* Savage Pink Plum Blossom : The Heroine from the Micro Bikini World * By Arne, January, 2025. Not Final. Dare you enter my magical realm? Prologue High Universe : Heavenly plane, Celestial Palace, Tower 108, 6000 Years Ago The Celestial Queen toppled wordlessly into the void, a star core lance piercing her chest, her cultivation rapidly dwindling. The breakthrough to the Empyrean realm had failed; a moment of vulnerability had been exploited. She hadn't seen her murderer. Whether it had been her lover, the Emperor himself, or just a maid didn't matter so much at the moment. Black and White Impermanence were already at her side. Meng Po's soup would soon wash her 30000 years of memories away. However, one did not live that long without learning a thing or two about cheating death. She entered her mind fortress and begun to compile and condense – to save what little could be saved. It took all of her remaining energy to form the spirit construct. It had to be stealthy and persistent if it were to escape and find her in the next life. Chapter 1 : Limited Confines Low Universe : Earth, New Xia, Hainan Island, 2052 CE Hu Mei's new hot pink micro bikini, though expertly crafted, had been a bit more micro than expected, leaving already immodestly sized triangles of pale skin exposed. In this era such a display got no more than a raised eyebrow though. Mini and Micro bikinis had existed before the discovery of spirit roots and Qi breathing in 2032, but more as niche beachwear without a true practical purpose. Presently Hu Mei sat in a parasol shaded beach chair, checking her PDA's work gallery. Seeing the new photos, she gave a thumbs up to a photographer in the middle of packing up his gear. Hu Mei worked as a top model for Triple-S Bikinis, one of the three largest companies in New Xia. This latest micro bikini design of theirs would theoretically increase Qi absorption by 0.12% compared to the standard micro model, this without sabotaging the functionality of the top and bottom. Though those gains were marginal, the beauty enhancing effects of Qi intake were well proven, so the adverts would somehow include the words "Peak Performance" and "Professional". Well, if hair care products could be professional, why not bikinis? If 18th century suits with top hats could be professional, why could not a tribal chieftain's fancy loincloths? It was a matter of cultural perspective. And some of the equatorial tribes really did have the last laugh. Triple-S Bikinis couldn't even put a dent in the markets of Hyper-Amazonia or United Namikush. Despite her good pay and the difficult market, one day she would like to start her own bikini brand. Something echoed inside her, telling her she belonged at the very top. Hu Mei tucked a bit of her glossy black bobcut in behind an ear as she watched the rather handsome photographer head towards the parking lot, flanked by two models. Hu Mei chuckled. They had rushed to help him carry bundles of tripods and light screens, but their approach vector was futile since the man was gay. That's why Hu Mei liked working with him – once the shoot was over he'd just leave. She certainly wasn't shy, but liked her quiet time alone with her books and collectible wrestling cards. She was the type who would just sit for hours and sort the cards rather than actually playing the game socially. She dropped the PDA into a cloth bag, ignoring the unopened card packs wanting to save the excitement for later, and instead fished up an edgeworn book in matted blue and gold. She had found it in a quaint little antique store run by a sage old man with the type of thin long beard and drooping eyebrows you'd see in a kung fu movie. He had patted her hand and insisted she was "fated" with the book, only charging her a token 5 yuan. The hours flew by as the contents of the book poured into her mind, each page hypnotising her to the point that she didn't even notice people coming to chat her up, or the blaring music from a nearby subpar speaker, nor the sun intruding and threatening to burn her feet. She hadn't even noticed that the book had been written in an alien language of strange luminescent glyphs. She finished the last page and looked up from the book. Huh? Where had the beach gone? She found herself standing in a small space, bare feet pressing into moist dark soil. It somehow felt very fertile. Hadn't she been sitting though? Where was the chair and her stuff? The space was only some ten meter square, and her brain couldn't process the nothingness beyond. The book was also gone but its revelations pressed on her mind, threatening to either flood it or evaporate. She did get to keep the bikini though and could feel its presence in a new and peculiar way. She instinctively extended her senses and a new world opened up to her. The soil had its own type of energy. She had it too, flowing in lines throughout her body, converging into a pea sized core. As for the bikini, it had become... an armour? No, that wasn't right – it worked more like a magical protective ring, bending harm around her. Was this how bikini armours worked in fantasy stories? She rubbed her temples in an effort to stabilise her mind, but just felt a growing pressure, until... Plop! The pressure was gone. And a beautiful butterfly had just come out of her forehead, with wings patterned in blue and gold like the cover of that missing book. –– "Hello", the butterfly said in a squeaky voice, "I'm a figment of your imagination, or rather, a spiritual construct." This speaking butterfly did not at all stabilise her mind. –– "Don't get worked up, I'm here to keep you safe!" –– "Safe... from what?", she asked hesitantly, picturing a scene with the small butterfly standing between her and hordes of otherworldly monsters. It made her feel even less steady and secure. –– "Hah, not anything like that. Just... safe from overwhelming amounts of alien knowledge threatening to turn you into a vegetable.", it chirped, apparently having seen the scene in her mind. –– "You have just absorbed an ancient celestial tome, and your feeble mortal mind wasn't quite built for it. If its secrets came to you all at once you would definitely, definitely turn into a vegetable. I'm here to relay its knowledge in a safe and controlled fashion. You can call me... uh, uh, Wen Wen? Tomey Tom? Lex Libris? Baby Bubu? Mini Mothra? Super Sage? Well, let's just go with Sage." Was her mind really safe with this thing? Sage then prattled on happily but she had trouble focusing. Apparently she now had something called a spiritual sense, and this earthy inner space. Thinking about it from a purely practical perspective, how could this help with her work? She took her job as a top talent bikini model very very seriously. Could she use this inner space as a closet? To be honest her bikinis didn't need much room. A parking garage then? A free apartment even? Maybe both? Or would the car exhaust then flow into her apartment? Could she even trust a worker to build a house here? Sage coughed and had to repeat the part where it went over her celestial rank body constitution. She had something called the Dragon Breathing Constitution, and there was a special cultivation method associated with it – she could cultivate background Qi both passively or actively, and even redirect it towards this inner space, nourishing it and anything growing inside. Hu Mei was already familiar with Qi breathing, but according to Sage Qi gathering normally had to be done actively and special constitutions were very rare. Cultivators on Earth were perhaps a bit different, because she had not heard of active Qi gathering outside of fantasy movies. In real life, meditation exercises had no proven effect in regards to Qi, though research in this field was still in its infancy. She felt a bit overwhelmed and raised a hand to quiet the butterfly. Maybe it was time to head home. Wasn't the parking meter ticking away? –– "What's outside this inner space? Am I still on Earth, or in a xianxia or fantasy type world?" Sage's antennas gave a shrug. It had no clue – it wasn't a geography or cosmology book. –– "Then... is it safe to exit this inner space?" –– "Actually, it might be best if you stay in here and actively cultivate for a bit to build up your strength. That said the energy in here will only replenish if your body is outside, so you can't just hole up indefinitely. The space works a bit like a battery." She sat crosslegged in the soil and followed Sage's instruction. Even though her mind was safe for now, she did actually feel like a vegetable where she sat planted, absorbing nourishment from the rich soil and air. Technically she didn't have to sit and focus, but it was apparently faster and more efficient, and she was curious about how active Qi gathering worked. She decided to stop after an hour or two – she was just testing the waters a bit, or soils, as it were. –– "Hey! Hey! Wake up!" Sage's fluttering jostled her out of the strange state she had been in. The soil around her had turned ashen grey. Huh? –– "It has been six months.", Sage filled her in. What? She had lost herself in a pleasant buzzing sensation, but it couldn't have been longer than six hours. She looked inward. Her core had grown to the size of a plum and was now slowly revolving, whatever that meant. The soil had almost no energy left. –– "Not bad, not bad...", Sage commented, one leg stroking its insectoid snout as if a beard. –– "You started at Qi gathering stage three and actually reached core formation stage three. You're probably the first Earthling to form a core. Very interesting. The core formation realm is where the real benefits-" –– "Dagnabbit! I bet my car has gotten towed or stolen long ago. My apartment! My gigs!" She was about to rush out of the inner space when Sage stopped her. –– "You're going out like that?", Sage nodded at her body. Right. Hu Mei dusted the dry soil off her butt, noticing that it somehow hadn't left a mark after 6 months. If anything, her skin looked smoother now. She adjusted the thin high waist straps of the micro bikini. The bottom could be eclipsed by a small tequila shot glass. The top fell more into mini category with a triangle design capable of a cupping lift. The dailywear expert group at Triple-S had truly managed to design something minimal yet pleasantly comfortable and functional. Professional even, she now agreed. Thinking about it, the straps were connected to the front pieces with fine titanium links, so maybe the bikini did technically qualify as an armour. Feeling ready to face the unknown, she slapped her cheeks and went into positive mode. Whatever awaited her, she'd try to have fun. Even if she had transmigrated to an alien xianxia world, perhaps she would... show up in the middle of a great beach party? And then she could shoot finger guns at everyone and blend right in as if nothing had happened. She stepped out with a confident sharp smile. She – was – a professional. Chapter 2 : Sprinkling Encounters Pallid sand sparkled in warm morning light. A group of skeletal crab-like creatures quietly scuttled into a mirror of water, sending out a dying ripples. In a crescent of blackened driftwood