Chương 88: Rush to Win

"If you're here," Jin slowly started after he and Bao had absconded far away from any curious eyes into the forest.

"And I'm here." He paused and furrowed his brows.

"Then who else is here?" Bao shrugged.

"I've never gotten any indication of any others."

"It's too coincidental that the two of us met in this vast world without there being others though," Jin muttered.

"Although if it was a regular phenomenon, then maybe there would be protocols to find people like us."

"Would there?" Bao asked doubtfully. Jin paused and stared at her with a tilted head before slowly nodding.

"Cultivators reincarnate and possess younger bodies all the time. They also know that other worlds exist, but don't seem to actually care beyond the simple wish to ascend to a higher tier one in the pursuit of immortality."

"Additionally," Bao started.

"I don't know how many thousands of mortals there are for each cultivator." Jin shook his head.

"More than a thousand. Try ten thousand. Maybe a hundred thousand."

"Exactly, like it or not, a mortal is an ant," Bao complained.

"That makes a startling amount of sense," Jin muttered.

"Out of a 100. 000, perhaps only one would have the talent to actually cultivate."

"The lucky one is you," the woman pointed out. The inner disciple scratched his chin.

"Our main benefit is the ability to innovate due to a different perspective. But in a world where conservatism is rooted in the eternal lifespan of its leaders, innovation is not needed, nor desired."

"I heard half the world has been taken over by demons?" Bao asked frightfully.

"What are we doing about that?"

"We?" Jin asked.

"We can do nothing. Personal power rules, and I'm far from being an elder, let alone a sect leader. Even if I was, I would be one amongst a thousand, barely enough to shift the scale by an inch." Bao scratched at her scalp and looked around nervously at the trees casting a shadow over their clearing.

"We still shouldn't tell anyone," she whispered.

"Of course," Jin agreed.

"It would be stupid. You're very brave for telling me." He narrowed his eyes.

"Too brave." Bao sneered.

"Do you know how hard it was to look at the trash you've scrawled on your walls and say nothing?"

"Well, I'm sorry for having to reinvent fucking programming from the ground up after working in construction my whole life," Jin retorted. The woman paused.

"You're right, you're right. This place is a mess. I'm constantly on edge."

"Explains your desperate search for a husband," Jin muttered.

"Although if you knew anything about the men in this world, you'd stay as far away from them as possible."

"You think being a peasant is a life worth living?" Bao hissed.

"I did it for more years than I would wish on my worst enemy. I want a house, I want food, I want a bath, and I don't care who I have to let sexually objectify me to get it!"

"You have other options, you know?" Jin muttered.

"Ah, yes, the great job opportunities offered to mortal women in a feudalistic world!" Jin shushed her.

"Let's try to be less obvious about it," he insisted.

"Cultivators can hear more than you think. More than I think most likely." He sighed.

"Regardless. I am a cultivator who earns enough," he paused, "let's call it money, to permanently sustain the lives of several mortals. You have a valuable skill set, as I am now aware. So why not just collaborate more closely? The original deal was to give you minimal tasks while you find a husband. Why rush finding one when you could simply let your skills do the work for you?" Bao glared at him.

"How about you just stop giving me those crap tasks and let me be, for old time's sake." Jin stared at her, wide-eyed.

"I'm fucking busting my ass twelve hours a day so the sect doesn't excommunicate me, you think I give a shit about your life of leisure?" he asked. Bao snorted.

"It was worth a try."

"I'll stop giving you those crap tasks, and you can instead start helping me with the applications of our shared, more obscure techniques," Jin said evasively before frowning.

"Also, this would mean you can stop flirting with Francis." Bao blinked at him confusedly.

"Why would I stop flirting with Francis? He's cute." Jin stared at the woman for a brief moment before looking down. He erased the last minute of the conversation from his mind. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Do you have a coding background?" he asked.

"Four years CompSci," Bao replied with a nod.

"Good, if you saw my work, you probably know I've been trying to recreate a rendering program," Jin said.

"I actually sort of just thought you were going insane," the woman admitted.

"It was all kinda schizo to me." Jin twitched.

"Regardless, you're better suited for the task considering your background, so I could use your help."

"What's the issue exactly?"

"Imagine an Illusion Room is a computer with limited storage. A scenario is a video game you run on that computer. Current video game creation methodology does not utilise the concept of data compression or graphics rendering. If we figured out how to render scene by scene, depending on the current environment of the player, we could save vast amounts of space and thus increase the size and complexity of scenarios while not improving the hardware that is the Illusion Room," Jin explained briefly. Bao stared at him.

"You want a lobster with that, handy from a supermodel? Any music wishes?" She shook her head.

"You want me to create a programming language so that I can use that language to interact with a magic box with a rendering software I'd have to invent from scratch."

"I need an algorithm," Jin said simply.

"Just for the visuals. If we can just manage to compress that so as not to have to store the equivalent of 50. 000 high definition movies, that's already all the space I need."

"I want my own apartment. I share the servant's quarters with a fatass who farts through the whole night," Bao suddenly said.

"Free room and board for the rest of your life if you can help me solve this issue," Jin said bluntly.

"And a weekly allowance," Bao demanded.

