Another month had passed before I surrendered from my solitude. The eerie silence and disturbing quiet breeze of the night are chipping into my psyche. Constantly, everyday, the only noise that accompanies me are the sounds of the wind atop this peak and the distant chirping of birds below this spot.
I don't want to waste points. I want to learn a technique that will help me greatly in this world, but if there is no one besides me that I can talk to, then I might go mad. In fact, I think I am on the brink of insanity not having anyone to talk to.
Reading is not just doing it. Seven months of doing it without any interruption is becoming dull even for me who really likes passing the time doing useless stuff like that.
I need someone to talk to, but I don't want to go down this mountain peak with my current cultivation base. My maximum is still at the 2nd Stage, and if I push it and stop resetting my cultivation, I can reach the 3rd Stage approximately two months and a half. 4th Stage will take longer, then the 5th Stage much more.
Then what else can I do then?
Why, I can buy it. The Prestige Shop can let me buy anything!
In the Pet section, different types of animals and beasts are on its list. They cost a lot though. Mortal pets cost 100 points while 1st Grade Demonic Beasts cost ten times more than that.
I don't have a thousand in me, so I choose the mortal pets. As I am a dog person, I choose a dog. Specifically a pure shiba inu breed. I named it Fluffy.
The dog I purchase manifests in front of my eyes, standing there with its dopey looking smile as it wags its tail and looks at me.
(Fluffy)
Race: Shiba Inu
Bloodline: Mortal
Core Progression: Mortal
Core Quality: Intermediate
Affinity: Wood
The prompt that suddenly shows itself after Fluffy fully manifests shocks me, but I manage to hide it while kneeling and patting the head of the dog. It leans into my hand, eager for my palm to rub its head. While it is doing that, I am checking the information I can see floating above its head.
Fluffy has Core Quality and Core Progression. That means it can cultivate. I think it is fair, every living being can cultivate whenever they want, so long as they know how to feel the qi around them and cycle it within their dantian. I recall through Xie Wen's memories that demonic beasts cultivate differently. They solidify some sort of core within their body which acts as their dantian, turning them into demonic beasts. They are originally normal animals that acquires sentience due to abundant qi within an environment, or other reasons that will help them absorb qi and consolidate it within their core.
With Fluffy's addition, I buy all the necessary things I need to take care of the dog. Dog food, dog toys, and other paraphernalia for dogs. I also buy a doghouse, which is somewhat larger than I am expecting for with just a single Prestige Point.
Fluffy seems to like it with how much it is rolling around, and running around from one place to another. It also looks like it is smart enough to understand me. It can follow my orders easily. I can feel a sense of bond between us, and I think I can feel its joy between this link. If I recall correctly, they say this is how Beast Tamers feels their bond with their Tamed Beasts.
It reveals another facet of the Prestige Shop. Pets bought in it would automatically be bonded to me. Does that mean I can buy a 1st Stage Demonic Beast and let it guard me?
Lately, I am becoming nervous. Recently when night comes, distant noises below this peak echo and I can't help but check below with my purchased hi-tech telescope every evening below the edge of this peak to check if there is any beast lurking near my place. I can see some small silhouettes on the broken steps leading to the destroyed tunnels below this peak, moving swiftly and hiding from the overgrown bushes and shades of trees around the peak.
Without this telescope, which only costs a single point, I won't even know these creatures are near my spot. They are still far, and there is no viable pathway for normal animals to get to this peak unless they can jump through the small ridges and eventual tree roots that are sparsely distanced around the peaks. Only cultivators can do that.
This spot is safe, but their presence still worries me. If those mysterious silhouettes are being attracted here, then what if stronger beasts or cultivators become intrigue at this place?
I need someone to protect me.
With the discovery I got from my purchase of Fluffy, I feel confident buying a demonic beast to become my guardian.
I just have to save up a thousand points!
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And so, six months have passed. Fluffy's existence made the days bearable for me. Most of my time was spent playing with the excitable shiba inu. Playing fetch, feeding it, and generally bonding with it around the limited space of this peak.
