+18 Chapter 48:

Chapter 48

~~~~Fu Jian~~~~

The tiers of cultivation are absolute, up until they aren't, but even the exceptions do nothing but prove a simple rule. Cultivation was not created for being a part of society, as a matter of fact societies exist in spite of it and not because of it, and the young man in front of me was a perfect example of this.

Tai Su was a reincarnated soul. These existences are rare but not so rare that there weren't texts that described them and their commonalities, as well as their strong and weak points. He is only on his second life too, so he is far less impressive than what some of those I've read of can achieve, but he was still formidable in ways that few can match.

A twice-born is the weakest of the reincarnated, but even they have a level of willpower and ability to resist mental compunctions that few normal individuals can match and even that willpower and ability to resist mental domination meant little in front of a Nascent Soul. The only thing he was able to accomplish was to divert the conversation from where I wanted it to go once, which I quickly corrected.

I can feel his mind and soul working together to assert themselves, even as they are not aware of what is going on, on nothing but pure instinct and they have achieved little more than nothing. The vast majority of mortals would achieve even less and unless one was a one hundred years old second tier cultivator they have no chance of even noticing what I am doing, let alone trying to do anything about it.

It is for this reason that the Empress and the fox clans created the Edict of Separation, to keep cultivators as far away from society as feasible. When a Golden Core or even Nascent Soul cultivator get involved, mortal society no longer matters much, only the cultivator's whims and a single Nascent Soul can make themselves a god-king bending the entire population to be and do whatever they want it to be and kill off any that might have a chance to rise to change things or subvert them to their design.

The first hurdle any society has is learning how to deal with that, and too many have failed, only to be turned into the domain of whatever powerful cultivator felt like taking ownership of it, and its people were turned into little more than mindless slaves.

"And I believe that about sums it up." I declared.

The interview was over and with my declaration, the young man's memory of it was gone and so was my own hold on his mind. It's not like I did much anyway, just heavily encouraged him to be as honest as he could.

"What? What happened?" He asked.

He was dizzy, his own nature making a smooth transition an impossible thing, meaning that he is disoriented and sluggish now when before he was alert and focused.

I gently flooded his meridians with an invigorating technique and the dizziness was gone.

"We held an interview, its contents touching on things you have no right to know until you become a golden core cultivator and thus are not something you should know now. In it I talked with you to find out your interests and predilections in order to figure out where your assignment will be.

Also, please look down, in front of you is a note from yourself explaining your thoughts on it. I promise you this will not happen again." I explained to the very angry young man.

My voice was the very picture of serenity. I understood how he felt, I was certainly not happy when it happened to me, but it was a necessary thing to do in order to gauge exactly what sort of individual might one day be able to do exactly what I did right now.

The last thing he remembered was our conversation about his reincarnated status, as that was not a part of the interview and I didn't need his paranoia about this sort of thing rising.

According to the texts I spent days becoming familiar with, twice-born humans are incredibly touchy and paranoid of their status as reincarnated individuals and will go to great lengths to hide their nature from others. Letting them know nobody will hold it against them and easing them into revealing it is something that takes years of gentle nudging and if you do it wrong or worse, make it anything but abundantly clear you don't mean to harm them with the knowledge, then things will get ugly.

He is now one of the disciples of the Blazing Fist Sect, it's my duty to ensure that does not happen.

"I see." He responded flatly and proceeded to read his note.

The note was mainly in imperial, but I allowed him to write a few words in his own language to have him verify the authenticity of the letter and as a peace offering I even made sure he did not translate it to me. In it he explains that he was told of a lot of forbidden knowledge that he is not meant to know as a disciple, but that the sect needed to know how he would react to.

