The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns: An OP Xianxia Returnee LitRPG98.93%

Chapter 178: A Wild Girl

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As I made my way to the nearby mountains, where a volcano where Nicholas was training was located, Peperina was constantly talking about what just happened.

"I-I don't think I'm ready for what comes next…" she said nervously. "Um, having a kid and all… And seeing how I'm a rabbit, I might end up having more than one."

"O-Oh! Do you happen to have siblings?" I wondered.

"I do; I never mentioned it… but I have like five," she giggled a bit nervously. "Yeeah… I-if you're really going to have kids with us rabbit-kin, you're about to get a big batch…"

"Ahaha! But that's so adorable! I would love to have many children with you, Peperina!" I giggled, petting her head.

"D-Don't say it out loud like that! Uwaah…" She felt embarrassed, covering her face again. "C-Can't we take it easy? I need to… Um, prepare and all, and right now I'm focused on other things and…"

"It's fine," I smiled. "I would never force you to do anything, dear. Let's take as long as you want. After all, intercourse is nothing but an aftermath of love, but love? It's not just intercourse after all. Keeping company with one another, living with one another, feeling each other's warmth, listening to each other's words every day… Guiding one another and teaching each other. It's all about that, I think. I'm still learning. But your company alone—that's all I could ever ask for. I like being with you."

"Oh my gosh, can't you stop saying such incredibly romantic things? My heart is already melting for you!" she cried.

"A-Ah! Haha, my bad, I'm sorry," I said. "I simply get like this when I am with the person I love."

"Hahh," she sighed, crossing her arms. "I wonder what I even did in my life to deserve a literal goddess like you to come down here, lower yourself for me, and love me… I-I'm really lucky."

"Hahah, to you I might be that and some more, but for me…" I said. "I am just a person. I never stopped thinking of myself as one deep down. A person that has lived… that has lived a long time, I suppose. More than anything, I'm grateful you're willing to accept me despite my age and gender. I am not going to pretend every girl would love another woman."

"You're eleven thousand years old, right?" she wondered. "Well, you don't even look that age, at most in your mid-twenties. And about that… I mean, I was already bisexual. I did have... I had a crush on a friend in school. But that was a while ago."

"I see… Fufu, do tell me more! I want to learn my cute girlfriend's past now," I said, interested.

"G-Girlfriend? I guess we've already started, huh?" she muttered. "Ah, s-so when am I recognized as a wife then? Like the others?"

"Whenever you want," I winked at her. "Or you prefer a ring and a ceremony? I suppose we can do that too! But then the rest might also want that."

"Ahah, don't worry, I won't ask for that… Okay, let's take it… easy, one step at a time, alright?" She said nervously.

"It's fine; you're the one that's talking so much about this, dear," I said. "Stay calm; everything is alright."

I patted her head, releasing waves of light that calmed her nerves. She was a bit nervous sometimes—I wouldn't say neurotic, but a bit close to that.

Perhaps all Rabbit-kin have this trait? I wonder…

Nonetheless, that's all it took for her to relax.

"Hahh… Can you give me some shoulder massages?"

"Of course."

I gave her a brief massage on her shoulders as we made our way out of the forest; she was quite tense, but after a little of that, she felt much better.

"Hahh… Oh my gosh, you're amazing… Ah, I love that…" she moaned, feeling rejuvenated. "I guess sitting down for a whole night is not the best for my body; it has grown a bit exhausted or strained…"

"Nothing that some bath in a hot spring can't heal later!" I winked at her. "For now… Let's go check how everyone else is doing, alright?"

"Sure!" she smiled.

She was too cute; I ended caressing her rabbit ears, but she got embarrassed and moved my hands away.

I guess their ears are quite delicate areas...

RUMBLE!

The volcano rumbled as we made our way through a long road around the Heaven Peak Mountains, the highest mountains of my Inner Realm that pierced the sky.

When we got all the way up, we could even see the other side of the continent where we were. Yes, my Inner Realm is large enough to have its own sea, and it has three continents.

"I can't believe how incredibly expansive this entire world is… And you're saying it's inside your soul, Bing Xue? Every time I look at the horizon, I'm left speechless…" Peperina said. "Woaah! And the sea in the distance! It looks kind of nice! Can't we go there one day?"

"Sure!" I nodded. "Anytime."

"Nice! Oh, look!" She pointed into the distance.

As we reached the peak of one of such mountains, Peperina pointed into the distance, the interior of a boiling volcano rumbling; inside, there was melting lava and a man floating within it.

Giant splashes of lava constantly attempted to hit him, but he used his hands to blast them away. Somehow, he was still wearing his sunglasses too.

His body had grown big and muscular, covered by a metallic sheen, and his focus had grown to its maximum level, fully focusing on his task.

