Chapter 367: Reaping the Benefits
The bro squad had ten remaining members. The leader of those, besides Brock, was a handsome man named Osmu Sosmu and ranked 793rd in the Ranking Obelisk.
However, besides his loyalty and budding leadership qualities, Osmu possessed another trait: he came from a large merchant family.
As soon as the life stones were mentioned, his eyes flashed. Selling? he said, thumping his chest. Leave it to me. In the wide universe, there is nothing that I, Osmu Sosmu, cannot sell!
Good, Brock replied. I trust you.
The life stone business was quickly organized by Osmu Sosmu. A stall was set up next to the Dao Chamberhe reasoned that, since this was a place where cultivators spent a lot of Dao stones, spending a couple extra would be easier. The bros would take turn manning the stall and selling the life stones to anyone interested. To C-Grade cultivators like themselves, a few days of work was nothing, let alone that they could cultivate between customers.
But the stall was only part of the business. Osmu Sosmu and a few others took up the role of salespeoplethey would go through the villages, door-to-door, and try to secure as many sales as they could while spreading the life stones reputation.
Osmu Sosmu, carrying a fashionable little sack, gently knocked on a door. He waited a bit. The Cathedrals outer disciples were often meditating, and interrupting their session was not always easy. If the occupant didnt reply, he wouldnt knock again, just move to another door.
The door swung open. A gruff, red-haired man with horns on his helmet stared at Osmu with confusion. Can I help you? he asked.
Depends. Are you a healer?
No.
Then how about I help you? Osmu laughed, fishing a life stone out of his sack. This is a life stone, the newest creation of the Sage.
The other cultivator was confused, but not suspicious. There were no scammers on the Cathedral. There hadnt been for millennia. The Sage? he asked. Whos that?
Didnt you see a C-Grade on the raised platform when the Head Envoy announced the hidden realm? The diviner who helped Envoy Space Eye determine the realms ranking?
Oh. There was a person like that, yes. Hes called the Sage?
Apparently. Dont ask me whyhe never tells. Hes a pretty secretive guy, that Sage. All we know is that hes a one-fruit C-Grade diviner who enjoys special privileges on the Cathedral. He lives in his own little house, can you imagine that? Its like hes an Envoy.
The viking frowned. That little shit.
Yes. Well, in any case, hes recently created a new life-saving device. Its this thinga life stone. One of these can regenerate a mid C-Grades external injuries, giving them a second life if theyre wounded while fighting or escaping. Its like having a healer at handand anyone can use it. No expertise necessary.
A healer at hand, you say? The vikings eyes flickered. He was not an idiothe understood by now that Osmu Sosmu was just a salesman. He also recognized him as one of the people who stood by Jack Rust at the Cathedral Square.
However, he chose not to mention those things. The life stone was tempting.
How about I come in and discuss this further? Osmu Sosmu asked.
Please do, the viking replied, opening his door wide.
Osmu smiled as he walked in. When it came to selling, he had a lifetime of experience and the teachings of several masters, but he didnt even need them yet. The easiest thing to sell was a good product.
To the average C-Grade, the life stones really were worth it. They essentially sold themselves!
Meanwhile, another bro who looked like a glass pane with limbs walked over to the next house on her list. She raised her glass hand and knocked on the door twice, then waited. And waited.
Just as she was about to move on, the door opened a creak.
Greetings! said the bro, using the Dao to vibrate her glass body and produce a pleasantly shrill voice. Can I Ah!
She stopped mid-speech, her body now vibrating to the tune of horror. The door had opened wider, and a beautiful woman stared back at her.
Whats this about? she asked suspiciously. This woman was the number one outer disciple of the CathedralMin Ling!
***
As the life stone business was slowly budding, Jack had no idea. His only job was to get stronger, hence the need to outsource everything.
Even if he did know, however, he wouldnt have had the mental capacity to laugh at this point. He sat on his bed, painstakingly working on his body tempering. The sheets below him were already dotted with blood. Jacks body shook intermittently, his skin rupturing in different spots. His regeneration worked overtime to cover for the injuries, but new ones kept cropping up.
Body tempering was a simple but challenging process. It consisted of repeatedly drawing a tiny bit of energy from the Life Drop and forcefully fusing it into ones body. That was it. However, this fusion was immensely difficult.
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The human body was a complete system formed of the Dao of Life. To cram more energy into it was unnatural. It went against his instincts. Every time Jack forced a fusion, his brain was screaming that he was about to explode, and the pain was like driving iron pikes through his bones. The pain was real, but the feeling of incoming explosion was fakejust a reflex he had to suppress. Even if an accident did happen, it wouldnt kill him, just put him through even more harrowing pain.
That was the trouble of fusing one strand of life energy into the body, but in truth, one strand was nothing. This process was repeated every few minutes. As soon as Jack completed the fusion and escaped the pain, he would drag another strand out of the Life Drop and start again. Time passed. The strands added up, comprehensively tempering his body and raising all his Physical stats.
And yet, Jack stoically endured the pain, single-mindedly forcing more life energy into his body.
The passage of time was hazy. At some point, he opened his eyes and nearly collapsed on his bed. He opened his mouth to puke out blood, then lay flat on his back with the lifeless eyes of a dead fish.
