216 Foreshadows After Foreshadow
"What's a Jedi?"
"Never mind. Say, what's the force you're talking about?"
The monk was delighted that Cao Mao was interested in his teaching. He looked at the rabbit boy, who was hiding behind Zhao Bao's back while occasionally taking a peek at Cao Mao.
"Xiao Yun, can you demonstrate what [Force] is?"
The boy looked at his master. His white rabbit ears wiggled, "Uh, me?"
"Yes. You're the most talented one among you boys in terms of the light element mastery."
Cao Mao widened his eyes in shock. He rechecked the boy's cultivation base again to make sure.
The rabbit boy was merely a first-stage cultivator. Yet, the monk said that he could use the elemental Qi!?
"Hahaha! You see, he's from the Viera race. It's the special characteristic of every rabbitman. They were born with the ability to use the light element from birth. Even if their dantian can't store the element Qi, they can gather the external power and use it."
In short, this was an OP race. Cao Mao almost screamed that Xiao Yun's setting reeked the air of a main character. He would surely grow up into someone important if Zhao Bao could raise him properly.
Seeing the reaction, Zhao Bao seemed to be satisfied. He teased Cao Mao enough, "Don't be surprised, Junior Mao. There's a limit to what he can do with external Qi. Go ahead, Xiao Yun. Show him your power."
The rabbit boy timidly pointed his finger at Cao Mao. Then, light in the room gathered on his fingertip. After five seconds, a finger-sized light ball manifested from the gathering energy.
Cao Mao raised his eyebrows. This light gathering ability of the rabbit boy reminded him of Yusuke Urameshi's Spirit Gun.
"Can he fire a spirit bullet with that?"
The monk shook his head, "He doesn't have an offensive ability. Well, show him, Xiao Yun. Shoot the purification bullet."
Xiao Yun aimed at Cao Mao's chest and fired the light ball.
Cao Mao's feet automatically reacted. He leaped to the side to dodge the light ball.
But the light ball pursued. It turned 90 degrees and followed him.
Cao Mao frowned. He almost summoned a wood element Qi barrier to protect himself from the chasing bullet. But then, he recalled that it was supposed to be a purification bullet.
'Oh, well. I can just let it hit me…'
Cao Mao stopped moving. The energy simply entered his chest and exited through his back.
It didn't harm him. On the contrary, Cao Mao felt like something murky and uncomfortable inside him had left his body with the light ball.
Ding
\u003cXiao Yun has attempted to drive out the Orc King's Curse from your soul.\u003e
\u003cYour natural libido has decreased.\u003e
\u003cThe Orc King's Curse has resisted against the purification light.\u003e
'Dafuq!? Since when did I have a curse on me!? And what the hell is this Orc King's Curse!?'
This new information surprised Cao Mao once more.
Being reminded of Orc King, Cao Mao thought of the mysterious sutras that he had memorized. He guessed that the curse came from one of the texts, or the system had played a trick on him again.
Cao Mao was annoyed that the system had never informed him about the curse. It just forced him to cultivate the art without telling him about the side effects.
Meanwhile, a black ball, which came out from Cao Mao's back, returned to Xiao Yun's fingertip. The rabbit boy stared at the sinister energy that his light element had absorbed in astonishment. Even Zhao Bao's face turned solemn while he was inspecting what Xiao Yun had drawn out from Cao Mao.
Xiao Yun looked around, searching for a trash can or a bin. After he realized that everything had been burnt by Zhao Bao, he tossed the black energy ball down the balcony and ran back into the room. He didn't even look where the energy ball had landed or check whether it entered somebody else's body.
Cao Mao broke into a sweat. This rabbit boy had just treated the black energy ball as trash and tossed it away.
Something was weird about the boy's power. Cao Mao's curse was weird, too.
As Cao Mao was looking at Xiao Yun, Zhao Bao rescanned the former's body once more. Yet, he couldn't find the source of the curse.
"Junior Mao, I'm curious. How did you break through to the essence gathering realm with so many curses on you? How many people have you killed?"
Cao Mao's face twitched as it was an uncomfortable question.
Still, he thought about the victims that he had murdered in the other world, but he couldn't exactly remember how many.
"Probably more than what my hands can count..."
