Depthless Hunger

By the next day, Omilaena was bloated with qi and soaking in the Ice Springs. They existed within another of the inner caverns of the mountain, behind three layers of sacred seals, but instead of a hot spring, the room radiated a freezing aura. The cavern's walls had been laid with white marble and everything was ornamented in blue, as if to emphasize just how rare of an honor it was for someone to be allowed inside.

None of that changed the fact that they were cold as fuck. Omilaena's nipples were so hard she was afraid she'd jab somebody's eyes out.

Yet somehow, the experience had become less miserable the longer she soaked in the spring. At first she thought it was just her skin growing numb, but she gradually realized that the freezing qi of the room was sinking into her body. The more of it she absorbed, the stronger she became and the less she felt the cold. She really had been given a powerful gift, not that she wasn't owed it for what she'd done.

A cultivator would have been able to simply take a bath, but Omilaena forced the qi to flow through her body to concentrate in her arm. Moving it took effort, like scraping ice across her skin, until it reached the silvery tattoo on her wrist. As soon as the qi got close enough, it was sucked directly into the tattoo, which glowed almost constantly as it gained power.

That was the best decision for her balance of power, but it was also just practical. The sect's ice path seemed to involve the body itself becoming cold, and Omilaena had no interest in that. Ice pussy? No thank you. That sounded like a bad time for everyone.

"Is it working?" Zin Nim emerged from the tunnel that led into the spring, regrettably still wearing all her clothes.

"I think so," Omilaena said. "Why don't you jump in too?"

"No, I don't think that would be appropriate for my path of cultivation." Zin Nim did sit down cross-legged on the marble beside her, though. "I just wanted to keep you company. And the atmosphere is strange out there, with all kinds of new rumors and politics."

"Do you see any trouble with what I'm doing here? It definitely matches the balance of the rest, but cultivation is your domain."

"Same thing you did with mana and Classes, right?"

"Yes, perhaps. I'm just impressed that you aren't losing any strength."

"Am I?" Omilaena stretched her hand in front of her and examined the glowing ice tattoo. "I gained a boost at first, but it's been stagnant since then. Even now, I'm absorbing all this qi and it's just not getting stronger."

"Wouldn't it follow cultivation patterns, even if it doesn't follow cultivation forms?" Zin Nim ignited a flame of her mana above her palm. "I made the ability more like cultivation, but the power still follows a Class's pattern of development. So the fact that you have been on a plateau is not surprising."

"Huh, good point. I'll hope you're right."

The conversation lapsed into comfortable silence. Omilaena was almost completely relaxed in the ice spring now, nipples aside. Now that she reconsidered her tattoo as cultivating qi toward a breakthrough, the progress felt more productive. She had embedded so much qi via the ink, and the pool was so intense with it, maybe she was close.

"All of us are changing." Zin Nim's voice was barely audible and her gaze unfocused on the water. "For so long, I was focused on becoming who I wanted to be... now I am, and I'm not sure what will happen next. It... I mean..."

Omilaena waited for her to come to a conclusion, but it seemed like Zin Nim wasn't pondering, just sliding into a moody state. Hmm, how to take her out of it? Though the temptation to grab her and pull her into the pool for a bit of fun was nearly overwhelming, Omilaena thought that might actually be a step too far. Best to distract her.

"If you're worried about changes, Kai is the one to watch," she said. "We still haven't found any answers about the Savage Heart transformation."

"Are you worried?" Zin Nim asked. "After he attacked you, I mean."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Afraid of him? No, not really. But it's concerning for his development."

"He... attacked me once too, a long time ago. He pushed deep into his essence and seemed to transform into a monster for a while."

"Huh." Omilaena leaned back one the side of the pool, regarding the other woman. "I want to ask more, but there might not be anything to explain. Seems like he's 100% in control under normal circumstances, but there are exceptions."

"It isn't like he's struggling against it normally. These things only happen when he pushes the power too far, not when his willpower is weakened. I mean, we haven't seen it when he's wounded, or exhausted, or-"

"Or horny."@@novelbin@@

Zin Nim would once have blushed, but now just stared at her flatly. "I don't think Kai would do that."

"Sadly, you're probably right. Didn't even have a dick when he attacked me."

"What?"

