After hearing the high-pitched feminine scream, Jing started moving towards her first ally. Jing got on top of the trees and started jumping from tree branch to tree branch. With her newly refined body, she could easily focus in to where the sound is coming from. So, reaching the source of the screaming didn't take long.
Jing looked down and saw a large boy running for his life from a dangerous looking boar. The chubby boy was breathing roughly as he ran with all his might. The sweat coming off from every part of his body and the tears running down his face proved that he wouldn't be able to keep this up for long.
"Please...! Anyone...! Help me!" The boy yelled before tripping over a tree root and rolling on the ground.
The boy realized that he's was going to be gored by this pig and his pathetic little life would end so tragically so. He succumbed to fate. His muscles were pushed farther than he's ever pushed them before and he could not move a single inch even getting air into his lungs was painful right now. The boy closed his eyes as the bloodthirsty boar was about to gore him. His only regret was not being able to find a gentle cute girlfriend before he died.
"SQUEEEEEEEEELLLLL" A high-pitched cry erupted from the pig.
Just before the cow-sized boar could spear the fatty, Jing cracked her whip towards its robust leg and made it trip. It violently crashed on the ground squealing in pain as she sliced a chunk of its fat off next. She soon decapitated it with her whip and stood in front of the fat boy currently peeking through his fingers at his savior.
"MY SAVIOR! I GIVE YOU ALL MY THANKS- GUK!" A whip wrapped around his thick throat as Jing stared into his eyes.
The boy felt as if he's just been captured by a demonic empress. The look in her eyes that made him feel as if she was looking at mere trash. Why him!? All he wanted was to become a famous cultivator and live a lavish free life! He could only curse his luck. Out of the fryer and into the frying pan. Tears of misfortune ran down his chubby cheeks as he gave up all hope of ever fulfilling his dreams.
"Pig. Become my slave or die." Jing commanded with a fierce tone, betraying her completely plain and weak appearance.
The whip was getting tighter and tighter around his throat. This demoness really wasn't kidding around! He will really die if he doesn't become her slave! He couldn't even cause the whip to budge as he tried to pry it from his throat.
"I submit...! I will follow you to the grave empress! Pleas-" The whip tightened itself to the point where he couldn't speak any further before suddenly feeling the whip release itself from his neck.
He started coughing a few times once he was released. Then he began to greedily suck up the air while rubbing his sore throat. The whip left a defined red mark around his neck and he could feel it with his chunky fingers. The boy began to think whether living as the slave of a demon is better than dying as a just innocent youth. The world of cultivation is truly cruel and unjust... His first experience out into the real world and he's already enslaved. Just what will he tell his parents when he sees them? Will he ever get to see his parents again?
'I hope my little sister will marry a good man. All the bad luck I have in my life I wish for my family to have only good luck.'
The boy looked at Jing to fully take in her appearance. At first glance she looked like an unimpressive girl even a bit ugly if he would say so himself. If her skin was lighter, she would look a bit better but after experiencing what she just put him through, he couldn't look at her any other way besides an actual demon. Jing looked at him with a sinister smile before kicking him across the face and launching him away.
Jing grabbed a piece of bark and placed her palm on the corpse of the boar before sucking the two into herself and refining them. She merged the boar corpse and the circular piece of bark together into forming a small shield. The shield exited from her chest after being refined on fine and Jing took in its appearance.
The shield had two small tusks on the front that resembles small spikes, it looked as if it was a shield made of bones rather than an actual shield, and had a small circular indent around the shield face. Jing threw the shield over to the fatty along with 2 recovery pills. He wouldn't be any use to her the way he is now. With that shield, he should be able to live a bit longer to prove his worth. Why just a shield and not a sword or spear? Because Jing felt like it would be crueler to just give him a shield by itself. She also isn't a fan of the swords she's seen here so far. If she was to ever make a sword, she would make it interesting.
"Slave. Heal yourself up and use that shield or die." She told him.
He didn't question why she kicked him across face. How could he expect any common sense from a demoness? Who knows what type of teachings they have in the demon realm? He must have done something wrong to anger her without knowing. He looked up to the heavens to bless him on his journey with this demoness. He doesn't believe his body will be able to last long on this path.
