Chapter 182 – Cat Dad Takes Undine’s Class
Xiaomao cooked a fish steak and gave them to Nyanko and Mama Cat. The two rushed to the plates and ate them as if they hadn’t eaten anything for days.
The sight of hungry cats looked pitiful. He looked at the crew, wondering if someone could temporarily work here as a babysitter for his cats.
Lucky wagged her tail. She crouched and watched the cats. As for the men, they fiddled with their inventory menu, sorting their items without caring about the cats.
Since the boys were not interested in cats, Xiaomao had no choice. He looked at Lucky.
“Lucky, this might sound bad, but could you take care of my cats here, munya?”
Lucky’s dog ears perked. She smiled, “So, I get to stay here and play with them?”
“If you want to, you can play with them. But be sure to feed them every six hours, munya. I’ll leave some cooked fish steaks with you to feed the cats.”
“Can I eat some of them?”
Xiaomao broke a sweat. He sighed, “How about this? I’ll leave enough fish steaks for 7 days worth, but I’ll only be away for about a day or two. Can you handle it?”
“Leave it to me, master!” Lucky accepted the task without hesitation.
Seeing how enthusiastic she was, Xiaomao was relieved. He bid farewell to the cats and pressed the security door’s button, opening the sealed door.
The boys and Xiaomao left the room. After they left, the door automatically closed behind them.
In front of the treasure room, Undine was waiting for him. As for Nymph, she had left.
Undine passed the key card back to Xiaomao, “I sent Nymph back to her post to take care of the dungeon expansion. For now, I think you should hold on to the key card. You will need it to access the treasure room.”
Xiaomao took the key card back. He was disappointed.
“I was planning to ask her how to create a new dungeon floor, munya. Oh, well.”
Undine lightly snorted, “You can consult with me from now on. But before that, I need your confirmation. Will you join the Mermaid Kingdom?”
DING
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<strong>Faction Quest: Joining Mermaid Kingdom</strong>
The Mermaid Kingdom is one of the prominent countries in this world. 95% of their population lives in the sea while the rest has occupied an island to live on land. Their territory covers 40% of the seafloor and the chained island north of Seaside Town.
Joining this faction will benefit you in many ways. However, becoming an official citizen of their nation isn’t easy. As Nameless Undine has said – You need a dantian and a proper spiritual root.
<strong>Quest Objective:</strong> Increase one of your spiritual roots to over 1,000 and awaken a dantian by using a spirit stone.
<strong>Quest Reward:</strong> Mermaid Kingdom Official Citizenship, Friendly Relationship with the Mermen and the Mermaids.
<strong>Failure Condition:</strong> You join another faction while the quest is active.
<strong>Failure Penalty:</strong> The Mermaid Kingdom will be permanently hostile to you.
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The faction quest window appeared and reminded Xiaomao of his unfinished task. This quest had been sitting on Xiaomao’s quest list for the longest time. Now, Xiaomao could finally complete it.
“Yes, munya!”
<Nameless Undine is relieved that you’re honest. Current Favorability: 2 Stars.>
Undine revealed a bright smile, “Very well. Give me a drop of your blood.”
Without waiting for Xiaomao to react, Undine wiggled her finger, and a droplet of his blood came out from his third eye. The sharp pain was sudden, but it vanished instantly.
DING
<You have officially joined the Mermaid Kingdom Faction.>
<Your aura has changed.>
<You can enter the Mermaid Kingdom without a passport or permit.>
<Citizens of Mermaid Kingdom will be friendly towards you. You can enjoy 10-20 discounts in all shops in the Mermaid Kingdom.>
<Intelligent sea monsters in the Mermaid Kingdom will not attack you unless provoked.>
<Tlaloc’s followers are wary of you. They will not trade or socialize with you unless necessary.>
<Pangu’s followers loathe you. They will attack you on sight, and they will not accept negotiation.>
<Nian’s followers want you dead. They will proactively hunt you down if you step out of the Mermaid Kingdom’s territory.>
<The Asgard Kingdom and Midgard’s citizens detest you. They will bar your entry to their kingdom, and their people will not associate with you.>
<Beast Tribes respect you. You can freely enter the Tian Yuan Forest and trade with the beast folks.>
<Spear Demoness’ followers respect you. You can freely enter the Desert Frontier and trade with the Shakatu Nomads.>
<Frozen Union approves of you. If your contribution level is high enough, you can enter the Frozen Union States and trade with their citizens.>
<Spirits and fairies approve of your decision. Stray and wandering sprites, spirits, ghosts, fairies, and pixies will not attack you unless provoked. You can also trade with them.>
<The Netherworld’s residents hate you. If your sanity is below 50%, demons and ghosts from the underworld will attack you. If you enter the netherworld, you can never leave.>
Many reactions from various kingdoms of the game surprised Xiaomao. He knew some of them, but he never heard of Spear Demoness and Frozen Union. Fortunately, these organizations seemed to be allies or friends of the Mermaid Kingdom.
