I got a lot of limbs today, many of them from sky-realm experts. There’s about to be a huge influx of sky-realm-ranked weapons out on the market. I should release them over time to prevent their price from tanking. Of course, these limbs weren’t taken from willing people. After realizing Lucia wasn’t going to let them surrender peacefully, Old Bai had his sect resume their attacks. Long story short, they lost. With the help of Durandal and Puppers, Old Hei and Old Lan were defeated by Lucia’s phoenix and the quasi-immortals I hired. After they were beaten, everyone joined together to help Lucia defeat Old Bai.

As for Softie, she died, but luckily for her, her body was perfectly preserved. Illusionary attacks don’t really damage any organs. If she had her heart ripped out or her head cut off, one virility pill wouldn’t be enough to bring her back to life. I don’t have any of those pills on hand; the core of a world tree is extremely rare, and an elf is required to have one grow. Did I know this fact before passing that world tree sapling to Mirta? Obviously. The original plan was to create the virility pill for Durandal, but it seems like it’s going towards Softie now. I never thought she’d be the one who would need it. It’s funny how things work out.

It hasn’t been that long since I’ve split up with Lucia, but she’s changed a lot in that time. She didn’t automatically resort to violence upon discovering Softie’s death, and her methods have gotten a lot colder. It’s unsettling. When someone like her discovers how to control her temper, she’ll basically become a completely different person.

“Caramel! Where are you hiding all the damn caramel!?”

…Almost. It’s nice to know she’s still a glutton. Right now, she’s bullying Old Bai, having him dig up all of the sect’s wealth. I convinced her not to cut off his limbs. Instead, he signed a contract with Lucia, its contents backed by an oath to the heavens, of course. Sure, the weapons I could make out of his limbs would be stronger than any sky-realm-ranked weapon in existence, but he’s more useful with his limbs intact. With his, Old Hei’s, and Old Lan’s help, conquering all the sects in the Immortal Continent shouldn’t be an issue. As for Old Hong…, she had some very nice arms and legs. Okay, if I’m being honest, I took her whole body. She only needs her head to survive. Lucia heavily insisted on Softie being the one to take revenge, so I created a formation to perfectly preserve Old Hong’s life; she can’t even kill herself if she wants to. I never thought there’d be a day when Lucia felt empathy, but I’m not surprised those feelings had to do with vengeance; after all, she wanted revenge against Snow for poisoning her, but she was robbed of that by the plant growing inside his brain.

“What do you mean there’s no caramel!?”

“We’ll have some made for you right away,” Old Bai said. He looked like a whipped dog instead of a fierce tiger. “It’s just that, we only eat one grain of rice a month. Eating causes impurities. That small bit of caramel inside the box was created over three hundred years ago. We no longer have the facilities or ingredients to make it.”

“Three hundred years!? You made me eat something that old!? What if I got food poisoning!?”

“I didn’t make you eat it….”

“But you fed it to me, you bastard!”

Even if Lucia’s a changed person who knows how to read and miraculously knows the formula for the virility pill, in the end, she’s still Lucia. She prioritizes all the wrong things. “Old Bai, forget about the caramel for a second. Where’s your sect’s treasury?”

“Forget about the cara—”

“Here’s a batch of chocolate pills for you.”

“—mel…? Ooh, thanks.”

Alright, her temper might be gone thanks to that Secret Phoenix Rebirth Technique, but she’s still an idiot. She’s just no longer an impulsive idiot. No, that’s not quite right; she’s still impulsive, just not when it comes to things that make her mad.

“Right! The sect’s treasury, I can come too, right, Boss?” the phoenix, who I now know is named Mrs. Feathers, asked. “I’ve sensed immense gains in your Secret Phoenix Rebirth Technique; you’ve practically mastered it. Now, you just need a vermillion bird core and some of its blood to get the vermillion bird bloodline. And you promised me a core, remember, Boss?”

“Hmm? Vermillion bird bloodline?” Lucia tilted her head and followed after Old Bai. “Why does that sound so familiar?”

“It’s the thing you needed to learn the enslaving technique I know, remember?” Mrs. Feathers asked. “You wanted it to control Durandal since he wouldn’t let you Soul Scour him.”

Lucia whipped her head to the side. “Durandal! Let me Soul Scour you, damnit!” Before she could even finish her sentence, Durandal had disappeared into her sword. When did Lucia learn Soul Scour? How did she even learn Soul Scour? The Secret Phoenix Rebirth Technique is that miraculous? Shouldn’t something like that be impossible for Lucia to learn in the first place? If it converts her anger into fire essence that she can temper her sea of consciousness with, then I guess it makes some sense….

Wait. Enslaving technique? “Err, Mrs. Feathers, was it? Why don’t you explain this enslaving technique to me?”

Mrs. Feathers stared at me. Then she stared some more. For some reason, it felt like I was staring down a rainbow chicken—probably because she looked like one. “Well, it’s something I’ll automatically learn once I become an immortal. I can’t explain it to you until I learn it.”

It must be nice being a beast. Once they reach certain cultivation levels, they instinctually inherit new techniques. Training, hard work? They don’t need any of that—a little like Lucia…, well, not really. Lucia was supposedly tortured by Durandal when he was teaching her, but the speed at which she picks up skills definitely doesn’t have to do with hard work. If all squirrels were like her, it’s no wonder why people banded together to eradicate them.