Sister Quan carefully moved towards the Pasture Caverns... Rockette mentioned he would be here.
She heard Adam before she saw him. "You guys just wait, once I finish the really COOL modules... and maybe some sort of transportation method, I don't like all this traveling really. Shouldn't be too hard to use a space pocket with two openings to act like a hallway, even if the calculations look horrible. Yes it does, yes it does!"
She crept up... and saw Adam laying on his back the four Bull Chicken baby's playing in his blue flames while he shook one over his head. "Sure the bubbles keep popping, but eventually I can stabilize the stupid things to handle more than one connection at a time. Or maybe I can connect one of those time pockets, so that I can close off the damn things without everyone inside being frozen in place..."
She held back a giggle as Adam gently moved the Bull Chicken (Bicken? Sure, the Bicken.) off his face, the furry thing having climbed onto his head to better chew his hair. "I can sort of understand not including the modules that were unstable, or the ones that automate complicated stuff with excessive Qi being supplied rather than doing all the stuff I do when activating them... But still, I have all those workshop modules!"
The Bicken being held in the air seemed happy to lick the boy's arms, the blue flames rolling along. Adam sighed, pulling the tiny thing into a hug. "It's going to suck when you weigh two tons. Maybe I should modify you guys to just stay cute forever. Rockette knows you're dumb enough not to care either way, even if you are geniuses compared to your parents."
Sister Quan cleared her throat. "Brother Adam?"
He froze, mid cuddle. "...Can we pretend I was doing something super manly when you walked in? Like, bench pressing a boulder or something?"
Her grin answered him fast enough. He shrugged. "Well, whatever. How are the kids liking their new toys?"
She chuckled, and sat next to him to pet the babies. "They love them, of course. The lead guard said we are getting something similar?"
Adam sighed. "Yeah, but unlike THEIR stuff ours is less restricted. And because it is 'so impressive'" He grumbled. "We are going to have to stay in the next big city we hit so our guards can report in, get instructions, and send ANOTHER emergency message. Apparently our Sect has outposts in most major places in their territory with special equipment for situations like this."
He paused. "Well, not like THIS, exactly. I doubt most people can predict the stuff I get up to, really. But once Elder Cho has a Master Pocket Tattoo of her own, we can message her, send cool stuff we find, and securely send anything else later on. Should fix a lot of problems."
Sister Quan nudged his shoulder. "That's all nice, but I just want to let you know that I found it cool. That it was and is an amazing creation." She chuckled. "Even if the scope of potential terrifies me. It is a bit disturbing how you can reorganize society by trying to help children cultivate more easily."
Adam squeezed his Bicken... and both of them paused when it let out a little high pitch 'Merr'.
He grinned. "Now THAT was adorable. I should design more cute things."
Sister Quan poked him. "No. So... can I have one of these new tattoo things?"
Adam sighed. "Later. I think I am close to finishing the Workshop Modules... It projects tools, counters, some gadgets, an oven or two, sinks... all kinds of stuff!"
He grinned. "The kitchen Workshop not only has space to prepare food, but custom space pocket connections that you can connect to different sources. Like... not NOW, it isn't working right. The work around requires an interface layer that requests items and ensures nothing tries to open an already used address because... uh."
A wince. "Yeah, very dangerous. But once I get it all finished, tested, tested MORE, add some more safeties and design methods of failure that won't hurt anyone... THEN I can finish our designs. The blacksmith Workshop was WAY easier in comparison... You can even store projects away in smaller pockets and come back later!"
She blinked. "That sounds... good?"
Adam sighed. "Well, honestly everything is modular. So I could just give you what I got now with no problems, and let you change your modules around at a later time."
He tried to pull the other Bicken into a hug with his current one. "But uh. I want you to see the final product, you know? Show you something impressive."
Daww. Sister Quan hugged the blushing boy. "You already HAVE done something impressive... but I understand. Feel free to wait until you feel its ready to show off, alright?"
The pair relaxed in the fire red fields, playing with the baby Bickens, and just wasting time.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
It was rare for all the guards to be having a meeting... but it was nighttime, the camp was (theoretically) being protected by the young cultivators of the Frozen Tiger Sect, and the three Burning Sword Sect members were all inside Rockette, the safest place available.
The lead guard tapped the table. "We can't suppress this information. Not fully. Too many witnesses, not allowed to end them, and if we DID somehow pull it off without being caught by Brother Adam, Rockette would know anyway."
A round of grumbling. A guard sighed. "I can't believe we already used the emergency cube... and less than a week later, needed a SECOND one. I've never HEARD of them being used before, not recently at least!"
Her neighbor chuckled. "At least this most recent headache will let us warn the Sect in the future without destroying a new cube every week."
One of the more pessimistic guards was not as happy. "Until the Blood Drinking Sect or the Demon Flame Sect begins torturing more people to get their hands on the things."
The lead guard waved that off. "The young Sage walked me through the defenses of this new tattoo... that will not be an issue." She waves at the mark on her neck. "Aside from the abilities of the mark itself, Adam's version currently being tested directly connects to Rockette, his Soul, and our Soul. If an enemy somehow gains access to the damn tattoo... well, it will be handled. And probably everything they know will be stolen, all spiritual energy drained, and their soul consumed."
Several guards cursed. "Shit. And what if he did that to US?"