rested a supremely elegant man, his radiant outline lost in umbrage. He wore a richly embroidered layered robe, but it lacked colour and joy. His slender fingers lazily held a tiny bowl of smoking tea, but it was left untouched by his pale lips. He had the type of eyes which could penetrate a mountain, but now they seemed as still and lifeless as the lake, lost in unuttered melancholy. Framing his face was his straight black hair, two long strands falling from his temples, the rest going up in a top knot contained by a small silver crown, then flowing down his back. Behind him stood two stunningly beautiful maids waiting, one holding a platter with tea and biscuits; the other a silver cane, as if a treasure. A smile bloomed on their faces when he finally brought the tea up to his lips. It was a very poignant moment, completely ruined when he lightly turned and noticed the figure of Hu Mei standing there in her hot pink micro bikini, gawking. Remembering herself, she shot her finger guns. The man spat out the tea creating a spray of mist, then quickly turned around, his face actually gaining a faint touch of colour. The maids also took notice and gave startled cries. The one with the tea tray rushed to check up on her master and the other with the cane assumed a defensive posture, blocking Hu Mei's view of the man... or was it the man's view of Hu Mei? The maid's flustered face also seemed to gain a touch of red. –– "S-s-stay away, strange woman!" Huh? What was with this reaction? They were on the beach, so no need to scream and act all shy. Or had she just startled them by sort of sneaking up? That was probably it. She decided to approach them and look harmless. This must have made the maid even more nervous because she put down the cane and started to make a bunch of hand seals which culminated in a wind attack that took Hu Mei completely by surprise. Did she just cast a spell? The sand swirled but the wind simply bent around Hu Mei's body, gently swaying her bobcut. Was this the bikini aura at work? Well, she could tell when she wasn't welcome so she turned around to leave. She heard two gasps. Huh? Was it because of the T-back bikini? Had these people never visited a beach? Was she back in the 18th century? No, she wasn't on Earth anymore, judging by those weird crabs. How would she survive here? If it was a cultivation world, she'd need strength. Usually that meant finding sources of energy, weird herbs, and staying away from masters of sophistry eager to rob. As she walked off she extended her spiritual sense. This lake wasn't as dead as it seemed – there was a strong source of energy deep down. –– "It might be a bit dangerous to go after that right now.", a voice rebuked. She saw Sage fluttering at her shoulder. –– "Don't worry, no one can see or hear me. Think of me as an invisible personal assistant." Hu Mei halted and stroked her chin. This was a pretty nice beach, panicking people aside. Should she stick around and let the inner space replenish? She eyed a nearby forest. She might be able to forage for food there, but she wasn't at all hungry. –– "After reaching core formation cultivators no longer need to eat and can instead live of Qi when available. That said, you might be able to find valuable rare herbs in forests.", Sage clarified. Or in cities she thought, seeing a road sign marked "Bu City: 44 Ji, Zaruo: 890 Ji". Thankfully she somehow had a good grasp on the language here, and even understood that a Ji was about a quarter of a kilometre. What she didn't have was local currency... that could prove a huge obstacle. Hmm, how did people in novels usually solve this problem? They would sell something at an auction, right? But she absolutely couldn't sell her precious magical bikini, so what else? Herbs? –– "Herbs can also be grown...", Sage clued in. That's right, her inner space! –o– Intermission. Riri and Nunah watched the basically naked woman head into the Death Forest. Maybe she'd be okay. She hadn't been an assassin, but clearly wasn't a passerby mortal either. She had shrugged off the Wind Blast as if it was nothing. The two maids were both at Qi gathering stage eight – nearly Paragons – but hadn't even been able to sense the mysterious woman's cultivation. Who was she? No lady of noble character would run around naked, but one also couldn't reach core formation without some serious backing. Cultivation required time, a lot of spirit stones, monster cores, expensive herbs, as well as family connections with array masters, alchemists, jade scribes and armament crafters. Master Shigen had gathered his wit, but today was the first time the maids had seen him lose his stoic composure. –– "Master Shigen, should Riri run ahead and fetch doctor Meldwuran?" Shigen lightly shook his head and instead reached for his silver cane. The group quietly headed back towards Bu City on foot – long walks would do him good according to every doctor they had consulted. Lasting until the next sect council five months away was now the only thing which mattered. Revenge was the only thing that mattered. Everything else had already been taken from him. –o– Hu Mei entered a dense forest teeming with life. Here and there cragged mountains rose out of the greenery like steep bell curves, and she could see flocks of stealthy seagull-like bats silently nesting on the peaks. It didn't take long for Hu Mei to run into trouble. She was ambushed and had to wrestle a huge-ass green constrictor snake for two hours. Fortunately, due to her protective bikini, it was unable to get a grip on her. Prompted by two thumbs jammed into its eyes, it finally went down. Warm sprays of blood threatened to paint her like a Pollock in red, so she skipped back some distance, observing its death throws. Sage couldn't recognise the monster and suggested picking up a bestiary in a town. Sage could however identify some nearby herbs. It wasn't uncommon to see valuable herbs and monsters living in a sort of symbiosis. This one had been guarding "Sapphire Blades", though they looked more like the kind of wide grassy stuff she had in her aquarium. Thinking about it, she gave a silent prayer to her abandoned shrimp. She had planned to eat it later, but still. The 10 meter long snake clearly wasn't something she could carry around. Sure, she was strong enough now, but it was more a question of how to even hold it. Roll it up like a bun? Butcher it? No, she didn't have a knife, and it would get terribly messy. So she tossed the snake into her space along with a few of the herbs. It didn't seem to weigh her down. Not an hour later a big predator ostrich attacked her. She clumsily broke its neck using a wrestling move which took six attempts to get right. –– "Wow, that's the second worst fight I have ever seen. The worst was Hu Mei against the snake." –– "What's with this lousy commentary track? Aren't these also the only two fights you've ever seen? And are your techniques any better? Put up or shut up.", she retorted, picking a feather out of her ruffled hair. Sage grew silent, choosing the shut up route. It really wasn't a martial technique book. The bird hadn't been guarding anything and was either a predator or a jerk. Hu Mei threw the bird into her space. Then she noticed something odd – the snake was gone, but a patch of the ashen soil had recovered, taking on a darker tone. Seeing this she took a minute to actually plant the wilting sapphire blades in the spot. She didn't know what the Qi capacity of her inner space was, but it would be quite the task to recharge it now. It had lasted her 6 Earth months after all. She felt oddly at home in the wild forest. As an Orphan she had never known her parents but according to a fancy genetic test she was a quarter South American, likely Waiapi. This gave her an exotic appearance which had helped her career. Even though it was nonsense, she now felt that her Amazonian tribes blood helped her here as well. Her combat technique improved each day, though she mostly relied on brute strength and the protection of the bikini. She fought all manner of creatures and Sage still quietly ranked her performance. Aside from the occasional monster nuisance, she often came across remains of old weapons, useless and bent, swallowed by trees, dirt and rust. And then there were the incomplete human skeletons. She never saw a living soul. Was the forest really that dangerous though? Perhaps it had once been the site of a big battle, she thought. Daylight here dragged for thirty eight hours, and the slow crawl of unfamiliar stars only ten. The planet spun quite slow indeed. There were actually nine distant suns – a cluster of four yellow ones cloaked in luminous mist, and a string of up to five in red, probably going in a wider orbit, but one inside that of the planet. She wondered how such a system could remain stable, but quickly gave up trying to analyse it remembering that she now had a magical bikini. During the nights she hid in a mountainside cave as per Sage's suggestion. The surrounding minerals were rich in Qi. The cave's previous tenant had been a fierce blue pangolin-like dinosaur that smelled of iron. It was completely covered by very sharp scales which managed to give her a nasty cut on a foot. She hadn't been able to defeat it, instead opting to kick it down a steep slope. It had rolled down like a wrecking ball, smashing trees and vegetation. The cut had healed within half a day, and the scar was gone in the morning. She didn't actually need to sleep, so she alternated between actively gathering Qi for her core and inner space. Her plan to structure the emerging garden was abandoned at some point, and she began to sprinkle the plants along the edges of her space willy nilly, not following Sage's classification system. Chapter 3 : A Series of Strange Men As a core formation cultivator she could now move so fast it was hard to test her limits in an area of dense vegetation, so she explored the region until she came across a clearing in an open valley some 40 km from her cave. Unexpectedly, the valley was currently occupied – a group of some 20 soldiers were embroiled fighting one of those green constrictor snakes, so she stayed hidden in the treeline and watched. With her improved eyesight and senses she could tell even from half a kilometre away that all of the soldiers were pretty weak, except for one who did a good job coordinating the fight. Just as the fight got interesting, there was a series of loud booms far off behind her. Startled, she turned and scanned the surroundings looking for a source, but with the screen of tall trees she couldn't see anything. However, not ten seconds later she felt the rumblings of a quake. Ahead, the sudden sound and tremor had caused the fight to go wrong. When one of the soldiers fled in her general direction, the leader swore but failed to disentangle from the fight. The soldiers wore quite elegant silver chest plates and fluttering robes. Five seemed to be women. The fleeing soldier looked a little chubby and wore a golden chest plate. A cowardly sergeant? Hu Mei had been a bit too focused on observing the spectacle from her hiding spot in the tree line, because a huge arm