Depthless Hunger

It was really quite unreasonable that someone as talented as Kai had taken this long to leave the Body Refinement stage. Zae Zin Nim waited and watched, hoping that fate would not manage to ruin his advancement. It did so try to get in the way.

Of course, he had been severely limited by the lack of quality qi on Deadwaste, and his unique nature absorbed much of the qi he cultivated. Even given all those considerations, she felt as though she should have been able to help him advance sooner than this, given his tenacity. On Cloudspire, where many considered cultivation alone, they considered him lower class as a mere Body Refinement stage, which led to many strange looks when they were together.

Well... perhaps that wasn't the only reason. No matter what stages of cultivation they reached, everyone would be surprised to see a jade maiden of Cloudspire with an enormous hairy barbarian. But there was nothing they could do about that, and nothing she really wanted to do.

Zae Zin Nim sat on the opposite side of the airship cabin, watching closely as Kai sat down and swallowed the qi pills that had been prepared for him. Years ago in Deadwaste he had been so awkward in the cultivation position, but now he took the pose easily, placed his hands on his knees, and began to circulate his cultivation base.

In theory, nothing would go wrong. But given how many irregularities there were in Kai's soul, she could never be sure, so she remained alert to help if necessary.

The biggest thing she had done to help him had been the night before, and Zae Zin Nim still flushed when she thought about it. Instead of purchasing a Heavenly Maiden Pill for herself, Zae Zin Nim had selected one of the Pureflower Sect's rarest arts: a dual cultivation technique called the Great Unity Chalice. It was meant to be used to soothe raging or injured men, but its fundamental purpose was to solidify a cultivation base.

Once, the idea of using such a technique would have horrified her, since it just turned her into a dutiful servant of another male cultivator. But she trusted Kai with her life, and he had slowed his own advancement in order to find this mana pit for her. So she was glad to use her own cultivation to strengthen his.

As for the technique itself, it had been as intimate as usual, except that Kai began to change as the power interacted with his Savage Heart technique. His hands on her body had transformed into claws... and yet they had still been so gentle. Despite the unexpected change, everything had worked as intended, so in theory his dantian and body were fully attuned, ready to advance.

Kai circulated the qi in his dantian as it welled up and began to flow through his body. It wasn't like her transition from the Body Refinement stage, instead becoming far more aggressive and violent. His body began to change again, taking on monstrous traits, but it was all under control, so Zae Zin Nim held her breath and waited.

His struggle had always been balancing the two sides of himself. He had long ago accepted both monstrous and human sides were one, as she understood it, but the fact remained that he still needed to keep aspects of himself in harmony with one another, a balanced whole instead of conflicting halves. All of that was made even more difficult by the Savage Heart, with its chakra-based strangeness and emotional reactions. She watched them waver, and his heart was pounding so powerfully it seemed to send shockwaves through the air, but Kai kept everything in check.

Suddenly his eyes opened, burning like miniature suns, and all the new qi flooded through his body.

It should never have moved so explosively, and Zae Zin Nim leapt up, afraid that he would undergo a fire deviation and harm himself. And yet it all seemed to be in balance: years of cultivation reinforcing his body were solidified into a new stage. All the chaos of his different arts and transformations reached a new level of stability.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

His body was strange and monstrous, but her eyes shifted to his familiar soul.

Name: Kai Clanless

Total Power: 743

Cultivation: Nascent Foundation 0% (250)

Savage Heart: 15 (157)

Physique Level: D-9 (245)

Beggar King's Robes: +2 (10)

Soul Level: 9 (81)

>

She was elated to see that he had reached a perfect Nascent Foundation stage, giving him a full 250 Power. It was the largest leap in his strength since they had come to Cloudspire, and more than that, it was proof that all their efforts and theories were valid: he could combine all these different aspects of himself into a unified whole.

"It worked?" Kai rose to his feet, staring at his own hands, or rather claws.

"It did!" Zae Zin Nim swept up to him and clasped one of his claws between her hands. "You have done excellently. I am... very proud of you."

He gave her a strange smile, then pulled her into an embrace. His body shifted back to human form as he did so, but she felt wonderfully held either way. There was a hunger in his grip that sent a little thrill through her, but when Kai pulled back, his gaze was focused. This had never been their goal, after all, it was only a means to an end.

"Now, I say we take down the champions right now, unless you think it would be too soon." His gaze flickered over her and she could tell he was looking at her soul. "Do you need to get something to break your limit before you try to absorb any mana? These pits take a while to build up again, so we don't want to waste it."

"I haven't raised my Coldfire Corona to Level 99," she said, "and each level is slower than the last. If I have a strong source of mana, I can train here and treat it like cultivation. I will be reaching the absolute limit by the time you find something."

"Then let's go right now." Kai turned away and she had to half-run to follow his strides. It would be inappropriate outside, but part of her wished that he would just carry her, in his arms or even over his shoulder. "So you're trusting Omilaena and me to find the right pill for you?"n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Yes," she said, "that was the decision I made when I chose the Great Unity Chalice over the Heavenly Maiden Pill. Omilaena and I have spoken about what exactly I need at length, so I trust you to find the right method."

"We'll do our best, then."

He said it as if he had something to prove, as if he hadn't done all this for her sake. Zae Zin Nim shook her head and grabbed his arm, redirecting him from fighting the champions literally that moment. There was no sense in charging into the battle without preparation, even if they would likely have won anyway.

Instead the two of them retreated to one side of the pits region and sparred with one another, making sure there were no irregularities in Kai's new form. Everything worked exactly as they had hoped, all aspects of his body reinforcing one another, but it was good to realign themselves. They would need to fight as a pair against the local champions, after all.

Soon she suspected that his raw new strength would want an outlet, and she would be happy to provide that for him. It wasn't inappropriate to think such thoughts about her husband, but it still made her squirm, so she focused on their strategy.

Since returning to Cloudspire with stronger spiritual senses, Zae Zin Nim had encountered or even fought more Sky Souls, so she had a better sense for the heights of power. In theory Kai's full strength could have been double his visible Power, or almost 1500, but she estimated it to be somewhat under 1300. That supported their theory that his monstrous power would need to grow to match, though this advancement would make it easier for him to do that.

At one time, 100 Power had been the entirety of her soul. A difference of 100 Power was still significant, but it was no longer a massive divide for them. If Kai could find one or two more breakthroughs...

No one had ever explained the math to her directly, but she had spent her entire life absorbing it. A Sky Soul cultivator could have 1000 Power, which was enough for them to be the strongest in the vast majority of situations. But each increment of a hundred climbed higher into the heavens, with more and more cultivators falling behind.

She hadn't been able to see her father's true power when she was young, but based on her battles in Rosemount, she feared that it would be at least 1800. That put him head and shoulders above even most strong Sky Souls, and still above their level. Amassing cultivators with 1000 Power would never be enough to beat him, but if she could break through, and if Omilaena advanced further...

Could all that be enough? Her father wouldn't be alone, and the Brightwind sect had other dangerous cultivators in its ranks. This was a major step forward, but it wasn't enough.