Dave felt a little sheepish, he hid the truth from her because it was dangerous to everyone not for himself. "I'm sorry I tried to hide so much. . ." she placed a finger on his lips.
"as soon as you gave me back my eyes I saw far more than I could have imagined, you and your, um, Lilly, do not belong here. we offer so little. only a starting point." though she looked as if she was about to beg forgiveness.
"K, hun I get it, you're smart, I'm dumb, no hards on it. you wanna give me some go's stead of stops?" the vernacular was almost as confusing as the implications, it took a moment for her to understand.
"Well, I guess you could try the oldest form of cultivation shortcuts . . . it would be near suicidal for most but you might gain a little maybe enough to start."
Dong was very close to the breakthrough and tribulation the saintess had directed him to a rich spirit valley for him to meditate in Dave was accompanying him.
"let me get this straight, you get hit by lightning for a few days and I what? sit close enough to get sparked on?" Dong just shrugged and nodded. "it would kill most but you, master would lightning even sting?" [no he won't even notice] The look on his face said as much.
"you want a ring? resist all elements is on 20ish of my lesser rings." that would defeat the purpose of going through the tribulation.
Dave had left a lot of nice things for his family, the things he kept ranged from junk not worth leaving and things too dangerous to leave for anyone. the 'lesser rings' were from the first world while junk there, they were too dangerous for the second.
the moment they arrived at the valley Dave felt it, the air was rich with something he hadn't even noticed before. not Mana, not anything familiar but similar the best comparison would be exiting a hospital during a sunshower.
"this, is this what I'm supposed to be drinking in?" to dong the air was closer to a hailstorm in its pressure.
"that explains your troubles, master, this is a place of power and you only now notice the energies we cultivate" Shaking his head in defeat Dave was just that far outside the norm.
they found their way to a loadstone platform with room for 3 cars, it was smooth cold, and metallic but reflected no light. Dong gestured for Dave to sit and meditate a body length away as he did. the clouds began to form thunder and lightning filled the sky.
Lilly had wanted to go with her master but she was not yet strong enough, dave had told her to listen to the saintess and answer her questions honestly. the saintess and Lilly were having a really nice spa day manny/petty's hair treatment and getting Lilly's ears pierced Dave had given her red gem studs [dragon bloodstone]
"Lilly looks so pretty, Lilly hopes Master likes it. Lilly wants her master to look at her more" For most children this would be a simple crush, but this was a near obsession.
"he holds you in his heart little one far more than a master should, I am uncertain he will be able to push you hard enough to grow strong." the saintess recalled the cold distant master she had.
Lilly told her about the salve that had peeled her skin, the pain when Dave dislocated her shoulder and taught her to put it back on her own, punching and kicking a post till she was bruised and blood. Dave had to teach his children to survive in a world filled with demons and monsters so he knew how to push without being cruel.
"master told Lilly the most important thing is to answer the why. the only difference between abuse, torture, and extreme training is why. Abuse is weak and cowardly wanting to feel strong, torture is to break a person and extreme training is to chip away weakness." as she spoke everyone in the spa stared as she quoted Dave.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
"Well, I apologize your master must have lived a harsh life if he can train you as he does and still smile at the small things." [not wrong] "MN!"
"When master got mad for Lilly . . . Lilly saw how scary master can be. . ." the look on her face was closer to a returning soldier than a child.
in the heavenly realm, All the gods were called to an emergency meeting something that had only ever happened twice before. the first was the crowning of the king of the gods, the second was to neal at the feat of the nameless one.
"I have just had a revelation from the 4 primals, a shadow of the other has fallen on some of your worlds, it must be found and expunged eminently."
The king was shaken the 6 primal beings stood so far above him he was an ant to their kaiju. the one that is, is the lands seas, and skies of all the multiverses the other is his shadow the devourer of life the source of all ills. the 4 kept it imprisoned as best they could but the one that is and the other are mindless forces as far above them as they were to the nameless one.
"Nuwa something is drawing most of it to your cultivation world . . ." the two goddesses looked at each other "Dave." "Thankfully the rest is headed for the nameless one under his shattered sky." everyone shuddered at the mention.
Dave and Dong returned exhausted but elated Dave was now a level 2 foundation and the fact that it added a X1.2 to all his stats explained how the world worked far better than any book could. Dong is now a level 1 loose immortal.
"Lilly is happy master is back, Lilly worked hard." over the last 5 days she had cultivated 3 minor realms something that should take decades. "the nice ladys helped Lilly learn lots."
"welcome back expert I see you have been successful in your efforts." her smile was filled with warmth.
Dave could feel the difference, now able to nearly see the energies without his other skills. with the door now open to cultivation it was time to leave. the saintess gave him a look of understanding, even a month is a long time for a cloud to stay in one place.
"Lilly do you want to stay here and learn, I don't know where I'm going and it would make me happy knowing you're safe." to his surprise she took a few moments to think about it.
"Lilly knows master wants what's best for Lilly, but Lilly wants to stay with her master always." she looked far more mature than she sounded her hair in a high ponytail the subtle makeup even her posture mimicking the adults she'd spent the week with. Dave was doing his best to not laugh at the juxtaposition it was cute but hilarious.
"aight, so any which way we should go?" directly to the saintess.
her face became grim. "you should go where you should not . . . find the heart of the wastelands." the center of the continent was a dead aired land without even the small lizards and insects common in a dessert. it has been said the wasteland eats life itself.
"you mean the big brown blotch in the middle of the map? with miles and miles of nothing? you mean that wasteland?" Dave was a little incredulous, he understood she saw things he could not . . . but that made no cents.
"something is there something you and Lilly need . . . I don't know what but you must go."
"Lilly thinks staying here is a good idea now, Lilly knows everything dies in the desert." Lilly was being semi-facetious everyone knew she'd peal the skin off anyone that stood between her and her master.
Dave was tempted to make a desert deserter joke but his translation skill can't fix puns. But it was a known fact that the desert did kill everything within days. "why don't we get one of those flying boats or something?" asking Dong while making a 'we have the cash' gesture.
Had Dave grown another head and turned purple he would have gotten less strange looks. "expert those are only myths and legends from the upper worlds perhaps you should fly on swords instead." now the saintess cracking wise.
Dave was about to say it would only take him a week to make an 'airship' but he could not speak. "stop! stinky humy, there is a reason they can't fly Please keep it that way!"
Dave could feel himself doing the lemme interject, no never mind meme...he almost broke out laughing at the thought. "well I guess we need to get ready for a long walk." the following week was more akin to a holiday with friends than living in enemy territory, his caution about 'forbidden knowledge' was lax around the saintess. "oh, ya the creator god well in your case goddess just makes the rules and then is hands-off, otherwise Darkweld would have been a lot nicer, damn invasion."
At that moment Dave felt a shudder down his spine, 'DANGER!' well fuck this new world is being invaded. . .altho he knew nothing about the gods beyond those of the worlds or more recently the two creator gods, the shadow of evil he had spent 2000 years trying to destroy was now here.
"it's time to go. we have work to do." Dave was colder than bèi yè could even push herself to be. Dave added the saintess to his friend list and placed a mage mark on the ground in the foyer.
"I'LL BE BACK." the fact he said it with intent made him pause and almost laugh.
https://www.subscribestar.com/lordpoison
https://patreon.com/lordpoison