Still, Xiaomao ended up making another enemy by joining the Mermaid Kingdom. He wondered what Solomon and his underworld demon’s problems were.
“Can I ask you something, munya?” Xiaomao looked at Undine.
“Yes?”
“What’s the current stance of the Netherworld. Are they our enemy, munya?”
Undine closed her eyes and slightly frowned. She took a deep breath before she explained.
“From what I know, Solomon and his demons stole the Netherworld Realm from a demon goddess and offended many other chaos demons. Of course, the demon goddesses retaliated, but they were outnumbered, so the conflict continues until now. Sometimes, Lady Chang’e deployed task forces to weaken Solomon, but they also sent troops to attack the Mermaid Kingdom.”
“In short, we’re at war, munya?”
“Correct.”
Xiaomao rubbed his temples. No wonder why the Mermaid Kingdom quickly collapsed after Pangu’s followers attacked them – They had too many enemies and war fronts.
Learning the truth from Undine, Xiaomao understood the issues. Now, he simply had to strengthen the country.
“Let’s talk about the awakening next, munya.”
Undine opened her eyes and carefully examined Xiaomao. Then, she noticed something.
“Aren’t you already a 1st-Stage Mortal Cultivator?”
Xiaomao dryly laughed in embarrassment, “I thought I could awaken the class properly under your guidance. I got this class by an accident, and I don’t know if I have all basics down, munya.”
“I see,” Undine rubbed her chin and leaned closer to Xiaomao. She picked him up and flipped him around as if she was searching for something.
“I get it. It seems that you inherit something from an artifact. Your dantian is in dormant for a long time even though you’re a cultivator.”
Undine put Xiaomao down. She pulled out a pair of cushions and a large rectangular rug from her inventory window. Then, she cleaned the floor with her mana and put the rug and the cushion down.
“Sit.”
Xiaomao hopped on the cushion while the men stood behind Xiaomao, wondering what they were doing.
“Since you’ve officially joined us, I’ll teach you a proper cultivation technique as a gift.”
“Okay, munya!”
Xiaomao was delighted. His tail swiped left and right, being excited.
Undine glanced at the four men behind Xiaomao. She blinked several times before she put four extra cushions behind Xiaomao.
“You can also listen.”
Andrew, Peter, John, and James brightly smiled. They took a seat and listened to the lecture.
Undine proceeded, “First off, I want you to know how to cultivate manually without the system’s help. Close all the system menus first.”
Xiaomao closed all system windows and panels. The retainers also did the same.
“Good. Now, let’s talk about the general knowledge of cultivation. First, to cultivate, you must be in the right place with abundant Qi in the air, which is not inside this dungeon.”
Xiaomao pouted while the men were dejected. They thought that they could cultivate here.
“Don’t be disheartened. The Qi is too thin here, with the right resources, you can still cultivate.”
Undine brought out a spirit stone and showed it to Xiaomao, “Remember what I asked you the last time we met? Do you still have a spirit stone?”
Xiaomao brightly smiled and brought out a leather pouch, full of spirit stones. He showed it to Undine, “Are these enough?”
“More than enough,” Undine nodded in approval. Then, she looked at the men behind Xiaomao. “Give one each to your retainers.”
Xiaomao passed the spirit stones to the crew. Everyone got 10 each while Xiaomao kept the rest.
The lecture continued, “Next, put one spirit stone in your hand. Do not let it touch another part of your skin other than your palm. Then…”
The lecture and practice continued.
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.
An hour later
DING
<Your muscle has become more compatible with Life Qi. Current Progress: 100 %.>
The spirit stone in Xiaomao’s tentacle turned into smoke. He didn’t gain stats like when he used them like consumable items.
However, all Life Qi in the spirit stone was stored in Xiaomao’s tentacles and muscle fibers. Even his blood cells now carried a strand of Qi.
DING
<Congratulations! You have learned a new class skill, Qi Circulation!>
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