"You...youuu! Of all people, in broad daylight, how can you give this to...me?!" Back to the Green Leaf Village, Tusha faced Xinzi with dagger eyes, grumbling at her gift. And who could blame her? Whereas others received pills, methods, materials and resources of extraordinary origins, she got a racy lingerie set?
The opened, flowered demi bra was bad enough, the g-string added insult to injury, the transparent lace robe went over the top, and once all three came together, this became the most whorish outfit that Tusha had ever laid her eyes on.
And where did Xinzi even find these designs? East, west, north or south, Tusha couldn't recall a single place that wore underwear of the sort.
"So it would be more appropriate in night light? Noted. I don't understand the cause of your anger though. This is clearly the best gift I've dished out today. Unique, crafted by my own two hands, and a clear indicator of things to come. If you don't want it, I guess I will have to take it back, but before I do, I suggest you take a closer look—who knows what you'd be missing out on," Xinzi said in a nonchalant tone, his words causing hot steam to blow out of Tusha's nose.
Her face as red as spanked buttocks, Tusha no longer knew where to put herself, stomped her foot, and stormed out of the place. Nearby, the girls all rolled their eyes, with the exception of Dong Ling and Chun Xu. The former wondered how she could steal Tusha's gift. The latter doubted Xinzi's intentions, suspecting that he could be using gifts and jests to distract them from more serious matters.
'What do you think?' Chun Xu asked the Zhi-Zhu twins.
'Possible.'
'But what could he be distracting us from?'
'Changes that go beyond his physical transformations?'
'Anyone here can feel that his aura incorporates supremely profound principles. But this could be the natural consequence of mastering an ability that we know nothing of.'
'Yes. If we start from the belief that he's hiding something, then of course this can be treated as a distraction. But if we don't, this becomes the usual bit of fun. It's too soon to tell.' One after the other, A'Zhi and A'Zhu considered Chun Xu's question.
'Maybe I'm overthinking...' Inwardly, Chun Xu's thoughts buzzed. But on the outside, her face maintained the usual composure. Xinzi desperately wanted to read her thoughts. And only now did he realize why the Night Flowers cautioned him never to.
Once he read the girls' thoughts, he would not be able to stop himself from reacting based on what he learned—using implacable logic to handle all potential problems. Down the road, this could lead to consequences that his suppressed emotions couldn't digest.
Ignoring Chun Xu, Xinzi shifted to the Mini-Overlords, who in winged baby form, still cried in the sky.
"Come here baby bosses, dad didn't forget you," Xinzi said, and with a grasping motion, pulled the Mini Overlords towards him. Begrudgingly, they accepted the pull, landing on the lap of daddy dearest.
*Sniff* *Sniff*
They cried all the same, not finding any consolation in the cradle of Xinzi's arms.
"Why are you crying? Dad has just come back, is alive and kicking, and yet here you are, crying as if to mourn my death. Are you cursing dad?" Xinzi rhetorically asked, patting the babies' foreheads with a gentle smile.
Xinzi's mastery of comedy and acting had reached a consummate level, preventing even the most attentive from being able to see through his performance. Alas, his facial expressions couldn't fool the babies, who could see Heaven's infinite shadow covering their daddy. Still, Xinzi's words hit home, making the clever babies restrain their grief.
"Good babies, dad will not blame you for emptying our dragon meat reserves. You have to grow fast so you can follow dad on myriad adventures. Here's a new cultivation method for you. I also have some delicacies to help you control your appetite," Xinzi said and tapped the Mini Overlords' foreheads, pouring the mnemonics of a new cultivation method into their soul.
Before his departure, Xinzi already gave them an outstanding demonic cultivation method: the Creed of the Ravenous Principal. By relying on it, their Swallowing Skill would reach matchless levels of potency, eventually giving them the means to swallow worlds, Gods, Devils and Saints in the blink of an eye.
But as the Mini Overlords' cultivation base carried both an Immortal Foundation, a Demon Creed and a Monster Core, one method wasn't enough to maximize their potential. And now that he had access to the vast majority of the cultivation methods created by spirits, gods and mortals, Xinzi could equip his babies with the best of the best: the Heavenly Emperor Sutra.
