Chapter 561   – Settling In

"Done!"

Finally, Miaomiao finished cleaning the barn again. This time, he renovated the entire building using the woods and stones from his dantian world.

Now, the shabby barn looked a lot better.

Miaomiao enabled his smelling sense, but he turned it off the next second. Even though he completely cleaned and repaired the stable, the rotten odor still lingered in the air.

"Dammit. Ventilation! I need to install a ventilation system!"

Miaomiao smashed a section of the wall to make a new window to let the airflow into the barn. Then, he touched the Ring of Slave Master and ejected several canteens of Siren City's holy water. Using his Qi manipulation, he splashed the water around to disinfect the stable and the rooftop.

Because of the elixir water, the Life Essence inside the stable got thicker. Moreover, Life Essence killed the bacteria and the smell.

Within a minute, Life Essence from the elixir purified the barn. It was now sparkling clean.

The fresh air soothed Miaomiao. However, it woke up Nya-Nya.

"Munyaaa… MUNYA! I FELL ASLEEP, MUNYA!!"

Nya-Nya panicked and looked around. Then, she noticed that she was hugging Miaomiao's arms.

"Good morning, princess. Did you have a good sleep?"

"!!!"

Nya-Nya jumped off Miaomiao in panic. Her black fur reddened, "H-How long have I been sleeping, Munya!"

"Four hours."magic

"NYAAAAA!!"

Nya-Nya hid in a corner, facing the wall. She trembled, "I'm such a disgrace. I shouldn't sleep on a stranger's arms, Munya!"

"I don't mind though."

"Ugh."

Nya-Nya sneaked a glance at Miaomiao's hands. She mumbled, "C-Can you pet me again?"

"Hahahaha!" Miaomiao couldn't help it. He laughed. Then, he picked her up again, "I can pet you as much as you want."

Nya-Nya purred. Her instinct kicked in, and she raised her chin, allowing Miaomiao to scratch it.

Miaomiao sensed that it might be the right time, he asked, "Say, Nya-Nya."

"Yes, Munya?"

"Be mine."

"MUNYAAAAAAAA!!"

Smoke came out from Nya-Nya's ears. She panicked again. However, her tentacles didn't let go of his arms, "W-We're from a different species, Munya! Our relationship won't work, Munya!"

Miaomiao snickered. He teased the cat enough, "You misunderstood me. I wish to form a pact with you. Would you be my familiar? I have condensed a world inside me, and you can move to my world. You don't have to live in this shithole anymore."

"Eh?"

Miaomiao grinned. Then, he tapped her forehead with his fingertip and shared some of his memory.

Images of Miaomiao's memory about the Isolated Training Space flashed before Nya-Nya's eyes. A few seconds later, she learned everything about Miaomiao's dantian world and its current population.

Nya-Nya was in a daze. She thought that she was daydreaming.

Seeing that Nya-Nya was confused, Miaomiao summoned Meowmeow to meet his kin.

WHOOSH

Meowmeow came out with a large fish in his mouth. He was in the middle of catching a 30-meter long swordfish.

"What is this shitty place, Munya?! It's fucking smelly, Munya!"

Meowmeow covered his nose with two of his tentacles while he carried the swordfish over his head, not wanting the precious food of his to touch the ground.

Then, his eyes met with Nya-Nya's.

"Oh, hi, little girl, Munya. Wait a minute… Miaomiao, Munya! Are you on my planet?"

"No. We're at Cherry Boy City. I don't know the planet's name, though."

"Then, how the hell does this underage catopus here, Munya!"

"Underage?" Miaomiao widened his eyes.

Nya-Nya retorted, "I'm 12 years old, Munya! Who are you calling underage, Munya!"

"A 12-year-old catopus is too young to be out here, Munya! They should have stayed in our homeworld until you're 200, Munya!""…"

Miaomiao's face turned into a pokerface meme. He had no comment on their culture and ages.

The two kitties bickered and hissed at each other. But after a minute, Nya-Nya stared at Meowmeow's trophy, aka the swordfish.

She had never eaten a fish ever since she had moved here by an accident. It aroused her predatory instinct.

"Can I eat that, Munya?"

"Hell to the NO, Munya! It's mine!" Meowmeow stuck out his tongue and jumped back into the portal, going back to space with the fish.

Being abandoned by her cat-mate, Nya-Nya's eyes became teary again. She sniffed, "I just want to ask for that fish's bone or leftover..."

"How long have you last eaten a fish?"

"I don't know. I remember that I ate a discarded piece of fish back home before I was driven out. I've never seen a fish ever since."

"…"

Miaomiao sighed. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and a small portal was open. It ejected a massive tuna fish, which occupied one of the rooms in the stable.

"You can have it. I doubt you actually had good food for years."

"I-Is this for me, Munya?"

"Yup. For you. Consider it a part of my rent."

"T-Thank you, Munya!"

Nya-Nya pounced on the tuna. She cried while she ate it.