He swallowed the two recovery pills. The pills tastelessly dissolved as soon as they touched his tongue and began healing his body at an accelerated rate. He slipped his hand through the strap and held it up to get a feel for it.
"Thank you empress for your kindness! This one known as Ai Bing will always remember your grace!" He quickly spat out, lest he look ungrateful and gets physically abused once more.
A small smile appeared on Jing's face before she turned around and started walking. He's learning.
[Mission Completed!]
[Gained access to the Ally tab!]
Jing pulled up the system's menu and went into the Ally tab. The only one present was her new slave. She guessed that Li Li didn't count as an ally for some reason. Maybe it was because he was an animal. Jing couldn't know for sure. So, she mentally chose her slave's name and it pulled up a screen.
[Name: Ai Bing]
[Rank: Qi Gathering 2]
[Occupation: None]
[Techniques: Flattening Gorilla Palm]
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
[Cultivation Method: Book of Qi]
[Loyalty: 30% (Scared to death of you but is also curious about your origins.)]
'Almost completely worthless. I'm curious about that technique though.' Jing thought to herself.
Jing figured that the technique Bing had was a martial technique. These are things only useful to cultivators and can only be acquired by cultivators. Jing saw a few martial books with the vendors but with her measly one spirit stone she couldn't even think about purchasing it. So, she gave up on it and decided to wait until she got accepted into the sect before starting on her path to cultivation. It isn't like becoming a cultivator now is any different from becoming one later.
Haste becomes waste and Jing has no reason to hurry herself. She's not in any danger nor does she have any enemies. So, for now she plans to complete a few of the missions the system set for her, get some use out of this slave, and gain information. And luckily, she can solve all three without bringing much attention to herself.
Jing, Ai Bing, and Li Li traveled through the thick jungle together. Bing taking the lead with his shield and Jing and Li Li calmly walking behind him. Bing's senses were being stretched taut as he was forced to be on the lookout for any beasts or cultivators wanting to ambush them. The round boy was constantly looking around with sweat dripping down his forehead. Every single noise was a possible attack for Bing. His shield was moving in all directions as he continued to freak out at every single thing inside the jungle despite them not encountering anything besides some bugs and the pig from earlier.
Jing heard Li Li hoo into her ear, signaling her to look in a certain direction with his talon. Jing focused her senses and realized what Li Li was pointing out.
"Head east." Jing commanded.
Bing jumped at the sound of her voice but didn't question her. He simply did as he was told and continued to lead the way forward. As they kept going, Bing eventually heard some shouting. He looked back to see what Jing wanted him to do.
"Make sure to steal everything they have. I'll be watching." Jing told him before kicking him in the chest towards the group and hiding atop a tree to watch the situation.
----------------------------------------
"Who the hell is this!? A sneak attack!?"
"No! Look he was attacked by something!"
"Yeah right! You tried to mount a sneak attack on us to get rid of the competition! KILL THEM!"
"You want to kill us!? WE'LL KILL YOU FIRST!"
Ai Bing slid across the jungle floor till he found himself in the middle of both groups. He was dazed from his empress's kick and had trouble catching his breath. He didn't think that with such a frail and meek physique she was able to make him fly so far! He's not light in any sense of the word!
'She's definitely has to be from a famous clan! There's no way someone so tyrannical and powerful could ever stay low key!' Bing thought before seeing a dangerous shine above his eyes.
'A sword!? Someone's trying to kill me!? I can't die without having a single wife!' He screamed inwardly.
Ai Bing panicked and quickly brought up his shield to protect him from the blade. He heard a sharp scraping sound, as the blade slashed off and couldn't penetrate his shield. A relieved grin accidentally found itself on his face after he realized he wasn't dead.
"YOU'RE MOCKING ME YOU FATTY!? I was originally going to give you a painless death, but now you don't deserve anything of the sort. Curse your own fate for being so arrogant." The swordsman cultivator began hacking at Ai Bing.
Ai Bing quickly rolled to the side to dodge the crazed cultivator, inadvertently knocking over two more swordsmen who were fighting by rolling into their legs.
"Ah I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" His apology was cut short as the two men swore to flay his flesh with their swords and feed it to dogs.