The more optimistic guards chuckled. "Brother Sage could do that NOW, without the mark, and there is little we could do to stop him. That boy can just shove raw power into someone, yank it out, or just unleash that damn eye on you and wipe your mind."
Her neighbor nodded. "The child COULD, but likely would find that boring and annoying or inconvenient to do. He spends more time testing stuff and whatnot than he does cultivating... not that he isn't a prodigy in THAT as well."
The lead guard waved them to silence. "The next city is on Mount Kirin, I will personally meet with out people in the Burning Sword embassy." She glared at them. "You WILL be professional while I take care of this. You WILL guard our people, and the people that Brother Adam took under his wing while I am absent. Understood?"
Nods.
She frowned. "I. Said. Understood?"
They stood. "YES SIR!"
Good. "I don't expect any issues, which is even MORE of a reason to be cautious. Adam attracts impossible things, I do NOT want to be surprised by the next one if possible. Are you following our current policies?"
The other squad nodded. "One with a blindfold, one with earplugs, one using spiritual sensing, one watching the camp rather than outside the perimeter, the last to watch us for mental issues, domination, or Soul attacks."
She held back a proud smile. "Good. Stay sharp, we arrive at Mount Kirin in two days."
As they all relaxed slightly, the wise ass chuckled. "What do we do if the young Sage takes the mountain too?"
...He wouldn't, right? She kept her face unconcerned. "Then we make sure to blame someone else if possible and run. Now, get back on duty while the rest of us return to the Crystal Caverns."
He SHOULDN'T. Or he should tell her first.
...Damn it, she better go check.
~~~Broken Adventure~~~
Adam was taking a break.
Over a dozen modules were either being modified, created, or reviewed. He would do more later.
His Soil Grid gardens were producing a mountain of food now, at all levels of maturation and with crazy variety. He would oversee that at some point.
The Four Eye Flame Bull parents apparently decided NOT to wait for their four new eggs to hatch, so now there were EIGHT eggs waiting to become baby Bickens, as Sister Quan had named them. Not his problem.
He was just relaxing.
He had a goal... but his CURRENT methods were inefficient. And to be honest, some of the adventures were pretty scary. That massive corpse walker was terrifying.
But now, what did he have? What did he need?
Food? Both spiritual and mundane, he was now blessed. Some variety could still be desired, but this wasn't an issue. Though his 'Normal Water' might cause a problem at some point.
Shelter? His Martial Spirit was big enough to be a Realm of her own, and didn't seem to be ready to stop expanding. When he got tired of cultivating, who knew how big this place would be.
Energy? His Ying Yang Cycle Pond was creating MORE power as it interacted with itself and the Yin Pool and Yang Platform. Not to mention the raw energy within the Soul Water being generated, that stuff was useful all over the place.
Also? His Asura Eye. Adam wasn't sure HOW much power there was in that other reality where demons and angels fought for all time, but it was a lot and the tiny percentage being poured into his Poison Cave was still an astonishing volume of energy for him to use as desired.
He didn't really NEED to use his Domain to gather heaven and earth energy from nature. Still did though, free stuff was free.
But... he had a goal. To learn the inner workings of concepts, of cultivation... to improve and empower his System back home.
And this Master Pocket Tattoo was the first BIG step!
Because it didn't just allow him to gain information, nor just tempt the Sect to willingly stuff all the secret data they had into the thing for Rockette to send to 'Research'...
No, it was something more powerful and useful for Adam's long term goals.
Through this new interface, he could set missions. Reward Sect cultivators with rare resources, treasures, or even pure power shaped with the perfect ratio for the individual...
Why should ADAM wander around, stealing volcanoes and stuff? Searching hundreds of places for rumors and things... when he could pay others to do it for him?
HE could focus on the stuff only HE could do, like advance his cultivation, designing the Essential Cultivation Techniques' for Sister Quan and Tianshi, do science and stuff... While the hundreds of thousands of Sect members could find new plants, capture Spirit Beasts, turn in treasures, deliver secrets for rewards...
Because honestly, something in this Realm might be using him to solve problems.
Some concept might be why he stumbled on these rare items, valuable lizard pet, dangerous places, and so forth.
This was a time without a hero, no protagonist, no 'Main Character' for this period of history. He paid a LOT of power to ensure this was true.
So WHY was he finding places that nearly turned the world into chaos? Beasts best left unfound? Secret treasonous plots against beautiful tragic figures?
Something, be it fate, destiny, or just narrative momentum was trying to make him the tool of this Realm.
It wouldn't be as obvious to Adam if he hadn't spent so long in Rockette, his Martial Spirit separated from normal reality. If he wasn't an outsider on some level.
Would staying at home fix the issue? Maybe. Maybe not.
Hell, the urge to return to the Sect may be due to ANOTHER critical event that could only be avoided by him being present.
But something inside felt like this new method, sending minions out into the world? THIS might cut down on the sudden events, impossible coincidences, and improbable meetings.
Little Tianshi burst into his cultivation cave. "Da! The city at Mount Kirin is having a huge festival!"
...Damn it.
Itn't that a bit overly optimistic, ya think? First, unless drastic measures are taken, the US... she ain't a getting any better. Secondly, there's always a global pandemic, so yeah... and then the economy... again, drastic measures, any better. So, I'd have ta ask by what metric were you two using? Or were you working of Imperial, cause that'd explain it without needing da details.
