C***5 Washing vs. Drying
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Shen Ling
Beginner Level 2 [3%]
Parameters
Strength: 8(+5)
Agility: 4(+1)
Body: 8(+5)
Speed: 4(+1)
Intelligence: 5
Spirit: 10
Love: 2
Hate: 0
Karmic Verdict
Absolute Zero
Dao (Skills)
???
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It was in that instant that Shen Ling realized she was divergent, and that something about her was amiss. In fact, Shen Ling had no tangible evidence of this premonition, beyond the concern she heard in her mother’s tone. Yet, the chimerical truth rang with the clarity of musical notes, composed silently, only to sound loudly when given voice.
In a heartbeat, a Netherworld ten-day (week) had past since Shen Ling consumed the sin beast meat and began her work beside her mother in the kitchen.
Each and every day the Blue Button Inn would be packed full of customers from the time it first opened in the morning to when it barred its doors at night. Although Shen Ling’s second floor bedroom was the smallest of the Inn’s suites, she couldn’t help but notice she was the Blue Button Inn’s only guest and that all of the other rooms were vacant, which suited her temperament rather well. Even though Shen Ling was a girl with no horns, of necessity, she was also a boy with nearly invisible one tier horns. In this aspect, she greatly desired both privacy and a quiet reclusive life.
“Lingling! How can you be so bold!” Cai Min exclaimed, generating a chuckle from the patrons in the common room that could be heard from across the street. Those patrons had long ago become acquainted with Cai Min’s outbursts. “To force a pretty flower to wash the dishes and ruin her delicate hands, when clearly such a young untainted beauty, such as she, should be set the task of drying instead,” Cai Min finished, switching to her inside voice.
Shen Ling’s desire for a tranquil life was regularly disturbed by the walking talking tribulation known as Cai Min.
“Fine, I’ll wash,” Shen Ling growled. Lowering her voice and furrowing her brow were both good practice for imitating a man. With Cai Min standing beside her, this training became completely natural, offering twice the results with half the effort.
It was during this week of practice that Shen Ling gained her first dao skill.
Dong!
You have learned the Dao of Dishwashing: Beginner ✭ (One Star)
What a useless skill!
“Mother . . .” What sort of reaction would Wu Jia have toward this event? Despite putting in tremendous effort in the kitchen, Shen Ling couldn’t help but feel as if she were a disappointment to her parents. She had no horns to speak of, and her talent was so pitiful that it took more than twice the average EXP to gain a single level.
“Hmm, what is it Ling’er? did you need something? more soap?”
“No it’s nothing like that. It’s just . . . I gained a skill,” she revealed, timidly.
Cai Min suddenly yapped. “What? How can Lingling get a skill when I’ve been doing dishes for two years and have nothing to show for it!”
“Huh? Cai Min, for these last two years hasn’t it been you drying, while you bullied my Shudun into washing. Also, you don’t pay proper attention to details. If you want to grow you must first strengthen your spirit.”
Cai Min turned pale in bewilderment. So unfair, her highest parameter was agility, her lowest spirit.
Could it be that Dishwashing was a skill, but drying was not?!
(Author note: 50% of the time, 75% of what I write is 100% fluff)
Wu Jia was a natural teacher. A trait that was left mostly suppressed until her maternal instincts finally developed a focus.
“The two of you, listen carefully. In this world exists an infinite number of paths leading to an infinite number of endings and beginnings. To progress you need to move forward along your own path and form your own Dao. Only then can you be truly strong.”
“I thought levels made you strong,” replied Shen Ling offhandedly. Cai Min nodded in the affirmative as well.
“Levels? How does having a higher level make you stronger?” questioned Wu Jia.
“Umm . . . because our parameters would be higher,” answered Shen Ling.
“Cai Min, what do you think?” It was clear by the string of questions that Wu Jia was playing a game with them, but Cai Min would give Boss Wu face.
“Lingling is right. If our levels were higher then our parameters would be better.”
“You’re both too naive. Status is only a mirror of heaven and earth. Cultivation comes from the self, the body, the heart and the mind,” explained Wu Jia.
Cai Min put her elbows on the table holding her freckled cheeks between her knuckles, bracing her chin with her palms. Shen Ling thought that Cai Min was taking this conversation way too seriously. “You need to eat meat to get EXP. That’s the only way,” she said as a matter of fact.
A light dawned within Shen Ling’s widening eyes. This was the difference between knowledge and understanding. According to the information, eating the special meat garnered EXP and levels and higher parameters, but if you supposed that status was only a record . . . After absorbing enough sin energy, the body and mind would grow stronger. Although the difference was subtle, Shen Ling knew it to be as distant as heaven and earth.
If a group of people from Shen Ling’s Earth wanted to strengthen themselves, they could choose to take a walk around the block, and indeed they would grow healthier. But if they understood how advanced medicine, athletics, diet, and rest, contributed to their strength, then they could create a spectacular training regimen fit for olympians. In an instant, the frogs would be given wings.
