Jinshen's eyes fluttered open. Consciousness crept back slowly, like mist lifting after a storm.
Where am I? He thought to himself, slowly sitting up on the bed he was laying on top of.
He was in a much more grand room, one that had a large window that peered down at the Demonic Sect's base. The arena having completely disappeared and the damage done to the ground also repaired.
The room itself had black walls and blood red marbled floors with the face of a golden dragon in the middle of the room whose eyes seemed to glow in the light of the early sun,
Jinshen took a deep breath before slowly getting off the bed, the memories of The Nanomachine's fight with Yuxan slowly coming to him.
Good job Nanomachine... But you wrecked my body. Far too much.
The Nanomachine did not respond, but it did chuckle, in a sheepish way.
Jinshen just shook his head in a mix of resignation and annoyance. He cracked his back as the rooms door opened up and Lianhua walked in, and besides her were two guards.
The guards wore black hanfu, their faces hidden behind veils, but Jinshen could feel the near-bottomless Qi pulsing from their forms. One had a large sword on his back while the other unarmed.
Lianhua looked up at him with intrigue as she cleared her throat, her eyes peering into Jinshen's.
"Um... Granddad wanted me to tell you that you passed." She began, trying to sound serious but failing. "And uh..."
She trailed off, a small contemplative pout as she tried to remember what was to be said before the unarmed guard bowed down to whisper into her ear, speaking to her in a hushed tone.
"Oh! Yeah, he wanted me to inform you that uh, that you are part of the Demonic..." She trailed off, once again a contemplative expression spreading across her face before she snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! Demonic Angels! The squad's name is Demonic Angels!"
Jinshen looked at her silently for a moment, not responding immediately as he silently put his hand forward.
"Bracelet." He spoke simply a small, faint almost imperceptible smile on his face.
Lianhua's eyes widened as her eyebrows shot up for a moment before she grinned mischievously, rummaging through the pockets of her robe before pulling out a colorful, almost girly bracelet and putting it around Jinshen's wrist.
Jinshen looked at the bracelet, examining the colors before sighing softly and taking a step back.
"I assume that this is my room now?" He spoke in a gentle and calm tone, his eyes roaming across the room, landing on the dragon in the middle of the room before looking away.
Lianhua nodded fervently, a grin on her face as her eyes almost twinkled from excitement.
"Yep! This is yours! Free food, free clothes, and not only that. You're now part of the most elite squad in the sect! So you'll be filthy rich!"
Jinshen sighed deeply, running a hand through his hairs before he bowed down in front of Lianhua, ruffling her hair with a small smile.
"Yep, but everything has a downside. So, no matter how good things look, always think before you act alright?"
Lianhua pouted for a moment before slowly nodding, the guards besides her looked ready to jump at a moments notice, their Qi spiking slightly but a small, unnerving smile from Jinshen made them docile once more.
"Alright, how about you all leave. I'll go to the base tomorrow. Where is it anyway?"
Lianhua smiled looking up at Jinshen, her eyes were still gleaming with mischief but she had a sort of respect for Jinshen.
"Its on the Duskfall Basin! Its like.. 500, no— Yeah! Its 500 li away, so you'll cross it pretty fast! But go ahead and rest up! I'll leave!"
She turned to the guards as she grinned, her mischievous energy seemed to never end.
"Lets go my minions!"
She exclaimed while strutting past them as the guards followed behind her hastily.
Jinshen sighed deeply, getting back onto the bed as his eyes slowly closed and the mental exhaustion from the trials and his life before, catching up to him as he slowly fell into a deep and dreamless slumber.
The Nanomachine took over his body as it stretched Jinshen's back and arm before sitting down on the ground.
"Alright.. I should cultivate for Master now... He's gonna get overshadowed like a lot~"
It skimmed through its database which stored all the chapters of the Path of The Withered Enemies before it eventually found what it needed.
"Alright.. Stage three: Infernal bloom."
The Nanomachine adjusted its sitting position as the book instructed. Cross-legged but with both arms extended sideways, palms up, as if presenting himself to be consumed by fire.
It started absorbing the Demonic Qi from the surrounding and mixing it with Jinshen's own personal Qi all the while circulating the heat through out Jinshen's body.
His skin developed subtle, molten patterns. His breathing unlike the previous stage is steady yet heavy, occasional bursts of different colored flame coming out of his mouth and nose, but there's this aura of wild energy just beneath the surface.
After an hour or two of cultivating as faint, flower like patterns started to form under his skin, glowing and becoming larger.
The Nanomachine cultivated for the rest of the night. It remained perfectly still, seated in place... Now having achieved the core formation stage as between the lower and middle Dantian. A golden orb of pure, golden Qi formed.
Jinshen woke up with his body still in the position to cultivate as he shook his head, having given up on lecturing The Nanomachine.
Good job, I guess...
The Nanomachine was unnaturally quiet, it would usually curse or annoy Jinshen.
I have an update. The Nanomachine started, breaking the silence, its voice solemn yet still playful. Its going to take a lot of time, so uh... Good luck I guess. Don't die master.
Jinshen's eyes widened to the size of saucers, he remained silent for a moment, not responding due to being flabbergasted, but he slowly calmed down. Taking a deep breath.
I see.. Well, I'll still be here. Growing without you. So you better be updated so that you can match with me.
Suddenly, red shards of glass came out of Jinshen's hands swirling and spiraling around the room as they formed into a smoking red spear.
Here. Master. You are going to need it. The Nanomachine's voice started growing more and more glitchy and eventually after it completed its sentence, it grew completely silent.
A robotic voice taking its place.
Update has begun.Estimated Time for Completion: 27 months, 2 days, 3 hours.
Jinshen took a deep breath, feeling like a small part of his soul had just been cut off. He took the spear in his hand, its golden blade shimmering in the rays of the early wind as he turned to look out the window.
"Goodbye for now. Friend."