Six red candles lit with black flames blazed and spewed forth a cinnamon aroma. I could only process so much lion meat at a time, and there was a lot of fat wasted when Sir Brussel did the trimming. So, I carved what fat I could off the bones mixed it with cinnamon and olive oil, boiled it, and made candles. Then I took hair from the main and had Maddie braid it into candle wicks. From there, I took some black qi stones and crushed them into powder to mix with the fat. Once lit, they spewed forth fire qi and made my room smell pleasant.

Hela gave me some time to freshen up before we went at it, so this is what I used that time for. Sure, I’ve acquired the higher fire spirit I needed, but that wouldn’t matter if I didn’t feed into it. A coalescence cultivation technique for fire qi wasn’t any more complicated to make than wood qi. Having a copy of Starlight helped me out. There were formations in it that I had never even heard of, and I was tempted to adapt my fortress one more time. Just for fun, but it wasn’t mine anymore.

I stocked the wood stove I installed and felt sweat pour down my face. This was going to be something else. Ashen liked it hot, and even with a higher fire spirit added to my cultivation, she would burn me up if I didn’t prepare.

There were some books on body tempering against heat for bankrupting prices. 10,000G is out of my price range. And even if I managed to save Shadbak’s village, the system might not reward me for much. On the other hand, the catgirl slave trade was booming. I’m sure whenever Washington hatched, he would invest. Well, if he wakes up with any humanity left. I don’t know if who I met was really him or a caricature of him. The boy was 19. I used to have trouble with my skill; he probably did as well.

With that in mind came the elephant in the room. Hela wasn’t a bad girl despite her negotiation tactics. Yea, she was taking the Baron and his family hostage except for Maddie and Lucio. I couldn’t blame her; I would do the same thing if someone practically handed them to me. But, really, if the Baron was smart, he would have hidden in another room until negotiations were over. So, leaving Washington here as a ticking timebomb didn’t seem right.

After a lot of meditation, cultivation, and pacing, I came up with a strategy to get him out of here. He could drain my qi with just a touch, and my dragon fire was no different. So, what if I built a wagon isolated with formations, dug him out, and placed him on it with rope. Then just out of the ashen lands, I could unhitch the wagon and leave him in the middle of the woods.

Yea, I could Dragonball it up and go all out and really shove my power against it or risk touching it to inventory the thing, but sometimes the most straightforward solutions are the best.

As my thoughts on the matter cleared, I felt my qi hit a barrier. My wood and fire qi had hit mid-coalescence borderline high and could go no further. I knew for a fast if I shoved more qi against the problem, nothing would happen. It wasn’t a matter of power at this point but balance. Usually, a deity was needed at this point to assist someone over the wall. Unfortunately, I wasn’t taking assists.

Emily had the Prophet to help her normally, but Hela had volunteered to help her into the Nascent realm. That wasn’t a part of our deal and was too damn generous for me to leave a tumor in this place. So, I got my ass up and found one of the knights.

“Do you need something human?” The knight captain asked.

I didn’t get this guy’s name, and he didn’t give it. Only Hela introduced herself, and these guys usually kept quiet and looked intimidating. I knew why Hela was their noble, and her power flowed through them. In a way, they were like parts of her power more than powers on their own. That’s the way I saw it anyway.

“You can help me by doing your job. This is your temple now. I shouldn’t have to point out to you when someone is stealing from you.” I said.

His eyes gleamed a dangerous crimson red. “Don’t patronize me human you take from this place still even though ownership has already been exchanged.”

“Lady Hela has given me leave to cultivate as she adjusts to the base; that’s how I discovered a subversion in the qi flow. There is something buried in the ground absorbing qi.” I said.

“Buried in the ground that would explain how it could cross the moat. Perhaps it’s a new version of a demon host-seeking revenge. What do you want us to do about it?” He said.

“If it's alive, we kill it, and if not, let’s remove it and load it on a wagon. I can carry it with me just out of the ashen lands and dump it in the woods.” I said.

That would remove Washington from the power source, hopefully, keep my hands clean, and if possible, weaken him significantly. I didn’t want to know what he was going to turn into.