Within these months, my constant resets whenever I reach 2nd Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm helps me reach 1,000 points. The amount of spiritual roots and multipliers I have made it possible for me to reach 2nd Stage within 6 hours. I can shorten it to 3 hours if I manually cultivate by myself.
The first month after I got Fluffy, I can constantly reset from 2nd Stage on a daily basis. Sometimes I do it twice if I don't sleep on that particular day. In the third month, I can constantly reset twice. Recently this month, I can do my resets thrice everyday.
This marks the first year of my transmigration to this world. Well, it's 1 year and 1 month if I want to be specific, but that's besides the point.
Building up points takes too long that I cheat for a bit by resetting a lot of times even at the 1st Stage. It's really troublesome always expelling qi from my pores just for it to return near instantly and breakthrough to the 1st Stage with barely a second passing.
Thankfully, I still have time. The creatures lurking beneath the peak haven't found a way to reach this spot, which gave me more time to build up my power. I can still afford to relax for a bit.
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[STATUS]
Cultivation Stage: Mortal
Spiritual Root: 996
Root Quality: Minor
Cultivation Speed: 13.41x
Prestige Points: 1,004
(Affinity)
Earth (F+)
(Talent)
Sword (F)
(Technique)
Iron Edge (Small - Success)
The following is the progress of my cultivation. I will have a lot more if I just focus on expelling my qi on the 1st Stage, but once again that is troublesome and won't give me time to do what I want.
This progress is enough. My knowledge about this world tells me that this is comparable to the speed of a genius cultivator with top grade cultivation roots or peak rank elemental affinity. There is no need to panic so much when I still have a lot of breathing room.
And now I will have more breathing room because of the next purchase that I have been planning for half a year now. I immediately operate my menu and then search for the strongest demonic beast pet that I can afford with Prestige Points, and then purchase it. My heart clenches at the sight of my remaining points as my half year of effort vanishes with a pop.
Then, a large being appears in front of me with a radiant light. I have to close my eyes for a bit before the shine vanishes and I look at the demonic beast that I purchased. It is large. It hunches with its lupine limbs, its forelimbs stretching as it relaxes itself, before it stands up with its paws. Sharp canine eyes look down at me, its black furred tail slowly wagging.
(Kuro)
Race: Dark Forest Wolf
Bloodline: Demon Wolf
Core Progression: 1st Stage Mortality
Core Quality: Intermediate
Affinity: Dark
That is right. I chose a Dark Forest Wolf. Surprisingly, Xie Wen knows about it. It's a type of ferocious demonic beast that roams a thick forest along with its pack. Even in its lonesome, it can handle middle stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.
It is also the fastest and most perceptive demon beast from the 1st Stage that I can afford. There are others at the 1st Stage that heavily outmatched it, but those cost a lot more than a Dark Forest Wolf.
I named it Kuro. I think it is a fitting name due to its dark blue fur that looks fluffy, and its emerald eyes that I think can reflect the moonlight in a sinister manner.
"Can you understand me? Nod if you can?"
Kuro swings its snout up and down, before staring at me once more. I nod in satisfaction.
"Okay, I want you to check whether any dangerous monsters are approaching. If they are hostile, you have to deal with them, or you can alert me. If it's a human, tell me."
Demonic beasts are dangerous. So I hope if a demonic beast comes here, Kuro can take care of them. As for humans, I know Xie Wen's memories tell me how ruthless most people are. Still, I don't want to just tell it to hurt strangers. I have to check whether they are trustworthy first before I think of my next action.
It barks at me and through our bond, I can tell it is agreeing to my order.
"Okay, that is all."
After dismissing it and letting it roam around the peak, I go back to my room and start thinking about my future. Fluffy climbs up the bed along with me, so I can only rub its fluffy body as I browse the shop.
Investing in a 1st Stage Demonic Beast as a guard is good. It will act as a deterrent against immediate threats that might come here. Though it is still one of the weakest types of demonic beasts. I won't feel safe with just Kuro alone.