appeared out of nowhere and managed to strike her side, sending her body crashing through a rotten old tree, felling the leafless trunk. After regaining her bearings she saw what she was facing – it was a four meter tall gorilla with the face of a horse. Its fur shifted like that of a chameleon – no wonder it had managed to sneak up on her. It was even masking its spiritual signature, so she couldn't tell how strong it was. When it rushed her she clobbered it with the trunk of the tree, but the rotten wood just splintered into dust. The ape creature raised one of its huge fists, threatening to smash her into the ground, and she got so distracted by the fact that it had little hooves as feet that she only just managed to roll to the side. It continued to flail at her relentlessly while making unsettling not-quite-horsey noises. When an opening presented itself, she smashed it between the eyes with a large boulder. Unfortunately, mere moments after it fell with a thud, an even bigger annoyance arrived. It was the little chubby guy. Unexpectedly he didn't stare at her, but the downed monster. His eyes were gleaming. Then he drew a curved sword and stabbed it a few times. Then he put his foot on it and waited. Uh-oh. She knew what this was. It was the kill stealing obnoxious antagonist, wasn't it? Dagnabbit! The thickets rustled and soon a group of exhausted soldiers emerged, though probably more winded from their fight than the run up here. A few looked wounded. They were lead by a bald tough looking man. –– "Hah, it looks like my sister will have to eat her words after this hunt is over, Captain Ledhorn! Look at what I brought down – a Fiffodonk!" Hu Mei rolled her eyes at both the claim and the name. –– "Not only that, I also found this barbarian wild woman.", he gestured, " Surely she'd make a fine consort for eldest brother?" Oh, so he had noticed her. –– "That is... excellent work prince Gobbo. When you... suddenly took off we weren't quite sure what you were up to.", Ledhorn said, clearly knowing what the prince had been up to. Ledhorn even shot Hu Mei an apologetic look which shifted into wariness, then confusion. Some of the soldiers pretended to fan out to "secure the perimeters" and she could see a female soldier twisting the head of a man away. As for the pampered prince... Hu Mei knew that if she said anything in rebuke then he'd become even more shameless, so she quickly moved up and sent her shin into his side. The light kick sent him whirling through the vegetation and she could hear limbs snap. Uh-oh. Time to leave. She put the monster into her space and scurried off before anyone had time to react. –– "50 yuan his eldest brother will annoy you next for revenge.", Sage chirped in her ear. She didn't bite. –o– Upon returning she found her mountain cave destroyed. In fact, the entire mountain top had been obliterated, as if a passing deity had smashed it with a mace. Seeing the rubble strewn across the slope and into the surrounding forest, she was glad that she had the inner space for storage and hadn't actually lost anything. And that she hadn't been in the cave herself at the time of course. Ousted and a little glum, she spent half a day scouting for a new apartment. Fortunately mountains were easy to spot. She had to throw out another tenant. It was a blue pangolin again. Could it have been the same one? She spent a few days without incident. The most exciting thing she came across was a really nicely shaped boulder that she lugged all the way back up to her new cave. It was warm and made for a nice cultivation seat. Eventually she got bored and went to revisit the deathly beach. The strange but handsome melancholy man was back, looking even more sickly and the two maids even more worried. Hu Mei hid in the thickets quite some distance away and listened in, but no words were spoken and she lost interest. She didn't want to bother the shy trio this time. On the way back to her new cave she took a significant scenic detour, remembering a charming herb grove she hadn't ravaged yet. She instead encountered toppled trees surrounding a massive deep crater. More destruction? Was this what she had heard a few days ago? There was something glinting at the bottom, but when she climbed down she only found a few pieces of metal and burnt flesh. The charred rock was still warm under her bare feet. Had a meteor hit some poor beast here? Upon exploring the surrounding area she came across a beautiful hidden natural ravine. Ruining the scene was a fresh human corpse in black robes laying at the bottom. A ghastly looking sword stuck out its back. Backstabbed, huh? She pulled out the sword so she could flip the body over. What was revealed quite surprised her – the dead man was actually some kind of demon, if the two horns on his forehead were anything to go by. Despite being dead, his face still had a dangerous aura. It also seemed vaguely familiar, but where could she have seen a demon man before? When she used her spiritual sense on him, his eyes shot open, revealing a pair of deep red pupils. She jumped back, but the not-so-dead man remained still in his corpse pose, just creepily looking at her, a bit of black blood gurgling out his mouth. Well alright then. She squatted near him, balancing her chin on the sword pommel, pondering. It wasn't like she could call an ambulance. Nor was she a doctor... or was she? –– "Hey, Sage, do you know anything about healing... stuff? It's a thing, right?" –– "Ah, that's right, we haven't gotten to pill making have we? You can't do it without a proper cauldron though. I know 108 pill recipes, but most of these pills would only be useful to cultivators with regular body constitutions, or ones with obscure ailments. That's why I haven't mentioned it." –– "Can't I just feed him some grass or something?" –– "I'm afraid not even a good quality healing pill would help this fellow. He would need something a bit more potent – he's been poisoned by that cursed death sword you're holding." Hu Mei tossed the sword away with a look of disdain. Icky! Sage fluttered about the still body. –– "Hmm, Hmm, this is what happens when you go to dangerous places without a good magical speedo I suppose." Hu Mei drew circles in her palm. –– "It is a little strange, isn't it? Every person I've seen so far has been fully robed up, as if in an expensive fantasy drama. It doesn't seem that realistic, seeing it now in real life. It's the middle of the summer and this weirdo even opted for all black. Could it be that the robes have built in air conditioning?" Hu Mei nudged the body with her foot. No response. –– "He's dead, Jim.", Sage quipped. Hu Mei stood up, hands on hips, frowning. –– "Toss him into the space?" –– "Toss him into the space.", Sage agreed. She moved on, further exploring the forest, but she had pretty much cleaned out the area around her cave and found nothing of interest, so she went in to cultivate. A few hours later she felt that something was wrong with her inner space. When she looked inside she fell off her favourite cultivation rock. The demon man was sitting inside brewing tea. –– "That's not a tea pot,", Sage clarified, "...that's a cauldron." –– "What a little leech – he's stealing my Qi and raiding my herb garden." –– "Well, you were trying to use him as fertiliser... and weren't you prepared to help him earlier anyways?" She harrumphed and frowned The guy didn't even turn to look when she entered. It smelled very strange inside. The revived demon man seemed to have used up about a third of the herbs and other mystery plants she had so painstakingly gathered. Fortunately there was at least one left of each, except for the baby-shaped ginseng thing which she only had one of. The thousand year old root vegetable had been guarded by a rather troublesome spider-deer, but now the ginseng baby was stew, or whatever he was making. –– "I will compensate you later.", he said matter-of-factly in a domineering voice while remaining hyper focused on the cauldron in front of him. Just then the cauldron began to rattle and the lid almost popped off. It was floating in the air, trapped in a ball of ethereal fire which he struggled to hold in place with a pair of perfect masculine hands. She waited. Poof! The man's eyebrow rose as he opened the cauldron, and he looked a little pleased before quickly hiding the emotion. Might not be the type to smile often. When she tried to gauge his strength with her spiritual sense, she drew a blank. Was his cultivation higher than hers, or was he just good at hiding it? Her probing made one of his demonic pupils momentarily turn in her direction while the other remained fixed on the content of the cauldron. Creepy. He gently plucked out a marble-like pill. It was very fragrant – but not at all in a foody kind of way. Unconcerned, he immediately ate it. –– "That was a grade six poison clearing pill.", Sage informed her. You better toss him out before he makes a mess. She followed the butterfly's advice, but kept the cauldron. It would be her payment. The expelled man looked a bit surprised suddenly finding himself in a cave, but he just shot her a questioning glance, then started to disrobe. Huh? Was he going to show her his mankini? That they weren't all fancy robe fanatics around here? He had the body of a god, marred only by the scar caused by the cursed sword. Down to just a medieval loincloth, he sat down. Then he got up again, carried his robes out of the cave and sat down further down the rocky slope. His body started to ooze black stuff and smell really bad, even from a distance. –– "He's now expelling the poison and other impurities.", Sage clued in. Hu Mei wrinkled her nose and sat on her favourite rock, gathering Qi into her inner space to undo the unexpected drain. It had been at some 25% capacity, but now it was down to less than 15. How had he used up so much so fast? The cauldron better be worth it. Two hours later the man had evidently washed up as he now stood waiting outside her cave, looking like he was about to speak. She didn't get up from her rock and just shot him a troubled questioning look, bunching her eyebrows up. For some reason he just closed his mouth again. Was he going to ask for his cauldron back? Not happening. His mouth twitched a bit awkwardly, then he sighed, tapped his foot on the ground, kicking up dust as he flew off. Flew off! That was so neat. Huh- was he some kind of big shot? No, he was probably just a weirdo. He didn't even leave a name or title behind. –o– Intermission. A black robed man strode confidently through gothic hallways with gargoyles on eternal watch. Step. Step. Step. He passed by the abased and stunned gazes of demon maids and demon soldiers who fell on their knees. Step. Step. Step. The guardian beasts stationed outside two enormous ornate copper doors withdrew quivering. The ancient door hinges shrieked as he pushed the doors open and entered a grand throne room. The crowd inside repelled to the sides, following the arc of the parting doors, leaving a figure lazing on the throne ahead isolated, frozen in shock. Step. Step. Step. The figure quickly stood up as if the throne was red hot. –– "D-Demon Lord