Chương 172: Asgard fairies

Luoli walked through the Tier 8 protective shield of the Asgard Sect, the dangerous arrays and killing formations responding like an eager puppy when the owner came home. She let her fingers brush the familiar arrays, and her soul tingled. Ancient memories, and the pain of a lost past. We won't make the mistakes again, not this time. Luoli took a step and appeared beside 8 ice-blue monoliths, the key stones of the Asgard Formation. She sighed aloud and placed a hand on the nearest monolith.

Silly disciple, I told you to wait. Tier 8 is not the best, but still high-enough to sustain a Dao King for a billion years. Even longer, if the target was a beast or a plant like the Bodhi Lotus.

"I am home." she said gently, and tears dropped on the ground, freezing instantly on the Yin-aspected floor. A strong presence appeared beside Luoli, examining the intruder with a frown.

"How did you get in here, in the most secret chamber of Asgard?" the woman asked in a menacing voice. Luoli glanced at the peak Dao King and sighed.

"Here? I built this place, of course. Eight monoliths, key stones for a Tier 8 Formation meant to train my only disciple. Who could have guessed that nobody else in this world would ever reach Tier 8 in Formations after me?" she complained and poked a second monolith. Pure Yin energy and Dao insights poured into Luoli, raising her cultivation rapidly until she crossed into the second Dao King level, thousands of years faster than most women ever could. Not unless they sucked the milk of Pef Tian, of course.

That was also a viable method. The Asgard Dao King flared her qi, but in this place that meant nothing. Luoli was now in control of the entire Asgard Formations, as would any decent Formation Master, not just the creator.

"Who are you? What do you want?" the Asgard Dao King asked, just as another pair of Dao Kings Elders appeared at her sides.

"Just visiting old memories. My little Valkyrie died here, while I was away, too high on hubris to remember I left her behind. Some people still remember the Purple Empress, right? The world was not broken when I ascended, but cultivators have long memories." Luoli answered with a sad voice, and poked a third monolith. The stored Yin and insights awaited an authorized user, one who never came. Luoli accepted the gift, and her cultivation climbed into the 3rd level of Dao King realm.

Sadly, this was only a Tier 8 Formation, and not even one properly maintained.

"The Purple Empress? Walking storm? That one?" the second Dao King asked a bit more wisely. Luoli nodded gently and touched the fourth monolith. As expected, without care the Dao insights were too degraded. She drained the Yin energy and moved onto the fifth monolith. Draining the fifth barely gained Luoli her 4th level in Dao King realm. Such a sad state of affairs. A Formation like this should raise a Quasi-Empress in a single day.

"You are the descendants of my first and only disciple. There is a bit of karma between us. You are lucky I am not like most Emperors above. They would simply erase your sect and extinguish this karma. Simple and easy, right?" Luoli asked a bit rhetorical. Most Dao Kings were not very connected with their own karmic strings, blindly weaving their lives in darkness and ignorance. An older Dao King at the 8th level of her realm appeared outside the core, and waved the younger sisters away.

"Empress. What do you wish of us?" the old woman asked in a resigned voice. Luoli drained three more monoliths to reach her 5th level in Dao King realm, making her the strongest Flower, if she ever wanted to return. Then she turned and waved the old woman closer.

"Come inside, my child. Place your hands on this monolith and listen with your Dao heart." Luoli demanded, pointing at the last monolith. It was not enough for herself, but it should work on the old Dao King. Two million years of qi refining were quite wasted, but the Dao insights were not. A bit hesitant, the old Dao King entered the core of the Formation and placed her hands on 8th monolith. Luoli activated the storage transfer, illuminating the heart and soul of the old woman.

A minute later, the woman fell to her knees and coughed a black sludge from her lungs. Luoli sighed and patted her head. Still not enough to reach the 9th Dao King level. But at least the woman's body was doing ten times better now, as most impurities caused by pill toxins and spirit stones were pushed out. Most, but not all.

"Do you want to reach the 9th level, my child?" Luoli asked in a kind voice. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The woman nodded slowly, eyes filled with hope.

"Go to the Million Flowers Valley and ask the Fairy Doctor then. But, ask very nicely. I married him in this life, so I don't want him to suffer on my behalf. He will suffer plenty anyway, but it should be his choice." Luoli muttered while taking out her last monolith from her storage ring and placing it into the middle of the Formation's core.

A tap on the monolith pushed the Dao King outside, and Luoli began to work more seriously, adding the Tier 8 beast core and a couple of trillion spirit stones into the Formation. It would not reach Tier 9, but becoming a dozen times stronger would suffice for now. She sat down and closed her eyes to cultivate, while the monoliths lit up like 8 suns illuminating a red moon in the center. Sadly, she lacked better pills and Tier 8 fruits, but a Formation Master could do without.

Energy was energy, no matter what form it took. The Tier 8 beast core began to melt, adding its strength and vitality to Luoli's body. In a few hours, her cultivation crossed the 6th level and approached the 7th level. It was not enough, but it will have to do. Until Pef Tian ascended as a Dao King, she would be invincible in Dao King realm, even against peak Swordmasters and demonic Soul Binders. Her body broke and reformed as she circulated the Purple Jade method, reaching Tier 7 in body cultivation as well.