Just adding more demonic beasts is not good enough. Checking for its diet, it seems like the majority of them like meat. It is much better if the meat comes from another demon beast. They can also eat herbs, flowers, or even some other supernatural element so long as it contains their affinity or is abundant with qi.
Those magical stuff cost a lot. I can't afford it with my meager income. I can only buy it mortal meat which gives me 100kg with a single point. That is still not enough because demonic beasts are known for their large appetite. A 1st Stage Demonic Beast is known for eating multiple humans before they fill their stomach. It's a sickening thought but that is the truth of this world.
So while more demonic beasts under my employ are good for security, they need high maintenance. I'll have to limit it to Kuro until I can get a lot of prestige points on a daily basis.
What I need next is surveillance. Kuro will take care of intruders. I need something to alert me so I can prepare too in case something actually happens.
I have been holding myself back for it because I don't know whether I can pull it off, and it feels like a waste of time. The cheapest surveillance system I can buy are solar powered security cameras which only cost 1 point each. They are also wireless which I can connect to any computer like a laptop.
But I don't know how I can put them around this peak. I can't just hang on the small ledge around the peak and stick it on the rocky surface of the cliff. I don't even know if its wireless connection can reach the laptop or not.
There are the magical types of surveillance like using an observation array around the mountain and connecting it to an object that can reflect light. I can connect it to a mirror and it will let me see everywhere that the array covers. The only problem I have is that this array is expensive. It costs a hundred points.
Should I go for the modern way? Or is it the cultivator way?
I thought about it for a moment before I decided.
"Right, I'll do it the modern way!"
It's cheaper, and it doesn't use any qi to operate. Cultivators can sense arrays because those use qi. Activating it will backfire on me if a strong cultivator approaches me. Compare that to a small security camera, it's mundane and not even worth a glance for cultivators.
So after some deliberation, I start my cultivation so I can reset and acquire points to purchase security cameras and a laptop. As for installing it, I hope it has an instruction manual along with it.
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Nine months ago, a group of Dire Wolves migrated their pack to the destroyed righteous sect. They changed location until they chose the broken cave abodes as their den. Two months have passed when it started, a scent that tickled their nose wafted beyond the peaks of this abandoned mountain.
These Dire Wolves salivated at the constant scent of delectable meat and other scents that flowed down the mountain. Humans wouldn't notice the scent, but Dire Wolves have sharp senses that could detect scent even at a mile radius.
Since then, half a year has passed. They attempted to jump at the narrow ledges and failed at climbing. Even as 1st Stage Demonic Beasts, they didn't have the right build to climb the steep cliff of the peak. They could only roam and hope that a path would open for them.
Their alpha thought otherwise. With its budding intelligence, it decided to wait. Delegating a group of its pack to surround all sides of the peak at all times while the others hunt for prey below the mountains. It knew what it saw at the edge of that peak. Even if it looked like a dot on most people's eyes, its sharp gaze knew the shape of humans enough for it to sneer.
A lone hermit living at the top of the peak. It doesn't know how humans work, but with its limited knowledge, it assumed that it was the same as them. A living being who needed to eat. This hermit might be the cause of this delectable scent that occasionally spreads atop the mountain. It was subtle, but the scent alone made them salivate.
Whatever it was doing, that hermit would soon run out of food. Then he would come down to search for his food. That was the moment it was waiting for. Food runs out and these wolves had to hunt to refill their stock. A human worked the same, it assumed.
So it covered every path this lone cultivator could use to escape. It was patient. It knew that sooner or later, that man would come down after they lost all their food. It just had to wait.
It heard another whimper from one of its pack members. It growled at it to quieten it down, before it harrumphed. It knew that its pack felt impatient. Even it felt impatient as they waited for the eventual descent of the lone cultivator.
It had been half a year since they sensed that delicious scent. That human was still staying there. It wondered just how much food they have stored in their abode that they could stay there for half a year.
'Surely, it wouldn't be limitless, right?' Is what it thought with its limited sentience.