Time To Get To Work

"I am honestly very impressed, to make so much progress with two cultivation techniques in so little time, even if both are especially suited for you, it isn't common at all" Ku Xing looked Edrick up and down, walking around him in a circle with interest.

"I am very pleased with your diligence and talent, Zixu, you are no inferior to other scions of great clans with that sort of capabilities, but unfortunately, I am not allowed to teach you everything that I would like you to know…" she closed her eyes, arms crossed, then opened one before looking left and right "...I heard you got yourself a third wife? Hu- Hua? No, Hui! I think I see who that is, she should be the only librarian that actually does her job properly, right? Nice pick, although a bit weak, your parents would say that she is unfit to bear a child of Elt…"

Ku Xing shrugged.

"Well, I am not your parents though… But did you think about what I said before? My great niece is a cute little piece of a woman, a great torturer- Her only problem is that she likes to bath in blood, and when she goes on hunts in the mountains, she sleeps inside of animals every time, she says that it's because the guts warm her up, but she does it during summer as well, so…"

"...My sister and niece tried to get her married multiple times but she scares all potential suitors away by being herself, what she needs is a man who will accept her as she is, demented and a true Xing!"

It was neither the first, second, or third time Ku Xing had mentioned her great niece, adding details every time, few of the savoury kind, by all means, she was describing a lunatic with many pastimes, all of which involved harming or killing something else at one point…

Seemed like Ku Xing knew how to pique Edrick's interest.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind meeting her sometime… But Elder Ku Xing, are there no other Xing girl's that are also of marriageable age?" he asked, although faint, Zixuan Elt did have memories of seeing a few Xings, the Elt and Xings being friendly, their children tended to be friends with each other.

"Well… Not really, no… Or rather, only little Bai Xing isn't vehemently opposed to getting herself a man, the others are too absorbed in cultivation and are a bit… Aggressive? Not like moody, I mean like a feral beast, they bite…"

The elder coughed.

"But hey, you can try, if they remember you from back in the day, they will go for the ankle instead of the jugular"

"In any case, I wanted to give you some stuff today… I got copies from the parts of the Pain Sutra I am allowed to share with outsiders" she said, walking over to a box lying next to the blanket lying on the ground.

"Being a Xing is not easy, especially when you don't have much talent, as the Pain Sutra is mandatory to learn, and contains multiple, distinct cultivation techniques, some of which are recommended to be learned alongside one another as it is simply more convenient, but of course, most people can't properly train more than one…"

"That is the case for the Encyclopedia Of Rending and Encyclopedia Of Self-Infliction, which are the foundations of our our extraordinary torture skills" explained Ku Xing not hiding the pride she had in these techniques.

"The foundations are free to be shared to outsiders?" questioned Anoteros, feeling like this was odd, with the foundations to build upon, many could potentially unravel some of the Pain Sutra.

"Well, it is because they are awfully simple, and hard to learn, there is nothing too impressive about how they function, the results are great even for those without much talent and their effects are not actually that unique" she began explaining.

"Both are body cultivation techniques, one is about precise destruction, and one is about precise reinforcement, you'll see when you read through them…"

"...As for this, it is merely a weapon cultivation technique that can be found in other places, so it's fine sharing it" she pointed to a manual titled 'Crack Of Punishment', which was a whip technique.

"As for this, it has nothing to do with the Pain Sutra, that's the technique I first used to master the longbow, excellent for beginners and lays a nice foundation for further techniques" this time, the title was much less impressive, simply called 'Longbowman'.

"I don't know how many techniques you can actually cultivate at once, but if you feel any strain, don't push it, alright? Though, if you decide to try out the encyclopedias, keep these close to hand, and for the more sensitive portions, come to me at the usual times, even when you'll have to learn from another elder, I'll be there to help" she smiled, although these techniques from the Pain Sutra might not be restricted solely to the Xings, it surely wasn't easy to convince her family to send copies.

But by all accounts, Ku Xing was a rather influential member of the family, being the sister of the matriarch and a talented cultivator.

Edrick had to make sure to maintain a good relationship with her, which was why he refrained from trying to seduce the elder in any manner, moreover, it was obvious that his godmother viewed him as a child still.

Eventually, after training under her watch for some time, Anoteros left her quarters and stared straight ahead, deciding to check his quest list.

Completing the mission with Hui had yielded incredible boons, and he had also gotten some of those wisps of information, but they had been largely useless, and there were still no signs of Xiao.

'Mmh, I wonder if he'll perhaps show up around the time of that tournament I heard about? From what I know about the plot he's supposed to follow, him arriving and immediately distinguishing himself in such an event would fit…'

Although Edrick felt pleased with his current state of affairs, he had great talent, an incredible body, a godmother that guaranteed a good relation with a big clan, and he was deemed to eventually regain the favours of the Elt as well, by all means, he was doing exceptionally well.

But Anoteros was greedy, he wanted more, now that he had begun his cultivation, it was time for him to make full use of his Depraved Cultivation System, its quests had generous rewards and weren't even a hassle to complete, in fact, they were great.

'Now, where can I find Shu?' thinking about the inner disciple, Edrick arrived on the first floor of the main building, the exit right in sight, but spotted movement from the corner of his eyes.

"My, what are you still doing here at this hour?"

Startling the person he spoke to, a small yelp of surprise escaping her thin frame.

"Oh? Huh… I remembered that I forgot to clean an area and came back to finish the job…" unlike librarian, outer disciples who took up jobs as cleaners could not allow any slack as they were easily replaced, there was no need for a level of trust with cleaners, they didn't have any access to anything possibly valuable or sensitive.

"How diligent…" he walked up to her, the thin girl instinctively backing off against the wall.

"Since you are such a good cleaner, mind helping with something?"

"Hum… I was planning on leaving… B-But sure… What do you need help with…?"

"Edrick Lucien Anoteros, you can just call me Edrick" seeing that she did not know how to address him, he formally presented himself and pointed back at the stairs.

"It is nothing much, would you mind accompanying me to the fourth floor?"

"Isn't that an empty floor?"

"It is indeed"

"...Alright"