed to the other side of the street, eagerly awaiting the reaction.
It took a while, but eventually, the boy opened the door and cautiously looked around. The streets were all but empty, and his eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the bamboo slip. Xu Peng circled the house, trying to find who this slip belonged to, but eventually, he went back inside.
Jun’s job was finally done. The bamboo slip was his joy and pride, a masterpiece like none before. It had taken numerous sleepless nights to improve his handwriting—it was more teethwriting than anything else. His cultivation had improved his stability, sense of balance, and coordination—without that, no matter how much he practised, he wouldn’t be able to mimic a human’s handwriting.
It read something like this.
“Greetings, Xu Peng. You may not know of me, but I’ve been observing you for close to a month now. When I first made my way here, I observed how poverty, illness, and weakness plague the sect, breeding evil thoughts, leading men to steal and kill, sparing not even children.
“However, as luck would have it, one day, I stumbled upon your house and peered in. I watched how you would wake up before dawn and head to work, toiling away for the sake of your sister. And when she needed you most, you would be there with calming words and your warm presence.
“The sight brought me to tears the first time I saw it, thus I kept on observing. Now, more than ever, I am convinced that you deserve more than this. If you were stronger, you could move out of this place and get proper help for your family. You would no longer have to bruise your hands just to earn a mere spirit stone.
“I am willing to grant you a chance, but I do not believe in handouts. If you are willing to work hard enough and perform a series of tasks, I will reward you justly, and you may take your first steps on the path of cultivation.
“For now, you lack many things to claim your place in the sect. Thus, the first task is simple. Search high and low and find a technique that doesn’t involve channelling qi through specific meridian points. Something that even cats, dogs, and chickens could perform, given the chance. That will be the basis of your source of power.
“When you have found it, place it on the ground in the alley behind the house. If it costs spirit stones, then mark the amount and I will provide for you. Do not betray my trust.”
Now, Jun hoped the boy was literate.