Digesting The Gains

Back at their current residence, they first took a relaxing bath, which Han Junqiao helped Li Shuying prepare. Rather than consisting of only hot water, this time, various powders had been sprinkled in, which made it smell nice and served to relieve tension.

After plenty of respite, Theodore returned to his regular cultivation spot to sift through his notifications, while the other three were taking stock of today's 'income'.

The vast majority of all Talents that he encountered were duplicates of unremarkable ones which he already possessed. While he could make use of them to raise their grades, doing so simply wasn't worth it at this moment–after all, he needed Attribute Points first and foremost. Therefore, all of them got converted into them instead, earning him an unprecedentedly hefty amount.

Occasionally, he came across an entirely new Talent, so–after making certain that it wouldn't burden him with negative effects–he added it to his ever-growing collection. In the future, this would allow him to quickly raise these Talents, should the need arise.

As for truly promising ones, there was only a single type of them: 'Long's Descendant', which all Imperial Han Family members were born with, at varying grades. The highest one that he found was merely Superior-grade. Usually, he wouldn't pay much attention to a Talent like this. However, due to its suspicious nature, rather than adding any of them to his collection, he chose to convert them all into Attribute Points instead. After all, it was possible that he might also somehow partially fall under the control of whoever had messed with Long all those eons ago if he obtained this Talent.

In the end, all that the tens of thousands of notifications boiled down to was a single number: 1,556,437. All of these were the Attribute Points which a sole county's capital city had allowed him to gain. They certainly looked impressive at first glance, but after putting them into perspective with regards to how powerful more advanced cultivation stages would allow one to be, they weren't much.

'At the very least, I'm a step or two closer to reaching enough Endurance. My best estimate is that I should be at around 400 billion to practically be guaranteed to succeed. That would be just a tiny bit more than what I had before the Heavenly Succession began.'

Not too distraught by the power which he had lost, he added all newly acquired Attribute Points to his Endurance, watching the number jump from 17,775 to 1,574,212. Compared to the emptiness and weakness that he had been constantly feeling ever since arriving here, a minuscule portion of this void was filled in, alleviating how miserable his subconscious judged his current physical condition to be.

'With that, my body should be invincible against regular Core Formation Stage cultivators, but a Named Family member at its very pinnacle can still threaten me. Alas, I'm presently incapable of damaging anyone who has made it to the last few realms of the Core Formation Stage, no matter how ordinary their origins might be.'

Closing his eyes and resuming his cultivation, he didn't need to bother with being careful any longer–at least for now–because his body's resilience had increased by almost two orders of magnitude. In less than an hour, his Body Refinement Stage advanced all the way to the 1,823rd realm, where he felt the Energy accumulated by his Energy Gathering Array to be insufficient to continue.

'If I hadn't taken away the Energy Veins, then I might have been able to carry on for a handful more realms, which isn't much. It's time to move.'

Joining the other three in their work now that he had nothing else to do, by the time that early evening rolled around, they had finally sorted through everything which they had acquired. Most of these unwieldy valuables would be left behind, just like the overwhelming majority of all coins. Only banknotes would be simpler to carry with them, but they took up nearly half of the 100 cubic metres of space that the Storage Ring provided them with.

Because Theodore had yet to step into the Energy Refinement Realm, Xie Mei and Han Junqiao were the sole ones who could access it. Therefore, it was decided that his lover was going to carry it with her at all times.

Many precious materials that could be used for Array Formation, Alchemy, medicinal baths and to support different kinds of cultivation Techniques were also found. Fortunately, there weren't too many of them, so they could all be brought along. The rest of the space which they had available was eventually filled with sets of clothing, kitchenware, bedding, travel equipment, weaponry and anything else that they might require–including food and drinks.

To acquire all of these, they had strolled through the stores in the city, buying from whoever hadn't closed for the day due to the slaughter which had just taken place. The regular civilians were still too disturbed by the grizzly scenes that they had encountered everywhere to properly make sense of what had happened, and Theodore's group would not explain anything to them either. Sooner or later, they would recognize the truth for themselves.

Even later in the evening, when it was time to go to bed, he inquired how far Xie Mei had progressed in her cultivation, to which she proudly proclaimed that she had just entered the Condensation Realm! If they hadn't been busy all day long, then the Dantian Transformation Realm would definitely have been in reach.

Plenty of praises later, the two of them got up to their usual nightly shenanigans, tormenting the rest of the household, who yet again had to experience a primarily sleepless night.

"It's time to move. Our next destination will be Jingshan Prefecture's capital, Jingshan City. That should be the closest place with a higher Energy concentration than here."

The next morning, when Theodore revealed their group's plans, nobody was surprised. Yesterday, they had already gathered everything necessary for the journeys to come, including plenty of maps which would allow them to navigate the unfamiliar terrain.

"You're correct, Master. Jingshan City is the nearest prefectural capital. Other than the provincial capitals and the one and only state capital in this world, Qinglong City, we will find the highest Energy concentration there."

