Chương 177: The only exception

Two weeks later, Meng Lin and I arrived in the middle of the White Sea, much closer to each other than how we departed. Perhaps it's only natural, adversity and travelling do create a 'suspension bridge effect', while our daily sessions of love-making contributed to our closeness. Just reaching this place meant we had to fight a dozen Tier 7 beasts, and a Tier 8 beast was keeping its 22 eyes on us, while I pretended not to notice.

Inside, I cursed the Purple Empress and her mad science experiments as this Radiant Red Crab beast had too many limbs and an excessively durable exoskeleton. I might have found the limit of Tian's Sword skills with this damned beast. Even without trying to fight the durable Tier 8 beast, my instincts told me that my Sword skill would not suffice in cutting through the superb armor. On the other hand, Pef's flower cooked up thirty-three methods to kill this beast anyway, without relying on the stupid Sword.

If this was a man with high intelligence and ability, only two of those methods could work, but beasts were limited, even those capable of speech like most Tier 8 beasts. After all, the armored plates could only protect something from outside damage, and even then the slow-cooking method would still work, if I had a million years to wait until the Tier 8 crab was boiled alive without noticing.

"What now?" Meng Lin asked as I sat in midair and took my wine out for a bit of rest and recreation.

"Now we wait for the locals to get annoyed at our intrusion. Then we pick and choose the right core alignments." I answered in a casual voice. The Asgard fairy frowned for a second, then took out her tea table and started preparing and boiling tea, mostly by habit. It wasn't like a Dao King would even notice microbes or other organisms in the water. Unless she encountered a high-powered toxin like that Sea Urchin venom, a Dao King was already immune to the environment.

I just floated on an air armchair, sipping my wine and waited. Minutes turned into hours, the night fell over us and the sea lit up with light blue lights, possibly a type of fluorescent algae, or something completely different based on qi and elemental alignment. Maybe even both. This world was strange, and mostly unexplored. Only a Dao King could even reach this place, and there was no Darwin or Curie among the cultivators.

In that aspect, the Purple Empress was something special, since she kept trying and failing at obtaining knowledge directly for very long, unlike most cultivators who failed a few times and just gave up. Reading old books was enough for most of them, which is why most of them also never ascended into the Heavens and beyond.

"Three beasts are coming." Meng Lin whispered a bit wary, as if she wasn't here with me.

"Five. One is aspected to Salt and Water. One to Wood and Water, possibly a sentient algae type. But those other three are interesting indeed. Earth and Water, I think. Pure Ice aspect for the second, and Water and Ice for the last one. You are quite lucky, my dear." I noted while locking the incoming beasts' signature in my mind. My Tier 7 sword appeared in my hand, and I sliced three times, unleashing my Sword Intent at maximum.

The ocean below us exploded, revealing my three targets, two already wounded quite badly.

"Umans!" one Spotted Sea Jaguar beast roared in pain, then I sliced off its head and stored its body directly. Meng Lin was holding her Ice Domain up, bouncing off shards of rock and ice, while I chased after the next beast, a kind of white lizard encased in ice. My sword vibrated slightly, separating the ice like a hot knife through water, but the lizard detached its tail and escaped, while the third beast, a Ice Horse rushed me like a bull. Beasts. So silly.

My sword decapitated the Ice Horse, before it could change course and into the storage ring it went.

"Help!" Meng Lin yelled as thousands of prehensile vines and algae began assaulting her ice shields. I ignored the panicked fairy to complete my hunt of the white lizard. If I was right, this lizard would regenerate at his speed. I wanted that ability for my Alchemy. Wolverine from Pef's memories was quite amazing, even without qi and flight. I could do even better, because Alchemy is that awesome. But only if you have the right ingredients.

Which is exactly when the damn multi-legged crab decided it could intervene and snack on some human meat. I sighed inward and continued my pursuit. Meng Lin could take care of herself for a while. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. My sword strikes kept slicing of bits of the white lizard, even a few limbs. It was not enough, especially as a white orca flew by like a missile and almost chomped on my head. Oh well, I knew this wasn't going to be easy.

Seven Tier 8 beasts at once was almost my limit for now, not to mention them being in their natural envirnoment and getting terrain bonuses like Pef compained. Four beasts right now. Things were not good, but also not bad. I even had an ally, although one without much combat skills. Then again, orca! It should taste a bit like tuna, right? When free food joins the table, I shouldn't complain.

I switched targets and filleted the less-durable white orca in a few seconds, collected my bloody loot and chased after the crippled lizard, while Meng Lin yelled again for help. I kept ignoring the woman, until I caught up with the damn lizard and took its head, then stored the loot. The crab stopped to stare at me with 22 eyes on long stalks, possibly fearing a bit for its life now that the odds were more even. Two versus two should be fair odds, right?