It was Nicholas.

"That must be Nicholas, right?" Peperina wondered. "What is he doing anyway?"

"He's training his body," I explained. "This will help him become more resistant to different temperatures. While also being able to control his own metallic body. Ideally, what we wanted to do with him was that he needs to learn when to either become very tough or release his metal, letting it melt and ignite to give him a boost of power and speed. But he wanted to go even further and create a balanced mode between the two, sharing both high defenses, speed, and attack power."

"Interesting," nodded Peperina. "Wait, doesn't he have daughters? I wonder if he invited them here?"

"His girls?" I asked. "Oh, not for now; he said he wanted to concentrate on growing stronger so he can protect those girls better in the future."

His eyes opened as he unleashed his powers in full; suddenly, a large quantity of metal, layers after layers, began to rapidly cover his entire body.

"Oh? This is new."

We saw him suddenly becoming a titan made of steel and then suddenly jumping into the volcano's depths, his body rapidly melting.

"Nnngghh…!"

We heard him screaming as he kept using his Ki and Mana to keep his metallic body from completely melting.

He was constantly building resistance to heat, I see…

However, after a couple of minutes, he emerged from the lava, barely alive, his metallic body having already melted and dissipated.

"Hahh… Hahh… I think that's… Another minute added. Nice, I'm getting the gist of this," he smiled, looking at his huge hands and closing and opening them. "Phew… I thought I was going to die there- Oh? Master Bing Xue!"

"Hello Nicholas!" I said. "I see that you've improved since your last time? Did you say a whole minute?"

"Yes, I've been improving," he nodded. "While being down there, I think I was hallucinating; I had strange visions where… it was like I had become an ore, or perhaps boiling lava from the depths of the earth. It was strange; maybe I need to rest."

"Already?" I wondered. "No, that was no hallucination; I believe you've gained Enlightenment in the Dao of Metals. It encompasses the Feng Shui Element of "Metal", and it means you've become stronger regarding this element. It's something that doesn't manifest through stats or skills; it's a feeling you'll have within you."

"R-Really?" he muttered. "I see… That was interesting. I wonder if I'll go through the same?"

"Maybe," I nodded. "But this training sure is harsh on you; perhaps we could change it? I was thinking of perhaps doing some ore mining now."

"O-Ore mining?" he asked.

"Yes, you could go to the depths of the Abyssal Mines, mine ores, and then you assimilate them," I explained. "That'll make you tougher!"

"Such a thing is possible?! I had no idea I could just assimilate ores," he said.

"Well, not all of them. The Abyssal Mines are special; Dao Marks materialize and harden into ores, mostly either metals or crystals," I explained. "So you can absorb them if you cultivate the Path of Metals and Ores. …Otherwise, you might die of intoxication, though."

"I-I see, it's ideal then; I want to become even tougher after all." Nicholas nodded. "To protect the city, and my kids, and everyone else... with the new threats being literal super villains, things are only becoming crazier. I simply have to embrace insanity myself. And force myself to break any limiter within my body."

"Well said," I nodded. "Looks like we are on the same page, Nicholas. You'll be a proper and good guardian of humanity; I am sure that in the future, I can leave Earth to you."

"Ahahah, you honor me, Bing Xue," he laughed, feeling embarrassed.

What I liked about Nicholas was that he was very unlike any other man in Murim I've met, and perhaps someone quite rare on Earth as well.

Despite being so strong, so successful, and perhaps even rich, he was a man of integrity and family, and that also remained humble, never letting his power or authority get into his head.

He's someone dedicated to putting his life in danger to save other people too, as he had shown me many times, even to sacrifice himself.

Those are wonderful, rare traits in a person in general.

Therefore, he's without a doubt a disciple I am proud of having.

"You're too humble sometimes, Nicholas; be proud of yourself and what you've achieved," I smiled. "Shall we go have a meal now? You haven't eaten in days."

"A-Ah, have I?! It seems I've been too focused on cultivating…" he wondered. "Absorbing Ki from the ambient does satiate hunger to an extent."

"But you still require the nutrients and calories of food, or you'll begin to starve and grow weak," I said. "Let's get going."

"Alright, thank you," he nodded. "Ah, Peperina, good morning."

"Good morning, Nicholas! You look strong! I wonder if we can have a sparring match later?" Peperina asked. "You're like a perfect rival for my powers."

"Oh? Of course, it would be an honor," he nodded.

I nodded, feeling happy my disciples were having a friendly rivalry.

"Good, good, having a rivalry like this will also help you grow stronger," I nodded. "Fighting with someone that can counter your abilities will also give you insight about how to properly develop them and then improve them, did you know? So you can continuously adapt as you fight, preparing your body and mind to even fight against those stronger than you."