Not to soon after, the three men began chopping and slashing towards Ai Bing. In his fright, he pulled up his shield and blocked each slash from all the men in front of him. He couldn't afford to close his eyes in fear. He couldn't afford to block out the insults, threats, and sounds of combat around him. If he doesn't give his everything, his poor little life will come to an end right here!
His eyes watched exactly where each of the swords were headed. It was as if the world was slowed down for Bing. He could feel his Qi circulating throughout his body, improving his strength and senses as the fight goes on. Is he going to have a breakthrough in the middle of a fight? Is he secretly a genius?
"I GOT YOU NOW FATTY! Taste my Crushing Wind Slash!" One of the cultivators managed to charge enough Qi in his body to temporarily infuse it into his blade while Bing was distracted.
He slashed down from above with his blade and Bing could barely react in time. He was forced to defend directly above or risk getting sliced in half! He blocked the technique with his shield and was now contesting in strength with the swordsman.
"What kind of shield is that...? It doesn't even split from my sword martial arts!?" His attacker asked in disbelief.
"Haha thanks for the distraction! Actually, we have him now!"
"Aren't you ashamed to gang up on a single Qi Gatherer on the second stage!? I never did anything to offend you this badly!" Bing reasoned.
"This is how the world works fatty! Next time hope to reincarnate into a more fortunate life! Now die!"
The other two cultivators used this chance to plunge their swords right into Bing's big stomach. Bing's eyes widened once he realized the situation, he was in. He consciously surged his Qi to flow through his body even faster, making him slightly stronger than before. Normally he wouldn't do something as dangerous as this. No cultivator would do such a thing unless they were in dire straits.
Increasing the speed of the Qi flowing throughout his body is normally only used when a cultivator is breaking to the next realm. The increased speed will help ram against the barrier to the next level of cultivation and eventually break through it. But Bing is using his Qi to make his body stronger instead, wasting the Qi he's built up so far and will soon be left without any Qi in reserves to continue fighting.
Ai Bing used his increase in strength to shove the first swordsman's sword to the side before quickly bringing his shield to defend his stomach. The other two cultivators' blades couldn't pierce through his shield and he knocked those two swords down into the dirt. The two swordsmen's blades were stuck in the ground as Bing ran straight towards them with his shield. If he didn't look so messy and pathetic, one could say he even looked like a majestic charging rhino.
The two swordsmen refused to let go of their weapons and suffered the price for looking down on a fellow cultivator. Bing might not look like your typical cultivator but his strength was no lesser than any other Qi Gatherer of the 2nd stage. He had enough strength to contest with a snow bear! Ai Bing used his shield and bashed the first guy in the face, breaking his nose and instantly knocking him out. The second swordsmen just smirked at how weak the other guy was and calmly tried to dodge Bing's attack for him. Unfortunately, this Bing wasn't the same Bing from earlier. This Bing was using all the qi he had to strengthen himself, increasing his power, speed, and toughness.
Ai Bing slugged his shield into the second swordsman's jaw, completely shattering it and knocking the cultivator unconscious. Ai Bing's breathing was haggard, sweat covered his entire body, his eyes seemed to faze in and out. He looked as if he was an ancient bull preparing to trample and spear everyone that entered his sights. Which so happened to be the third swordsman who attempted to kill him with his martial technique.
The third swordsman saw what happened to the other two and quickly dropped his sword and put his hands up.
"I SURRENDER!"
Ai Bing stared at him with eyes that made the cultivator think he was being looked at as nothing but prey. His body began to shake in fear of the death coming for him.
"I'LL GIVE YOU ALL I HAVE! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" He pleaded as he pulled out multiple pills, a mortal-ranked sword martial art, and his own sword that he tried to kill Bing with earlier.
Bing slowly walked over to the surrendering cultivator and swiped all his offerings and ate a few of the recovery pills and Qi pills, bringing him back to mostly perfect health. The swordsman ran away after he took his items and Ai Bing let out a breathe of relief. Taking from others made him feel powerful... He's never been the one in the position of power before and it was such a new experience. An experience he wouldn't mind getting used to..
Ai Bing looked over at the remaining fighters with a more confident and cockier look in his eyes. This shield was a lot tougher than he thought. Maybe it is the time for the rise of the hidden genius Ai Bing! He was started to charge into the group of fighting cultivators like a piggy rushing to a feast.