Throughout the year, I diligently cultivated every six hours and then took care of my pets. My progress soared to great heights, and it got fast enough that I reached the 3rd Stage passively in a single day after 2 months. That time shortened until recently I could reach the 3rd Stage within 3 hours through passive cultivation.
At the 3rd Stage, each reset gave me 3 additional roots, 6 prestige points, and 0.06 in my speed multiplier.
My cultivation speed was further improved after I upgraded my Earth affinity with a thousand points, and along with that was another upgrade to my roots, turning it into Intermediate Roots. It was why I could reach the 3rd Stage in a short time.
My current status is like this.
[STATUS]
Cultivation Stage: 2nd Stage Foundation Establishment Realm
Spiritual Root: 7,061
Root Quality: Intermediate
Cultivation Speed: 110.31x
Prestige Points: 2,534
(Affinity)
Earth (E-)
(Talent)
Gun (E-)
Sword (F)
(Technique)
Gunslinger (Completion)
Iron Edge (Small - Success)
True Shot (Completion)
(Auxiliary)
Cooking (Initiate)
Dismantling (Initiate)
With my diligence, I manage to raise my status enough that I think I can compete with the geniuses of this world. If I don't reset, I think I can reach the 4th Stage within three or two days. If I force it, the 5th Stage isn't impossible for me to reach within a month.
Having an E- Rank on my Earth Affinity and lots of intermediate grade spiritual roots makes it easier to reach higher levels in cultivation. My prediction of reaching Qi Condensation within a decade is an understatement. Within five years, I'm sure I can reach the next realm for my cultivation.
Which means in those five years, I can expect my vitality to recover.
I am 22 this year. I can still consider myself young but this is not the peak state of my body. I can return to my state of my youth after reaching the Qi Condensation Realm. So that is the goal for the coming years.
My gun skills are coming along nicely. Dedicating some of my free time shooting targets at varying angles helps me improve on my gun handling. Gunslinger Technique helps me correct my aim, and even let me do some freestyling when shooting my gun without affecting my accuracy.
It's also thanks to this that my current fight is going along smoothly.
The weird bird-like creature with a long bald neck and monstrous beak dives at me, but a single point of my gun and a pull of a trigger turns it into a corpse with a pinky-sized hole on its bulky body.
That shot was imbued with my qi. It easily pierces its feather and skin, hitting a vital part within it and killing it. The part I hit is where their heart is, so I know it is dead.
It falls on the ground with a spread of feathers, skidding to the ground for a few meters while it leaves a bloodstain on its track. I look at the others and see Kuro jumping and catching another bird with its teeth. As for Fluffy, I can see it running around and barking while it looks at Kuro.
Today, four of these bird monsters have come here while I am in the middle of my training. I am already prepared for it. They have been doing this for the past several months and I have come to expect it.
"Good work, Kuro and Fluffy."
I say to the two which they accept with a wag of their tail and additionally, an excitable roll on the ground from Fluffy.
Talking about Fluffy, it recently became a 1st Stage Demonic Beast. It is why I am letting it participate in our battle against the bird monsters harassing us.
(Fluffy)
Race: Shiba Inu
Bloodline: Mortal
Core Progression: 1st Stage Mortality
Core Quality: Intermediate
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Affinity: Wood (D)
Despite its mortal bloodline, Fluffy has become stronger after it manages to form its core naturally. Its size increases by at least two inches, and a mix of Beast Qi and Wood Qi are swirling within its body base on my divine senses.
"Okay everyone, carry them to the dismantling room. I'm going to cook you something good."
I walk back to my house after saying that, checking my gun for a bit before strapping it back to my holster.
Another new thing I have in my current residence are the new things in the broken pagoda. I fixed two rooms within it with the Prestige Shop, and then turned them into a dismantling room and a kitchen respectively.
I did this a few months ago after Kuro nudged me to cook its hunt. It actually wanted the preheated lunch boxes I have in my mini-fridge first, but after I gave it that, it doesn't fill it as much compared to eating demonic beast meat.
This is obvious. Mortal food just doesn't fill a demonic beast's stomach. Unlike human cultivators, demonic beasts sustain themselves with qi. Demonic beast meat contains rich qi within it. Regardless of its level, its taste and the satiety it brings is a lot better than mortal meat.
It is also why mortals can't eat demonic beast meat. They can't handle the amount of nutrients and qi that it will bring them if they partake in it. At most, mortals can only eat at least a single serving of demonic beast meat and not more.
