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Chapter 37: Hot Boxing

The elderly glassblower looked at Zane with equal parts fascination and horror. “You want to put someone in an airtight glass chamber, attach that device to one end of it, then put a mouthpiece on the other?”

“Exactly,” Zane nodded, “I want them to be swimming in essence infused smoke.”

The old man scratched his head. “But why? Wouldn't it make more sense to strap a mask to their face, rather than fill the whole chamber?”

“They have a damaged core. I need to increase the ambient essence around them to prevent it from leaking out.” The rogue cultivator paused. “Actually, if we can get the concentration high enough, he might be able to do his own repairs.”

“You know that's insane, right?” The glassblower asked, “You can't just repair a broken core.”

“Actually, you can. It just takes way more essence than most people would be willing to spend,” Zane informed him, “At least this way multiple people will benefit from the process.”

The glassblower let out a sigh. “Fine, it's your money. It'll take about a week to finish, and I expect payment in advance.”

“Half now, and the other half upon completion,” Zane countered.

The old man grumbled a bit, but accepted his terms. Then they haggled over price, and eventually shook hands.

Zane's next stop was the apothecary. They were still on their weird puppet-on-a-string bullshit, but didn't ask any questions when he requested a large amount of cleansing pills.

The rogue cultivator watched the apothecary bob around their shop like a marionette while they completed his order. He still wasn't exactly sure what was pulling their strings, or if the robed figure he was talking to was even alive. But at least they were efficient.

Zane thanked the potential eldritch horror puppeting the apothecary as he paid for his order. Assuming there were no delays, he would have the means to fix Eric's core in about a week. Of course, there was the question of which cores to use.

They had a decent amount of human cores from their raid on the camp, along with the spirit beast cores he had also found. While the idea of consuming human cores might seem repulsive to someone like Eric, it made sense to use cores that were similar to the one they were trying to repair.

Eventually Zane pulled Lily aside to ask her opinion. “What do you think? Should we stick with spirit beast cores? Or is it better to use human ones and not tell him?”

The former disciple pondered the dilemma. She was still mad at Eric for trying to hunt her down. “Use the human cores,” Lily said, “I'd rather not waste the good ones on him.”

Zane flashed her a thumbs up and went back to work. He could have asked her what was wrong, or why things were so tense between the two former disciples. But that was drama he didn't want to be involved in.

Lily had convinced them not to kill Eric. Any issues that came from that were her problem, as far as Zane was concerned. He had his hands full with Pinky, who alternated between ferocious and a much more pleasant kind of ferocious. Zane wasn't sure exactly what was going on there, but it definitely was fun.

The rogue cultivator watched Lily go as he continued to prepare for tomorrow’s brunch. He had a reason for wanting Eric’s core fixed sooner, rather than later. Groucho had found the entrance to a hidden temple, one that didn't look like it had been touched for centuries.

Temples weren't exactly rare. Followers of the various deities usually posted out in front of them to charge admission, and hopefully gain a few converts. But a forgotten temple was something else entirely.

According to Groucho, sometimes the gods fought. And when that happened, there was a chance that one of them would die or be exiled. If the temple belonged to a fallen god, it would be theirs to plunder.

Even if the temple was linked to an existing deity, there would be rewards for restoring it. Either way, it was worth investigating. But Zane wasn't about to go in without his team at full strength. That meant fixing Eric's core as soon as possible, before someone else discovered the ruins.

Lady Foxglove had warned him that doom was coming for the city. Zane needed to level up his people and get out of town before the winter festival. Killing more rich idiots wasn't an option, not unless he wanted to see Pinky turn into a monster. That left hunting spirit beasts and clearing temples.

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Zane sighed. The cooking competition was coming up soon and he needed to make a decision. The prize was a contract to cater the festivities at the winter festival.

If he won, they could take the advance and leave before the destruction started. Assuming the goddess was right about the timing, that was a solid plan with relatively low risk. But what was much more interesting to him was the possibility of robbing the city blind before it was destroyed.

There were warehouses along the outer walls filled with all manner of precious goods. Everything from cultivation resources to rare spices, his for the taking. If they timed it right, the city would be destroyed after they left, removing any evidence of the thefts with it.