Pretty well-read about the bigger picture when it came to this world's settlements, Han Junqiao approved of his decision. With them needing to progress in their cultivation, it was inevitable that they had to search out these places actively. Eventually, any and all Heaven's Chosen present here would congregate there, albeit at different speeds.

For now, the chances of running across them were relatively low, considering that there were hundreds of prefectures out there. Still, taking into account that in this small area, at least four Heaven's Chosen had appeared, nobody could guarantee that a few more weren't wandering around nearby.

"Fantastic! Then, for now, we'll behave like regular Energy Refinement Stage cultivators, just in case we run across any competitors or powerful beings of other origins. If nothing unexpected happens, then we'll be in Jingshan City in a week. I've already prepared a carriage for us. Ying'er, I'll teach you how to drive it when we set off."

Caught off-guard by the revelation, both Xie Mei and Li Shuying looked at him in shock. The two of them had thought that they would need to say goodbye today, as that had been the initial plan. However, it appeared like something had changed.

"Husband, when did you get a carriage? And more importantly, does that mean Ying'er can stay with us?!"

Holding the excited girl close, he rolled his eyes in an amused manner.

"When you were busy in the bathroom earlier, I teleported to the Inner City and got it from there. The horses were also brought along, and they're waiting for us on the street outside, still barely within the range of the Concealment Array. As for Ying'er... we would have to hire a coachman for appearance's sake anyway, so why not let her do it instead?"

Turning to face Han Junqiao, he showed a small smile.

"Due to Qiao'er joining us, we can now enter Imperial Han Family territory in a more high-profile manner by posing as her attendants. There is no need for us to proceed alone any longer, which is why Ying'er can stay, as she won't hold us back."

Not the least bit bothered at having her status as a potential burden pointed out so openly, Li Shuying bowed respectfully, tears shimmering in the corners of her eyes. To her, the past few days had been the most peaceful in far too many months. Nobody treated her horrendously, and she was even praised when she did well! Having started to cultivate too, there was hope for her future, however slim it might be.

"Thank you, truly! I will continue to faithfully serve you for the rest of my life!"

To Theodore, this had been a decision made out of convenience, which just so happened to help out Li Shuying. He did not care for her fate, but having a familiar face around was clearly better than getting strangers involved in his matters. But to this woman, the opportunity which he had bestowed upon her meant far more than she could put into words. Her gratitude was genuine.

"Alright, I'll hold you to it."

Inwardly, he couldn't help but somewhat lament the fact that Li Shuying did not have any worthwhile Talent whatsoever. No matter how much she strove to improve, she wouldn't make it far. Likely, the Core Formation Stage would be her absolute limit–and unless she somehow managed to evade the Imperial Han Family, reaching it would be nigh impossible on her lonesome.

'Even if I make her my Retainer, I cannot improve her cultivation aptitude. There are some ridiculously rare treasures in worlds with an Energy concentration millions of times higher than that of this one which could help her in this regard. However, she simply will not survive until the Heavenly Succession advances to the point where worlds like these will be our stage. So, although her devotion is admirable, she is fated to be a mere passer-by in this journey.'

Deciding that he should make this clear to Xie Mei and Han Junqiao in the future, he brought up another matter of importance.

"Qiao'er. When we arrive in Jingshan City, you will spend a few days gathering information about the Hans in the area. If too many of them are travelling outside, we'll have to wait for–or create–a more opportune moment to wipe them out all at once. Of course, I'll also be exploring the city myself, but you will be able to appear out in the open, which should be of benefit to us."

In response to his command, she gave a solemn nod.

"Understood, Master! I'm rather inexperienced when it comes to acting, but I will try my best!"

"That's good enough. I'm confident you'll do well. And even if you give up our game, all it will result in is that some of our enemies will get to live a little longer, so don't pressure yourself too much."

Turning to face Xie Mei, who was snuggling up to him, relishing in his presence without too much of a care in the world, he grinned slightly and poked her nose, successfully getting her full attention–along with a side of playful stink eye.

"As for you, after we've arrived in Jingshan City and bought a place to stay, you'll be spending all your time cultivating. Due to your late start, you still aren't qualified to take a more active role in my plans, for now. But don't worry, once you become powerful enough, I'll give you plenty of bothersome assignments!"

Freezing in an awkward manner, she couldn't help but gulp nervously. To be honest, there were a lot of things which she would much rather avoid doing–but of course, if she had to, she would not make a fuss.

"What kind of work are you talking about exactly, my love?"

In the mood to tease her some more, he gave a mysterious smile.

"You'll find out when the time is right."

Stunned at this response, she furrowed her brows.

"What do you mean by that?"

Staying silent, the corners of his mouth rising a little higher, he refused to elaborate and instead turned to the rest of the group.

"Get ready. We'll be boarding the carriage in ten minutes. Ying'er, follow me. I'll teach you some basics."

"Hey! Are you really going to ignore me?!"

Amidst playful banter, their travel interlude began.