by Pegaz A
The wooden door beneath was rotten and looked like it would collapse by touching it. John saw no other way through. He took a deep breath and spread both hands along the door; the wood completely aged into fine dust at his touch. Success!
John walked inside the small room and looked at the books through his Scan. He didn’t want to risk them falling apart in his hands. He couldn’t understand the language as it was different from anything he’d learned before, including the language on the surface of this planet.
At the end of the room, however, John found a stone tablet that he could tell was made with the utmost care. There were pictures and words etched all over it. It was 6 feet tall, 4 feet wide, and half a foot thick. One of the bigger images depicted a person, but the brain was in a different colour with arrows pointing towards it.
This must be a cultivation technique. The humans here must have had immortals at some point. Did these wasp creatures kill them? Or did they die of old age because they didn’t reach Rank 9? I don’t think I’ll find the answer to these questions here.
John turned the Absorb option off before he put the books and the stone tablet inside his Storage Space. That was when the system informed him it was scanning the tablet and translating it.
After the scan finished, it showed John the results. The tablet was a cultivation and breathing technique like John thought. John stopped two parts of his mind from cultivating, leaving with only three to work on it. A minute later, John was shocked to learn that his Life Power per minute increased from 450,000 to 525,000.
So this stone tablet increased the amount by 75,000 Life Power per minute. Jeremy’s whole 35,000 years of life only saw an increase from 100,000 to 450,000 per minute. This tablet alone is worth 7,500 years of Jeremy’s life.
Even after he’s dead, his life is still becoming more worthless. That’s talent.
Chapter 38
The Hunt
John set five of his mind parts to cultivate again as he walked out of the room.
Looking at the three creatures standing on the vine-ridden roof, John didn’t know what to do with them. He grabbed the long neck of the Rank 5 creature and twisted it as hard as he could. The texture was bristly beneath this fingers; it was like squeezing the tail of a feral cat.
But this was not enough to kill the creature, as John soon found out. Although his grip initially left a weird dent on its neck, it merely inflated a few seconds after he let go. It was like it never happened.
Offended, John took out his nano swords. He strapped them onto his body then drew out the longsword. Feeling a bit aggressive, he swung down at the creature’s neck with more speed than necessary, completely decapitating it. Talk about overkill.
‘Ding!’
Congratulations on killing your first Rank 5 mutated immortal creature, we have given you a reward of 1 skill point to place anywhere you choose.
John’s eyebrows arched up and his eyes almost popped out of his sockets.
Mutated immortal creature? I didn’t think I would get a skill point from killing again until I was strong enough to kill a person above Rank 9. Now I just need to find one creature of each rank! I can get 8 more skill points! These skill points are precious to me right now.
John swung his nano sword at the other two creatures that were under his memory manipulation technique.
Congratulations on killing your first Rank 6 mutated immortal creature, we have given you a reward of 1 skill point to place anywhere you choose.
Congratulations on killing your first Rank 7 mutated immortal creature, we have given you a reward of 1 skill point to place anywhere you choose.
Only 6 more to go. I don’t want to fight the whole army, so I need to find stragglers.
He teleported miles into the air and turned Life Vision and Immortal Eye on. It didn’t take long to find Rank 1 and 2 wasp creatures that were at a safe distance from the group. They were looking for food, which was the perfect time to strike. John took out his nano short sword and made a beeline for the two creatures, teleporting and flying at wondrous speeds. His short sword beheaded the Rank 1 like butter and his longsword beheaded the Rank 2 with as much grace.
Congratulations on killing your first Rank 1 mutated immortal creature, we have given you a reward of 1 skill point to place anywhere you choose.
Congratulations on killing your first Rank 2 mutated immortal creature, we have given you a reward of 1 skill point to place anywhere you choose.
Only ranks 3, 4, 8, and 9 to go. The Rank 3 and Rank 4 creatures won’t be too much trouble, but the Rank 8 and 9 ones would be the equivalent of kings in the human kingdom. They won’t come out and hunt for food, I’m assuming. They must be heavily guarded by their subjects.
I don’t want to give up this opportunity to earn skill points, but if they’re in the middle of the herd, it might get too risky to attempt it. I’ve been lucky so far. Let’s hope my luck will remain good for the rest of the hunt!
John teleported back up in the air and looked around. With the Scan skill, John could see some of the more populated areas where the wasp creatures dwelled. One, in particular, looked like it was once a human town. Upon closer inspection, the whole thing had fallen to ruin and was overrun by vines and overgrown weeds. John got a little closer to the ground to better investigate the area.
Trees sprouted everywhere between the buildings and in the streets of the village. All the houses were two stories high, but in the centre of the village was a much bigger structure. This was where John headed to hunt for his prey.
On the way there, he found the Rank 1 and Rank 2 wasps gathering food, but no Rank 3 or 4 would leave the outskirts of the population. Inside the biggest house, there was a single Rank 9 on the top floor and two Rank 8’s on the ground floor. They were all sitting down, eating.