Are you okay? Dorman asked, his voice soft and concerned. I didnt want to disturb you, butyour sheets
Jack closed his eyes. With great effort, he rolled over, finding that his bed was painted crimson. Blood dripped down from the ends of the sheet, meeting the ground swiftly under the influence of the thousandfold gravity.
Im fine, he replied in a hoarse voice. Justtired.
You dont sound fine, Dorman replied carefully. Maybe you shouldtake it easy?
Im fine, Jack repeated. Dorman didnt speak anymore, letting his friend recover.
The further one advanced on the path of body tempering, the more they approached their bodys limits. He hadnt bled at the startnow, every fusion rocked his entire body, the life energy struggling to accommodate more of itself. Every fusion took longer and hurt more. Eventually, it would reach the degree where it was ineffective, but Jack wasnt there yetand the pain, great as it was, amounted to nothing before his desire to get stronger.
That desire burned his soul and set his heart aflame. A little pain was a fine price to pay. It meant he was on the right pathif it was easy, everyone would do it.
How long did my tempering take? Jack asked, still gathering himself.
Fifteen days, Dorman responded.
Fifteen Coupled with the nine from before, its been twenty-four days already. Almost a month. Have I gotten any stronger?
He willed open his status screen. His main goal was to inspect his stats and see how much theyd grown in these fifteen days, but he also wanted to enjoy the visualization of his own strength. Even his willpower wasnt infinitehe needed something to hold onto.
Name: Jack Rust
Species: Human, Earth-387
Faction: Bare Fist Brotherhood (C)
Grade: C
Class: Gladiator Titan (King)
Level: 250
Strength: 2805 (+)
Dexterity: 2805 (+)
Constitution: 2805 (+)
Mental: 309
Will: 309
Free sub-points: 1
Dao Skills: Meteor Punch IV, Iron Fist Style III, Space Walk III, Brutalizing Aura III, Neutron Star Body II, Titan Taunt I, Fist of Mortality I
Dao Foundation: Dao Tree of the Fist, Dao Root of Indomitable Will (fused), Dao Root of Life (fused), Dao Root of Power (fused), Dao Root of Weakness (fused)
Dao Fruits: Fist
Titles: Planetary Frontrunner (10), Planetary Torchbearer (1), Ninth Ring Conqueror, Planetary Leader (1), Grade Defier
2805 he thought. I got four hundred points in two weeks. Last time I spent two weeks in body tempering, I got five hundred fifty. My progress was almost halved
He shook his head. Compared to cultivation, body tempering was far more difficultbut it worked.
As his powers returned, Jack realized his entire being was invigorated. Just clenching his fist could shatter a mountaintop. He had the reflexes and agility to dodge the rain, while his body was so dense he could endure even the hardest of strikes.
He grinned. This feeling made everything worth it.
Alright! he shouted, jumping to his feet. Its only six days until the start of the next month. I should probably visit the Heavy Pagoda.
The pagoda was not only good for cultivation, but also to consolidate his body tempering. Those innumerable fusions were not perfectthey left behind tiny wounds and imperfections. If he didnt iron them out, his body would be riddled with weak spots, and the best place to do so was the Heavy Pagoda, where the extreme gravity compacted even his powerful body to near the point of collapse. All weak points could easily disappear.
Thanks to his current ranking, he could spend two days a month at the pagoda. He would use them all up now, then spend the remainder of the month cultivating in his cabin. At least, that was the plan.
See you, Dorman, Jack said. Not waiting for a reply, he opened the door and strolled into the bleak terrain of the Cathedral. Dark stone lay beneath his feet and white buildings rose all around. He calmly strolled through, not even noticing the thousandfold gravity at this point.
The cabins of the village gave way to desolation, then a pagoda with seven floors. It was manned by the same cultivator as beforea strong-looking older woman, though not the same one that accompanied the Head Envoy.
As Jack approached the Heavy Pagoda, he saw a small group resting and chatting besides its base. Normally, he would have ignored them. As he passed by, however, some words of the cultivators caught his ear.
...those life stones are so good.
Man, the Church is so stingy. Between cultivation, the Dao Chamber, and now these life stones, where am I supposed to spend my three Dao stones?
Right, right. They should double our wages, or how do they expect us to advance quickly?
One of the three cultivators, the one facing Jacks direction, finally spotted and recognized him. He stopped speaking, wearing a guarded look. His two friends hadnt noticed Jack, but he approached them.
Hey there, random fellows, he said, stepping into their circle. I heard you chatting about some life stones. Whats that about?
The three cultivators eyed him carefully. They recognized him, of course, and had no intention of helping the public enemy of every other outer disciple. However, they were also a bit intimidated. Jacks talent rose to the heavens, and they were mere four-fruit immortals.
You havent heard about the life stones? one of them finally said. What have you been doing for the past month?
Cultivating. Please enlighten me, he replied with a bright smile.
Well a second cultivator couldnt help but say. The life stones are creations of the Sagethe dirty-looking diviner who gets special treatment. Theyre life-savers. Anyone can use them to just heal themselvesno need to look for expensive healers anymore while adventuring. Of course, they cant fix everything, but they do a pretty good job.
Really? Jack asked, pretending to be surprised. They do sound useful. Perhaps I could use them myself. Do you have any idea where I could find them?
Theres a stall by the Dao Chamber. Theyll restock at the start of the month, but you may not be able to afford themthey go for one Dao stone apiece.
Jack froze. Excuse me? How much?
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