Chapter 93: Qi Makes No Sense!
The ground outside was dyed red, and as snow began falling, the snowflakes absorbed the redness as soon as they touched blood. It was a strangely serene scene as I stared at the mutilated corpses of the monstrous beasts below.
But I was interrupted by the sound of something cracking. It was the yellow barrier surrounding the town, and it seemed like it had reached its time limit.
Thankfully, the monstrous beasts were gone, and there were no roars in the distance or strange creatures staring at us from behind trees.
"Hell yeah!"
"We won!"
"Nobody even had to die!"
The warriors celebrated; some breathed sighs of relief, and others cried. Even the two clans, while separated by their colors, celebrated with some hugging each other and yelling out at the top of their lungs.
There was no longer any of that sophisticated feeling about them, and they now seemed like just any other person happy to be alive another day. They would get to see their families again.
Even the clan leaders exchanged glances, which were too short to tell if it was a coincidence, and they happened to be looking at each other at the same time. But they also smiled and nodded, seemingly happy with how everything had turned out.
The governor looked happy too, though he stared in the distance with a complicated glint.
I understood where he was coming from. Despite first appearances, this seemed like our victory. If one looked at the bigger picture, we were just a fly who fell into the spider's net and struggled harder than others. We were safe for now, but that wouldn't be much longer.
This was no victory; we were just delaying the inevitable at this rate. We no longer had a high-level barrier to protect us, so any other attack from now on was going to be a massacre. Just like we had done today, except the chances of it still being in our favor were slim to none.
Neither the governor nor I said it out loud, but I was pretty sure that barrier had been a single-use thing. The old governor ripped that card to activate it, which was usually done only to activate single-use arrays. Otherwise, he would have saved the key to activate and deactivate the barrier.
I shook my head and dismissed such thoughts. Now was not the time to analyze every little thing and try to make some grand discovery.
Approaching the governor, I whispered, "I can put a barrier around town that will look just like the previous one."
Though our conversation should have been drowned out by the noise of celebration, I still decided to whisper my words. Also, putting up a sound-canceling array would just raise more brows.
"That looks like it?" The governor asked, making sure he heard right.
"Of course," I nodded with a polite smile.
Neither of us needed to say it out loud. But the only barrier I could create that would cover the whole town would be a bluff. It would look like the previous one but have zero defensive capabilities.
Also, just the barrier being there would raise morale.
"What do you need?" The governor asked; his confirmation of my plan was already evident.
"I need some monstrous beast corpses, blood, beast cores, and a couple of hundred spirit stones," I said.
Sure, the barrier would just be a bluff, but it was still a big barrier. Also, I really needed some spirit stones. I was running low on them.
"Done," he nodded and looked on ahead.
Wait, did I ask too little? Judging by how casually he acted, I asked too little. Oh well, if I needed more spirit stones, I could just ask Song Song. She probably had a lot lying around.
I looked around in the distance, and no monstrous beasts were in sight. I could only hope it stayed like that. Many unknown factors were at play here, but I was confident that the monstrous beasts wouldn't attack for a while. Especially when I put that yellow barrier up again.
That was the weakness of having a cautious leader.
We needed to get Song Song and reinforcement here and let her handle the rest. She could enjoy a good battle.
"Also, can you bring some monstrous beast corpses to my mansion as soon as possible? I need them for some of my research," I said.
They continued their verbal banter as the other guards opened the gates of the mansion wide and dragged in the monstrous beast corpses. About a dozen of them.
Monstrous beasts often resembled normal animals, with something extra to them. In this case, some cows had four horns and were the size of a truck. There were also others like three-headed dogs and such.
However, I didn't know their exact names, as most were annoyingly long. I knew that these monstrous beasts did not have poisonous flesh or anything dangerous to consume.
"Send my thanks to the governor for such a fast delivery," I told the guards.
They bowed down to their waist, and one amongst them said. "Yes, honorable cultivator!"
Then they walked out and left me alone with the monstrous beasts and Speedy.
"How about giving it a taste?" I grabbed Speedy and dropped the little guy before the monstrous beast corpses.
Speedy bit into the cow-like monstrous beast's thigh without a second thought. But due to its tough skin and flesh, Speedy made no progress. So I had to draw my daggers and cut up the thigh of the monstrous beast into smaller chunks of flesh that Speedy ate without a care in the world.
Monstrous beast flesh was good for humans too. Well, most of it was, as there were poisonous monstrous beasts. Or monstrous beasts that were essentially trees and were not edible. Anyway, monstrous beasts eating other monstrous beasts also helped them cultivate.
After all the pills I had given Speedy, and with this too, he should be close to ascending into a monstrous beast himself.
It was only a matter of time, but how long would it take?
My thoughts were interrupted in their midst as I looked at Speedy. Where before his head was just bigger than my fist, it was now bigger than two fists and almost the size of a human head. Also, its body had grown proportionately.
I rubbed my eyes, making sure that I wasn't seeing things. Thankfully, I wasn't.
Holy shit! My Speedy was growing at a visible rate!
A sense of excitement rose in my chest. Was this what it felt like seeing your children grow up?
But before I could get too excited, I came to my senses and immediately turned my senses to their maximum. Then, I concentrated on the little guy.
What I sensed was nothing short of bewildering. Somehow, the bones were growing at a visible rate, and joints and ligaments were expanding in ways that did not make sense at all.
What the fuck was this shounen anime bullshit physics? Nothing grew like this!
But despite its lack of sense, it was exciting. It was like watching a magician's trick. It really seemed like there was nothing out there that couldn't be achieved using Qi.
Though it looked like the little guy would grow indefinitely, he stopped his growth once he reached my knee. But Speedy kept munching without a care in the world.
I was so concentrated on him that I almost missed a powerful Qi signature getting closer until they nearly reached the mansion's entrance. That brought me out of my thoughts, and I turned toward the newcomer.
"Governor, I did not expect you to come and visit me so soon," I said.
The old man took out a sack, and I could sense the abundant Qi inside the spirit stones in the sack. He walked up to the table on the corner of the yard and put the sack down, "This is three hundred spirit stones. I added some extra for a job well done during the Beast Wave. Also, you will get a large cut from the earnings we make from selling the monstrous beasts. Just as large as the clans."
After that, carriages came through the gate, and the guards carried barrels that reeked of blood.
"This is the monstrous beast blood you asked for. I brought it here as soon as I could," the governor said.
He worked pretty fast; no wonder this town was so prosperous under his rule. "Good. I will make the barrier as soon as I recover from the battle."
The governor nodded and opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but then he caught sight of Speedy. He frowned and looked confused. But then he shrugged and dismissed his concerns, "Anyway, there is something I wanted to talk to you about."
Ah, with all the rewards he had come with, it felt like he would ask for something troublesome. Which I was ready to refuse.
