First Time

Edrick opened his eyes, greeted by the same ceiling as usual, not a single blemish or spider web in sight, it was honestly almost uncanny how Linmin always managed to keep this entire residence spotless even on days during which Anoteros kept him occupied with deeper matters.

He looked to his right, he looked to his left, as always, his two wives were cuddling up to him, they always looked so peaceful when asleep, they truly felt most comfortable and safe when with him, though, he had to wonder what his next few wives would be holding onto with his two sides already claimed.

Anoteros woke up much earlier than usual, normally, these two would already be busy trying to soften the wood that rises alongside the sun unless they had been exhausted, but right now, they were still slumbering in tranquillity with their lord-husband's warmth keeping their sleep pristine.

It had already been a little while since he had joined the Myriad-Arm Sect now, a great decision on his part, although he had expected for the supposed protagonist to have already shown up by now, he didn't mind, he hadn't been able to collect much rewards from the Depraved Cultivation System, but that was fine as well.

Today marked the end of that quest involving Hui and her degradation within the library, it was the notification about it that woke him up.

It also marked the time to finally begin his cultivation for real, and with it, his standing would further improve and allow for much more freedom and liberty.

'Heh, that Shu hasn't shown himself again, surely he doesn't intend on avoiding me to escape fulfilling my demands?' Edrick grinned, he had let the scrawny inner disciple do as he wished until now as it really wasn't his focus.

'Come to think of it, I never encountered any of the core disciples either' but he just shrugged, focusing on the content of the notification.

*Congratulations! I would have been brought to tears if my existence was bound to a physical vessel! The mission was a flamboyant success, you have had relations with Hui in nearly every portion of the library, gotten exceptionally close to danger on multiple occasions, and even engaged in extreme agonism (meaning sadism), being caught in such a context would have been even more problematic than if you had kept things simple-*

The system was very pleased, apparently, it went on for a few more lines, detailing multiple aspects.

*You have completed this quest far beyond what I had considered 'very good'! You earned : A passive, all-around enhancement to your energy circulation, you will find every aspect of circulating your inner energy much simpler, and also affects outer energy manipulation to a small degree!*

*Your basic, physical body was also enhanced, the upper limit of all that is bound to your flesh- For examples your muscles, can now be trained beyond what was previously your deadend*

*Great job, your patron goddess, Irandelle, smiles upon you!*

'Mmh, it had been a while since I heard about her… Is this system something she made?'

*Negative, I am a pure-blooded system!*

'Huh…' Edrick didn't enquire any further for now, it felt like this system of his was growing more and more of a personality with time, although it was only growing more unhinged, perhaps emulating Anoteros himself in some sort of a way.

He instead focused on his energy, he had already established a way for it to flow on its own by following his bloodstream, he took control of it himself and the changes were much more noticeable than expected, he supposed that the reward had increased in value due to his outstanding performance.

The upgrade was very impressive, he had been told by Ku Xing that his energy manipulation was already rather impressive before, so how good was it now? Compared to average? And compared to geniuses?

He had spent a while honing his control of it, and it was definitely worth it, Edrick felt that his cultivation efforts would only be made more valuable thanks to this… First, he closed his eyes again as it was still the middle of the night.

Was pleasantly woken up by his lovely wives and followed the usual training routine, already, when he lifted his weights, he could tell that his physical strength could be further increased through simple training now, that augmentation was also noticeable, albeit much less miraculous than the one to his energy circulation, it was still wondrous to simply be able to break the limits of his body so simply.

There was a rush of adrenaline coursing through him, one that he hadn't experienced in a long, long while.

It was the sensation of power, he used to experience it often in his youth, it was intoxicating, liberating even, that sensation when you could feel that those you once thought untouchable were now right within your reach.

As he had grown older, that sensation faded away until, so instead, he heightened the risk, kicked up the depravity a notch and instead reveled in those… He had nearly forgotten about it.

He decided to begin right now and cultivate with the Mountain Sasquatch Body first, knowing that his body hair would experience a rather explosive growth, he stripped down.

Then, he retrieved something that had been sitting in his system for a while, a small vial manifested out of thin air, and without hesitation, he gulped its content down, the potion of fortitude was a simple thing, it improved someone's constitution a little bit.

He drank it to make sure that he was in his best shape before beginning, not paying any heed to Fanqia and Linmin who were fixated grand hanging stalactite, he sat down cross-legged as the manual said, and interlocked his fingers together, swiftly taking his inner energies, all of them, to follow the path required.

To cultivate this technique, one needed to have their energy starting point be the brain, for as an advanced primate, it was its mind that was most important despite its brutal brawn, then, swirling around the spinal cord into the shape of a spiral, you then went to the heart.

Then, the only true difficult portion of this technique would arrive, which was to split the flux of your energy in two and send them to each of your lungs, although a generous delay was allowed between the two sides and also that you could permit yourself to not be quite symmetrical in the movements and shapes of the two streams, Edrick had no problem keeping things clean and steady.

From then on, there was nothing that was considered difficult, it was just a matter of following the right paths.

And as he completed the appropriate shape, a most abhorrent stench began filling the surroundings, and fur as dark as his hair began manifesting all over his body.

Though, Anoteros himself did not notice any of that.