"Yes, you won't be subjected to something like this while in the sect, the formations inside prevent exactly this sort of thing from happening and only this room allows mind altering techniques to function. Outside of this room, not even the Empress would be able to alter your mind and I promise you that the note in front of you is genuine and that I don't know what the few words in that strange language mean." I assured him.

It was a risk, but trust is always risky and when mind altering techniques enter into play, trust is both the first casualty and your best weapon against them.

"It only says 'Those who brought down the cold will pay, the sect will make sure of it.' it's not exactly some great secret." He answered.

And it seems my willingness to extend trust is rewarded, because the message was quite short, short enough to reveal things he probably shouldn't know, but not in-depth enough to explain a lot.

I made a note to ask him if he would be willing to provide a translation for the language written there or any others he might know as it might be useful in the future. It's unlikely, but it couldn't hurt to add a book or two to the library.

I'm sure the librarians won't mind, they always whine that they want more of them, or was it more space for them now? The complaints come in a circle and I stopped paying attention where we're at with the books now.

They'll remind me once the trial is over, they always do. One would think they love complaining more than reading books by how much they do it.

"I can neither confirm or deny it." I replied with a smile.

The seemed to remove his anger and turn it into a bitter smile, as if my words confirmed something he suspected, which was hopefully what I meant it to.

"So what happens now?" He asked after a brief pause.

"Now you go to your quarters as a disciple of the Blazing Fist Sect, do whatever you need to relax and we'll talk more in a few days when the Trials are over. I'll send you and all of your friends a reading list with all of the topics you were interested in knowing and learning more about, including the rearing of children as a cultivator and how that affects things like the trials and the children's options. Also take this." I answered and threw the artifact at him.

The Young man caught the little artifact, a simple bracelet made out of bronze with a single white glass piece adorning it where normally the gem would be.

"What is this artifact?" He asked as he traced his hand over it.

"It's a guide to your quarters, it will lead you from anywhere in the sect to your assigned quarters, please do not lose it, they're annoying to replace thanks to the interplay in the formations. To activate it, put it on any of your arms and let it siphon Qi. It shouldn't take too much so do not be alarmed when it does so." I explained.

The sect was made to resemble the spider's lairs to a point. The inside of their mountains was a confusing mess of tunnels that took years to properly get used to and understand and it was made so to make it difficult for invaders to orient themselves.

We naturally copied the many examples we managed to conquer and dismantle, found out the logic behind how they are built and made sure our disciples learned to navigate them by having multiple sects follow that logic as they built and refurbished themselves every couple of centuries.

The young man put the bracelet on his left hand and as he did so, the door behind me opened.

I could feel how the bracelet drew his Qi, better than himself could most likely, as well as how it turned his Qi into the illusion of an arrow in the air. It wasn't the most efficient thing, but it was durable and unlikely to ever fail unless he decided to turn it into a bludgeon and beat people with it repeatedly.

"Thank you sect master." The young man said as he bowed.

At least it wasn't the formal one now, I always hated how it looked.

"You are welcome young man, now go and be welcomed into the Blazing Fist Sect proper." I declared kindly.

I also made sure he did not notice my second technique which was meant to clean him of the scent of sweat and dirt, as well as clean his skin. The young man probably doesn't notice it, but weeks of living without anything but their own smells, and little in the way of properly cleaning yourself tends to remove one's ability to notice how bad it can get.

He and his friends stink despite their attempts at cleanliness. It is hardly something I am incapable of ignoring but it is obvious and hard to miss.

They, and most importantly his wife had the time to clean themselves by now, as our talk was as long as all of theirs combined, which mean it'll be easy to notice the smell. Hopefully young Bao Xiaoli appreciates the gift I gave her.

The young man rose and quickly made himself scarce as I cleaned the air in the room and prepared to get to Shen Xifeng. Her mission just got a little bit more complicated, but that is fine, as this sort of complication is just the type she loves.

She was complaining that she lacked people for her pavilion and now she got the vast majority of this year's crop just for her.