It's one of the basic stuff cultivators learn after starting their journey to immortality, so that's why I know. Well, I just borrowed the knowledge from Xie Wen's memories.
----------------------------------------
After a quick preparation, and dismantling the body of these birds and separating each of its important parts to the useless ones, I am finally done with my prep. Now I just have to throw away the useless parts and then give the small crystal-like orb from their bodies to my pets.
These crystal-like orbs the size of my thumb are Demon Beast Cores. These cores are important for pill making, formations, arrays, inscriptions, and many more. They power almost everything.
They can also be used to strengthen Tamed Beasts.
All demonic beast have something like this, so hunting them is up to a cultivator.
This demon beast core is specifically an Inferior Grade 1st Stage Demon Beast Core. They were graded based on their size and purity. Those Bald Dodos are the weakest type of demonic beast and they are known to have such inferior grade cores that most cultivators think hunting them is a waste of time.
As for me, I am fine with it. It's not like I am going to use it for anything other than as a snack for my pets.
"Kuro, Fluffy. Catch!"
I throw them the four demon beast cores to their waiting mouth. The two of them immediately jump at the chance, getting two each and swallowing it whole with Fluffy jumping with quick and precise movements.
After giving them their snacks, I start with prepping the meat.
Due to Kuro's nudging these past few months, I took the Dismantling and Cooking skill. I think I made the right decision because Fluffy also acquired a taste for demonic beast meat after it became one.
I put the chopped meat of the bird monster within the Freezer, another addition within the dismantling room where I put most fresh and raw meat so I can just take one whenever I feel like grilling something.
After that, I take a bucket of thick slabs of bird meat then carry it to the kitchen. Kuro is already away and patrolling the vicinity of this peak, so its only Fluffy who is following me.
After entering the kitchen, I start heating up the grill while thinking of what kind of seasoning I will be using for the meat. As I am thinking like that, I feel something expand within my core as the sound of explosion occurs within my mind.
Oh... I just broke through to the 3rd Stage again...
I quickly take a proper seat and then expel my qi out.
[Reset detected, calculating... successful!]
[Spiritual Roots increased by 3!]
[Cultivation Speed multiplier increased by 0.06!]
[You gain a total of 6 Prestige Points!]
I say that expelling qi is not harmful to the body, but that is only the case if I am doing it while sitting crosslegged. If I try to do that while standing, sitting, or any inappropriate posture that is not for proper cultivation, then there is a chance it will cripple us. It is still removing our qi from our body after all, which means releasing it out through our meridians.
That is like flowing our qi within our veins in reverse. Doing it improperly will hurt our body.
So this is why I have to take a seat every time I expel my qi.
A lingering sense of migraine is slowly forming within my mind after a brief sense of lethargy hits me, then the sense of strength returns after my passive cultivation kicks in and I instantly breakthrough to the 2nd Stage after a few seconds.
I am just going to stand up when I sense something soft and warm in my hand. Looking down I see Fluffy pressing its head on my hand resting on my knee. I raise my hand and then put my palm above its head, rubbing it with a chuckle.
Well then, it seems like it will take some time before I can start cooking.
----------------------------------------
The Alpha Dire Wolf glared at the unreachable peak of the mountain in rage. The delectable scent of cooked meat was turning it mad, and it wanted more than ever to get there and feast upon the meat hidden at the top.
It had seen the pesky flying prey above trying to run on their parade, but the scent was still there. So that meant the lone hermit above had killed those weaklings.
No, it wasn't alone. They had seen a large wolf that was slightly larger than the alpha looking down on them.
That increased the threat of the hermit from the peak. Though it wasn't perturbed by it. In fact, it salivated at the challenge that made itself known.
In its sight, it could feel that the dark wolf might be close to its breakthrough. That meant its core was on the verge of evolving. If it could eat the core of that kind of monster, then this Alpha who was also at the peak of the 1st Stage Mortality would be able to surpass its bottleneck.
So its desire to reach the top became stronger.
'It won't take long!'
It thought within its mind.
Behind him were a group of wolves it had personally trained along with it so they could scale narrow ledges of a crude rocky cliff. They trained for months just for the chance to feast upon the delectable meat that they always smell even at this side of the mountain.
Soon, they would be able to jump all the way to that peak, and then they would claim their prizes.