Jinshen groggily woke up, groaning slightly as he sat up in the bed, blinking away the remnants of sleep.
His eyes widened almost immediately as well as his jaw slacking, the sight before him astonishing him
On the ground were the different disciples of the Demonic Sect excluding Yanwei, Ruoxue and Jinhai. Their bodies were covered in sweat and they were all sleeping on the floor, they seemed drained of energy but their bodies also seemed to be much more fit and sturdy.
"What the hell happened?"
Jinshen muttered under his breath as he slowly stood up from the bed, and took steps around the sleeping disciples, careful not to slip or step on them as he walked by the mirror on the wall.
He paused as he noticed that he had grown taller and his muscles were more lean and defined, testing this he took of his robe, putting it on the ground before he flexed his biceps in front of the mirror which proved that he had indeed, grown stronger.
Nanomachine.. Did you do something?
He said to the Nanomachine internally, his voice filled with suspicion and a sense of disappointment.
The Nanomachine just whistled, trying to play things off before eventually cracking under the silent waiting of Jinshen
Ugh, fine! Yes, I can control your body now when you're asleep or knocked out. But I only used it to cultivate, alright?! It yelled out in an annoyed tone that tried to defend itself.
Jinshen's eyes widened as he processed what the Nanomachine just said before shaking his head in frustration.
Damn it... Fine, I understand that you just wanted to help but just do it in a fight or something... I can't even be mad at you since you did something useful..
Jinshen took a deep breath before putting on his robe once more and running a hand through his hair a few time before styling it as Ruoxue did.
Anything else I should know about? Jinshen asked, his tone a mix of sarcasm and curiosity
The Nanomachine paused for a good few seconds, not responding before reluctantly replying in what could only be described as a mumble.
Well... Now that I'm melded into your Dantians, I can create weapons of Qi and stuff, and right now I'm working on analyzing the Demonic Qi to find its strenghts and weaknesses. I'm also running simulations on what weapons that suit you best. And uh, the liquid nanites we used a lot of the time.. Their now pretty ineffecient.
Jinshen's expression turned deadpanned as he took a few deep breaths trying to calm his anger down and not just snap at the Nanomachine for doing so much behind his back.
He couldn't decide what bothered him more, the fact that it took control, or the fact that it made more progress in one night than he ever had before meeting it.
Alright, this is an order. You can't do anything behind my back.
The Nanomachine remained quiet but Jinshen knew that it most likely feeling sheepish for its actions.
Jinshen sighed deeply, shaking his head in a mixture of resignation and annoyance as he pushed the gate open, it now being near effortless after the cultivation.
I should cultivate the rest of the day. I think we'll get called for lunch.
The guard who was standing outside the gate, Wuxin, gently grabbed Jinshen's shoulder and spoke to him.
"The Grand Marshall has rewarded you." He began, letting his statement sink in before adding. "Your reward is in the training room, the instructor will give it to you."
Jinshen nodded, he was a bit surprised at the sudden 'reward' and curiosity overtook his thoughts.
"A reward?" He asked curiously but as Wuxin just went back to being stoic and stood silently like a statue, he didn't ask further.
Jinshen curiously descended the stairs as he walked through the open door and went towards the training room.
The metal door of the training room stood ominously but Jinshen just pried it open with ease, the obsidian black metal creaking and clanking as it opened up to allow Jinshen through.
The training room was vast, its walls lined with dark obsidian stone that seemed to absorb the light from the flickering candles set in sconces along the walls. The floor was made of smooth, polished black marble, its surface was cracked as glowing red crimson Qi flowed through it.
Across the far wall, there were rows of weapons, some were new and some were old and had some signs of wear and tear, they were displayed in neat, ominous racks, each waiting for a hand to wield them. In the center of the room, a large ring was marked out with a glowing crimson sigil, its edges pulsing gently as if alive with the Qi of countless past battles.
There they were, Ruoxue, Yanwei and Jinhai, cultivating in the second stage of the Path Of The Withering Enemies, Smoldering Core.
But in front of them were... Female disciples that seemingly appeared out of no where.