~~~~Tai Su~~~~

The inner layout of the sect was a mess.

It was a single grand work carved into the mountain and in each tunnel there were multiple formations, some that I could see the effects of like the lights, others which I didn't know what if anything they were doing, and others that I knew were there, even if I could not see what they were doing.

"Whose bright idea was to introduce cultivators to gravity?" I grumbled.

I was climbing down into the air now, or up? Each tunnel having different gravity settings was confusing and I stopped knowing where up is now. Some tunnels had no gravity, others had it be twice as strong, and others had up and down shift as you walked through them. For all I knew below my feet was the sky and above me was the planet's core.

I was now in one of the tunnels the bracelet guided me to, holding for dear life as my hands and feet did their best to resist the gravity that felt twice as strong as normal pulling me down. I thanked deep within my soul whoever made these indentations for me to hold on to the otherwise smooth surface.

The bracelet continued pointing down the tunnel and from one moment to the other I was holding for dear life, because gravity shifted and now instead of climbing down I was attached to the ceiling.

"That doesn't look too far." I said.

I let go of the ceiling and did my best to land on the floor. Thankfully the gravity was back to something approaching normal and I succeeded with ease and started moving forward guided by the arrow.

The tunnel was a barren cylindrical thing of gray stone, just as devoid of any decoration as the last three I went through, this one was larger than all of the others though, which I hoped meant it was more walked in than the others.

Bigger tunnels mean bigger traffic, and bigger traffic might mean more people present now. People I might be able to ask for directions or help navigating these tunnels.

The arrow is pointing me where I need to yes, but there's always shortcuts or ways to make sense of the changes in gravity and a guide would shorten the process immensily.

One step turned into the other and suddenly there was no gravity, which was a dangerous position to be in.

'Why, just why?' I whined silently.

No gravity might mean speed, but that speed is a lie. No gravity means that when gravity does come back it comes back suddenly and, as my back can attest, gravity turning form nothing to four times the normal amount while you're in the air hurts.

My back can lay witness to it as it still hurts from when that theoretical scenario became reality.

I did not have any handholds either this time.

I looked ahead and could not spot any handholds there either, but I could see a fork in the tunnels, one of them going up and the other to my left and the arrow only showing forwards. There had to be some sort of logic to this, something I was missing, but I did not have enough time to ponder it.

Getting to Bao and the others took priority.

I pushed myself from one of the walls to another and landed on my feet. There was no gravity here either, but I was now more firmly on the ground.

'The intersection is probably where the gravity is changing, so if I try and aim for it the gravity, there will hopefully have the down direction be where I expect it to be.'

My legs pushed and I was once again airborne. Flight should have been far more entertaining than it was, but all that came to my mind was preparing for the fall.

Gravity returned when I was meters away from the intersection and suddenly I could feel every jin of my own weight once again as I started rolling on the floor.

I then proceeded to fall into the hole that was once up started rolling around the floor until I stopped on my back. My body ached and I was humiliated by the floor of all things.

I looked to the ceiling who mocked me with it's smoothness once I stopped spinning. The gravity wasn't fully the same I now felt, it felt like it was at half strength. Maybe even less.

I rose up and the arrow pointed forward and in front of me I could see a black stone gate.

"That has to be it." I thought, relived that this nonsense would be finally over.

The door was upside-down which meant gravity will change shortly but that didn't matter now, I was ready for it.

The shift came and was as sudden as all of the others, but my body was ready and I landed on my feet this time. A quick glance down told me the arrow continue pointing forwards.

The gates had no handle or button to push and so I pushed on the doors and they opened with a smoothness nothing so large should possess.

I took a careful step inside and what greeted me was something human beings could live in, as opposed to the gray empty walls of the hallways.

It was a courtyard, filled with plants, bamboo and even a small waterfall in the distance. The ceiling looked more like the sky and it made me wonder if I was outside, but the lack of clouds or the sun tld me otherwise.

I could also see the edges, despite how well painted the courtyard was. There was a clear limit where the chairs and tables were present and where they were not, the doors helped with that too.

"Ah a new disciple, greetings honored one, this one is Jing Ma." A female voice interrupted my sightseeing out of nowhere.

I did not jump but it was a close thing. I looked around and to my left was a young woman with black hair and black eyes smiling softly at me. She was tiny, barely reaching my chest but from the few wrinkles on her face I would say that the woman was in her forties.

Her clothes were colorful and well maintained, filled with greens, reds and browns but they were clearly the clothes of a servant. Her dress and sleeves were long and the material looked sturdy, which meant it was probably silk, but without the smoothness I associated with the material.

I could also see a sparkle in her eyes which told me, her scaring me was intentional.

"Greetings, I am Tai Su, a pleasure to meet you." I greeted back.

It would not do to be anything but polite. Politeness costs you little and yet can pay dividends beyond your wildest dreams.