It’s like an ant colony. The low ranking members are the workers so they go fetch the food. The Rank 3 to 7 creatures work on the inside as soldiers and helpers. The two Rank 8 and the sole Rank 9 are the queens and the king respectively.
To get to the Rank 3 and 4, I have to go into their territory and find some that are on their own. But the smallest amount of creatures in a group I’ve found inside the city so far is 6. It’s like a patrol squad.
John kept an eye on all the creatures in his field of vision. He even found some of them flying, but at a lower altitude than he was. He found a Rank 4 creature flying towards the centre of the nest, alone. John quickly teleported, beheaded it, and teleported back. With the body and head in hand, John stored the corpse in his Storage Space before it could fall and alert any other creature.
Congratulations on killing your first Rank 4 mutated immortal creature, we have given you a reward of 1 skill point to place anywhere you choose.
John looked down with Life Vision and Immortal Eye and confirmed that none of the other creatures saw what happened. He let out a sigh of relief.
An hour later, he found a Rank 3 creature that went its separate way from the rest of the patrolling members. John discreetly followed the same procedure then teleported back in the air.
Congratulations on killing your first Rank 3 mutated immortal creature, we have given you a reward of 1 skill point to place anywhere you choose.
Now only the king and queens are left. Hopefully, the Rank 9 creature will die if I behead it and then split its head open. If not, then I’ll have to get its soul and absorb it, bleh. I’ve also got to remember to aim above its voice box so it can’t alert anyone. Wait, do these things even have voice boxes?
John teleported to the metal roof above the biggest house in the village. With his Life Vision, Immortal Eye, and Scan all working together, he tried to find a pattern with the patrols to see if the Rank 8 queens or the Rank 9 king moved at all.
He wanted to avoid killing as many as possible since there was only a couple of hundred in the city total. He didn’t want the creatures to grow suspicious if they had higher level thinking capabilities.
Abruptly, John spotte
d a group of Rank 7 creatures flying around the biggest house, all seven of them patrolling. On the ground, he also spotted three groups of Rank 6 creatures, grouping up by the tens and circling around the house, too. These must be the guards.
John teleported above the flying creatures, still remaining close enough to see inside the house with his Scan. The second floor was empty, so John turned the Hover option on and teleported inside. Once he arrived, he created three threads and spread them each out towards one of the creatures nearby. There was one on the third floor and two on the ground floor.
Two of the threads closed in on the two Rank 8 creatures and touched them without a hitch. He used the Memory Manipulation skill as soon as he could, resulting in success. John celebrated the small victory in his head but quickly focused on the third thread.
As soon as this thread got close enough to the Rank 9 creature, John felt his stomach knot up. He watched through his Scan as the king wasp stood up to its full height and then swung its hand down across the thread. A half circular blade of Life Power generated from the creature’s hand, slicing the thread where it contacted.
The blade made no sound, and the creature didn’t make a sound to call for help either.
John’s pulse quickened as the creature walked toward the cut thread and looked down at the floor. The thread evaporated within seconds, however, and the creature was left staring at nothing. Concerned, it looked around but to no avail. While it was distracted, John steeled his nerves and then sprung into action.
In one fell swoop, John teleported behind his prey and swung his nano sword just below its chin.
The sword made it through.
John quickly put his short sword back inside his Storage Space, followed briskly by the headless body. Then, John spun around and swung his longsword down onto the head as it fell to the ground. The sword sliced the head in half. With his right eye, John could see the creature’s soul rising out of its head.
John put his longsword in his left hand and using his long, black fingernails, picked up the creature’s soul and ate it.
Congratulations on killing your first Rank 9 mutated immortal creature, we have given you a reward of 1 skill point to place anywhere you choose.
As his right eye began to portray the animalistic life of his slain opponent, John whispered a command for the two Rank 8 creatures to come up to the third floor. When they arrived, John put his nano longsword in his right hand and beheaded both creatures.
Congratulations on killing your first Rank 8 mutated immortal creature, we have given you a reward of 1 skill point to place anywhere you choose.
John smiled.
That’s 9 skill points I’ve earned in less than a day. I wonder if there are any other mutated beasts or mutated monsters I can kill for new skill points?
At the very least, it’s worth exploring a larger area and finding new creatures to hunt.
Chapter 39
New Situation
John looked around the room where the Rank 9 creature was living. However, even with his Scan, he found nothing worth taking. He teleported back high into the air and then flew towards the metal ceiling.
He opened the system.
Welcome to the Idle System 5.9.
Name: John
Title: Demon
Age: 41
Idlers: 0/616
Skill Points: 9
Life Pool: 3
Toxin Pool: 169.9B
Sin: 9,834,814
Immortality List:
Neuron Storage - Idlers 616/616, Compress 5/9, Time - 1y 11mo 16d
Almost 2 years until the next level is complete, I’ll use 4 skill points to reach Rank 6. Those 4 skill points will save 40 years of my time, so it’s worth it.
Looking up at the metal ceiling, John placed his hand on it and used his metal element to create an opening. He climbed inside and after about 10 feet, he stopped. This was the safest place for him to hide and to rank up.