Augeroth, you're- you're back! H-how was your trip to the third continent?" –– "Interesting." The room visibly chilled at his barbed reply. Just interesting? Really? The Demon Lord's final step crossed a distance of 20 meters instantly. The figure's head fell off, rolling down into the center of the hall as the black robed man got seated, scanning the parted crowd. –– "Well? Who will be first to speak?" –o– She had lost track of time again, and a dozen of the long days passed in secluded cultivation. Emerging from the cave she saw that the stars were out, twinkling behind a thin layer of clouds. Would she ever lose herself and spend years – or even decades – just sitting in some cave? Then what? Wasn't there always a bigger fish anyways? She was now at core formation stage five and the inner space had recovered to about 33%. The 10 by 10 meter plantation looked like a disorderly but thriving herbal garden. She was running out of space so it was time to explore this world, visit a town and unload some merchandise. Unfortunately she hadn't been able to bring the special soil outside to expand the garden – the soil was part of the space and not truly material. It also wasn't deep enough for her to layer up into a shelf garden. –– "There's a strong likelihood that the inner space will expand once you break past Core formation stage nine and reach Golden Core stage one." –– "Nice!" –– "Clarification... If you reach Golden core – you'll probably die in the heavenly tribulation, which is basically a dozen or so deadly lightning strikes. And you might also go insane or fry your core trying to break through to the new core realm." –– "Dagnabbit!" –– "...but if you do survive you'll also be able to fly!" –– "Okay, now I'm on board – how do I not die?" Hold up. She realised that the taciturn black robed man was able to fly. Did this mean he had a higher cultivation than her? Maybe she shouldn't have snatched his cauldron like that. She recalled that he had looked a little annoyed. –– "There are a few resistance pills you could make now when you have a cauldron. Well, for the good one you'd need to find Storm Tongue, Earth Tendril, and Thunder Cores. And you'll also need a lot of practice I suppose." Sage's remark unwittingly prompted her to spend seven long days trying to make random pills in the appropriated cauldron. Unfortunately the thing looked a bit like something a creepy hobo would use to collect money in, with little skulls inset along the rim – and it smelled funny. Wasn't it like using someone's old coffee mug? She would have to buy a proper cauldron eventually. Still, when she inspected it with her spiritual sense she could tell it had a special field effect similar to that of her bikini, but for keeping things in rather then making them flow around. The pill making process was both simple and complicated, just like cooking – sometimes one could just throw the ingredients in and heat them, but tricky dishes required precise measures, timings, and temperatures. Alchemy cauldrons had to be heated by a spiritual flame, a type of Qi field projection. Fortunately, while Sage couldn't impart any combat techniques, it did know alchemy. Projecting this flame took both focus and energy, and was exhausting in the long run. Hu Mei could work continuously by using recovery pills similar to batteries, but that felt like it would be a zero sum game. Technically it wasn't though – the pill potency mostly came from the herbs and not her fiery coaxing. Practically, recovery pills and Qi focusing pill worked poorly with her particular body constitution. Normally pills would evaporate if left unbottled, but she discovered that if she placed them on a rock in her inner space the soil wouldn't eat them and they the space would keep them fresh. On a related note, monsters contained monster cores and materials which could very likely be sold or be used in pill making if she got some new recipes. So far she had just let her inner space absorb it all, which did made sense at the time. Now that she had cleared out some herbs making pills she would be able to fit a big stone slab and a monster into her space. As for how to butcher one, she didn't have a knife and hadn't kept that sword – besides, it was cursed. Looking at her pills now, the results were so-so. Many of Sage's recipes and alchemy techniques were indeed well out of her reach. That demon man had made a grade six pill; She had made, well, many little burnt things. A few looked alright though – not grade six for sure, but perhaps sellable in a town. She hadn't seen any villages anywhere near, but she remembered the road sign pointing to Bu City... –o– Intermission. The procession of nine wagons had come to a halt. The caravan head shrunk back in his coach seat behind the tensioned mega goats. Blocking the road ahead stood three infamous villains in blood red robes – the Crooked Claws. They had emerged like ambush crabs from concealed trap doors, and now stood frozen in their trademark group pose, making little claws with their hands. As embarrassing as it looked, rumour had it they were cannibals. The mercenary escort of ordinary burly men fled – not because they were outnumbered, but because they were outmatched. Done with their introduction, the Crooked Claws got to work. –– "Everyone out!", they yelled, going from wagon to wagon. The caravan was carrying both people and trade goods towards Bu City. Now it looked like it was instead destined for some bandit cave. The bandits threatened anyone who dared to hesitate with a powerful claw hand gesture. Just as they had gotten everyone lined up, something streaked by, literally – it was a naked running woman. No- wait, she was wearing... something pink and exotic. She had skidded to a halt ahead and now came walking back, looking concerned. She was stunningly beautiful, like an alluring goddess statue come to life. The Crooked Claws had just put their claws up on display when they suddenly fainted. The woman nodded as if confirming something to herself. The three bandits were then hurled back into their trapdoor pits – swoosh, swoosh, swoosh – then sealed in with large boulders. How strong was this woman? Was she an immortal? As suddenly as the fairy had arrived, she was gone, leaving only confusion in her wake. Chapter 4 : Bu City Business She was indeed fast on open terrain. There wouldn't even be a need for cars if people had a body like hers, with a built in trunk and all. But those poor people back there had travelled by horse and cart. Only one of them had any Qi, and it was only at stage one. That was a little strange since Qi was so abundant in this world. According to Sage their low cultivation was partly a consequence of social and cultural factors. Active cultivation took time, knowledge and resources – all in short supply to lower classes. Tragically people were typically also born without a spiritual root and could not gather Qi, develop meridians or a dantian core. Sage had also disclosed an interesting new ability during the encounter. Rather than just clobbering troublemakers, like that prince, she could instead unleash her cultivation aura pressure. Since those bandits had only been at Qi gathering stage two, the differential was more than a full realm, causing them to collapse. Right now she was pondering whether to use the ability or not on a squad of city guards barring entry into Bu City. While they were just doing their job, they also weren't – since when was it anyone's business what she was wearing? In the end she just jumped onto the ten meter tall city wall, startling the meddlesome guards, and giving her a great view of the settlement sprawling kilometres ahead. Much of it looked like a Chinese fantasy city, with blackened wood shacks, middle class houses doubling as stores, noble establishments in red sandal wood, mansions with four-way court yards, and recreation parks dotted with pavilions. A few three to five floor pagodas rose above the rest fighting for dominance. On the busy streets, stacked rice paper lamps adorned with characters doubled as advertisement pillars and probably looked nice when lit at night. Bit of a fire hazard with all that wood around though, she thought. Most of the stone in the area had seemingly been used along the city perimeter – Bu City was almost entirely walled in, and laid nestled like a half moon along a vast body of water. There were a few lakeside properties and food stalls outside of the wall. It would have made for a nice classic Californian beach vista if it actually had rollerskating bikini chicks, cool surfer dudes and all that jazz, but it fell tragically short. Instead she was presented with fishermen in rice hats coming in with their long boats to hang up nets. Urns of all sizes laid scattered on the beach, mixing with the robed couples walking about as if discussing philosophy. The closest thing to a sunbathing person in view was a crazy old man wearing only a ragged loincloth, but he sat huddled in a toppled urn, like some hermit crab, quite busy arguing with two men in white brocade robes. Seeing the massive wall, the fortified entries and exits, and the sturdy urns, she reckoned that sea monsters and raiders were a threat to the city. If that was the case it indeed made sense to not laze about completely unprotected on a beach. They probably didn't know how to enchant bikinis. She hummed and nodded at her deductions, then dropped down into a city street. She caused a stir wherever she went. Could people sense her cultivation and got spooked? They shouldn't be able to if theirs was lower. After expanding her spiritual sense she found that only a handful of people had Qi, and they were all below stage four. Those people wore fancier robes and might be rich nobles. Everyone else wore simpler muslins, brocade robes and other forms of cloth wraps. Not a bikini in sight. Weren't these people hot? It didn't take long before some of the city orderlies appeared, threatening to bother her, but she just jumped over to a parallel street. When the crowd parted she spotted three familiar figures meeting up ahead. –– "I'm sorry Master Shigen. Still no Blue Wart in any of the stores. And the city alchemist is still in seclusion. Are you sure you don't want to try the capital? Please Master Shigen – you are dying." Their gaunt master had lost most of his handsome looks, and just about managed to raise a hand in a haggard gesture. –– "I am fated with this city. I can feel it in my bones." The two elegant maids fell back obediently, looking distraught and teary eyed. Hu Mei thought for a while. Blue Wart? She had a bit of that in stock didn't she? –– "Hey!", she yelled waving, catching the eyes of her three potential customers. After seeing her, they gave her their back view and started walking faster. Had they misunderstood? –– "Hey!" She followed them. The sickly man couldn't compete with Hu Mei's speed, so she caught up. The two maids blocked her. –– "Back off, strange woman!" By this point the street had completely cleared out, a bit like in a western shootout scene. Hu Mei squinted at them. –– "You want the Blue Wart or not?" –– "Don't mess around with us, strange