The two nodded, feeling rather enlightened by my simple words.

Eventually, we reached another place, a jungle infested with ferocious martial beasts of all kinds, lions, wolves, bears, giant insects, and more.

There was someone in the middle of all, battling them all while roaring ferociously like a beast herself.

Her brown-red skinned body overflowing with a golden aura, shaping into many ancient, spiritual creatures of her tribe.

Powers she had inherited from her family, which the System recognized as Skills, which we've further improved and allowed her to assimilate.

Beast Totem Spirits.

Aiyana shook her long hair as she roared, Beast Totems resembling ferocious Mountain Lions emerged, like pillars of wood around her.

She jumped into battle, her body growing golden fur, sharp claws, and big paws, with a long tail.

The powerful Immortal Martial Beasts of this Jungle, called the Endless Battle Jungle, where Martial Beasts come to fight to the death by the jungle's strange effects, jumped at her at once.

CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!

With her massive paws and claws, she tore through them one by one. The mantis-like beasts had their armor broken and shattered, the multiheaded wolves had their heads tore apart, dinosaur-like beasts were asphyxiated by her strong arms wrapped around their necks, and the birds were kicked down and had their bones fractured by the fall.

It was complete chaos, but within this chaotic battle, I saw an intrinsic beauty and the Dao that shone the brightest within this wild fighter. Aiyana wasn't even fighting with her axe anymore, having left it behind to simply specialize on strengthening her physical body and combine her magic with martial arts.

And she had reached an incredible level by doing so!

"Hahh… Hahh…"

She gasped for air, standing over a pile of Martial Beasts and beginning to eat them while they were still warm, drinking their blood and eating their raw meat.

Just as I had instructed her, she was becoming progressively and massively more powerful, amazing.

"I-Is that Aiyana?!" asked Nicholas. "She fought Immortal Martial Beasts so easily…"

"Woow! She has grown so strong!" said Peperina. "And it has only been a week?!"

"Yeah," I smiled. "Let's go meet her."

We moved behind her, and as she suddenly became alert, making the sound of a groaning tiger as we approached her, her eyes had become wild and feral.

"Aiyana! How has it been? It has only been a week, but I see you've attained enlightenment… With the Dao of Beasts, perhaps?"

"ROOAAR!"

She roared at me, however, jumping towards me and opening her jaws like a wild beast.

"Aiyana, stop!"

"Wait a second!"

Nicholas and Peperina tried to stop her, but when she reached me, she didn't attack me or something; she just hugged me.

"Bing Xue! You're finally here!"

Aiyana, who had also grown huge, now taller than me, was happy to see me, despite having looked like a ferocious beast before.

"I see you recognized me… I knew eating Martial Beasts of the Immortal Grade would be tough, but I'm glad you've maintained your sanity, Aiyana."

"Of course! Haha, I felt scared at first, but… I've grown to like this wild life a bit… Hahh! Wait, I'm all covered in blood and guts—I'm so sorry!"

She jumped away from me, trying to clean the blood off my clothes.

"Don't worry about it," I patted her head. "I see you've been the whole week here though… Let's take a break, shall we? Did you have a strange dream?"

"I had one where I was like ten different types of animals!" she said. "Was that it?"

"Yes," I said. "That was most likely your Enlightenment in the Dao of Beasts. It seems you were indeed the most compatible with that one."

"Niceeee!" She said, wagging her big tail. "Did you guys get smaller? Bing Xue too?"

"No, I think you might have gotten larger…" Nicholas muttered. "D-Damn…"

"You sure took a growth spurt, Aiyana…" said Peperina. "Were you really just battling and eating the monsters in this jungle for a whole week straight?"

"Yes!" she nodded. "I was decided that I wanted to get strong, strong enough that not even Gods could trample over me… I didn't get the opportunity to get some spirit beast god inside of me like you girls… So I had to be more extreme with my training."

"A-Ah, I see…" muttered Peperina. "It's just incredible! You're very talented…"

"So only a week has been! It really felt like a month to me," sighed Aiyana. "Bing Xue, you said I can take a break now?"

"Yes, as much as you want to rest," I nodded. "I think we might move to another training regime soon. As long as I detect that hunting and eating in here won't make you any stronger."

"Ohh! Alright!" she nodded. "So where are we going?! Where to?!"

She had become every energetic, if not almost completely beastly.

But well, wasn't she quite similar before anyway?

I'm just glad the training worked!

"Now, let's go to the skies," I said. "John should be there… Then what's left are Yanisse, Francisco, and Jackes. I want to check on all three of them."

Making special, unique training regimes and cultivation techniques for my disciples and then seeing them improve was always a joy for me to see.