John looked at the Neuron Storage skill and placed a skill point inside. It levelled up to 6/9 and the new time was 5y 4mo. Another skill point went inside and the skill levelled up again to 7/9, the new time was 10y 8mo. Again, he placed the third skill point inside and the skill levelled up to 8/9 with a new time of 21y 4mo.
However, when he tried putting in the fourth skill point, the skill flashed red and stayed at the same level. John knitted his brows and tried again, but got the same result.
‘Ding!’
Tooltip - It requires 900 billion Life Power to advance from Rank 5 Level 8 to Rank 5 Level 9. It requires 1 trillion Life Power to advance to Rank 6.
John closed his eyes. He had almost 170 billion Toxin Power, which was the same as 850 billion Life Power. He just needed to wait for his Toxin Power to increase.
I wonder what would happen if the 21y 4mo time of the skill was in its final seconds, but I didn’t have enough Life Power to advance. Would it stay at 1 second until I’ve gathered the required Life Power or would it reset the time? That’s a scary thought, wasting 21 years like that.
To get to the 180 billion Toxin Power requirement for Rank 5 Level 9, he normally would need about thirty-three days. However, now that he didn’t have to use a part of his mind for the breathing technique, he could use all seven parts to generate double the amount per minute.
This cultivating session would only last for about fifteen to sixteen days to get to Level 9. To get to Rank 6, he would need another 20 billion Toxin Power. It would take too long while cultivating in his current location; he could be attacked at any moment and it was too big of a risk to take.
His plans with the Adventurers Guild were pointless now since he could increase his rank on his own. He didn’t completely write it off, though; it wouldn’t hurt to have a backup plan.
The place the Rank 9 and 8 creatures were staying had a decent Life Power mist, but it wasn’t enough to sustain my cultivation for sixteen days. There are also too many creatures around the area. I would get attacked maybe after only a few hours.
John used his metal element to sink back down, then he flew back towards the place he dug down from the surface. When he arrived at the area he had initially begun his digging, John descended to the floor and drilled towards the centre of the planet again. He used his earth element to close the hole above him for 100 feet down, then to make the tunnel stronger so it didn’t collapse on him.
After he dug down another ten miles, the Life Power concentration increased and became a mist, but he kept digging. When John arrived at the bright yellow iron ball he came to expect inside a planet, his Scan detected a small cave.
John teleported into the cave and found the Life Power had turned from a mist to a liquid. The liquid was a bright green colour, and it filled the whole cave.
It all made sense to John after seeing this liquid. Life Power was constantly travelling through the ground from the centre of the planet to the surface, which should be generated somehow from the small black ball in the centre.
While the Life Power was travelling, it didn’t take any form, it just continued to rise to the surface. But because of the deflecting metal, the Life Power on this planet stayed near the middle and was pushed back down towards the centre. It got to the point where the Life Power concentration was too thick and formed a mist. Since John was closer to the source of the Life Power, the consistency was thicker and resembled more of a liquid. This planet truly was unique.
John sat down inside the Life Power liquid and stopped the Scan and Storage Space parts of his mind. He used four parts of his mind to absorb the Life Power and three parts to merge them together before reaching his brain.
After an hour, John noticed that as portions of the liquid Life Power disappeared, the source replenished them. He stopped cultivating to think.
This liquid is enough to sustain my cultivation, but I’m going to try to use the deflecting metal to condense it more...
John took out the large block of deflecting metal from his Storage Space and noticed t
he Life Power liquid was being pushed back from it. If any Life Power touched the metal, it was knocked back with force.
He used his metal element on the block and the metal around the cave. He replaced the metal on top of the cave with the deflecting metal to make it like an umbrella. The Life Power that would have carried on to the surface of the planet would now be trapped in this cave.
John cultivated again using all seven parts of his mind. An hour later, he stopped and noticed the Life Power liquid did not go down at all. The umbrella was catching more Life Power and pushing it back inside the cave, just like he’d hoped.
With all seven parts of his mind cultivating, John was getting over 24 million Toxin Power an hour. That was over 120 million Life Power an hour or 2 million Life Power units every minute. His absorbing technique allowed him to absorb the Life Power in any part of his body, so he made each of his legs and hands absorb the Life Power.
The Life Power he absorbed from his legs merged together while travelling towards the brain, and the Life Power from his arms merged together, too. When the two parts from the arms and legs met before reaching the brain, the final merging took place.
Without merging it all, he could have absorbed almost double of what he was doing now, but his body would not be able to handle the stress even with the system giving him a peak body.
Sixteen days and ten hours later, he stopped cultivating and checked the system. He saw he had enough Life Power, so John used the fourth skill point on the Neuron Storage skill and entered Rank 5 Level 9.
Welcome to the Idle System 5.9.
Name: John
Title: Demon
Age: 41
Idlers: 616/616
Skill Points: 5
Life Pool: 1
Toxin Pool: 180B
Sin: 10,598,647
Misc List:
