[Cultivation Difference Bonus - 50; Pampering Bonus - 75 (Capped)]

[125x Return - 947 Qi Strand]

It was a good thing that Aisnam was only disguised as a servant, and not actually one because the last night would have been enough to get her fired. She was supposed to go upstairs immediately to bring the letters to 'her Queen'.

Instead, she was sneaking out of my bed in the morning.

I suppressed my desire to tease her, and instead acted like I was asleep, my mind already churning about how to act. I needed to visit Pearyin to replenish her Qi, but on that, there was a huge problem. The replenishment rate of cursed Qi was not enough to satisfy her consumption.

I needed to find a better source of Qi, which was not as simple as it sounded. My first inclination was to try and find some more spirit plant seeds. Once enough of them had been planted, Pearyin would have enough Qi to meet her needs.

Unfortunately, too many cultivators were shameless bandits for it to be tenable. The protection talismans were a temporary measure, and the more spirit plants there were, the higher the probability of her being discovered by other cultivators — and that was before adding our weird luck into the mix.

With that option unviable, the only other option I could use was to damage the stone door a little more to increase the cursed Qi flow … and the craziness of that plan had been obvious enough before that mysterious voice spoke to me.

No, that, I would leave alone.

Which left other, not-so-immediate options. Use Aisnam to set up a trade channel to get lots of spirit stones, visit cultivator market to trade for stones, and actually bring Aisnam to Misty Mountains and hope that the unique nature of the area would keep her safe.

All three had their own disadvantages, mostly relating to depending on outside sources.

No, I needed to use the information Aisnam would — hopefully — provide about the cultivation world to get some new skills. Formation mastery was the biggest target, followed by more talisman plans, and alchemy was a distant third. I treated alchemy as a lower priority, not because it wasn't useful, but because I was afraid of the challenge of gathering even more materials.

Then, my thoughts wandered over the being that was locked behind the stone door, along with a feature that I had triggered very rarely.

Insult.

I wondered if I could actually goad that being to throw a qualified insult to my side, but I failed to come up with a way, particularly since I wasn't looking for Qi. I already had that in abundance, but I was afraid of triggering the System's punishment if I just transferred it to Pearyin.

That particular option was a literal last resort.

I was still pondering over my options, when Aisnam came downstairs with a letter and a small booklet. "The Queen has her answer. Can you bring it to them?" she said.

"Anything for you," I answered with a smirk but didn't make a move. We had already spent more than a little time together the last night — partially driven by her relief at my safety after my longer-than-planned disappearance — and I didn't want to crowd her too much.

Another little trick of being a boy toy. Leaving her wanting was better than boring her with too much too soon. Occasionally taking the initiative like I did last night had its benefits, but too much initiative had its risks.

Particularly when the lady in question was a cultivator.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"So, any special requests?" I asked.

"Just keep your eyes open. Her Highness is happy with your observations," she said, her earnest expression would have been enough to make me feel guilty if she hadn't been benefiting from them incredibly.

One or two white lies — well, a lot of them — were nothing compared to the help she received.

I left the Palace through the tunnel. There was no surprise communication from the trapped entity, which didn't surprise me. The pattern of cursed Qi suggested that it was not as active during the day.

Once I got out of the cave, I spent some time to make sure I wasn't being followed. I didn't expect it, as by following me she would risk her deal with the mysterious organization. Also, she was reluctant to leave the Spring Palace unattended, afraid of the consequences.

I first checked her letter. It was a long, indirect statement written in fancy language, but the general gist was she accepted the deal I had presented. It even mentioned that the booklet was a general breakdown of the local powers. In return, she requested a twenty-percent discount for the next delivery I would make on Markas.

There were two more things. First, there was a list of services and prices. She offered to act as an in-between for the cultivation materials, but only if I paid triple for their cost, but she was willing to accept finished products. Smart of her.

Even better, she had a list of materials that she could provide, which was very helpful. I knew nothing about alchemy and formations, so the list guided me.

I immediately put a list for a hefty delivery of resources, particularly talisman paper, and ink, though just to be on the safe side, I also requested some jade and basic alchemy materials, enough that I could pay with my current stockpile of talismans but still leave some for myself.

Then, I turned my attention to the real reward. The knowledge about the regions. First, the layout of the mortal kingdoms. In that part, she didn't get too much into detail, just mentioned barely to show highlights.

Once I saw the true extent of the land, I understood why she did so. The local area — being the continent we were in — had twelve mortal domains, the forty-three kingdoms, with their billions of mortals, only one of them. Yet, the current mortal domain wasn't even the biggest one.

And, this world had multiple continents. A shocking scale.

She didn't include too much information on the mortal kingdoms. Instead, she focused on drawing the locations of the various sects, cultivator families, and markets. She didn't put the exact location of any sect, but the general area of influence area, and some of the key information. Styles, notable elders, products, and other stuff.

I paid more attention to the information she provided about four premier sects that effectively ruled the continent. Kartpa Valley, Entsa Pavilion, Mutmah Sect, and Dragon Peak; each with multiple Nascent Soul Elders … which, apparently came after Golden Core. I didn't even want to imagine how strong they were.

So, instead, I focused on the details of each sect. Dragon Peak was famous for its saber skills and its bloodline, which apparently came from actual dragons. Also, they were the best at weapon forging, which mixed well with their focus on sabers.

And, from what I could get from the notes, they were also the unofficial leader of the four sects, but I got the impression that Aisnam was not happy about it. She didn't write anything about it, but her handwriting carried some resentment.

Mutmah sect had the smallest territory among the four, with a lot of notes putting them as the premier formation masters of the continent. Too bad even their nearest base was on the other side of the continent.

A lesson on formation mastery was my greatest need.

Entsa Pavilion, I was already vaguely familiar with. Though, to my surprise, every single notable elder and important disciple was a woman. I didn't know whether it was a female-only, or female-heavy sect. Their area of expertise was talismans, which meant their importance was a bit more nuanced. I didn't care about buying talismans, but getting some gifts, particularly one or two of peak Qi Gathering power and letting them get multiplied by the System was a good way to ensure my safety from a surprise attack from a higher-ranking cultivator.

And, then, there was Kartpa Valley, the enemy I somehow managed to make. They were a sect that focused on unarmed combat and alchemy, which was an interesting combination. Still, their focus on alchemy made them the richest of the four.

Unlike the other disciplines, alchemy allowed cultivators to increase their power permanently, which made them the most important purchase for any cultivator. Technically, for saber and sword cultivators, their weapons were more important, but even then, a weapon was a rare purchase.

Pills were consumables. Expensive ones.

Once I had finished reading about the major four, I started reading about minor sects and families, each with its own details, though the details on the Verdant Family were suspiciously absent other than their territory.

Even now, she didn't want to work against her family. I disagreed. If my family sabotaged me like they had done to her, I would have sold them out in a heartbeat.

"That's enough reading," I muttered, and burned everything after committing them to my memory. Now, the next task.

A visit to the city…