woman!" –– "Wait.", their master interjected, something coming alight in his eyes. –– "You really have it?" –– "Hah!", she took one out from her space and waved it back and forth, "How much is it worth?" The man's eyes widened, then began to sparkle. He put on his most amicable smile and gestured arbitrarily towards a street side building. –– "Let's negotiate. I am Shigen, by the way. Just Shigen.", he clarified, giving her a strained bow with clasped hands. Hu Mei gave her name in return. When they entered the moderate dining establishment, the maids sent all of the guests out with a single glance. Hotshot maids huh? The waiters cleaned off all of the tables in less than a minute and disappeared as well. The group got seated around what was probably the VIP table. –– "Miss Hu Mei... how did you find it? It is... very rare.", he said, looking a bit off to the side. She crossed her legs and thought back. Ah, that's right, she remembered now. –– "It was uh- some 40 Ji from the still lake, guarded by a couple of small green tree-giraffes. Had to clobber them." He raised a questioning eyebrow. –– "...Longnecked green four-legged things. Live in trees. Very aggressive. They made a sound like... Wueee Wueeeee.", she clarified. One of the maids slammed her fist into her palm. –– "Gerkodeks? You really fought a group of gerkodeks?" Shigen looked enlightened. –- "So the Blue Wart grows in trees? No wonder so few have been found! People really ought to share these things. Anyways, its market price is 1000 spirit stones. To me it's worth more though. Someone has been... blocking me, buying up anything on the local markets." Hu Mei leaned in conspiratorially. –– "Is this a... poison plot? It is, isn't it? The mysterious sickness strikes! Your enemies feign ignorance!" He gave a sad smile as he studied the table surface. At this Sage appeared, fluttering at Hu Mei's shoulder. –– "Blue Wart is used to treat Qi corrosion. The underlying reason for Qi corrosion is the hard to diagnose Black Thorn poisoning. He will need pills to treat both.", Sage prescribed. Hu Mei parroted Sage's words to Shigen, who briefly looked up at her, first startled, then sullen. –– "So the bastards used Black Thorn." She decided to be generous to the suffering man. –– "Anyways, a thousand each for the pills. You'll need one for the corrosion, one for the cause, and, hmm, a reconstitution pill for physical recovery? That would be three grand. Unless you want anything else that is." He raised a trembling hand and actually looked directly into her eyes. –– "Pills? You've got pills? Not the herbs, but the actual pills?" –– "Well, no, I'd have to make them – except for the reconstitution one which I've already made, if you'll take my crummy one." The maids were covering their mouths. Not only did she have the herbs, but she was also an alchemist? And reconstitution pills were basically national treasures, and rare even in sects. –– "Hah, don't get excited, I'm just a beginner. I can only make garbage." She took out her best reconstitution pill and placed it on the table. It was only grade three, but had a few cool lines on it. –– "Aaah! This is a King rank pill! And it has marbling!", one of the maids yelled, and her master had to hush her. Hu Mei put it back into her space and looked thoughtful. Huh? Wasn't it only a grade three pill? –– "What... are the ranks again?", she queried. Seeing her master stunned, one of the maids responded. –– "Acolyte rank, Master rank, King rank, God rank." –– "And above that?" –– "What do you mean... above that?" Huh? Why did their scale stop at four? The dark robed man had clearly made a grade six pill, but it would likely just confuse these people further if she mentioned it, so she entered her space directly to get started on the pills. When she disappeared from her seat and immediately reappeared again to ask for pill bottles in jade she did cause a bit of confusion though. She got a dozen empty ones in varied designs, each about the size of a Tamiya hobby paint pot. Her clients had calmed down three hours later when she re-emerged with the three bottled pills and thonked them on the table, looking a bit exhausted. –– "Sorry, I was only able to make a grade two for the poison clearing pill – a dude stole my ginseng baby a while back so I had to substitute ingredients. Oh, you'll need to take the pills in the proper order, mind." The maids both gave 90-degree bows while the sickly man eagerly paid up, presenting a big bag which felt like it was just filled with gravel. He then took the poison clearing pill on the spot. Uh-oh, he was going to make a mess. He didn't seem to care about his fancy robes or the place, unlike that demon man. Hu Mei snatched up the bag, tossed it into her space and backed off, wanting to leave. However, when she got to the door she was blocked by a kowtowing old man, forehead pressed against the street dirt. She tried to walk around but he just spun with her like a compass. –– "Yes?", she asked hesitantly. –– "Take this disciple, master!" She squinted at the crazy old fart. Master of what exactly? Who was this guy? –– "Pill King, please accept this humble disciple!" Hold on, could this be the city alchemist the maid had mentioned? The one who was in "seclusion", probably just avoiding Shigen? Someone must have overheard their conversation earlier and gossiped. Maybe it was best if she disappeared in the masses, but that was difficult given her current attire, which unfortunately stood out. She walked back in and managed to convince the maid to hand her Shigen's embroidered grey outer cloak before it got ruined. Shigen was already zoning out. The robe could either hang over the back, or go around the entire body, clipping together at the front. As soon as she put it on she noticed that her passive Qi intake was reduced by half, and the bikini defence seemed to suffer a similar penalty. That wasn't good – she'd have to be careful. With a rice hat she'd look pretty cool though. While getting ready, she saw one of the maids buying the entire diner building from the cowering owner who had crawled out of the woodworks. For some reason the maid paid in silver coins rather than spirit stones. Huh? Did this mean her spirit stones would be useless in the city? Had she gotten scammed? She hoped not. Rather than using the main exit and spoiling her disguise, she alighted a set of narrow stairs leading up to an unused attic, then recklessly defenestrated onto rattling roof tiles, nearly loosing her footing. She broke quite a few making her way across a series of rooftops. In wuxia movies the heroes would elegantly float and skip when doing this sort of thing, but for now at least she was just a meaty strong human stomping and barreling forth, so it wasn't a particularly subtle decampment. She dropped down in front of a backstreet smithy and quickly entered. It would be nice if they had any butchering tools. She had caught a medium sized sort of centipede crocodile before leaving the forest, and kept it rolled up on a stone slab in her space. If she couldn't butcher it, maybe she could at least sell it to a collector. Ding! Ding! Hammer blows rang out. In a fantasy game, a smithy would only sell weapons. Here the tables and walls were littered by utility goods, like hinges, nails, brackets, lock bars, and the sort of things she could probably only identify when seeing them mounted in context. A few simple knives, chisels and hammers had been put up for sale though. The place was layered in smells. Smoke, sweat, and... popcorn? That must be the quenching oil being used. –– "One moment. Busy." The voice came from a wide backed sooty muscular woman with black hair wrestled up into a messy pigtail. Ding! Ding! She indeed looked busy, so Hu Mei browsed the wares hanging on the walls while waiting and eventually found a sturdy carving knife. None of the products had any special powers imbued in them though. Maybe that was rare? –– "150 silver.", the smith said, having snuck up right behind Hu Mei at some point. Silver? Dagnabbit! She'd have to try paying with a few spirit stones so she looked in her space. Oh-no... the bag with 3000 spirit stones had deflated – her inner space had absorbed them. She was poor again. On the bright side, her inner space was now two thirds recharged. On the not so bright side, she now looked like a dumb arse where she stood awkwardly holding the knife. Then she thought of something. A four meter long centipede crocodile corpse dropped onto the workshop floor with a heavy thud. –– "Do you accept a trade? How much is this worth?" The sudden appearance of the monster caused the woman to jump back and give a startled "Hoo!". –– "Where that come from?", she asked wearily, eyeing Hu Mei up and down, "You an immortal or something?" A what now? Did people here consider anyone with a storage space an immortal? Thinking about it, cultivators in stories often used storage rings. Shigen had wore a ring, and he had produced that hefty bag of spirit stones. To a regular person who only ever heard stories about cultivators, it might seem like they have the ability to make things appear and disappear. She kept silent. –– "Iron Rewlet.", the smith said approaching it with gleaming eyes, "Dead... right?" Hu Mei nodded. The smith prodded it with an iron poker. It indeed gave off a metallic sound. –– "For this... you could have anything in the shop. Heck, even the whole shop." Hu Mei didn't need a shop, just a bit of cash and was about to suggest as much when the smith gave an offer. –– "Or... I could try making something. From the iron shell, I mean. Superior iron. Might take a day or two tho, who knows? Need someone from the hunter guild to process the corpse proper. Everything needs to be taken care of... shell, blood, meat, organs, teeth, core." Huh? So the knife wouldn't be useful for butchering then? Then it likely wouldn't be useful in a fight either. She put it back in its place on the display wall. –– "Tell you what. How about you help me process this thing, then I'll take half of the proceeds. In silver." –– "Haah? You sure? Shake on it?", the smith asked, putting forth a rugged black hand. She violently slapped it into Hu Mei's – a sooty imprint to seal the deal. Chapter 5 : Inquisitorial Interference Hu Mei decided to lazily explore the city while the smith took care of her business. The borrowed fancy grey robe didn't match with the hot pink bikini hidden underneath – the principle of it was bothersome. A few people seemed to have taken notice of her, but she ignored them. Most of the pedestrians were focused on watching a small shack on an open plot of land burn down. There was a fire fighting team on the scene, but they were instead shout fighting an upset man. Strange. A cultivator might be able to put out the fire using some fancy technique, but Hu Mei only knew how to make clumsy kicks and choke holds. The shack was already beyond saving anyways so she moved on. A few streets down she walked by a little shop selling pots and pans. However, their cauldrons on display didn't have any special properties and were just regular cookware. As she stood there pondering whether to enter the store or not