"Polite too, would you like me to give you a tour young man? The living area is simple in design but I find that a tour helps calm your kind down from walking through the sect proper." Jin Ma offered.

"I would appreciate it, the sect has a confusing layout and having someone explain it would be appreciated." I answered.

Without the arrow I doubt I would have ever found anything. I have no idea where anything is or how to navigate this place.

The older woman giggled at my words and silently started walking.

"I can't say I know anything about the sect proper or its layout, servants have their own staircases and tunnels you see. The living areas for the disciples are simple enough to navigate, up remains up and the directions don't change." She explained.

"Lucky you, I do not recommend not knowing where up is or having it change when you're flying in the air." I said.

That earned me another set of giggling.

"Yes, now here is the sauna, it's a steam room where you can relax, next to it is the ice room where you can freeze yourself off if you don't like melting. Would you like to enter the rooms or just me pointing them out would suffice? None of them except the dormitories are in use at this hour so we won't be interrupting anyone." She explained softly.

I shook my head, I would rather head to my room than explore every single part of the living area. I can always do that tomorrow, I needed to clean my head now.

"I would appreciate a full tour, but not now, it has been a long day." I answered.

I wasn't tired physically even if some parts of me hurt, my tiredness was mental. I need some time to process things, the fact that it was all over, the fact that the sect knew I was a reincarnated individual, the interview.

I need some time to relax and process things.

Jing Ma seemed to understand what I meant, if her sigh was anything to go by.

"I see, then someone else will give you a tour tomorrow as I like the night shift and will not be awake in the morning. I'll lead you to the dormitories and I am sure your bracelet can show you your room." She replied, disappointment thick in her voice.

"I am sorry, but that would be appreciated." I said sheepishly.

The woman shook her head.

"You have nothing to worry about, I know that the trials are challenging. I enjoy my work and explaining it to people, but I know that what you need is what you need and I am meant to provide it." She replied.

We continued walking in silence after that. The room was large and there were plenty of doors and spaces here. Shortly, we reached another door some benches and what I assumed was a small fighting ring.

"Here are the dormitories, to my knowledge most of the occupants are now sleeping. We clean all rooms but your own. They are your responsibility, same as your laundry, but you can all wash them in the same place or your quarters. Food here is basic rations of dried fruits, salted meat and pickles, so if you want anything more you'll have to find the canteen." She explained.

"Thank you Jing Ma, I appreciate it." I said and bowed.

"You're welcome, now if you'll excuse me I need to go back to the entrance in case someone else is coming, I just finished the night cleaning so I have nothing else planned." She replied and then left.

Ah, so that's why she was so eager for something to do, she was bored. There's nothing I can about it now unfortunately, I needed rest myself.

I entered the room and what greeted was a long hallway filled with more doors.

I should have probably been surprised by it, there were a lot of doors after all, more than I can be bothered to count, but I just couldn't bring myself to. I followed the arrow to my own door, the number seventy two inscribed cleanly on the wooden door and I entered my own room.