No Dharmic phenomena, no singing Heavens. Strength did not have to be flashy. The Formation covered Luoli and her Great Dao oath covered her soul. Only Pef Tian would be her equal in this life, and that's because she asked for a worthy man. The Great Dao responded, gifting her the best man it could find. Simply put, there could be nobody better. The Great Dao was the perfect matchmaker, even for an Immortal Empress. Or Immoral one, like husband liked to say.

Luckily for him, she was not that far gone into immorality like the rest of the Emperors above. A day later, the last spirit stone evaporated and Luoli stepped out from the Asgard Formation, now a late-stage Dao King in the 7th level. But while the cultivation level wasn't bad, it wasn't relevant anymore. Her Formations were her real power anyway. She stored the 9th monolith back in her now-empty storage ring, and entered the Asgard Hall, where a dozen Asgard Elders waited for her.

"My name in this life is Luoli. You can address me as Big Sister Luoli." she told the gathered Dao Kings.

"Luoli! I saw you at that battle against the Eight Blood demons." another Dao King with white hair exclaimed in a strange voice. Luoli pointed a finger and made the woman kneel using the Asgard's Hall array.

"Big sister?" she asked a bit amused.

"Right! Big Sister Luoli. You were only a Great Sage back then." the woman admitted with a smaller voice. Luoli patted her hand, letting the Elder sense her bone age.

"Come, sit with me for tea, little Sisters. I want to hear what happened since the world broke." she invited the gathered Dao Kings, who were a bit confused.

"Big sister is only 28 years old! And a Level 7 Dao King!" the woman who was touched almost screamed.

"Purple Empress? Are you reborn or a similar flower?" another Elder asked, while poking the cup of her expensive Buzhou tea.

"Both. Once you ascend, you cannot die anymore, not completely. The body can die, the qi can be dispersed but the soul remains. Our small world has few similar flowers, but the world above is filled with them. Throw a rock into a Golden City, and you will hit at least three reincarnated souls." Luoli said in a hyperbole. It wasn't so easy to ascend, after all.

"Big Sister Luoli, did you really create our Asgard Hall? That makes you our Ancestor, right?" another Dao King with pink haired asked curious. Luoli shook her head and sipped some tea.

"Vali did that. My disciple wanted a Hall of Heroes, filled with Valkyries and righteousness. Her soul lamp reached the end of the wicker before she could find a single good man." she said with a sad voice. A grave silence filled the Asgard Hall.

"Our Founder was named Vali. Why do we not know that?" another Dao King asked and sobbed softly.

"The world broke. I've visited the Azure Plains before coming here. The entire continent had four Soul Transformation cultivators. Everyone else was in Nascent Realm or lower. Slavery was legal. Demonic sects everywhere." Luoli said in a mourning tone.

"Yeah. Sometimes, people from the lost continents do show up on the Central Continent. We heard even worse stories." the pink haired Elder muttered and drank her tea. Luoli looked at the Asgard Elders, and picked several pretty ones. Husband will need their pure Yin to ascend faster.

"The seven of you, I can help you cultivate faster. Do you want an extra level in a month or less?" she asked with a kind smile. Without explaining the cost, the Dao Kings nodded eagerly.

"Is it painful?" one asked a bit wary. Luoli shrugged.

"It hurts a little. Especially if you want to cultivate your body as well. Pef Tian is not only a good doctor, but also a Tier 7 Alchemist who can make body cultivation pills. But you will need to bring rare herbs for that. It's not like anyone sells Tier 7 herbs at auction." she advised them with a smile.

"Oh. Is that how you cultivated so fast, Big sister? The Fairy Doctor made pills for you?" the pink haired Dao King asked with an interested voice. Luoli mentally added the pink one to the list.

"Yes, but not only that. You can join us and see. I mean, Pef Tian killed a Tier 8 Boar a few weeks ago. With his sword. Not bad for a Great Sage, right?" The Asgard fairies were indeed culturally programmed to follow a renowed hero, and they all perked up at the news.

"A Tier 8 beast? It would take a dozen of us to kill such a monster. How can a Great Sage kill one? Did he have help?" another woman asked with a glint her eyes. Luoli nodded.

"I was there too, but we were both only Great Sages. Pef Tian provoked the beast into a poetry contest first, and as they argued about a red moon poem, we jumped on the beast and killed it. But Pef Tian did most of the work."

"Now I really wish I was there too. Please, big sister! Can you take me to meet this hero?" another Dao King asked with a shy voice. Luoli measured the woman's big chest and nodded slowly. Husband would like to eat that.

"Fine, but only the nine of you. When you come back, perhaps I can convince Pef Tian to meet more of the Asgard fairies. Can't leave your sect without guardians, after all." Luoli decided with a final voice. A few hours later, they departed as a group towards the Million Flowers Valley, chatting and sharing fun stories from their adventures.