Chapter 92: Jelous

Kian left his home and brought the fatty with him without disturbing the girls.

After about an hour, he returned, having left the fatty where he had come from. Now, once again alone at home, he sat down and crossed his legs.

In his hand were a few books, each a combat spell or martial technique. He had bought it from outside in the city, or to be honest, stolen.

From the fatty’s home, of course.

"Let me see," he muttered.

The books fanned open across his lap.

Iron Skin Technique, Hawk Eye Art, Wind Step.

Three manuals, the same three the Divine Arts shop had listed for sale, their covers worn soft at the corners and smelling of dust and old candlewax.

Kian picked up Hawk Eye Art first and flipped to the first page.

The neat script described flooding the pupils with Qi until distant objects snapped into perfect focus.

Usually, a normal person could not learn techniques like this. But being a Sixth Stage Qi Builder, he should now be able to learn them.

In Kian’s case, he had been able to learn techniques even without becoming a 6th stage cultivator, but that was only due to the Divine Arts shop.

[Do you want to learn this technique?]

[Yes/No]

He closed it, tossed it onto the bed, and reached for the other two. They were already learned techniques, so the system did not prompt him.

Kian pondered deeply about the matter and opened Divine Art Store.

To his surprise, it had changed.

The Divine Art Shop panel expanded like a scroll unrolling in his vision. The old lock icon that had barred mid-level techniques was gone.

In its place, a new header burned in gold script: Mid level techniques were now available for purchase.

Under it, the list ran long.

These were not the simple Iron Skin or Wind Step he had already learned. Each name carried weight, and the descriptions hit him like cold splashes of water.

Kian almost stood up in shock.

[Celestial Rain Array — Call a storm of Qi blades from the sky. Each blade homes onto spiritual signatures within one hundred meters. At Mastery, it becomes a true domain of falling light.

(Price: 200,000 Low Grade Spirit Stones)]

Kian exhaled.

That alone could turn a battlefield into a grave.

[Sea Dragon’s Tribute — Bind a water source to your soul. Command it as your own flesh. The more water you claim, the stronger the art grows, until whole rivers answer your call.

(Price: 800,000 spirit stones)]

His fingers twitched.

That was not a technique. That was a fucking disaster.

[Shadow Step — Teleport between shadows close to you. (Price: 2 million)]

Kian was speechless.

Then his eyes dropped to the prices. The cheapest one sat at 200,000 low-grade spirit stones. The most expensive, [Thousand-Eye Starfall], promised to pull star essence into his body, strengthening flesh until he could face Qi weapons without fliching, was seven million stones!

Seven mill!

Kian let out a long, slow breath and leaned back on the bed. A single peak-grade stone and the remnants of his pouch sat beside his knee. It felt like holding a copper coin in front of a dragon’s hoard.

He scanned the list again, burning each name into his memory. One day, those techniques would be his.

One day! For sure.

Kian closed the Divine Art Shop with a thought and looked at the second peak-grade stone lying beside his knee.

The hunger in his dantian hadn’t cooled. If anything, that seven-million-stone price tag had sharpened it into something close to pain.

He scooped the stone up, rolled it once across his palm, and set it at the center of the small heap of mid-grade stones still scattered on the blanket.

No more waiting.

Low and mid stones were worthless now. Twin Heart had grown past them. He would feed every stone he owned into that grey braid and pull out as many peak-grade stones as his energy could manage, then absorb them one by one until the path to Stage Seven cracked wide open.

Kian pressed the first two mids together and let the grey light braid tight.

The grey light snapped, and a high-grade stone dropped into his palm. He paired it with another and pulled again. The process turned mechanical: mid into high, high into peak, peak set aside.

The room warmed, the pile beside his knee shrank, and the honey-colored row across the blanket grew.

Hours bled into each other.

His palms ached and his breath came in short, hot bursts. Twice he stopped to let the grey braid cool, but the hunger in his dantian dragged him back before the seconds ran out.

At some point, he noticed that Feimei had returned and he was still not quite done.

Feimei spoke from beside his face, her breath cool. "Kian... you made all these?"