In this way, Shen Ling gained a glimmer of enlightenment. She inferred that there must be methods to better absorb and cultivate sin energy. “There’s more to it than just eating,” she quietly provoked.
The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.
Wu Jia smiled, and the charisma of her beauty infected the not-quite-children with grins. “From today onward, Ling’er, I would like you to become my first and only disciple.”
Shen Ling was stunned by the sudden declaration. At the same moment, Cai Min’s face slowly spoiled from gladness to dejected, to fury that culminated into a burst of tears as she sped out the back door.
“Mother, couldn’t you take Cai Min as a disciple too?” Shen Ling may get a bit annoyed with Cai Min, but the truth was, although odd, Cai Min was the closest thing she had to a friend.
“Cai Min is a spy, dear. For the Chi clan.” Wu Jia let the statement roll of her tongue as if she were speaking of the weather or some other unimportant piece of news.
What?! “That can’t be. Why do you let her work here then?” And who were the Chi clan?
“I’ll let you in on the big secret. Didn’t you ever wonder why my Inn has no guests? Or why Shudun delivers most of the food I make, while those awful barbarians in the common room sip tea and eat snacks all day?”
Perhaps it was a habit from her previous life. Shen Ling tended to dismiss the oddities in her surroundings, her subconscious opting to avoid conflicts.
“Let me tell you, Ling’er. It is because your mother is not an innkeeper.” Wu Jia brought her face down beside Shen Ling’s ear and whispered, as listening to the ocean through a seashell, “I am a chef.”
Was being a chef really such an amazing thing?
. . .
Three groups hold sway in the Redwall tribe. The Lao clan, of which Lao Bellruse and his son Lao Dong are both prominent members, is the largest clan in the village, has the most warriors and their headquarters resides in the highest fifth level of the ziggurat. Two other groups, the Chi clan and the Zhang Trade Office each have comparable military might, and of necessity together strike a balance of power with the more formidable Lao clan. The Chi clan controls the ziggurat’s fourth level, only just below the Lao clan territory, while the Zhang Trade Office is based on the second level.
Furthermore, these three groups divide responsibility over the day to day operations of Redwall village, and maintain the status quo of the tribe.
The Lao clan functions similarly to an ancient Chinese martial sect, recruiting various talents as outer, inner, and core disciples. Their elders train them based upon their natural abilities or social status. Many of the inner and outer sect disciples pay for their apprenticeship by becoming indentured into the city watch, or to the unorthodox militia under the control of the Lao clan.
The Chi clan is, on the other hand, a true martial family, dedicated to mastery of cultivation, and relying upon the wisdom and honour of their ancestors to guide them. The only method to become a member of the Chi clan is marriage, therefore their numbers are the fewest of the three powers. What they lack in quantity, they make up for in quality, opting to provide their elite members with an abundant supply of sin beast meat, and other precious cultivation and battle treasures.
The last of the three powers is the Zhang Trade Office. The ZTO is a massive mercantile organization with offices stationed at a huge number of villages, towns and cities surrounding the Nine Hells Mountain. To understand the extent of their network, it is integral to realize the sheer size of the Netherworld continent is many hundreds of times the size of Shen Ling’s Earth, with a population of countless trillions. Though it is also true that the tiny branch office of the ZTO in Redwall Village is of no consequence at all to such a robust organization, and is basically left to fend for itself, while their main responsibility to the tribe is overseeing the production and shipping of local goods.
The sun beat down on the ziggurat’s second level as a scruffy man carrying two large bags walked under a red clay archway, entering into a busy compound. The man ignored the stench of the triple trunked mammoth pen, and the hustle and bustle of the wagon trains being unloaded, as he diligently passed through this familiar territory.
This man, of course, was Shen Shudun, delivering the latest packages of sinful delicacies to the Zhang Trade Office. Unlike his deliveries to the other two major powers of the Redwall tribe, Shudun actually enjoyed this final stop on his route, not because it meant the end of his duties for the day, but instead because it meant the real beginning.
After expediting the shipment, Shudun made straight for the ZTO training grounds, which amounted to little more than a large barren patch of red dirt surrounded by a short grey stick fence. Although technically he was a subordinate of the Zhang Trade Office, thanks to his role as consignment officer, he was more or less a satellite member, able to come and go as he pleased.
That is why a number of young men in brown leathers gave him queer glances as he nonchalantly entered the practice grounds. It had been many years since Shen Shudun had bothered with this type of training, but with the loss of a leg, his confidence had been somewhat shaken. He needed to know how his brick was going to hold up in an actual combat scenario, and he didn’t want to risk his life only to find out he was a little too slow, or slightly off balance. As an experienced hunter, he knew the thin margins of life and death, firsthand.
He found an empty area in the far corner of the grounds, under a grey desolate maple tree. Like all the trees of the undying forest, it had no leaves, but still offered a modicum of shade. Shen Shudun began his mental preparation, closing his eyes and regulating his breathing.
“Look what we have here, lads. The delivery boy thinks this is a place to take a nap.”
Shudun opened one eye to glare at the group of young warriors who’d come to make trouble.
Hmm? My warm up is early. Good delivery service!