"And a weekly allowance," Jin agreed. The woman extended a hand towards him. Jin took it.

"For safety's sake, let's never talk about the specifics of our deal or situation ever again," he proposed.

"Deal," Bao grunted. After they shook on it, a small smile suddenly came to Jin's face.

"So, Francis, huh?" he asked. Bao blushed.

"Shut up, you wouldn't recognise handsomeness if it smacked you in the face." -/- The work on Skyrim accelerated like a rocket after the addition of Bao to the project. Jin hadn't even realised how much of his time the rendering had been taking before he managed to dedicate an entire day to the game rather than software development. As he made his way to the canteen, not having Bao to bring him food anymore, he realised that he was in a great mood.

Which was, of course, when he found Elder Flower waiting for him back at his apartment once he returned.

"Inner disciple greets Elder," Jin said with a clasp of his hands and a bow, trying not to let his turbulent emotions show on his face. Flower looked at him with glowing white eyes, seemingly piercing straight through him with her gaze. After a few seconds, she nodded in a satisfied manner.

"Good, you haven't let the spirit stones go to waste," she said, before frowning and stepping forward to clasp him on the shoulder. They disappeared and reappeared in the clearing in which they'd trained together months ago before the tournament.

"What do you think about your cultivation progress?" Elder Flower asked.

"I shouldn't have any issues reaching the core formation stage in ten years as you demanded," Jin said.

"Perhaps that was a bit hasty of me," Elder Flower suddenly said gently with a soft smile on her face.

"Take your time instead. A good foundation is important for a bright future!" Jin fervently shook his head.

"No, Elder Flower, this foolish disciple admits that he has dragged his feet for too long. The earlier one takes a step, the earlier one benefits from doing so. Take many quick steps, and you win before others have even started moving." Elder Flower glowered at him for a brief moment but said nothing. It was a big faux pas to tell someone to cultivate less fast in this world, a gesture usually associated with wanting to keep someone at a weaker position so one could more easily exploit them.

"The scenario development is progressing at a rapid pace," Jin said to switch the topic.

"We will be done within the decade, earlier, most likely."

"I'll have to try it out when you're done and before it gets released," Elder Flower said calmly. Jin bowed again.

"Your feedback would be invaluable, Elder." He paused in this pose, pretending to ruminate. He knew exactly what Elder Flower wanted. She wanted him to remain an inner disciple for however many years it took for him to compete in the inner disciple tournament, now that the other sects had decided to no longer segregate based on the status of the disciples' sects. He had to find a way to make sending him off for another tournament impossible. Which meant he needed to finish this interaction.

That was a bit problematic, since he was walking a very thin line due to the hierarchical structure of his and Elder Flower's relationship.

"Talking about feedback," Elder Flower suddenly said with a smile.

"I have been thinking about how to further reward you for your accomplishments during the tournament. Spirit stones are a meagre reward for the winner, after all." A cold sweat broke out on Jin's back, and a nervous smile alighted on his features.

"A mere word from the respected Elder is reward enough," he said feverishly.

"This inner disciple dares not grasp for things beyond his station and content himself with a solitary existence typical to cultivators of his level." Elder Flower slowly shook her head, her long black hair swaying with the motion as her green eyes glinted.

"Never before have I met such a humble disciple," she praised.

"But you are not grasping beyond your station by accepting what is the reward for your tireless efforts. Long has our relationship remained uncodified within the sect. Perhaps it would be time to discuss a more permanent arrangement accompanied by more serious cultivation efforts." Jin's knees wobbled, and he fell on them. Again, he clasped his hands and bowed his head.

"This disciple urges the Elder to reconsider and find someone more worthy! I will inevitably bring shame unto thy name with my clumsy demeanour and my deficient character."

"Your character will develop with age," Elder Flower said graciously.

"And your demeanour will grow with success. It is decided. I shall take you on as my personal disciple and instil into you the essence of the combat techniques of our sect." Jin silently cursed in his mind. This bitch. She'd noticed that he'd rush to the core formation stage to avoid participating in the inner disciple tournament. The thing was that if he achieved the core formation stage, even if he remained an inner disciple, his participation in the tournament would become unwise.

'Why do you have an inner disciple with such a frightening level of cultivation? There are many core disciples that lack his talents. Have you perhaps slowed his advancement to take advantage of this tournament. Hmm, for this slight, the Brown River Flow Ass Sect shall declare a blood feud with the Illusion Room Sect.' She couldn't tell him not to advance in his cultivation. That was taboo.

What she could do, though, was waste many hours of his day learning combat techniques that didn't directly increase his cultivation. That way, he'd stay at the foundation establishment stage for longer, while also becoming stronger. The only downside was that she'd have to personally oversee the sessions and thus also waste her own time. The ball was now in his court. A personal discipleship wasn't something he could refuse without getting slapped for his insolence. Elder Flower had pulled out the big guns.

He reluctantly fell forward and touched his forehead on the cool ground.

"Unworthy disciple thanks master!" he exclaimed loudly as tears began streaming down his face. This bitch. He'd show her. He'd show everyone. Skyrim, Elder Flowe-, no, master's personal instruction. He'd reach the core formation stage regardless. He'd have the last laugh. Believe it.