she heard a voice. –– "Pill King, please accept this humble disciple's cauldron." The old man laid prostrated in the dirt behind her, raising his cauldron up. Huh? He had tracked her down? And wouldn't she be a Pill Queen if anything? A small crowd had begun to gather, but the old man must not have cared about losing face. He did have a bit of cultivation, but no more than Qi gathering stage 6. His cauldron with a pair of golden dragons wrapping around it certainly appeared fancy though. It looked much better than the one she confiscated from the demon man, but only on the surface. Extending an arm out of her cloak, she took the offered cauldron and inspected it. Was it really worse than the one she had? Why not test it with some Sapphire Grass from her space? While the weed could only be used to make Qi focusing pills that didn't go well with her body constitution, the recipe was very simple and she had plenty of the grass. Under the old man's fanatic gaze, she floated and heated up the cauldron with the spiritual flame emitted from her extended hand, drawing a murmur from the crowd. –– "It's the legendary Sky Hand Furnace technique!", the old man yelled, almost losing it. The what now? It was just that this recipe didn't have a lot of shaking happening so she could easily hold the cauldron with one hand. She took out the Sapphire Grass and let it sink through her flame and into the pot. It was a little trick called pre-tempering. –– "Aah! What was that technique just now? And was that Sapphire Grass? Premium grade Sapphire Grass?" After about three minutes sealed in the cauldron, she could feel that something was wrong. The old man's cauldron would crack if she kept it up, so she stopped even though the pill wasn't quite as well refined as it should be. Indeed, upon opening up the cauldron, she noticed that she had only made a grade two pill, though it did have some subtle marbling, which was apparently a good thing. –– "I'm sorry, but your cauldron is a bit lacking.", she said, deciding to shift the blame, handing the cauldron back with the pill still inside. Perhaps she could have made it a grade three pill if she had kept a lower pressure, but she didn't want to spend 15 minutes making a useless pill. She got what she wanted out of it though – now she knew that the demon man's cauldron was comparably good. The old man didn't follow her when she left. He just sat there holding the cauldron looking smugly at the crowd, as if he had just done something great. What a strange old geezer. Next she entered a small empty clothes shop. Inside a well dressed wooden mannequin stood in silent testament to the craftsmanship on offer. Bolts of colourful cloth were arrayed on tall two level shelves along the walls. Behind a counter littered with sewing implements bowed three round faced young women, wrapped in teal, lime and orange. They were probably low nobles judging by the patterned clothes and stage one cultivation. –– "Lin Lin greets customer. Fu Fu greets customer. Yai Yai greets customer." Wow, they really doubled up on those names. The three snuck glances at the embroideries on Hu Mei's robe while she browsed. She noticed some bolts of slightly stretchy fabric which seemed like good bikini material. It was probably pretty expensive though since this world appeared to be pre-industrial. She was still broke. –– "Do you accept Qi focusing pills as payment?", she tested. Hearing this they rushed to block the store exit. Their store hadn't been doing so well recently, but now they knew they had a VIP customer. One of them even bolted the door. A good thing that, because the customer threw back her robe, revealing a practically naked body as far as they were concerned. –– "...and do you sell any good bikinis? Or could you make something like this?", Hu Mei continued, desperate to get an answer to this pressing question. Surely bikinis existed in this world. The three women froze. What was happening? Hu Mei had to describe the basics of bikinis and beachwear, but the women seemed clueless, thinking that she was talking about some form of inner garment. Even so, they hadn't seen anything like this before. Hu Mei frowned. Possibly this was just a shop for fine dresses. There might still be speciality shops just for bikinis, Hu Mei speculated, tapping her chin. The one named Lin Lin was the first who dared to approach. She scrutinised Hu Mei's plum pink bikini top with some interest. The fact that the cups could be adjusted sideways sliding on the lower strap was a point of particular interest. But when Hu Mei dropped her cloak and showed the back, she darted away a few steps seeing that it was all strings. Hu Mei sighed. What a bunch of country bumpkins. Could it be that they just didn't have this particular style of micro bikini? Noticing a pen and paper on a desk, she drew a figure from the front and the back, giving it a more moderate mini bikini design with triangular cuts, the type which gave nice classic tan lines but wasn't so good for Qi breathing purposes. Classic, but less professional. –– "Could you make something like this for me as a test?", she asked, holding up the drawing. They carefully nodded, then gently took her measurements. They had never gotten such a strange custom order before. –– "I'll be right back with your payment then.", Hu Mei said excitedly and entered her inner space. When the woman disappeared on the spot Lin Lin, Fu Fu and Yai Yai realised that they were definitely dealing with an immortal and just decided to roll with it, getting started on a prototype post haste. The had barely gotten started with test cuts when Hu Mei returned 40 minutes later. Fortunately she had spare jade bottles now, so she handed over one with three Qi focusing pills. With her own cauldron and a bit of practice actually following Sage's recipe, she had been able to make her first grade four pills. They weren't grade six, but surely they'd be enough to pay for a bikini or two? She really didn't know the going rates for anything around here. They had so many payment methods. The women hid the pill bottle quite well in a sealed compartment under a floorboard. The pills were something which would cause quite a stir at the Capital's auctions, she overheard. She hoped they would end up using them though, otherwise they might just be taken advantage of. That's how it usually went in novels. After now having seen the pills, the three women looked even more eager to satisfy her. They took more measurements, examined straps and seams, and huddled over various bolts of fabric. Initially their idea of premium was to use lots of fabric and fill it with embroideries, so she had to set them straight on that front. Bikinis were obviously all about the cut, stretch, and simple flat colours. As the discussions continued multiple variants emerged, scaling inversely with Hu Mei's escalating giddiness. On one hand, she hoped she wasn't actually the first to introduce the micro here. On the other hand, if she were, then she'd surely do a great karmic deed, and also make bank. Triple-S Bikinis had been a megacorp after all. If the excitement was one sided Hu Mei couldn't tell, as they kept calling her "boss", nodding like pecking birds with her every suggestion. Hu Mei began to picture a new storefront for the shop, something along the lines of "Big Boss Hu Mei's Micro Bikini Shop", or "Mei's Micros", or just "Meicros"? She might even be able to enchant the bikinis. They'd totally fit in the cauldron. The shop was naturally equipped with a full body mirror. Even though the metal plate finish wasn't the best, Hu Mei could see that her skin and features had improved quite a bit after arriving here. She had naturally been very good looking before, but had a few nuisance spots which had to be dealt with using makeup or photo editing. Her abdominal muscles and jaw had been slightly asymmetrical. She had an unsightly wrinkle on one of her fingers that she hated and always twisted out of view in photos. All fixed now. How did that work? Perhaps her mind subconsciously remoulded her body? Anyways, it was time to leave the women to their work, so she reluctantly put her cloak back on, exited the shop and disappeared into the street crowd. Someone definitely appeared to be tailing her, but it wasn't the old man. By accident she passed by the back street with the smithy and noticed that the place looked disorderly. A bit further down the street a group of people were walking off, carrying the Iron Rewlet. Was it the hunter's guild the smith had mentioned? She realised the two hadn't even exchanged names, so she went into the smithy. The smith woman laid beaten and bloody on the floor, but was still conscious. She looked apologetic. Uh-oh, was this like one of these drama plots where people confiscate stuff and then act as if it was theirs all along? Well, she had kind of done it too, but only in retaliation. She threw off the debilitating cloak and rushed out to intercept the thieves. Just then more people emerged from the surrounding houses. It was a trap? A man in a pure white priestly brocade robe with a pyramid symbol on it advanced to face her, looking flustered. The white robe reminded her of something. She had seen it earlier on the beach... but maybe before that too? –– "Pervert rogue! Stay away from our city, or submit for rehabilitation!" He didn't look like one of the city orderlies though. From what she gathered, mortals wouldn't act brazen in front of cultivators and sect disciples. –– "Are you from a sect?", she queried. –– "I am a servant of The Order of Order.", he proclaimed with undisguised pride and arrogance. When she looked she could see that the ambushers all wore the same type of white brocade robe and head thingy – a conical party hat with dangling hanfu style bits. She got a bit distracted for a moment. She now knew what the outfits reminded her of. Those mandatory white robes worn in Greater America, which was quite confusingly just the eleven states between Texas and North Carolina. They had their capital moved to Harrison following some debacle Hu Mei had not fully understood. But needless to say, the whole country fell behind in matters of cultivation. Her ambushers were all below Qi gathering stage seven except for the leader. The Order of Order? Was he serious about that name? –– "Uh.. uh... and that's a sect? Why are you so weak then? Could it be that all sects around here are this weak?" It was a genuine question because she really had no clue. In stories sects always had a few powerhouses, but this guy certainly didn't look like one. –– "Good. Good. Good. Continue to act arrogant. See where it gets you. The Order of Order will press down on heretics like the fist of a celestial." So it was a sort of conservative sect which enforced dress code? Was that why people here didn't dare to put on a bikini? This explained everything! It was a huge problem but one which she could solve with her fists if it came to that. She was just about to use her aura on the group when a new person arrived, walking cooly, robes and hair fluttering in nonexistent wind. The minions kneeled in reverence. –– "Outer Disciple Curissa! This humble