"I mean, his body was transforming all over, and that black armor stuff just went over his crotch, like a solid surface." Omilaena pretended to perk up as if she'd just thought of something. "Hey, wait a minute! You said, after he broke through the Body Refinement stage, that his body was transforming while you two were together. Did his cock change too?" Ŕà𝐍𝐨₿Еs

"That..." Zin Nim's hard-won resistance was breaking down, because now she was flushing and staring. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Why not? I mean, he can control it, so it's not like he would-"

"Each of the transformations is specifically related to monstrous essence! And monsters don't breed, so they... so that could never happen."

"Not unless we find a dick-themed monster." Omilaena tapped a fingernail against her lips thoughtfully. "A horse or donkey or something?"

"He can't get powers from animals!"

"Yeah, but they seem to have dire versions of everything on Deadwaste. We could find a dire donkey or something. Dire donkey dick."

Zin Nim was glowering and squirming now, but at least she wasn't moping anymore. Omilaena decided that she'd teased enough and just reached up to pat her knee, using her non-freezing hand. Ah, she was too much fun.

"You... just wanted to distract me, didn't you?" Zin Nim asked.

Omilaena leaned back to grin at her. "More or less. Regardless of the fundamental idea, that was all on the wrong track: sacred beasts reproduce normally and Kai can eat those now."

"Wait, then half of that was nonsense! There aren't... dire donkeys."

"I know, I just wanted to say 'dire donkey dick.' "

Before Omilaena could decide on her next tactic, she felt a surge of freezing cold through her fingers. Yet the cold wasn't painful, and in fact the rest of her body was burning with power. She stared down as she saw the tendrils of her tattoo glow with blue light.

"Oh, it's like a breakthrough!" Zin Nim completely abandoned all other thoughts and focused on her. "You might need to modify the traditions, but this is parallel to the end of qi condensation. Gather it all together, into a more concentrated form. Don't let any qi spill out."

Omilaena did her best, focusing all her willpower on the energy surging through her. Her tattoo was glowing brighter and brighter, and it just seemed like too much... how could she possibly contain it? She did her best to follow Zin Nim's suggestions, but she also needed to adapt them to her own power. At least she had a basically endless supply of qi from the pool around her.

Clenching her eyes, she focused on her Lethal Artisan abilities. They were the outlet for her ice qi, so she needed to integrate them. This eased the growing pain in her arm, but the power still seemed to be overflowing. Her Azure Core pulsed within her, keeping her steady, but without it she felt like the qi in her arm might have exploded violently.

The difference was that she wasn't gathering qi in a spiritual dantian, she used a physical focus in the form of the qi ink. Omilaena focused entirely on that and suddenly the pressure released as the power stopped overflowing through her hand and concentrated in the ink.

As she watched, the icy tendrils grew. They thickened slightly, then began growing down her arm. At the beginning the tips had just touched her wrist, but they grew an inch further before they slowed and finally stopped. All the pressure was gone and her tattoo looked more vibrant than before.

"You did it!" Zin Nim seemed honestly ecstatic for her, eagerly taking her hand. "It seems to be completely stable, and it's as strong as a pure Body Refinement stage. Remarkable..."

Feeling a bit wrung out, Omilaena slumped back against the side of the pool and examined her soul with satisfaction.

Name: Omilaena

Total Power: 1301

Heart of Poison: Level 83 (332)

*Prana Jewels: Level +5 (20)

Lethal Artisan: Spinel Rank (280)

Ice Refinement (100)

Path of Venomsteel: Step 9 (135)

Physique: D-9 (245)

Soul Level: 8 (64)

Azure Core (+125)

>

With the explosion of new power, she had passed 1300 total, putting her within reach of Zin Nim and Kai. At the moment she wasn't even thinking about being left behind, though, she was just pleased that everything had worked out. Her theory was sound.

"It says 'Ice Refinement' for me," Zin Nim said, her usual frown returning. "That's odd."

"It's just like you customized the Coldfire Corona for yourself." Omilaena hopped out of the pool and wrapped herself in a blue robe so she would look all official. "But does that mean it will follow the cultivation stages? What's next... Ice Foundation? Nascent Ice?"

"It's far too early to think about that sort of thing!" Zin Nim touched her back affectionately, though, as they began walking out. "Do you think you should take more ice qi from them, before we go? So that you can keep cultivating your tattoo, I mean."

"We might as well, but I'm pretty sure that won't work. I built this tattoo out of their qi, so if I want to advance it any further, I'm going to need a more intense source."

"So... we're done with the Pureflower sect?"

"Hell yeah we are. Let's go find Kai."