Archfiend Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Sea of Essence (One)

No less than half an hour later did the room door open once again. At the sound of sliding, Mao Ba'er crept in and gazed at Xu Yangyi rather fiercely: "Xu…… I've tolerated you for a very long time!"

"Then don't tolerate it." Xu Yangyi sipped his sugar water unhurriedly. 

"You wanna cut ties?!" Mao Ba'er's fur stood on edge.

Xu Yangyi nodded resolutely.

"In your dreams!" Mao Ba'er rolled on the ground: "If it weren't for me at your side taking care of you with my heart and soul in these past dozen days, how could you possibly awaken so quickly? Don't you know how serious your injuries are? Your sea of essence has sustained damage and tens of bones in your entire body are busted! Your spirit sense has withered to the smallest range! There's no difference between you and a zombie…..."

Xu Yangyi waved his hand, cutting off the other: "Help me and get that notebook over here."

"Why!" Mao Ba'er reflexively turned his eyes upwards and looked at him: "I'm huddled up under your bed. Do it yourself!"

After several seconds of silence, Xu Yangyi laughed and petted the dog's head: "You put your heart and soul in taking care of me? Right?"

Mao Ba'er was at a sudden loss of words, whimpering for a while and then extending his front paw to dig at the floor: "I said it casually, but you believe it, too…… You're really naive……"

The room returned to its original tranquil state. After a good few minutes, Mao Ba'er asked: "Your…… body doesn't feel like there are any problems, right?"

"No problems."

"That's good….." Mao Ba'er seemed to let loose a breath, putting his head on the bed: "There are four more days until the graduation grades are announced. You bought that old swindler CloudCrane's courses? Didn't I tell you…… his video sold over 30,000, but not even Ran Asakawa's are expensive as his! That way, I can leave here and help you handle the transaction with the Many Treasures Pavilion. Are you going to return to the branch first?"*

"No need." Xu Yangyi lit a cigarette: "When I was eight, I was taken into Heaven's Law. Today could be considered my first outing into the world; I want to take a look at the place known as 'the cultivation supermarket' and the financial dealings of 'the Many Treasures Pavilion of the cultivator domain'' and see what they are like. Also, there's a minor matter I want to settle."

"A minor matter? What minor matter? Can't you go and make the report first? Don't forget, the time to submit the grades for the graduation exam is two months. Half a month has already pa.s.sed. Do you really want to leave your future task force with a sn.o.bbish impression?"

Xu Yangyi held his cigarette in hand and paused, turning his head to look at Mao Ba'er. The other had swiftly turned his body around, the wagging of his tail the only left behind.

"Don't you remember? When I was fifteen, and was doing countryside training, the wound then seemed even more serious than the one this time. After you've asked if there's nothing wrong with me, are you going to take advantage of the situation and rob me of a spirit stone?"

An intoxicated expression appeared on the dog's face: "That was the best use of a spirit stone in my entire life…… To steal an item in your hand once is enough for me to brag for a life time…...."

The intoxication ended after three seconds, and the dog swept his eyes disdainfully over the other: "...... You narrow-minded little man, it's been so many years but you still remember it so clearly. It's a matter between friends, how can you call it stealing?"

Xu Yangyi took a drag and smiled, subsequently saying: "When I was eighteen doing live ammo training, my cla.s.smate facing me, who studied CQC techniques, fractured my shoulder bone with a gun strike. You helped me by licking it twice, and then afterwards, weren't you busy on a doggy date?"

"Uh huh?" A tail abashedly swatted Xu Yangyi twice. The fellow husky was pretty angry. What was he still doing holding on to these old drudged-up matters? Even if he didn't want to save face, I still do!

"The year before, I……"

"Are you finished or not!" The husky turned over angrily, glowering at Xu Yangyi: "What? Is this a pity party? Are you troubled!"**

Xu Yangyi leisurely puffed out a smoke ring, gently stroked the other's sleek fur with his hand and laughed grimly: "I want to say that as long as I don't run across a major crisis, my cultivation foundation won't be influenced. You absolutely shouldn't be of mind to come and ask me…… Don't look at me like that. We've cooperated and learned together for ten years now; I'm quite clear about your character."

