[Last Emperor] Chapter 8 - Few Days and Sore Bodies (Patreon)

Tao Zi started his workout plan. Pushing himself for roughly an hour or two per day and nothing more. But he went hard for that time frame, exceeding his previous abilities and pushing himself beyond anything he had ever attempted. 

Pushup until his arms hurt to move and he couldn’t do one more. 

Squats until his legs were trembling like trees in the middle of a tornado or hurricane. 

Mountain climbers, sit-ups, shoulder workouts, glutes, calves, ankles, and even his neck. Tao Zi remembered Mike Tyson’s neck workout graphic he had seen some time ago. He wasn’t exactly sure what to do for that body part, but he tried it anyway. Everything else had become far too sore anyways. 

He was thankful for the massive boulder and the clean source of what appeared to be endless water. He doubted escape from even a turtle would have been possible with how sore he felt. The thought of feeling this much hurt  hadn’t crossed his mind for some reason. The Spiritual Medicine Pill he received made much more sense now. 

It was almost a requirement if he was going to push himself this hard. 

Thankfully, he had received two more during his endless workouts. Tao Zi used one for each day right before he slept. Enjoying the cool, relaxing sensation that filled the aching, burning limbs and body parts. Which meant it permeated throughout his entire body.

His plan was coming along excellently. Percentage for both his body cultivation and Qi cultivation continued to soar day by day. The rewards did grow the harder the tasks became. Which meant everything took longer, making his process turn from barely an hour and fifteen minutes to two entire hours. Give or take five minutes. 

Everything had not gone perfect though. 

A certain HellHound kept returning to the cave entrance. Scratching at the boulder blocking the opening and attempting to get around it. Attempting to stick its head in. Spitting foam and nastiness into the cave by sheer rage induced attempt to get in. It had a strange fixation on him when there were clearly better options out there. 

Tao Zi could see it was either not strong enough to move the boulder out of the way or was not smart enough. That meant its Qi and powers had to have gone elsewhere. He wondered if it had an element, or was it incredibly fast? Poison? He did not intend to find out. 

If he ever planned to deal with the HellHound, it would have to be some form of ambush or trap. The stronger you became, the more ridiculous the opponents were. Even if they both were only in the ranks of the Qi Gathering Stage.

“Am I really going to do this?” Tao Zi said to himself. 

Congratulations on your exceptional action!

Overall Physical Limit Reached and Exceeded!

Reward 25 Qi Exp

Reward 7 Body Tempering Exp

Ultimate Bed of Recovery!

Tao Zi stared at the oddly shaped bed that appeared out of mid air. Plopping down where he usually slept. It looked comfortable, but there were fundamental issues wrong with it. One that made him question whether he wanted to sleep on it or if he would rather get unrestful sleep on the hard, cold ground. 

Little Tiger loved it. Jumping onto it the moment it appeared.

A bed in the shape of a kitten was not something he could see a cultivator of any level sleeping on. Especially one stuck in a rift spacial pocket he would likely never escape for more time than he could imagine. It just wouldn’t do.

He looked back at the system message. The only reason he was currently debating it were the ridiculous boosts it provided him while he rested or slept on it. 

…

Boost to recovery time.

Channel Qi while asleep.

Healing aid.

Restfulness aid. 

…

All of which would make his process far more efficient. The Spiritual Medicine Pills did a great job to prepare him for the next day, but it was not a complete healing he was receiving. Only enough to let him continue without extreme soreness and aching pain. The small lingering issues were starting to build up and this seemed like the solution.

Yet, the sacrifice he needed to make was almost too much. 

No one’s here, Tao Zi! No one will ever witness this moment or any moment you fall asleep on it. We have to use it for recovery only. Not that we would sleep on it, just the circumstances that require it! That’s right! In no other world would I do this.

Tao Zi convinced himself. The benefits were simply too useful to ignore and throw into his ring pocket. He was also pretty sure Tiger would throw a fit if its new massive bed suddenly disappeared. The cat acted like it owned the place. Stomping around and making sure to bother him during his workouts. Or remembering he existed when he leaned back and got comfortable. 

Cuddling with Tiger when relaxing was nice. Snuggling together when they slept even better, but being used as a scratching board right as his eyes closed shut from exhaustion was not. Neither was attempting to hunt his toes and fingers while working out. The rascal did not hold back. Tao Zi wasn’t even mentioning the literal nukes Tiger was dropping every time he went to the litter he made for the orange cat. 

He sat on the edge of the bed. A soothing sensation filled his body, far more than he was expecting. 

Looking into his ring pocket showed that he was running out of food. Just enough for what constituted as breakfast tomorrow before he would need to go out and hunt or forage. He hoped to find something out there that would not be at his rank or above. Anything below was fine for the current him. At least until he got more experience in life and death situations. 

The best cast scenario would be to find some large animal. Another buck that had been taken out by the Chimps, but before being drenched in the oil like blood they had. Still edible and more importantly appetizing to work with. 

Maybe he could have brought back much of the buck the group he ambushed had hunted, but he had not been in a situation where he was desperate enough to do so. He would take his chances with other options or hope the system provided him with a source of food. 

Next, Tao Zi started looking through his inventory at all the rewards he had been given. Popping the latest couple of Concentrated Qi Pill’s earning him a few more points of Qi experience. Then he went through all his options that he had been given. 

There were a few duds and more articles of clothing that he would not touch with a ten foot pole, but otherwise he had gotten a great haul. 

Primarily one cultivation technique. 

Yes, it sucked terribly. With a vast promise of providing him less Qi than he was currently getting during meditations based on the system's information. The Oxen Trail of Heaviness cultivation technique was not what he was searching for nor would he attempt anything of that nature. 

But it did give him vital information. 

First and by far the most important was that he could eventually get manuals, skills, and maybe even elite techniques from the system in the future. All options he would accept with open arms. Especially if they would improve his process. 

The new bed helped him cultivate during sleep. Which would provide him roughly five to seven Qi per night’s sleep with his current circulation and learned cultivation technique. It was little for a single day, but would add up. Yet, if he could find something that was far more efficient, it would boost him into another stratosphere. 

Especially with how close he was to breaking into the next rank.

Being stuck at the Qi Gathering - Initiate Stages limited what he could accomplish out here. Five stages per lower realm meant he had one more before he got to his initial goal. He would need to break through to the next stage of Journeyman and hopefully build enough fighting experience that he would be confident to take out the HellHound. 

Removing it out of the equation would provide him with not only time, but the freedom to hunt and ambush without the worry that he was being set up. A massive monstrosity that was half dog, half lizard, just hiding on the other side of the bushes for him to jump into action. Decapitating him quicker than he could react. 

Status - 

User A009328s815hh8: Tao Zi

Clan Affiliation -

Error… Banished from Sect/Clan

Cultivation -

Qi Initiate Stage 4

Cultivation Progress - 

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱ 84%

Body Cultivation -

Body Tempering Initiate Stage 3

▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▰▱▱▱▱ 77%

Dao - 

Unfounded

Domain - 

Locked and Unfounded

Spirit -

Un-Solidified Intent/Spirit Connection

General Tips and Hints:

When are you planning to fight again…?