[Last Emperor] Chapter 4 - Things Don't Seem Quite Right (Patreon)

Reaching the cave was an unceremonious event much to Tao Zi's pleasure. He really did not like the idea of trekking even further to find another safe area that was occupied by some ridiculous monster looking to eat weak cultivators for dinner.

Said cave was pretty much empty. A few critters but nothing that was close to being dangerous to Tiger. A bit of shouting and chasing had the cave cleared within a few moments. Making it his first resting spot officially.

Tao Zi had shifted a few large boulders to cover the entrance. Light streamed in from the edges. Tiger didn't seem to like the thought of being locked into a single area. Constantly scratching at the massive stones Tao Zi had used to cover the opening. Crying out at its lack of freedom and any chance to escape.

He ignored the little rascal.

Instead he had a plan to prepare. Tao Zi sat on an elevated position within the cave, back pressed to the furthest wall from the entrance. The vantage point would give him an advantage if anything tried to sneak in. He would be able to see them before they found him. Hopefully giving him the chance to either escape in time, or ambush it from a height before it could react.

Earning him some extra Qi experience and pushing him further up the ranks.

For now though, he sat with crossed legs. Eyes closed. Focused solely on his core, the Qi within his body, and the attempt to circulate external Qi into his core. Attempting to find what it looked like to cultivate compared to the system accomplishments. All of which had moved his progress bar up slightly to 7%.

It wasn't much, but it was progress in the very first few hours without doing anything other than jogging, hiding, and running from creatures that could kill him without any difficulty.

Some time had passed.

Tao Zi had gotten a few notifications of 1 Qi Exp a couple of times, but otherwise, nothing else. Slowly, lethargically, as slow as a snail type of progress that grated at his senses. That had been the main reason he hadn't wanted to cultivate in the first place. So many stages that required so many years.

An average of thirty years of cultivation to break through all the Qi Gathering stages which broke down further into four different realms. A hundred years to break through the Foundation Establishment stages and realms and finally become a true cultivator in the sense of the word. Then there were more stages after that, required to establish yourself or you would be considered trash for the rest of your existence.

Expectations that needed to be met by certain lifespans and ages. Social pressure. Peer pressure and the constant struggle against other outsiders attempting to take your head for the name recognition of the person who killed so and so.

It was just too much.

Tao Zi opened his eyes. Disappointed and beyond frustrated. Just doing random things would be a better use of his time, even with the scaling difficulty he noticed. Pushups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, weight training, and a hundred other things he could technically do and achieve more than sitting in his spot meditating about nothingness and gathering Qi unhurriedly.

Now the question turned back into how much Qi would he get if he killed something. Would it even provide him with Qi Exp?

Guess I'll find out soon enough. Those chimps won't escape me!

Tao Zi turned his attention to the notifications he had been getting ever since his hasty search for this cave and finding out about those chimps. A dozen notifications with a lot of rewards. Of which the majority were ridiculous and would need to be disposed of.

What was worse was that most of his usable rewards were cat based. A large food bowl. Water bowl. Toys and even a ridiculous cat tree for an indoor feline. All of which would not help him in any way currently.

It was getting ridiculous.

He opened his status page, studying everything he could learn from it. Seeing his cultivation and body cultivation quantified into numbers stroked a certain part of his brain. It felt oddly satisfying. Then seeing the 5% change to 7% was even better. Dopamine rushed through his mind.

Status -

User A009328s815hh8: Tao Zi

Clan Affiliation -

Error… Banished from Sect/Clan

Cultivation -

Qi Initiate Stage 4

Cultivation Progress -

▰▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱ 7%

Body Cultivation -

Body Tempering Initiate Stage 3

▰▰▰▰▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱▱ 33%

Dao -

Unfounded

Domain -

Locked and Unfounded

Spirit -

Un-Solidified Intent/Spirit Connection

General Tips and Hints:

Myriad ways to Cultivate. Stop wasting time and energy!

A massive smile grew on his face the longer he looked at the screen. It made up for the pretty horrible rewards he had been getting. Not that he could really complain. Tao Zi couldn't expect much of anything if the threshold for a reward was breathing normally, walking ten steps, or even getting up from his seat. It would become an issue once he started with the harder things to accomplish and he was still getting useless stuff.

He could already see the problem. The stats and percentages would need to keep growing to fuel this feeling.

Not that he minded.

Tao Zi looked back to the other rewards he had been given. Of everything he had received, only two were even close to usable by him. Yet even then, it was a stretch for one. There wasn't much he could do about a rusted sword with cracks all over it. More liable to take his head off rather than the enemy the second it snapped in half.

Yet, the second item was usable. As though the system had heard his thoughts and plans. Giving him something he required when he needed it. Or maybe he was giving meaning to nothing. How could he not when he had been provided with a pretty primitive, but sturdy and thick length of rope.

A perfect tool for a certain situation. One that he currently faced.

First a random cat, then active radar homing rewards that were out to take his head off or drop the nastiest thing on the planet on him, to the cat products he was provided with as soon as he took Tiger in, and then finally a rope for his trap.

The trap he had yet to make a plan for in detail other than that he wanted to do it as soon as possible.

More and more hinted that his mind was being read.

Not that he could do much about it anyways. He would need to keep it stored in the back of his mind until he was either strong enough, or had enough knowledge to deal with whatever the Last Emperor's Cultivation System was supposed to be. Whether it was an AI, some supremely powerful being, or maybe even Tiger the cat.

For now though, he needed to hunt chimps with the sentience to form a language, tactics, and rudimentary weapons.

"Tiger!" Tao Zi said as he stood up. He went to the corner of his elevated position, depositing both the full water bowl and the empty food bowl for Tiger.

The cat had ignored him until it heard the clinking of the metal bowls. It perked up, watching him for a second. Then bolted in his direction, acrobatically parkouring up to him without any issue. Coming to a stop directly in front of the food bowl.

He pulled out the cat food, and poured the bastard some. He would not be back in a while. Best he had food and water out in the open for the cat to eat while gone. He couldn't have his only source of communication and association dying from starvation. That would lead to very difficult path of insanity—

Wait a minute.

Tao Zi looked back at the water bowl Tiger was currently lapping up and drinking from. He hadn't filled it with water before. Did it by chance arrive with water already in it or would he need to find a flowing source?

He picked up Tiger and put him directly in front of the food. The cat did not break stride. Eating out of the bowl as though it had been doing that the entire time. Then Tao Zi picked up the bowl of water. Dumping its contents onto the floor unceremoniously. Watching to make sure the bowl didn't full itself up while it was out here.

Nope. Nothing in there.

He let it return to his spacial ring, then pulled it back out. It was full of water.

Oh my... Maybe I should check out all the cat rewards. I almost missed this completely. I would have been in a. World of hurt and dehydration had I not gotten lucky to catch this detail so early.

There was more to the rewards than he expected. Tao Zi let his attention return to the revolting, disgusting pieces of clothing in his ring. The same one he had planned to burn. Were they the same as the bowl? More than what they seemed to be on the outside? Were they special in any way?

He cursed in his mind. Tao Zi now needed to clean them. He couldn't let the potential possibility of them being something important pass him by just because of a few brown stains or two. Maybe over a dozen, but that didn't matter.

Tao Zi would never forgive himself if one of them had a special ability or effect. He could already imagine underwears of invisibility, socks of speed, tank tops of flight, and a dozen other options.

All of which he knew was likely not the case.