"Haiz. This monk understands that surviving in this chaotic world is tough, but if possible, you should avoid killing even if they are your enemies."
"…"
Cao Mao wanted to retort that the monk had also killed 6th-stage experts instantly when Qiang Sui had attacked Siren City, but he kept his mouth shut.
"Remember, Junior Mao. It's okay to kill if your family and friends' lives are at risk. However, you must never make your enemies resent you to the point that they curse you before their death. A death curse is very powerful even if the dying person is a commoner without a cultivation power. If you get too many curses, the heavens will despise you, and your [Luck] will always be poor."
[Luck] was the untouchable power that nascent soul or stronger cultivators sought and desired. As this mysterious power greatly affected every mortal's fate, encounters, and enlightenment chances, these powerful experts researched how they could acquire or increase their [Luck] for their future cultivation.
Zhao Bao and his dao god also researched [Luck], and they believed that karma was one of the important factors. By continuously sowing good karma, the monk had experienced the increase in his [Luck] overtime, and his cultivation progress advanced faster than when he cultivated normally. Eventually, he became one of the strongest cultivators on this continent.
Given his discovery and his habit, Zhao Bao kept performing random good deeds. One of them was trying to help Cao Mao.
Although everyone got sidetracked from the [Force] topic, Zhao Bao explained what he knew about [Luck] while Cao Mao gazed at the monk with a blank look.
"So if I have so many curses on me, I'll be unlucky for the rest of my life?"
"Precisely so. Don't worry. This monk shall perform an exorcism ritual for you and drive out all the curses."
As Zhao Bao said that, he laid his palm on top of Cao Mao's head. Then, his light element Qi illuminated the room in golden light, which concentrated on the latter's body.
"Buddha is kind, benevolent, and merciful. This child has sought redemption, and none of you evil souls should be lingering around him. BE GONE!!"
As if a mountain descended on Cao Mao's head, he knelt on both knees as his legs gave in.
Ding
\u003cZhao Bao has attempted to expel the Orc King's Curse from your soul.\u003e
\u003cYour Sponsor is laughing at Zhao Bao's pathetic attempt.\u003e
\u003cYour Sponsor is looking forward to seeing Zhao Bao's failure.\u003e
Dark clouds manifested around Cao Mao, and they pushed back against the light beam from Zhao Bao's hand.
The monk and the three children widened their eyes in shock. For the first time, an unknown powerful curse fought back against the power of the light element, and Zhao Bao was losing.
BOOM
Zhao Bao was pushed back by the erupting dark energy from inside Cao Mao's body. The dark cloud gathered and manifested a silhouette of a tall muscular humanoid being.
\u003cYour Orc King's Curse has released a warchief beacon.\u003e
\u003cAll orcs within the radius of 1,000 kilometers will be able to see it!\u003e
'Again?'
The shadow silhouette dispersed and reentered Cao Mao's body.
Zhao Bao solemnly gazed at Cao Mao before he glanced at his right hand, which was uncontrollably shaking because of the repelling force.
"You're unlucky, Junior Mao. That orc bloodline that you have is actually a curse! Someone must have tricked you into inheriting that bloodline!"
Cao Mao nodded in agreement, "I know. I figured as much."
"Was it one of your enemies?"
"I wish it came from my enemy… It's from a goddamn dao god, fate god, or whatever god that tricked me into memorizing the damn sutras!"
Zhao Bao looked sad. He sighed and held his hands in prayer, "How vexing. How unlucky. This monk shall consult with the Buddha in the future and ask him if he can free you from this accursed fate."
\u003cYour Sponsor is sneering at Zhao Bao.\u003e
"…"
While both of them were conversing, a worker from Tang Deming knocked on the door.
Knock Knock
"Senior, sir. We have brought your purchased item. We're also here to collect the payment."
Zhao Bao's solemn expression turned into a wide smile. He turned to Cao Mao and changed the subject, "Let's check out the spear. You need this spear, right?"
"Oh, uh. Yes."
The little imp child, Zhao Fei, opened the door for his master.
On the other side of the door, six strong men had carried the sealed container and placed it there. Unfortunately, they couldn't squeeze the glass container into the room as the door was too small. Moreover, none of the staff was allowed to carry a spatial ring with them, so they couldn't transport the item into the room.
