Chapter 16

Quest completed. Grow your universe - 50,293/50,000

New quest. Transport yourself to your universe - Warning please adjust the shape of your universe first in order to make sure that you have room.

That new quest was a little bit shocking. I hadn’t thought I’d be able to travel to my universe. Although I guess it made sense if I could store living items in my universe. Why wouldn’t I be able to store myself? Although that made me think of something terrifying.

“If I transport myself to my universe will I be able to return to where I was transported from?” I mentally asked the tutorial.

You will be able to transport to any location within the area that you were able to absorb energy from when you transported yourself to your universe.

I couldn’t help but smile. That was far more useful than I had expected. My range had increased drastically. I could now absorb energy from anything roughly twenty feet from where I was standing. Which meant that, when transporting myself to my universe and back, I could choose to do something like teleport myself to the other side of a wall. In fact I could probably skip an entire small room. As my universe grew I’d be able to travel even longer distances.

I’d have to wait until later to transport myself to my universe though. I wasn’t about to leave when there were still over fifty magic beasts to be slaughtered. Plus I was still getting energy from elder Yui, and now many of the guards and other cultivators that were nearby. Even the butchers and ranchers were cultivators. Although most of them were only fourth or fifth level cultivators.

In total it took over four hours for all the magic beasts to be slaughtered. Which was quite impressive. Less than three minutes per magic beast. Of course the butchers had fallen far behind. The animals that were waiting to slaughter had been hung up on hooks behind them so the blood would drain. Considering how gruesome the entire scene was I was eager to leave. If it hadn’t been for the free energy I doubted I could have stayed so long.

Next up was another trip to the fields in order to stock up on more plants. I’d need to hurry since the sun would be setting in an hour or two. As elder Yui and I left the barn I eagerly pulled up my status. As I had suspected I had over a hundred thousand energy.

Adam Black

Status: Core shattered. Muscles atrophied.

Total Energy: 104,690

Total Stored Energy: 0

Total Universes: 1 (click for detailed list of each)

Total Passive Energy Gain from Universes: -9

Equivalent Cultivation Rank on Universe: Master Cultivator 1

Equivalent Cultivation Rank off Universe: Apprentice 3

This time I was staring at the last three lines. For a second I was very concerned about the negative number for the passive energy gain. Then I remembered that I was spending one energy per day for every ten thousand cubic inches of my universe. That was around ten energy spent a day. While I was only gaining one energy for all the plants. Having more plants would fix that.

The next line was really shocking. That was equal to an early level six cultivator. Which meant that while inside my universe I’d be at least ten times stronger and tougher. The final line told me that I was an early level three cultivator while not inside my universe. In fact I was nearly a mid level three cultivator.

Being a level three cultivator meant that I was finally able to notice some small differences. I was just a few percent stronger, faster, and tougher than I had been before. Obviously that wasn’t enough to make much difference in a fight. I was ecstatic though. Normally it took a cultivator around a year to reach the third level. I did it in just a day.

I couldn’t help but realize that elder Yui was right. If this was an ability it would be truly overbearing. I was able to cultivate hundreds of times faster. Plus I had numerous tricks I could use. Such as being able to store items, or even people, in my space. I could also use my space to transport myself over twenty five feet through solid objects now. And I still didn’t know the full extent of what the dimensional originator would let me do.

Once we reached the farm I worked on transporting plants into my universe. I decided that I had probably been placing the plants to close together before. So I only put a little over five hundred in my space this time. Thankfully my range had increased drastically and I could mentally transport multiple plants at the same time. So it only took a few minutes.

Despite how many plants I transported it only increased my passive energy gain to twenty energy a day. Which was insignificant compared to the energy I had gained from being nearby when magic beasts were slaughtered. In fact I was gaining around that much energy every minute just standing near elder Yui.

Then again I knew that the death energy from those plants once they finished growing would be far more significant. In total they were giving me thirty energy every day. According to everything I had seen I would gain a hundred times more death energy when they died. That would be around three thousand energy.