servant has captured the rogue cultivator and pays abasement." Hu Mei squinted at the new arrival. It was a beautiful woman in her early twenties. She wore the same brocade robe as the others, but with a few extra pieces of flair. Her cultivation had reached core formation stage three. Thinking about it, sects were usually divided into an onion structure going from servants to disciples then elders and finally old farts lurking half dead somewhere at the center. The woman eyed Hu Mei up and down, and a sneer formed on her lips. People had started to clear out nearby buildings, but remained in the periphery, eager to watch a good show. –– "Brothel slut, surrender and let me cripple your cultivation." Wow. What was her problem? And what was the proper response to... that? Well, if someone dragged her 10 feet in the mud, she'd drag them 100 feet. –– "Where's the slut? Everyone has been talking about this slut roaming the streets recently, right? Turns out I got to meet her. Ah, yes, you must be Slut Curissa.", Hu Mei proselytised to the distant audience, "I've only been in this wonderful city for a little while, but so many people have been talking about how incredibly slutty this Slut Curissa person is. Grinding on slimy logs in the forest like some mad woman high on shrooms, dreaming of Fiffodonk long schlongs!" In the distance a few people laughed into their sleeves. Curissa had grown redder and redder, descending into rage. Not willing to let the menace continue uninterrupted, she produced a staff and made elaborate swirling movements which were probably part of a technique. She darted forth, creating strange pressures and patterns in the air. However, she was unable to land a hit on the annoying woman and instead ended up destroying a few store fronts. –– "If you just wanted to exchange pointers... you could have said so earlier.", Hu Mei snorted. Hu Mei still didn't have any techniques to speak of, instead relying on brute force and her magical bikini. Even with her higher cultivation she was almost at a disadvantage, but seeing Curissa overextend she snuck in low behind to punch her back like some brute, but then it came to her – that wrestling move! She instead put her arms around Curissa's waist and lifted her up, bending over to complete a 180, crashing Curissa's head into the ground. Unlike in wrestling though, her head actually went into the dirt – but like in wrestling, her legs fell open in a frog pose, putting her undergarments on shameful display when the robes peeled. They were just some sort of cloth wrap, but Hu Mei could hear people ooh and aah. Curissa's minions stood frozen as Hu Mei walked off to grab the Iron Rewlet corpse, spacing it. Then she went back and lifted Curissa's head out of the dirt. She was still alive, but unconscious. Her little hat was smushed. –– "Slut Curissa, you should pay for the damage you caused, you reckless madwoman.", Hu Mei said out loud, more as a preemptive disclaimer to the onlookers so everyone remembered who had caused all this. When Hu Mei re-entered the smithy Curissa's minions scuttled in to carry Curissa off. Little did they know that a new persistent nickname had been born on this day. The smith had been more heavily wounded than she had let on and wasn't responding to prodding. She tossed the body into her space as that had unwittingly done the trick last time this happened. Inside, Hu Mei fed her a grade two healing pill, and while the woman visibly recovered, there were many fractures and areas with internal bleeding. Hu Mei felt bad about getting her involved. Upon further inspection she noticed a shrivelled up spirit root. A cultivator body would likely be able to pull through. The muscular middle aged woman was about her own age and had a good sturdy appearance, but had evidently lived a hard life without cultivation. People developed their spirit root mid puberty and if it wasn't nourished it would wilt. That's how it worked on Earth at least, but the situation there was different since everyone had passive Qi breathing and only thus those already old by 2032 had "missed the buss" so to speak. Hu Mei had been 15 at the time, and had then spent two decades reaping the health benefits of Qi breathing, seemingly ageing at half speed. –– "Hey Sage? Do you have a recipe for revitalising spirit roots?" The butterfly emerged and thought for a while, stroking its snout. –– "Well, not one explicitly achieving that goal, but it appears a three layer process can be used. You have the materials, if you dig out that monster core. Her dantian core would need to leech energy from it. Then you need something to puff up the meridians. Then a Qi focusing pill. And of course a cultivation technique suitable to her body constitution if she has any. Or gets any from the monster core. It's actually possible to steal body constitutions in a similar fashion, but it's of course frowned upon." That seemed like quite the operation. Hu Mei was perhaps getting a bit paranoid, but she got the feeling that someone might mess with her bikini shop plans as well, so she grabbed a sharp knife from the smithy and went back to the clothes store. Outside she could see one of Curissa's minions lurking in an alleyway behind an urn put out by the neighbouring pottery shop. The clothes shop had hung up its closed sign, but she was quickly let inside. The attendants had indeed been bothered by someone attempting to bully information out of them, but they had thankfully handled it with wit. However, Hu Mei could see that Fu Fu was hiding a swollen cheek beneath some face powder. So she went back out and pressed the minion into the dirt with her aura, causing him to bleed from all seven orifices. When she saw his bruised knuckles, she gave him a series of malicious kicks where it wouldn't kill him. Seeing him whimper and crawl off, Hu Mei re-entered the clothes store. Her antagonists would probably return at some point, maybe with reinforcements. But she wanted to go back and explore that lake and hopefully gain some more power in case things escalated. How should she handle this? Hire some guards to keep the shop safe while the bikinis were being made? Or she could take the shop into her space, if they were willing? Or just risk leaving it to chance as she might only be gone a few days tops. However, first she'd need to heal up the smith woman before she croaked. She also put a healing pill on the store counter without comment. It was one of her early grade one failures, but might suffice for lighter injuries. The three were making good progress on the bikini prototype without Hu Mei so she got to work excavating the monster core out of the Iron Rewlet. Her clumsy work quickly blunted the knife. Thankfully she had been able to use her spiritual sense to locate the core. The knife might not have lasted digging out shell plates along the whole length of the creature, as if it was some advent calendar. The core had to be wrapped in Light Weed and refined in the furnace. This process took 30 minutes, and she got a bit nervous that the madwoman's goons would smash the shop while she was busy. The refined core didn't have a traditional pill grade, but rather a monster rank. If the monster was too powerful, like a dragon, it would just fry the mortal recipient though. Next she had to make a Meridian Flushing pill using Thimble Cups and Centennial Mushrooms, and she wasted three sets of ingredients making nasty purple lumps that were probably poisonous. Sage didn't know what was wrong either. She stuffed them in a bottle, just in case. Stuck, she returned to the store and sat watching the women work while she recovered. They were currently ironing a seam, but the oversized iron had gotten too hot, burning the elastics in the fabric and ruining the piece. Luckily it wasn't a very big one – they were making a mini bikini after all. Looking around she noticed a calendar and a map on the wall. The map was drawn like one from early medieval times, not looking at all accurate, and it only focused on a small part of the known world, perhaps a continent. She could see a few other cities, including the capital Zarou. The calendar had symbols and drawings on it looking like astrology signs. Perhaps the female customers were into that kind of stuff. She had never been, but this calendar was quite informative. Here all signs but two took the shape of plants. She even recognised two as herbs that she had in her inner space. The remaining two signs were in the shape of gods, a lady and some guy. She got the distinct feeling they could be Nuwa and Fuxi. Shouldn't there be a third god though? More interestingly, she now knew the anatomy of a year. It nearly matched that of Earth's in length, but with days twice as long, weeks and months worked differently. A month was twelve days and a week four, which meant there were three weeks per month. A calendar year had sixteen months, but then there were also star years... exactly 29.9501 calendar years long – probably a real inconvenience for mathematicians. It was currently summer – a great time for bikinis, especially in a seaside city like this. They had such a nice beach after all. She recalled that Californian beach vista again. Suddenly something occurred to her – if this shop did well, soon everyone in the city would going to have to learn about bikini line waxing, or things would get weird. Well, waxing was not exactly a new technology so they might already be familiar with it. Back on the topic of bikinis, she turned her attention to the three workers who were busy trying to cool the iron to the right temperature. Thinking about it, maybe her cauldron was too powerful as well? Immediately feeling inspired, she returned to her inner space, threw her last set of ingredients into the cauldron and kept a stable low heat. The smith's condition seemed to be worsening, and it took an hour before the cauldron started rattling. When she lifted the lid she got a surprise – it was a grade three pill, which wasn't good, but it also wasn't a grade one which was all she had dared to hope for. Feeling pressed for time she just used one of her subpar grade two Qi focusing pills from before and got started with the treatment. This part was fire and forget – she just needed to feed the patient the pills and hope for the best. It was up to the woman's strength of will whether she got Qi deviation or not. Sage didn't know how long the process would take. Perhaps days. Then the woman woke up after five minutes, looking alert and confused. Hu Mei shushed her with another healing pill. With active meridians, the pill effect was much improved, handling fractures and preexisting issues. As the monster core was drained her cultivation might even go up a few steps on its own, but that really would take days so she should send the patient home. Hu Mei had to work with Sage to figure out how to read a person's body constitution. It wasn't something which could be done at a distance using spiritual sensing, but rather a close distance personal exchange, which left both parties vulnerable. Unsurprisingly, the smith got an Iron Body constitution from the Iron Rewlet core, so Sage burned that