Zhao Bao was an understanding elder. He paid the workers 300 essence cores and tipped each of them with 100 refined stones. Everyone took the money in joy before they left.
The monk stored the glass container in his spatial ring. Then, he brought it out and placed it at the center of the room.
"As promised, the spear will be yours. However, this monk hopes that you can allow the four of us to freely visit your city to cultivate."
"Of course. Well, actually, this is not for me. But it's for her… Hey, kitty cat. Come out. You can see your friend now."
Hearing that she could see her former colleague again, Mao Xueyan poked her head out. She jumped off from Cao Mao's robes and scratched the glass container.
"Let him out, please!"
The three children stared at the cat with widened eyes.
Xiao Xin leaped back in a panic, "It's a talking cat!"
The little imp was surprised, "Wow, is this a monster beast!? It's my first time seeing one!"
On the other hand, Xiao Yun liked her, "It's so cute. Master, can I keep her?"
Mao Xueyan grumbled. She released her aura of a nascent soul expert to scare the boys.
"Stinky brats! I'm the Queen of the Tian Long Forest, the forbidden forest northwest of here! Don't lump me together with those mindless beasts, or I'll feed you lots to the lizard tribe!"
The boys shrieked in fear. They ran away from the cat and hid behind the monk.
Zhao Bao and Cao Mao couldn't stop laughing. Their reaction was priceless.
Having enough fun, Cao Mao turned to Zhao Bao, "Well, could I ask for another favor? This elder here wishes to release the soul of her friend from the spear."
The monk nodded, "Of course. Creating a weapon from a dead body and a soul is a grave sin. This monk shall purify it and let the poor soul rest in peace! Don't worry, lord of the forest. This monk shall free your friend right now!"
Zhao Bao pulled one of the seal talismans off the container. As soon as the talisman came off, the glass shattered into small pieces as they couldn't contain the rampaging aura of the monster snake's soul.
Green gas leaked out from the spear at first, but it retracted to the spear blade. The soul inside it pulled the poison element Qi back, so it wouldn't harm its former leader and her friends.
Zhao Bao gently touched the spear before he sent his light element Qi into the spear blade.
"Your journey in this life has ended. You can rest now."
The snake spirit sensed the warm light as his soul was freed from the weapon shackle. The green mist gathered and formed the soul body of a giant python.
The semi-transparent ancient python nodded to the monk, thanking him. Then, it turned to Mao Xueyan.
'Live free and stay strong, young lady. This old snake has done his part. I'll leave the fate of our brethren in your hands.'
Mao Xueyan sobbed as she looked at the departing soul. She swore to her heart that she would get stronger and protect her friends.
But then, the snake soul turned around and gave Cao Mao a meaningful look. It also glanced at Killer Queen, who was hanging behind his back.
'Young orc, when the time comes, I hope you will set her free. It's fine to let her play around a little longer since she never had a chance to play. But don't forget, she doesn't belong in this world.'
"..."
After saying that, the snake turned to Mao Xueyan one more time.
'Goodbye, young lady. Going to war with you was fun.'
The soul faded into nothingness.
Hearing the parting words, Mao Xueyan lost it. She wailed.
The monk closed his eyes and started chanting Buddhist funeral sutras, reminding himself and others that mortals couldn't escape death.
Meanwhile, Cao Mao gazed at the departing soul. His chest felt hollow and empty as if the dead snake didn't concern him, yet, it throbbed.
'I never felt something like this when I killed people. So why am I feeling it when someone I don't know has died in front of me?'
Ding
\u003cWarning, your alignment has slightly shifted from [Chaotic Neutral] to [Chaotic Good].\u003e
\u003cWarning, if your alignment reaches [Chaotic Good], you will not be able to accept protagonist hunting missions.\u003e
Cao Mao scoffed. There was too much information to digest, and he was tired of worrying about new things.
'Isn't that nice? I won't have to bother with the MC-hunting missions anymore if that's the case.'
\u003cWarning, if your alignment completely changes to [Chaotic Good], you will be considered as one of the protagonists. Then, your sponsor will send villains to hunt you down!\u003e
"…"
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