Two hours of intense pain and the sensation of thousands of ants crawling under my skin later, my body was finally boosted to junior Commander-in-Chief level! Ave me! Over a year I'd worked toward this, and it happened! Man, but breakthrough to High level and body boost to Warlord will take even longer. Eh, at least life isn't boring, and time will fly by unnoticed. I hope...
Rising from the branch, I jumped down and shadow-boxed, getting used to my increased power. Gotta remember to visit Master Mo Shu to update my reflexes for the new strength. I really don't want to strike too fast in a real fight and expose myself to enemy attack. That could cost lives—hopefully just mine. I've got a "save point" after all. But what if my girls get hurt because of it?
So after mining ore, reviewing the girls' training results, and heading back to Shanghai, straight to Master Mo Shu for a couple days. I'm not diving into a potential scrap with the Black Church unprepared.
Most of them are useless extras, including most blue deacons, but their top brass can smoke many High-level mages. Salan herself is invincible at High level in 1v1.
She lacks a Heavenly Seed, but ninth spiritual boundary isn't something to sneeze at. Especially with her masterful space element control—she can tangle solo with a peak Warlord! Heck, she escaped demonized Mo Fan while carrying a wounded ally! He was False Emperor strength then. Not every Forbidden Curse mage has that battle feat.
Good thing they have no Forbidden Curse mages among them. Makes sense—they're mostly funded by rich normals, rare exceptions aside. Where would they get Land Fruits to feed their dogs? Though Salan has the connections for it... Damn, don't even think ideas for terrorists. Who knows what could happen.
Shaking my head and mostly acclimating to my power—without snapping door handles—I stopped shadow-boxing and shifted to my Mind Ore mine in Peru. Two long days of mining ahead. Eh, suddenly wanna hear a dwarf song. "And I'm a dwarf, digging a wild trench~", eh, good old Diggi diggi hole—never gets old.
A couple days later, I entered Master Pin's workshop with a sour face. Should be happy with the work done, but I know I gotta haul all that ore to this old man's basement. Can't teleport straight in—gotta pretend I came from the street.
"Ooo, Mu Bai! Right on time—I finished smelting the last Mind Stone yesterday. Hold on a sec!" Setting down his tea mug, the old man bustled deeper into the workshop.
Man, without orders he looks rough. No worries—today I'll boost his body to Pack Leader level, and things'll go uphill. Might even outpace his old self with the queue forming. Not all melting ore—he's an artifactor after all.
"Here, job accepted!" He set two big suitcases on the table. Opening them, I saw them packed tight as Japanese trains with priceless resources for raising spiritual boundaries. No elegance like the last case.
"Don't mind the wrapping—ran out of fancy-lined suitcases. But look at the stones! Perfect!" He beamed with pride.
He had reason to—unlike last time, the stones were perfectly cut and symmetrical. Could display them as art—pro jeweler work.
"Well, you held up your end. My turn." At my words, the old man's eyes lit up with anticipation.
"Then what are we waiting for!" Unwarned about the pain, the elderly artifactor dashed to his bedroom like a gazelle to shed his bone aches and radiculitis ASAP.
Man, watching him makes me wanna find a way for me and mine to halt aging—or at least peak form till death. Wouldn't wish that slow fade on an enemy.
Two hours later, Master Pin joyfully ripped off his shirt and posed before the full-length mirror with his reinflated muscles—kissing and even licking them... Gods, my eyes! Better step out before I see worse.
Half an hour later, adjusting his pants, a delighted-as-an-elephant Master Pin emerged from his bedroom, grinning ear to ear. Spotting me, he flushed, coughed awkwardly. Did he shuffle his foot and avert his gaze!? Damn, after getting gender-swap venom, my imagination's too dirty! Ew, not like that! Ew!
"Ahem, thanks for restoring my youth. Know I'm eternally in your debt—no matter what you think about it being a fair deal. I already took five Mind Stones for myself—don't make me feel like a shady seller ripping off a little boy." Overcoming embarrassment, he pulled a stern face. If not for his red ear tips, I'd buy it.
"Fine, won't refuse. Brought a new ore batch for processing, but no rush like last time. Line up new orders—promise refunds and material costs on failure. Rebuild your client base, do what you love. No hurry." I smiled sincerely at the life-radiating old-timer. Nice sometimes doing good for folks. If only it didn't scar my psyche, it'd be a fairy tale.
"Hahaha! Will do! My name will echo across China!" Striking a bodybuilder pose and flexing, he laughed confidently. Man, hope reclaiming lost youth didn't spark a new fetish.
Spending a few more hours hauling ore to his basement—this old dungeon master's—I finally exhaled and shifted home. Time to check the girls' training and head back to Shanghai.
Finding the girl trio took surprisingly long. They'd strayed far from the start zone. Without boosted spiritual boundaries expanding my search radius, might've taken hours more.
Praise the Totems—sensing them, all was well. They just sat on the ground chatting. Landing before them, my two angels leaped from the forest bedding and hugged me tight.
"Mu Bai!" They tried tackling me down together, but failed against our new power gap.
"Hey, not fair!" TuTu puffed like a hamster.
"You boosted your body again? Congrats!" Jiao Jiao smiled warmly.
Gazing into their eyes shining with genuine love, the recent routine smog lifted from my soul, revealing two beautiful suns. Wordlessly, I hugged them and buried my nose in their hair. "Hey, don't sniff—I haven't washed it in ages!" TuTu wriggled from my arms, making me laugh.
Nice to finally return to loved ones.