Still, the knight captain stared at me with undisguised mistrust. I didn’t blame him; in a way, I was playing them. I ultimately played them and could have gotten out of this with their destruction, depending on how powerful Washington was when he emerged. Having second thoughts had more of a chance to bite me in the ass than leaving them to the tumor. Hela would fail to advance with Washington sucking up the power like crypto miners on a power grid. Finally, he nodded and waved some footmen over.

I showed them the spot, and they began to dig in earnest. They had excavated the cocoon in minutes and began moving spears in to lift the object out of the hole. Rotten roots wiggled and grasped at the cocoon while purple bolts of electricity surrounded the object. It looked like a hunk of rotten meat wrapped in vines. Parts of it pulsed and squished while the footmen moved to string ropes around it.

I built some pulley cranes, and they went to work fully lifting the cocoon out of the ground while other footmen slashed off the roots with short swords. Once the cart was ready, they placed the cocoon on top of it, and I covered the thing in a demon host pelt. The pelt still held plenty of anti-human aura, quickly blotted out the aura surrounding the cocoon. Despite how grotesque it looked, Washington couldn’t escape his humanity.

“It looks like a big worm. Do you think some kind of demon host fly might have landed on a piece of meat or something?” I asked.

“I think you should return to the bed chamber before my lady chooses to look for you. This problem has been dealt with before it could get out of hand. I will report that you informed us about it and assisted in removing the problem. So just this once, I won’t ask if you knew about it beforehand. But if you did and you didn’t tell us, no force in this world could stop us from riding you down.” The knight captain said.

A nod from me seemed to satisfy the man.

My thoughts circled back to removing Washington. It was easier with more men. If I had to do it myself, I don’t know how I would have managed it. People were important; I couldn’t overlook that anymore. Starting a farm and hiding away to gain power wasn’t an option, not if I wanted to build a power base. Helping out Lucio and putting a Baron in my pocket seemed like the best next move I could make.

If he managed to keep his estate after this, he would need a powerful backer, especially after beggaring himself to ransom his family. Setting up shop in his Barony would supply me with some cover later. But, first, I needed to establish myself as an Alchemist that would award me some minor protection while making myself indispensable to Lucio.

Just building a company wasn’t enough; I needed to bring forth the company town or, better yet, many company towns. First, the high spirits and nascent realm; second, I’ll restore the Barony, third become an alchemist, form my own company, and finally, establish a company town with the protection of the Barony. That would set me up to get the ball rolling financing and supplying revolutions. I simply didn’t trust the status quo.

I returned to my room to sweltering heat. A silken dress lay across my chair, pink silken undergarments sat atop the dress, and minor burn marks on my floor led to my bed. Molten gold eyes peaked out at me from beneath a lion hide in the low candlelight. Small, singed hairs slowly curled in her presence while my formations struggled to keep the room from going up in flames.

“Are you nervous? Not many can say they’ve been with an ashen lady. Many noblemen in my family boast of human maidens they’ve taken and how their beauty wilts like a flower tossed into a flame. Even the mightiest earth and fire-specialized human cultivators can’t seem to last around us. So, are you nervous? Once we embrace you too, will you be like a flower tossed in a fire?” Hela said.

I eased out of my lion hide clothes and approached her. “Your beauty makes the sunrise plane and the stars seem dim. I think your eyes are the greatest color imaginable, and your hair reminds me of the happy times of my childhood. You could say fire has always drawn me and yours even more so. But I plan to survive.” I said and brushed my hand through her hair.

If I focused enough, I could protect my hand from the burning as I approached her. She moved the hides back, revealing the ashes from burned hide and a smell that battled the cinnamon aroma in the air. Tiny black pubs covered her quim with the same tiny sparks of orange in her hair. At least I knew the carpet matched the drapes. I leaned in close and kissed her lips.

Her lips were squishy and luscious, like kissing molten lead. My body screamed at me to stop and back away. The heat from her rose at an uncontrollable level. I pushed my qi to its limit to protect myself, and my dragon aspect helped, but everything had its limit. Transforming wouldn’t help matters because the armor kept my dick and face hidden behind armor. All I could do was burn and protect myself. Her lips parted, and her tongue crossed over. Pain lanced through my brain as I struggled to protect my tongue from the heat.