Oh.. Female disciples? I suppose they would likely live on the second floor then... That makes sense.. Jinshen thought to himself as he settled down besides Yanwei.
Nanomachine immediately laughed hysterically as suddenly in Jinshen's vision, every female disciple that was staring at him got illuminated.
Master~ Shall I initiate breeding mode?~ I'm sick of only seeing the boys. It teased in between maniacal laughter
Jinshen remained stoic on the exterior closing his his as he took a deep breath.
Shut up. Jinshen said, internally flustered by the teasing remark
Jinshen took another deep breath before sitting down in a cross legged position before he closed his eyes and started to gather the Demonic Qi in his lower and middle Dantian as it started glowing crimson red and his body started heating up rapidly.
According to the book, I'm supposed to press one fist against the middle Dantian and use it to funnel more Demonic Qi into it.
He thought to himself as his breathing started becoming more and more labored but he pushed through, putting his fist on the middle Dantian before shoving in even more Demonic Qi as his eyes snapped open, glowing red as a wispy aura of blood red Qi surrounded his body.
Every breath I take.. It feels like I'm fueling a furnace inside of my Danitans..
The three besides him momentarily opened their eyes at the surge of Qi in the training room but once again, competitiveness gleamed in their eyes as they started cultivating at the same pace as Jinshen.
There was a small, quaint woman in the corner, dressed in a black and red high collared robe that hugged all the right places, it had the small symbol of a scroll on her shoulder. Her long black hair was tied into a pony tail and her eyes glowed blue as she tilted her head at the three of them as her eyes landed on Jinshen specifically
"Oh.. Aren't I supposed to give the boy the Demonic Thorns Pill? Oh well.."
She walked over to Jinshen who during cultivating had let his mouth slack open unknowingly. The woman, taking advantage of this pulled a small, round Qi pill out of her pocket.
It was deep crimson pill with jagged edges, almost resembling a small thorn or spike. The pill's surface is smooth but the edges are sharply defined, and there was a small, golden smoke that came out of it.
The woman gently put the pill into Jinshen's mouth who instinctively swallowed it, but as soon as he did, his body was flooded with an immense amount of Demonic Qi.
Shit.. Who put a pill into my mouth.. I can't contain all of this, I'll need to just hold onto as much as I can and circulate it.. Jinshen thought as he started absorbing the Qi as fast as he could.
The glow intensified in his eyes as well as one that was emitted from his mouth as suddenly a burst of flames came out with a roar, striking the ceiling which shook the whole of the training room, but instead of impressing, it seemed to amuse the woman who giggled.
"Well, well, it seems he was frustrated with something, but that's none of my business.. Lets give the rest of the boys their reward.."
She mumbled under her breath as she went to each one of the boys, putting The Infernal Dust pill into their open mouths, the same happened with everyone of them except Ruoxue, whose glow slowly turned white and blue which intrigued the woman but she didn't do anything about it. For now.
"I wonder... If they'll really survive against Mo Yuxan.. Their improving, the Jinshen boy might be at the peak at the Foundation Establishment stage while the other three might be at the middle or lower levels of the same stage.. Impressive indeed for newbies."
She paused, looking at Yanwei, whose eyes were glowing a different color from the others.
It was a brilliant golden one, one that overshadowed the others in brilliancy and radiance. He also emitted flames albeit a much less fierce and smaller one, but the flames were a golden and black color.
Meanwhile Jinhai's eyes also started glowing as he too, let out roaring flames of the white color, it was much hotter and even more ferocious then Jinshen's flames.
"Oh my! A fire show! Go on, Silver Hair boy, show me your flames!" The woman exclaimed in pleasant surprise, anticipating Ruoxue's flames.
Almost as if on cue, Ruoxue's mouth starting glowing brighter and brighter before he let out, not flames but instead a burst of frost that coated the ceiling, making large spikes of ice.
The woman grinned in satisfaction looking at each of the boys before she turned to look at the girls who were all just at the Ember Vein stage.
"See this girls! Catch up quickly and you'll reach this stage!" She yelled out in a commanding and authoritative tone, making the female disciples start cultivating with all of their might.