"What you care about is money, money, and also money. There's also wining, dining, whoring, and gambling. How many years has it been…… The first time you took advantage of my leave, you didn't even ask about my 30,000 bucks of learning materials to……"

"Swis.h.!.+" The husky suddenly shot off the bed, looking at Xu Yangyi in surprise.

He felt an ineffable murderous aura.

"So……" Xu Yangyi's hand stroked the other's ear, and with a sudden application of force, a mournful howl soon followed after as the lowly dog was pulled over, fixed with the other's eyes: "Come, tell me, what are you hiding from me?"

His eyes narrowed dangerously: "What…… happened?"

"Woof, Woof, Woof!" Mao Ba'er barked hoa.r.s.ely and was only met with an even greater degree of strength. He braced himself and laughed hollowly: "Nothing, can't I be concerned about for you? You're the number one person I approve of…… I can't be concerned?"

Xu Yangyi didn't respond and seemed to indifferently loosen his hand, his gaze carrying sharpness and compulsion as he said clearly and calmly: "It's me?"

"What happened to my body?"

"Does it require me to return immediately to Heaven's Law to settle it? 

"It's really nothing!" The dog Mao Ba'er that ordinarily liked to follow along suddenly hopped up, jittery coiling up at the side: "Pretty boy, where are you coming from with this nonsense? Everything I do is for your good! For your good!"

"Mao Ba'er." Xu Yangyi extinguished the b.u.t.t of the cigarette with his fingers, speaking lowly: "I can put up with your lowly transgressions, tolerate your naughty behavior, but the sole thing that I am incapable of abiding by is your deceit."

It was silent once more.

After quite a while, Mao Ba'er sighed resentfully" "You…… Don't you know the thing I dislike the most is your beast-like keenness! You'll overtake my own soon!"

Xu Yangyi only laughed.

"You have prepare yourself mentally……" Mao Ba'er licked his lips: "No matter what the result is…… I'll always stand by your side……"

"I know."

Mao Ba'er didn't continue to speak, and after three seconds, he opened his mouth again, yet stopped once more. After ten-odd seconds pa.s.sed again, he suddenly flung the bell on his neck: "I'll check it out, alright!"

A stack of resources flew into the room. Xu Yangyi glanced at them and was stunned in his entirety.

In the cultivation world, there was a technique known as Innersight. 

This was an art that any cultivator would know, so much that it couldn't be called an art and could only be called a skill. If it was said spirit sense was a feeler, then a feeler could go within one's body, and a cultivator would be able to clearly "see" every one of their pores and organs through them.

As for Mao Ba'er, he simply wasn't just a husky that could talk. Every partner had to meet the standards of a logistician. A partner that knew medical techniques, economics, and how to develop and market you. A partner that would strive to find more opportunities for you and so on…… It wasn't much different than a show biz agent.

Innersight was a technique he had had to know. He and Xu Yangyi had signed a pact of life or death. Externally, he could use Innersight to examine Xu Yangyi's body.

These stack of resources were Mao Ba'er's Innersight diagrams from his point of view.

"Swish……" Xu Yangyi didn't say a word as he gently set down the stack of resources and forcefully rubbed his fist. There weren't any differences…… From his stomach to his dantian…… there was only a single difference! Within his sea of essence in his dantian, there was a shadow of a lotus gently swaying!

"Scared?" Mao Ba'er's voice could be heard: "The sea of essence…… is any cultivator's root, and the place where spiritual energy is stored. It's the same as a cultivator's second heart…… There shouldn't be anything there whatsoever! Except for spiritual energy!