Still not much compared to killing magic beasts. And only around three hours near elder Yui. I’d be foolish to pass up free energy though. Plus that would only increase further as my space continued to grow.

“So what are the effects?” Elder Yui asked me after I finished storing plants.

I shrugged. “Killing magic beasts gave me a lot of energy. In comparison the plants are disappointing. But they do give me energy. Just not very much. I’d estimate that when they are harvested I’ll gain the equivalent of slaughtering just three of the magic beasts.”

Elder Yui looked a bit disappointed. “I was afraid of that. Unfortunately we can’t just slaughter magic beasts every day. I’ll have to talk to my family and see if they can come up with any better solutions. For now I think it’s time that you head back to your room and get some rest. I’ll find you tomorrow morning.”

I started to agree but then remembered I had a few plans for tomorrow that elder Yui would probably need to know about. “The morning sounds good. However, I already told Emma that I’d have lunch with her. Also she mentioned something about meeting the clan head tomorrow.” I said.

Elder Yui looked thoughtful when I mentioned Emma and the clan head. “Hmmm. For a moment I forgot about those plans. Previously I only halfway supported them. Clan Ashton and I have long had an agreement. They help protect my family and in return I help protect them. Clan Ashton becoming stronger was good for that deal. But their plans to leave was something I couldn’t support since my family can’t leave. However, your ability changes things.”

I couldn’t help but give the elder a slightly shocked look. “It seems like everyone is getting on board with the plan to turn me into breeding stock.” I said with a sigh.

Elder Yui grinned. “Well maybe having a hundred willing and beautiful women will help keep your hands off my daughters. Plus it’s not like anyone is going to be able to force you to do anything. With your ability you will end up being more powerful than I am. The only question is how long that will take. I suspect it will be sooner than either of us imagine.”

I couldn’t help but agree with what the elder was saying. At least about me becoming more powerful. I still wasn’t on board with the whole breeding program thing.

Elder Yui apparently noticed my hesitance. “Let me put it another way. All those women want to have powerful children. I know for a fact Emma made that decision years ago. The fact that you are hesitant about it is a good thing. If it’s not you I suspect that many of them will find a different father for their children. One that will probably mistreat many of them. I suspect you will also protect them and any of your children. Most cultivators aren’t like you.”

“I understand about Emma. However, the rest of them I feel like are being taken advantage of. Many of them are just in it for protection and shelter.” I said

“Then give them a choice. Soon you will be more than powerful enough to protect and shelter anyone you choose to. I have a feeling you will be surprised at what they choose.” Elder Yui said.

I couldn’t help but feel that he was right. Although I wondered if it was my mind making me feel that way or if the bottom half of my body was affecting my view on what elder Yui said. Either way I’d have to think about what he said. And maybe his solution was the right course of action. Give them a choice. And offer shelter and protection no matter what that choice was.

After elder Yui went back to his hut I headed back to my room. The journey took quite a bit of time. However, I was feeling just a bit better than I had that morning. Part of that was because my muscles were starting to recover a tiny bit. I was sure the boost I got from being a third level cultivator was also helping.

When I finally arrived at my room the maids hurried to get me food. The sun had already started to set and it was well past dinner time. Unsurprisingly the meal I ate was mostly meat. I was sure the number of magic beasts we had just killed had exceeded what the cooks and butchers could preserve. The clan probably only had a certain number of smoke houses and places they could dehydrate the meat and make jerky. The rest would either become meals for the next few days, sold, or be given away to the citizens in clan Ashton's territory.

I was kind of surprised that the maids mostly left me alone. Then again they didn’t know me at all. In their mind I was probably just somebody they served and a likely sperm donor for their children. Children that would hopefully be highly talented.

After eating the food was cleared away and all the maids left. Which meant it was time for me to visit my universe and complete my next quest. First though I had to make sure to adjust the shape of my universe. I needed something far more than a single foot in height. Although at the same time I didn’t want to damage the plants I had moved into my universe.