Another World Trip: Journey with My Cat and an Otaku Loli Goddess Chapter 179 - Another Advancement

With this, Lord Whiskers took off and the girls, along with Jia Yan, headed to Emo Cave under the urging of Shen Ling for training. The latter advised that she had a good feeling about the Cave for most of them.

****

It didn’t take long for us to reach a fair distance away from Thousand Emo Valley.

By the time we stopped, it was practically a dot on the horizon. I had to admit, Lord Whiskers was far faster than I could ever hope to be anytime soon.

After getting off, there were rocks, rocks, and more rocks. So this was as good a place as any.

‘The Demon Region has a lot of desolate-looking places. I wonder what the other races’ places are like?’ After thinking this, I turned to face Lord Whiskers.

“So I heard from Yaomu Shou and the others about what you are and what you went through, and I need you to understand something. I know you’ve been rejected by the heavenly daos. However, I’m using tribulation lightning as a means to fight and cultivate. Since you’re gonna be with me, I want you to temper yourself with this as well, so that you can be better prepared to oppose the Heavens. What do you think?”.

“Rawr… meow…”

Apparently, he wants to think about it. Can’t blame him for it either. “Fine, take your time. I’ll be over here cultivating my somatic essence.”

I understood why he felt like this. Last time I brought it out to help, it went into an uproar and tried to harm him beyond my influence.

Luckily, I had brought out a very controlled amount of Heavenly Levyance tribulation lightning. That small amount wasn’t enough to kill him, but was just enough to destroy the state he was entering.

Still, I remembered the hatred the tribulation lightning held towards him. Killing intent exploded from it, transforming it into something else. It was far more dangerous, too. Most likely it had transformed into that execution lightning Steely was telling me about.

Meh, I’ll look into that later.

I put all these thoughts to the back of my mind since I realised that I had a LOT of stuff to do.

Now… where did I put that forge of mine?

Boom!

Just like before, the forge fell to the ground with a thunderous crash. I’m not saying I’m a suicide bomber or anything, I’m just saying… I feel like a suicide bomber.

Lord Whiskers was already lying down at the same time, but the quake caused it to experience an uncomfortable jerking of its body. It then shot me a dirty look in response.

It was the kind of look that said. ‘This human is always pulling some crazy bull crap!’

Lord Whiskers was about as expressive as any cultivator.

I ignored that though and focused back on the forge. I needed to mentally prepare myself for another session of masochism.

I took out a few spirit stones before placing them in the grooves outside the forge. It instantly came alive with scorching flames.

After I did that, I put on my birthday suit and opened the door to the forge.

Whoosh!

Tongues of flames escaped and scorched the ground all around!

“Reargh!”

Lord Whiskers jumped away in the face of the heat and hissed in anger!

Let me translate what he just said.

‘Is this human trying to kill me!? Sure I don’t like water, but that doesn’t mean fire and me are now all the enemy of my enemy is my friend!’

“Yeah, sorry about that,” I apologised.

Dum!

A heavy aura erupted as I ran the Foundation Forge Body Tempering Art.

The somatic essence in my body rushed through my meridians like a roaring river.

My cauldrons were out in full force and I could feel the power as it ran through my body uninhibited.

“Hhmm…” I gripped the forging hammer tightly and its weight remained as steadfast as it was the first day I held it.

The runes on this thing made sure that its weight paid no attention to my cultivation base. No matter how strong I get, this hammer will always require my utmost to wield it.

It just dawned on me that I have no idea whether this thing is a spiritual artefact or a secular weapon. It’s probably the former but its realm eludes me even now.

Weird.

‘Breaking Mundane Forging Heaven! Jade Temper!’

B-B-Bam!

The shadows of the hammer filled the room of the forge as they all struck my body one after the other!

The flames bellowed and assaulted the spots where I struck without mercy. In truth, my bones had already been tempered to the Jade level courtesy of Uncle Tian Lu.

However, this was supposed to be a level that I could reach only by mastering the first Nine Tempers which I never had the chance to do on my own. I could understand him though. Master Uncle Tian Lu wanted to give me a decent head-start to help me along my path to minimise any deviation from the right path.

The Nine Tempers were completed in an instant, and I went straight for the next stage.

‘Sapphire Forging, Ninety-Nine Tempers!’

Whoosh!

The first temper of the Sapphire Verse missed my body entirely, which caused the flames within this hellscape to rage even more.

It seemed my understanding of the Jade Verse isn’t allowing for my traversal to the Sapphire Verse to be any easier.

But I can’t give up here.

Again!

‘Sapphire Forging, First Temper!’

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Failures, every one of them failures.

I stopped trying any more as I sat within the forge non-moving while I allowed the flames to wash over me.

The pain was a constant given, but it wasn’t allowing me to get where I needed to be.

Wait a tick!

I’ve come to know about the unrestrained tempers. Each temper is greater in power than I initially believed. An unrestrained Sixth Temper is far more powerful than a regularly executed Ninth Temper.

The following Temper jumped in power so much that it defies common sense. If so, maybe… just maybe, the next temper isn’t locked away in some other Verse, maybe they’re all connected somehow.

Whoosh!

The flames within the forge raged on without end and my cauldrons trembled as if they yearned to be brought to life.

My lips cracked and my voice was now husky as I whispered. “Jade Temper, Nine Tempers.”

B-B-B-B-B-B-B-B-Bang!

The Jade Verse was recited through a blur of motion, and the hammer shuddered as if both it and I yearned to go beyond this realm.

The Nine Tempers led to the next stage, the Sapphire Verse, which was not by itself. This was no standalone thing, that I now knew.

For I knew that if this was the case, the growth in power wouldn’t apply.

Ergo, there is no First Temper within the Verse of the Sapphire’s Forging, there is only…

‘Sapphire Forging, Tenth Temper!’

Shing!

“Yes! Success!”

The rune of the hammer shone brightly before it struck my body, producing a sonorous clangour!

The sound was beautiful, and the success was as sweet as Yaomu Shou’s skin is ashy… and it was really really ashy.

Vrrm!

I felt it almost immediately, one of the cauldrons trembled as it slowly began spinning for the first time with somatic essence as the impetus.

A new wave of strength rattled my bones and I could see where they took on a faint blue lustre. Their strength and tenacity also grew several times over.

Yep, that’s a big step in the right direction. I was now an Early-Stage First Duan Martial Disciple body cultivator!