If it could be called, her saliva was like liquid mercury silver and goopy between our tongues. I wasn’t sure if my cultivation and dragon form would be enough to save me or not. We weren’t even the same type of lifeforms.

She was fire qi based, and I was carbon-based. Even her human form was more mechanically similar to human than anything. Her body held the idea of being human but was far removed from the human condition; she moved closer and pressed against me jamming her tongue in with all her might. Where our skin touched, I fought with my qi to shore up any weaknesses and keep the burns to a minimum. Her breath was like a 10,000-degree torch ready to blow my brains out if I didn’t defend myself.

After a few minutes of making out, I began to get used to it. Yea, we were different, but I had changed, and surviving even this long proved the change wasn’t done. My qi responded to me faster than it had before, and I could keep it going much longer. One funny thing about sex is endurance. A man can ignore the strain of intense sex until after it's over.

Unfortunately, I had only adapted to making out with her. Her skin no longer burned me so terribly where our skin touched, and I could get close to her. I’ve already used up all my qi 10 times over only for the fortress’s reserves to help me. I pulled back from her lips to see her orange nipples glow like firelight. It was her blood or an approximation to it. The orange substance flowed through her veins much like a human’s blood flowed through theirs. And when she’s exciting her blood flows just like a human woman would.

I lowered my hand to my member and knew this would be the moment of truth. She had been holding back, and I knew it, but the moment I slipped inside, I would be at her mercy.

She placed a hand on her own lips. “You’ve been good. Most humans who make out with my kind lose their tongues. It makes their cries for help difficult. Maybe you’re different and can take what I have to offer.” Hela spread her legs and reached down to part her orange lips. Silver liquid dribbled out, and I reached forward and pushed a digit inside.

Heat greater than our make-out session blasted me and nearly scorched the flesh from my bones. I pulled my hand back to reveal raw pink skin, a slight frown from Hela. “You don’t want me to burn up, do you,” I asked.

She lifted a hand and placed it on my chest. “Caring for humans only ends in self-destruction. Take the plunge and show me your worthy of my twin’s core.” I pushed my qi with all my might and even touched against the wall. Surpassing that wall might have been enough to make this experience enjoyable.

I pushed in, slowly feeling her clench and burn me while I did my best to shield myself. The pain was unreal, and Hela’s face turned orange again. She rocked her hips, and I did everything I could to keep up against her inferno. Again, her hips rocked, and I guarded myself with everything I had. Still, she burned me, and I used what I knew about wood qi to heal quickly. Again, I shielded what I could, but I continued to burn and burn as her heat increased with every pump.

Hela’s hands shot forward, and she threw me on my back. Orange cunny lips kissed my base as she used her total weight to drive me inside. Her juices flowed across my body, evaporating my sweat and burning my skin. Even as I resisted and healed, she burned me repeatedly. Finally, I reached up and wrapped my lips around her nipples, and felt her core thrum with excitement. My lips felt chapped as hell, and the saliva in my mouth evaporated before my dry, burned, and cracked tongue brushed her nipple. Still, she continued to pound against me and kissed my face leaving burns the shape of lips into my skin. As I healed from the damage by pumping more wood qi into me and defended, I felt my member burn and heal.

“Almost, don’t burn up yet, just a little more.” Hela moaned and pulled and pushed against me. The heat continued to climb, and there seemed to be no end to this agony. My mind felt like it would crack, but it refused to go quietly. Even as a part of me screamed to give up, another part of me seemed utterly pleased with my results.

She screamed and pushed down, dribbling streams of white-hot silver juices all over my stomach and chest. Hela reached down and rubbed herself before pulling my member out. She pushed my member into her throat with a single motion before sucking it clean. I stared down at myself, thinking I’d see the shriveled, blackened remains of my once serviceable member. Instead, my eyes widen in surprise that it's still there. The barrier I tried so hard to keep up winked out.

Generation adaptation floated through my mind; it wasn’t just about seeds after all. Ashes of reincarnation seemed to join the thought forming a kind of symmetry. They were two aspects from fundamentally different elements that fit so well together.

“Adversity is our strength,” I said before moving closer and snatching one of her nipples in my mouth.