Sure, unless you are a tentacled algae beast that's amazing vulnerable to salad-making instruments. Like a sword. I stepped on empty air and dove towards the tentacle source, slicing off verdant roots and vines as I went, until I reached the sea floor and the beast hidden into the ground.

"Peace! Please don't kill me!" the monster beast cried. I stopped and tapped my sword.

"Peace, you say? After you ambushed me and my wife? Does that seem a fair trade to you?" I asked curious. The crab beast had already hidden underground, like its kind was prone to do. The algae beast sighed aloud, then pushed forward a huge treasure, including five Tier 7 herbs and over a hundred Tier 7 beast cores. This beast was quite a collector, and I was also one. We had a common ground for peace. I collected the peace offering, plus the chopped off salad leaves.

"You get off easy this time, beast. But if I find you at another human ambush, my salad bowl will need to be bigger." I warned the talking algae, then took Meng Lin's hand and flew off.

"You're not going after that crab beast?" the Asgard fairy asked in a softer voice. I shook my head.

"If my purpose was simply killing, there are much better ways than a sword. But the meat would be ruined." I explained patiently while mentally arguing with my resident lotus about the spoils. Damn greedy blue lotus! Don't ask for everything! I'll feed you more Tier 7 beasts when I find more. Sure, the blue lotus was sometimes helpful, especially for Alchemy. But I had many more dependents to feed, including millions of other flowers.

Somehow, without a face the lotus still pouted, and claimed the top Flower rank, while also making itself glow and reveal a few secrets about my next pill.

"Too bad about that algae core. A Wood-aligned core is very rare, almost unheard of at Tier 8." Meng Lin added to my soul pain, as if I didn't know that already. However, Meng Lin was a poor Dao King, and didn't know how to scam beasts. That algae was an investment, which will produce many more resources than its single core. I didn't explain, and just shrugged.

"We made an agreement, and I got paid well. Plus, there are several Wood-aspected beasts in the Jade Forest." I answered, then dove near the sea surface to collect a few thousands Tier 5 flying fish who dared to jump out of the water as I was passing in the area. As we took a route towards home, I kept skimming the sea and collected more beasts, including sea snakes, turtles, sea lions and so on. Lower realms, but still good and nourishing food for the Million Flowers.

The turtles in particular could be also converted into decent Tier 5 shields for the army, with barely a few hours of work from a Tier 5 smith. Good soup too. Much later, we landed near the shore, and camped like cultivator hippies, making grill orca and drinking wine, before fucking like beasts on the soft sand. Already Meng Lin had become addicted to my dick, becoming putty in my hands while I enjoyed her body. Her cold and harsh Asgard demeanor has transformed into a loving one, willing to do anything I asked.

It felt nice, I admit. She was still five levels higher than me, and will soon ascend to be an Empress. And now she was gulping my dick in her throat, moaning while I massaged her white breasts.

"Do you like this?" I asked gently. Meng Lin nodded and blushed slightly, as if ashamed of her new pleasure.

"This is what I can offer you, for millions of years or more. My body to suck or fuck when we want. I love your boobs too. They are amazing!" I spoke while pinching her nipples and pumping out another dose of hot milk. My fairy drank it all greedily, then stood up and hugged me tight.

"Pef Tian, you can use my body anytime you want. I never felt so safe as right now in your arms. Just don't leave me!" she pleaded in a warm voice. I filled her Yin spring with my dick, and fondled her ass to get her moving.

"Don't be silly, my dear Lin. Why would I leave such a nice ass like yours? Just don't betray me. That won't end well." I said in a calm voice, and let her think it through while she bounced on my dick. Her eyes flashed with something, then it vanished.

"Do you want me to take an oath, husband?" Meng Lin asked directly.

"Yes, but I need Luoli to write it. The Heavens are not always a good thing. You already know what happens if someone takes over a foundational Formation like you have at Asgard. The Heavens are much worse than a Tier 8 Formation." I whispered then let my mouth suckle her perfect boobs in turn. Meng Lin looked up at the night sky.

"I know. Luoli is a kind woman, but she is an exception. And among men, the only exception is you." she answered in a heavy voice. I pumped my hips and filled her spring with my milk, while letting out a satisfied groan. Damn Asgard fairies were worth every penny I paid for the yearly beauty calendar. Soon enough, I will have the top 10 all sucking my dick. Now that would be another worthy achievement. The blue lotus glowed inside my soul, promissing to contribute its insights as well.

I hugged Lin tighter and just enjoyed my life. Things will not remain so nice, but I took whatever pleasure I could for now.