Before I could even think about anything, a pair of lip met mine as a pair of strong legs wrapped themselves around me.

~~~~~~~~~

"Caught you~" The woman purred as she broke the kiss.

I took the chance to catch my break to also look down on her and noticed that she was naked, her body clinging to mine with an intensity that was going beyond the mere physical.

I could not smell anything but her body, and her body smelled of peaches. A deep inhale saw something break and I could once again smell myself and I noticed that I smelled the same as her.

"That you did." I replied with a cocky smile.

The sect master is not forgiven for what he did, not fully at least, but I accept his apology.

The madwoman kissed me again and with it her leg's grip on me weakened, something I took full advantage of as I pushed her off me and on the wooden floor where it was my turn to go on the offensive and my mouth wasted no time invading hers.

Her hands did not waste any time as they started searching my body and before I could notice it happen my shirt was torn to pieces and most of it fell off my body, but Bao was quick to break those off too.

I broke the kiss and looked down on the needy minx. She has wanted this for a long time, and now there was no reason not to give it to her. But first, I had to prepare the field I am about to plow.

I went down kissing each part of her along the way. I start with the neck giving her kisses which made her whimper, then down bellow on her chest where I played with modest mounds so they won't feel left out of the fun.

I went lower still to her belly, her muscles easily felt below a very thin layer of fat that even the gentlest touch could part to reveal the hard muscles..

Behind me my legs were doing their best to remove my boots which they were achieving with ease.

I gave the little flower a gentle kiss to which Bao responded with a hiss and an attempt to lock my head to her thighs which I stopped. She wants this to be a rough thing, but I had other plans.

"Now Bao, there's no need to rush." I chastised.

"Stop playing Tai, I've been waiting for this for so long~" She moaned.

This wasn't the first time we did this sort of thing, despite my desire to avoid pregnancy, we did have libido's after all. But this time I was planning to take things further.

I gently lapped at her open flower as she started to moan. My hands were busy playing with the little gems on top of her modest hills as my wife moaned in pleasure.

Her hands pressed on my head trying to push me deeper into her folds which I allowed her to try. She may have been the one to initiate this, but I am the one who decides how this will go.

I could feel her getting close to coming, it was obvious in the way she shivered, the way her body moved like the waves up and down every stronger as her body prepared itself for the grand finale.

"Yes, yes, I'm close Tai, I'm so close~"

My hands were playing with her nipples which have started to harden under my ministrations, but her nipples weren't the only thing getting harder, for there was something rising and it wasn't the sun.

Her legs started to slacken and I stopped as suddenly as I started and left my cute little wife whimpering on the floor. I left her to cool off a bit and removed my own pants so we can get to the main course.

My wife wasn't the only one with needs or the only one that has been waiting for this.

"It was quite rude of you to start this without letting me undress first Bao, you know that… Oh no we can't have that." I said sweetly.

Bao started playing with herself now, trying to continue where I started.

Once I was naked I immediately caught her hands and turned her around on her knees before she could protest and I positioned myself just in reach of it.

"Tai… please! I need this~" She begged.

"Need what my puppy?" I asked sweetly, the tip of my rod gently teasing her little cavern.

This also allowed the tip of my sword to be lubricated in preparation for what was to come. Bao's pussy was dripping now, begging to be filled, but it remained to be seen if Bao's tongue was as honest as her lower body.

"Plow me, make me a woman, make me come~" She continued shamelessly begging.

"Hmm, what to do, what to do?" I teased.

Just as she was about to protest, my sword entered it's new sheath and her protests stopped as I gently started pumping in and out.

Her chambers welcomed me warmly and with each cycle they were less and less willing to see me out as if they were fearful of me repeating my previous performance.

It won't happen, but Bao doesn't need to know that until after the fact. She was moaning sweetly again now as she was preparing herself for the ending.

I could feel myself coming close too, but I wasn't there quite yet, each cycle bringing pleasure to both of us, but Bao had a much longer time having her needs catered to.

I let go of her hands and she put them down on the cold wooden floor as she started fully acting like the bitch in heat she was.

My hands grasped her hips to better support me as I continued to pump in and out of her at a steady pace.

"Yes, Tai, faster, harder!" She begged.

I obliged and started increasing the pace as I felt myself coming closer. In one pump my dick managed to escape the devouring mow that was Bao's pussy, and I could hear her whine.

I silenced those whine with a single strong thrust that replaced them with her moans of pleasure as she had come but I did not stop pumping ever harder.

Second later I too came and filled her caverns with my seed.

I could feel the tiredness from before returning, but now it was a physical thing as opposed to a merely mental one.

Bao detached from me as both of us were spent, our juices falling on the floor now that the hole to her cavern was no longer filled.

"Bao?" I asked gently.

Bao did not respond, because Bao was many things now. She was happy, she was covered in my juices, she was even filled with them, but what she wasn't was awake and capable of answering me.

My wife was laid down on the floor a happy smile plastered on her face as she rested peacefully and without a care in the world.

I sincerely hoped there was some place to clean ourselves up nearby, both of us needed it now. Going to sleep covered in our love juices might sound nice in theory but waking up with those same juices dried up and crusty is not a pleasant experience.

I needed to get familiar with our quarters, clean both of us up and get Bao to our bed, hopefully without waking her up.

"The things I do for you." I said fondly as I rose up with Bao in my arms.

The floor was no place for my wife to sleep on.