Zane had also taken the liberty of finding out which merchants had stockpiles of precious jewels. He reasoned that if things went to shit, the merchants would try to take everything of value with them. Zane didn't have to break into their vaults, which would doubtlessly be trapped and warded. All he needed to do was rob the merchants as they fled.

Pinky had approved of his plan, but they had left the others in the dark. Daisy, Dumpling, and Groucho would go along with whatever Zane told them. Only Eric and Lily were potential problems. There was no way of knowing how they would handle the knowledge that Hero's Step was about to be destroyed.

Killing rich idiots on safari was one thing. Standing by and watching a city burn was something else entirely. It would also require Zane to explain how he got the information, and his connection to the goddess.

If Eric ran to his new friend the Mayor, things could get complicated. That was the other reason why Zane had decided to keep them in the dark for as long as possible. There was a chance they might try and be heroes. Something which would not only disrupt Zane's plans, but also draw unwanted attention to them.

The young man was all for being a menace and pissing people off, but he drew the line at annoying someone who could destroy an entire city. That sounded dangerous. No, he would keep his plan secret until the last moment. Things were much safer that way.

Zane let out a sigh. The upcoming winter festival was only a few months away. The rogue cultivator needed to get everyone ready to leave, but there were no guarantees he could get everyone leveled up in time.

Pinky was the biggest problem. She couldn't exactly go out and kill cultivators like the others did. At least, not without becoming a mindless beast. That was why Zane needed to clear the temple.

According to Kiel, completing the various puzzles and challenges in a temple would give a ton of experience. Better yet, the rewards scaled depending on how well you did and how long it had been since someone last completed the challenge.

Zane was hoping that it would be enough of a boost to get Pinky back on track. The kitsune was lagging behind the others, and he didn't know if she would be ready to leave in time for the winter festival.

If worst came to worst, they could descend the mountain instead of climbing. But Zane felt like that was asking to get trampled by the thousands of other people fleeing the city. He figured that higher up the mountain would be safer, or at least, much less crowded.

He finished his prep work and wiped down the counter top with a summoned rag. Zane wasn't sure what the future would bring, but he knew that it needed to be approached one step at a time. And the first step was fixing Eric's core.

The rogue cultivator let out a chuckle. He couldn't wait to see the expression on Eric's face when the former cultivator saw what Zane had made for him.

***

“You want me to get inside that? Are you insane?” Eric asked as he took in what looked to be a man sized killing jar.

“Probably,” Zane replied, “But it will help you fix your core a lot faster.”

The former cultivator looked at the giant glass container skeptically. “How does it work?”

Zane pointed at an inlet near the base. “We draw in purified essence from the cores through there. Where you're sitting will become saturated with high levels of essence. I'm hoping that there will be enough essence that some of it will flow into your lower core.

“If that happens, I can walk you through the steps to finish patching up your essence core. Even if it doesn't, there should be enough ambient essence to help promote healing,” the rogue cultivator explained.

“Ah,” Eric said as he processed the information, “It's a bit like making rock sugar. The supersaturated solution precipitates out and forms crystals. If my essence core is used as a seed, they'll grow there first.”

“Exactly,” Zane replied, realizing that Eric had explained things much more clearly than he ever could, “Now go take a leak and get ready. Once we start the process, we can't let you out until it's finished, and I don't have enough cores to do this twice.”

While Eric went off to relieve himself, Lily wandered over to talk to Zane. In addition to the necessary materials, he had also prepared a massive spread. There was everything from fried jalapeno poppers to deviled eggs.

“What's all this for?” Lily asked as she poured herself a glass of juice.

Zane smiled. “Let's just say that if everything goes right, everyone is going to be incredibly hungry afterward.”

The former disciple blinked uncertainly. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Dumpling floated over to answer. “PURIFIED CORE VAPOR CAN GREATLY INCREASE ONE'S APPETITE.”

“Wait,” Lily said, “I thought Eric was the only one getting into the device.”

“He is,” Zane confirmed as he walked over to reveal a mouthpiece set into the top of the glass jar, “But who do you think is going to fill it for him?”