cultivation technique into a jade slip, or rather, a jade bottle since they didn't have any slips – any piece of jade could serve as data storage. The smith, surprised by Hu Mei's current attire, as well as her own new cultivation, became a bit irrational and strangely eager to just quickly check up on her ruined shop, so their said their goodbyes. As the smith disappeared out the door Hu Mei realised that they still hadn't introduced themselves. The prototype bikini had now been ready for a while and the three store attendants seemed as eager as Hu Mei to see the results. She got switched in a dressing room and immediately noticed an issue – the elastics bunched up the cloth a bit too much, producing wrinkles and sags, which was never attractive. It was also missing the little metal links, instead using loops of thread. Maybe they could have the smith make something? It would need to be in silver to be skin safe though. The cuts themselves were alright, with a palm sized triangles at the front, slightly larger on the top part. The back had a steep curved diagonal cut – this kept the back piece from becoming enormous. She had them take some new measurements before she switched back to her micro and left the shop in a hurry. She just had the best idea – she'd get Shigen and his two maids to guard the shop. She could bribe them with more pills. Everyone here liked pills. The three might still be holed up in that diner since her poison clearing pill wasn't all that great and would need time to do its thing. Not feeling like navigating the winding streets, she instead bounced across streets and roofs. Arriving at the appropriated diner she immediately noticed the smell. She peeked in. There was a big wooden bathtub sitting smack in the middle of the floor, and the gaunt Shigen in it, eyes closed, black wet hair draped along his skull. He looked so focused that she didn't want to disturb him. The maids ordered a cleaning crew out, then lit nine incense sticks placed in a geometric formation around the tub. Shigen silently took the White Flare pill meant to kill the Black Thorn seed inside his dantian. After a few minutes he looked like he was going to pop a vein. Hu Mei reached out with her spiritual sense and could feel the Qi field in the area tapering into the incense formation and converging on Shigen. How long was this going to take? She'd Maybe they could have a chat before he took the Rejuvenation pill? Or should she leave a note? She didn't have any paper on her though. No, she'd give it another five minutes. –– "Something's not right.", Riri said after a while, standing off to the side looking worried. –– "Focus, Master Shigen.", Nunah whispered, more to herself, making little fists. Ah, would a Qi focusing pill help? She did have a lot of that grass. Hu Mei entered her space and manage to bang out another stage four one in 15 minutes. When she appeared in the doorway to the diner the maids took notice of her. She only caused confusion when she started to silently mouth something, so she just chucked the pill bottle across the room to Riri. The maid's eyes went wide, and she hurried up to Shigen, whispered something and stuck the pill into his mouth. All of a sudden the man started to glow and electric arcs tangled with his flowing hair. It was as if he sat in a thunderstorm. The tub water churned and frothed. Hu Mei could sense the Qi in the area converge inward, as if caught in a whirlpool. Was this dangerous? She didn't know her pill would have this kind of effect! The spectacle lasted for half an hour. Shigen looked fine she supposed – he sat unconcerned in the nearly empty tub like some bony Buddha. She was about to have her talk with him when Nunah made a move, directly feeding Shigen the Rejuvenation pill. Dagnabbit! Now she'd have to wait again. Should she just head back to the clothes shop? It was only 500 meters away, taking the roof route. In the end she went to check up on the smith, but turned back halfway there. The smith had left in a way which made Hu Mei think she needed space. Hu Mei had kind of forced something on her after all, and also inadvertently gotten her beaten up. She ended up just returning to the diner, not taking note of the distant disruptions her bikini caused. It was getting late in the day. The four misty yellow stars dipping below the horizon, two of the red ones remaining. –– "Stop right there, criminal.", a voice suddenly commanded from up a rooftop. When she turned around to look she saw three of the troublesome white robed fellows, unfortunately all with a higher cultivation base than her by a stage or two. They had already assumed wide horse stances, busy making hand seals and swooshy movements. If they fired something off at her, it would hit the diner and Shigen, who she needed to guard the bikini shop. What a dilemma. Should she run inside and hide everyone in her space? Dart to the side? It was already too late to decide, as a big blast blew her off her feet and into the air. –– "Exploding fist!", someone had yelled. –– "Exploding fist! Exploding fist!" –– "Shatter Hand! Crushing Palm Strike!" Her bikini deflected most of the attacks, but she was still tossed around in the pandemonium. Buildings in the area exploded into splinter as the barrage of noncorporeal fists and palm strikes landed. She didn't understand how any of these visual effect techniques worked. The three villains just stood there up on the roof making gestures. She had to physically get close to do anything. She saw the two maids carry Shigen off, still seated in the tub. Hopefully they'd get away. The three attackers had stopped announcing their attacks out loud and now looked more focused as the strikes kept coming. Seeing how they paid no heed to collateral damage or bystanders, Hu Mei didn't want to dodge into more populated streets and buildings. Instead she fled into a dust cloud. –– "Instant Movement!", she yelled and entered her inner space, hoping they wouldn't catch on and stick around. She'd have to hide for a while. –o– -- "Fire! There's a fire!" The pottery shop owner and his servants rushed to the nearest well but found it already blocked by Zuzark's fire department. -- "I beg you, Zuzark, please let us put out the fire." -- "Oh? Since when do you have priority access to the city wells? Besides, we already have a fire crew at your shop, don't we? All you need to do is pay our service fee." The pottery shop owner clenched his fists. He suspected Zuzark's henchmen had started the fire, but couldn't go up against the man. -- "Now now, don't worry, I know you're low on money. If you can't afford it, you can take a loan, or just sell me the plot for a reasonable price. Why don't we head back over to your shop and discuss the details?" By the time they arrived, the fire had spread over to the neighbouring clothes shop. Outside stood three panicked young women clutching bolts of cloth. Zuzark hid his grin and approached with a suitably apologetic look. -- "Truly a tragedy. This day... this day... what a disaster for our city. Fortunately it doesn't look too late to save your shop. My fire department is standing ready... what do you say? 90000 silver? Or... we could settle things... differently.", Zuzark said, eyeing them up and down. –o– When Hu Mei exited the space only one sun was left in the sky. A few people were meandering through the remains of the surrounding buildings. She got a bad feeling seeing the fire illuminated smoke rising up over in the direction of the clothes shop. She hurried off towards it. Was she cursed? A trouble magnet? Up to this point, almost everyone she had come into contact with had suffered in some way. But she couldn't be in all places at once, protecting her underlings. Underlings? Where did that come from? Still, if she had underlings, she could use her stronger underlings to protect the weaker ones. It would be a pyramid of underlings. Then she could safely run her bikini shops, right? Hu Mei arrived at the scene and saw that the three attendants were safe. The firefighters were there, busy not putting out the fire. Hu Mei couldn't really do much either, aside from assaulting the firefighters and using their equipment, but the shop was already ruined to the point of needing a full reconstruction. A middle aged short man with what could only be described as an evil-moustache took notice of her, his stern square face going through a series of expressions, settling on wary. He took a small step backwards. –– "Rogue cultivator, Zuzark has no quarrel with you. Whatever enmity you have with The Order of Order does not concern me." No quarrel? Hu Mei narrowed her eyes and tilted her head. Lin Lin, Fu Fu, and Yai Yai came running up and clutched Hu Mei's legs. –– "We're so sorry, Hu Mei, we couldn't protect your goods. However, with your payment we could easily set up a new shop, just give us a week.", they pleaded. –– "If you had money, then – why – did you refuse my deal?", Zuzark interrogated, seemingly having forgotten about Hu Mei. Lin Lin just stuck her tongue out at him. –– "I'm the biggest land owner in this city. Let's see what you can afford then.", he sneered, then gestured at the inferno, "...or do you plan to clean this up and rebuild in just four days?" Hu Mei now had an inkling of what was going on. The three women would rather watch their shop burn down than paying this man. Which meant that her pills were likely worth more than the shop. So wasn't she rich? However, if she were to sell pills she might be taken advantage of. An auction was probably the best place to get a good price. But if she recalled correctly from novels, auctions were mostly secular affairs. Sects had the real resources, but often didn't use secular money, so if she did business with a sect then she might have to convert down to secular money... probably using an auction. So she would need to go to an auction anyways to get the starter budget for her bikini business. But first it would be good to have some travel money. –– "So, Mister Zuzark, you truly have nothing to do with the Order of Order?" –– "That's right!", he harrumphed, looking like he was actually speaking the truth. –– "Hmm anyways... taking into consideration your willingness to show up in person here offering your services... I feel I owe you equal concern." Hu Mei sent a mischievous glance at her leg clutchers. –– "Ladies, do any of you happen to know the directions to Zuzark's residence? I absolutely must have a look at it to make sure it's safe, given all the recent destruction in the city, I mean." Zuzark's face grew dark as Hu Mei continued. –– "No, I think that's not enough. Shouldn't I check up on all of Zuzark's properties? Yes, I need to do it right now. Unless I suddenly change my mind, that is... If I had a million silver I might just go shopping instead." –– "This! This is-", Zuzark yelled, pointing at her with a shaking finger. –– "It's what? Mutual concern, right? You scratch my back, I scratch yours." Hu Mei noticed a jar of cheap incense sticks tipped over outside a building, took one, lit it, and stuck it into the dirt, looking meaningfully at Zuzark. Chapter 6 : The Getaway //// TO BE CONTINUED ////