He turned in time to see her eyes, red and kind. She reached down and ruffled his hair, her smile breaking through the shock.

"You really are a capable, surprising boy." He caught her wrist and kissed it.

"Pool done?"

"Mn. I’m done. It worked. But damn, you always have a surprise in store. You have the ability to synthesize peak grade stones from low grade ones?"

"I do I guess."

"That’s some crazy ability, you know? You shouldn’t let it become a news or people might come to kill you for it."

"Hm."

"Anyway, the island’s mine now."

"Good. Take the others to see our new second home. I’m still busy."

Feimei nodded gladly and skipped out of the room.

The door clicked shut.

The work continued.

The sun set.

The pile finally finished.

Kian grabbed a peak-grade stone and pulled. Qi flooded him in a white-hot rush, and he moved to the next before the first had fully crumbled.

One after another, the stones drank themselves dry through his palms.

The girls’ voices rose and faded somewhere beyond the walls, then all sound fell away.

They must have entered the island.

Deep in the night, just as it began to transition into morning, the last stone turned to dust.

Kian stretched, his spine cracking in a clean line, and looked at the pouch.

He counted what was left. After all the fusing and absorbing, his total spirit stone count had come down to exactly a hundred low grade stones remaining.

He was poor again.

Kian smiled to himself, tired but satisfied. He pocketed the hundred low-grade stones and shut his eyes, pulling on the island’s familiar tug until the world folded and snapped back open under a sky thick with stars.

He was in the island.

’Where are my girls?’

A campfire crackled at the center of the clearing, its orange light dancing across the black sand.

The girls sat around it, laughing and roasting chunks of meat on sticks, their voices bright and easy.

No one looked ready to sleep.

Kian was glad that they were not sleeping without him.

He walked in, legs heavy, and circled behind a laughing Xiao Cui. His arms slid around her from the back, dragging her into his chest. She stiffened for half a second, looked up, and Kian rested his chin on her forehead.

"You guys are all having fun without me, how cruel!" he complained.

Mia looked over, a piece of meat held against the fire. "Mom said you are busy cultivating and told us not to trouble you."

Kian pouted, an exaggerated, annoyed pout that ended in a kiss on Xiao Cui’s air headed face.

She blinked. Blushed,

Jia, on the other hand, looked annoyed. "Kian, come hug me!" she said. "I am cold."

Kian looked at Jia huddled by the flames, the light licking gold across her bare arms.

She hugged her knees, her chin dipped low, but her eyes cut toward him the moment he moved. That pout did something stupid to his chest.

She really was a stunning cutie.

"Oh sure."

He left Xiao Cui blinking and crossed the black sand in three slow strides. Then he dropped down behind Jia, wrapped both arms around her middle, and pulled her flush against his chest.

She scoffed.

His hands didn’t stay still. They slid up her ribs, thumbs pressing into the soft dip beneath her breasts, then back down to squeeze the curve of her waist.

She smelled like fire smoke and jasmine soap.

Jia bit her lip to keep the smile from breaking loose and sank into him, letting her head fall back against his shoulder.

"You came," she whispered, arching just enough to press her whole weight into his stomach.

From across the fire, Xiao Cui stared with wide, uncomprehending eyes, a roasted stick dangling from her fingers.

Jia met that confused gaze and lifted her chin a little, a slow, victorious smile curling the corner of her mouth.

She didn’t look away once as she reached up and hugged Kian’s hand, holding it there.

Xiao Cui didn’t seem to understand what she was trying to do, but she was a bit sad about not getting to hug him for a while longer.

Kian noticed it for later.

At the same time, he felt the victory roll off of Jia like heat. He laughed low against her ear, his fingers flexing around the soft handful she’d placed under his palm.

"Jealous already, little Jia?"

"Eh, jelous who?"

He squeezed, and she made a small, choked sound that might’ve been his name.

Feimei hid a smile behind her hand, and Jiao Yin’s shoulders shook with silent laughter.

Mia shook her head. "Stupid girl, this one."

Jia rolled her eyes.