In terms of raw power, that cultivation method—Heavenly Emperor Shenzhuo's personal method—didn't lose to Zhen-Xinzi's Hundred Shackles of the God-Emperor. At the same time, it didn't have the weakness that enabled Yongye or those she selected to suppress the Zhen-body's abilities.
Xinzi wouldn't mind giving that cultivation method to others. But it required comprehension skills that most High Gods didn't possess.
In the Mortal Realm, only the Mini Overlords, Xinzi and Qingxin could comprehend that method.
"Heh!" The Mini Overlords clapped in enthusiasm. Two rose to sit on Xinzi's shoulders. Two more tried to fight for a spot, leaving the remaining two to occupy daddy's lap without hindrance.
"And here are the delicacies." With a finger snap, Xinzi summoned a pile of 60,000 immortal jades that formed rings around the Mini Overlords. Their eyes widened, shining with a mix of greed and gluttony.
"Eat them as you like. They're good for your Immortal Foundation and Monster Core. Now go out and play, play and cultivate. Dad has to discuss serious matters." With these words, Xinzi sent the Mini Overlords on their way. If an Immortal Emperor such as Hengye Mochen witnessed the casual handout of 60,000 immortal jades to gluttonous babies, perhaps he'd bang his head against a divine pillar and explode his Divine Soul.
"The Eastern Continent is undergoing cataclysmic changes—changes that will benefit us massively. But first, we have to grow—grow to the point that any random representative of our Liberation Temple can instill fear, awe, or both in the hearts of the East's various factions. To that end, we're going to enter a three-month period of extreme development.
From now on, you girls only have one job: cultivate. Alongside the Green-Hat Farmers, White-Winged Soldiers, and loyal goons such as my Armored Lion King and Green-Hat Hanxing, I will transform this place into a brand-new supercity, then make my soldiers in other regions immigrate here." After giving a rough explanation of the changes to come, Xinzi paused, checking reactions.
'Cultivate? Doesn't that also include dual cultivation?'
'Of course. He makes it sound like we're going to hole up in a spiritual cave and not come out until three months of secluded cultivation have passed, when really it will be a mix of silent meditation and bed rocking.'
'So...two jobs.' As Dong Ling and Chun Xu exchanged these mental messages, the other gals had similar thoughts.
Meanwhile, the Armored Lion King wondered how much merit he could accumulate by farming. Xin Zhong wanted to do the best job he could. Guang Fanghu asked himself what deity he offended that he'd now degenerated into a mix of mason and farmer. And Lord Hanxing bit his lips, his hands trembling as he did his best to prevent his rage and bloodlust from exploding.
'Entertaining crew,' Xinzi thought, satisfied by what he read in his folks' body language.
Subsequently, Xinzi put his hands on each girl's scalp, releasing vast and mystifying divine energies that blessed them with improved senses and overall talent. The Five Elements Transmutative Technique kicked in, stripping their cultivation before returning it with substantial improvements.
At the same time, Xinzi had Yan Le, A'Zhi and A'Zhu integrate their current bodies with the vastly improved originals. At first, Yan Le wanted to resist the integration, but soon, she realized that she couldn't allow her insecurities to evolve into mental barriers or worse, a Heart Demon.
Shoving all doubts to the side, Yan Le embraced the return. Now, the Zhi-Zhu twins and Yan Le could all create clones of themselves, with cultivation base and battle prowess equal to the original—a useful battle trick, and even better dual cultivation skill.
Xinzi took some time to arrange the village's manpower and resource distribution, then using Tusha as an excuse, left the scene. All along, Zi Feng studied him carefully—watching out for the tiniest hint that her master's body language offered. Xinzi noticed the meticulous observation, and though convinced that his acting skills would never betray him, would rather not spend too much time in Zi Feng's vicinity.
On this one, Xinzi underestimated himself. True, the Supreme and Unfeeling Grand Dao granted him a preternatural understanding of emotions and desires, all crucial for a flawless acting performance, but there was one thing it denied him: passion.
Acting thrived off passion. The Heavenly Dao robbed that passion, making Xinzi's hearts ache during each performance while also driving him to hunt the fire that he'd been stripped of. Left unchecked, that hunt would become his biggest weakness.