"However, when you blacked out that day, I found this thing in your sea of essence. It was only a bud then, to the extent that I didn't see anything. I only know that an oddity has appeared in your sea of essence! My G.o.d! It's only at the Core Formation stage that there would be a core inside! Even at the long-lost Nascent Soul stage would there be a nascent soul within! Yet you don't possess a core or a nascent soul, but surprisingly a lotus!"

"Yesterday night, when all your bodily functions recovered, I found that it had blossomed to my surprise! What h.e.l.l of a joke is this!"

Xu Yangyi coolly locked the door.

For a cultivator, or any cultivator, no, even if it was a normal person, with the sudden appearance of an uncla.s.sified thing in their body, no one would be able to calm their heart.

"Tell me everything that you think."

"Don't you remember that berserker?" Mao Ba'er's head leaned against the sick bed and grit his teeth: "The fluctuations of its peak and bottom power were too severe…… Moreover, its realm was also abnormal, especially…… the place from where the demon's core began to fluctuate. In these ten-odd days, I personally operated and scanned it……"

"Take guess, what did I find?" He used his paw to brush away at the images, finding one among them: "Give it look!"

Xu Yangyi carefully glanced it over, and a layer of cold sweat graced his palm.

At the position of where the other's demon core was, there was a distinct carbon copy imprint of a lotus! It was like the heavens had grown above it!

"As everyone knows, any cultivator's sea of essence and meridians are formed in direct proportion." Mao Ba'er dug at the image of the X-ray: "However, it wasn't the same…… It's sea of Essence incomparably tremendous, but it's meridians were slim without equal. It isn't science that the sea of Essence is like a water pump and the meridians are like pipes that are linked to the water pump. If the water pump's power output is too high, and the pipes are too small, take a guess, what kind of situation do you think will occur?"

"The rus.h.i.+ng strength will be too great, which will lead to the water pipe bursting?" Xu Yangyi muttered to himself for several seconds and then said.

"We can speak frankly about one aspect…… Your body will explode, and you will die!" Mao Ba'er nodded: "You think…… the swollen pain in your body from inside to out…… battering every single one of your muscles, arteries, and meridians…… every day and night…… every minute and second…… will occasionally cause a great amount of blood to jet out because of the rus.h.i.+ng force of your collapsed arteries…… Isn't this called internal bleeding in medical science? Mhm, it seems to be so — afterwards, traces of reddish-purple blood will form beneath your skin and might even spray out of your pores……"

"Not even to speak of humans, even Greater Demons wouldn't be able to bear such a pain. Thus, under such pain, they would go mad and live in pain. Therefore, it dared to attack you and was also wrongly cla.s.sified as a berserker."

The room was suddenly silent.

Xu Yangyi clasped his teacup and said not a word. A minute later, he looked at Mao Ba'er and said lowly: "And myself?"

"Since you slipped into unconsciousness, your sea of essence has already expanded by 0.05%!" Mao Ba'er stared at him unwaveringly: "It's very slow…… extremely slow…… however, it will absolutely cause your death before Foundation Establishment! A hundred years for Foundation Establishment, think about it, not even to speak of a hundred years, in case your sea of essence expands by a third, don't even think about using your spiritual energy smoothly!"

He impatiently turned turned around in a circle twice: "I dare to bet that this and that streak of red light are connected to each other a hundred percent! It's like a hermit crab! It was cozied up at home within the other's body before, and when the other wasn't able to bear it any longer and was destroyed, it immediately chose the closest living body! It's pretty unfortunate it was you…… What the h.e.l.l is this evil thing!" 

These past days, I've gone through all the data, but there aren't any records that it's related with! To the point that its likeness has never been reported!"

* 武藤兰 is another stage name of Ran Asakawa, Wu Tenglan, in China I believe. If you know who Ran Asakawa is LOL, but if you don't I do not recommend searching for her around other people or in public. You will have an…… interesting surprise. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

** 忆苦思甜 - pity party. Well not quite, these four characters symbolize an idea of "thinking your past sucks, but your current standings as happy." It's a mouthful to say this, so I changed it.