She finally got to taste fish again.

…

th Initiate Mountain Peak

This mountain peak was the gathering point for initiates with the token number 1201 to 1299. Every month, all students attended classes here and listened to an elder's lecture.

On top of the mountain peak, a grand hall stood tall. On the walls inside the halls, a hundred tokens of all 100 initiate disciples were attached there.

Below the hanging tokens, a jade plate embedded in the wall, glowing and shining.

Suddenly, one of the jade plates dimmed, and the token number 1212 was ejected.

A deacon, who had been cleaning the hall, noticed the ejected token. He brought the token to the elder of this peak.

This was a common occurrence here. Whenever a token was ejected from the wall, it notified the elder that the disciple with this number token had been either killed or lost his badge to someone else.

The deacon reported to the elder, who had been resting in the backroom, "Elder Sun Cheng, the initiate number 1212 has lost his badge."

"Mm."

The elder waved his hand and the token flew toward him. He grabbed the token and inserted his Qi into it.

Then, the record of the incident appeared as a hologram in front of the deacon and the elder. It revealed everything from the start of the incident.

It started when the initiate carelessly tossed human corpses to the abandoned trash dump. Then, he caused a landslide and provoked a person inside a broken barn.

Sun Cheng raised his eyebrows when he saw Miaomiao, "Who is that purple demon?"

"From what I heard, Lord Adam brought him here. His name should have already been registered to the Candidate Peak."

"Hmm," Sun Cheng nodded. Then, he observed the fight between the initiate and Miaomiao.

Unfortunately, it ended instantly.

"I see a trace of Slaughterer Dao, but what he actually did was different. Is that a Dao of Extreme Agility?" The deacon didn't understand how it happened.

"It's something else," Sun Cheng shook his head in disagreement, but he didn't bother explaining what he had in mind.

Sun Cheng declared, "The rules are the rules. Send someone to inform the Candidate Peak that the initiate number 1212 has been defeated by that purple demon newbie. However, don't promote him to our mountain peak yet. Tell him to increase his cultivation base to at least rank 9 or we won't promote him. Also, inform other candidates that the badge has changed hands."

The deacon glanced at Miaomiao in the hologram, "Won't he be in trouble? The other candidates won't leave him alone."

"That's the nature of our sect. We nurture wild beasts, not domesticated ones. We don't raise fangless tigers, weak-willed hypocrites, or inexperienced children of self-proclaimed noble clans. Only the strongest, smartest, and toughest disciples can thrive here."

"… Understood, Elder."

…

After clearing the trash dump and restoring the stable, Miaomiao finally secured a place to rest.

Nya-Nya's familiar contract was also completed. The catopus, after being fed by Miaomiao, agreed to become his familiar.

Thus, Miaomiao got a new Dao Sentinel candidate. He sent Nya-Nya to the dantian world to live in a better place.

As soon as Nya-Nya arrived in the dantian world, dryad workers surrounded her. They laughed and petted Nya-Nya."Munya…"

Nya-Nya felt like she was in a paradise. Nobody back home had ever paid attention or pet her.

Her big round eyes looked around and admired the scenery. The grassland, farmlands, lush forest, and an endless ocean dazzled her.

Nya-Nya was so moved to tears. She was so grateful that she got to live here instead of living in that stable next to the trash dump.

But while Nya-Nya was being surrounded by worker dryads, Miaomiao captured 10 giant tunas from the Life Essence Sea and dropped them in front of Nya-Nya.

"This place has plenty of fish and food. You can eat these every day until you're sick of them. Call me whenever you want more."

Nya-Nya wailed, "T-This is Heaven, Munyaaaaa!"

It took a while for Nya-Nya to adjust to the new environment, and she got along with Ma Xingjuan and Kang Yan. However, she was afraid of Dian Wei, Xu Chu, and Diaochan for an unknown reason.

As for Meowmeow, he kept complaining to Miaomiao that his territory was being invaded by another catopus.

After a month in the dantian space, Meowmeow gave in. Instead of pestering Miaomiao, he competed against Nya-Nya in terms of fishing skills and eating speed.

With that, Miaomiao got rid of another headache. Now, he got free time to truly rest and cultivate.

…

Nya-Nya's stable now became Miaomiao's private property after the cat became his familiar.

He took the signboard "Stable for Rent" away. Then, he shut the doors and windows.

Miaomiao lied on his new cotton bed, which was made from the woods and materials from the dantian space. Then, he tried to open his system menu.

Unfortunately, Dion hadn't finished the rebooting process. The completion percentage got stuck at 15% for hours now.

'Haiz. No system entertainment. Then, I'll just do the hardcore grinding. It's time to improve my elemental crystals and Totems.'

Since the foundation of Totem Pillars were elemental continents, Miaomiao began reviewing all elements that he had cultivated so far.

Having lost his dragon bloodline, Miaomiao also lost a part of his dragon element power. However, the newfound bloodline of a war marionette ran in his veins, and it was slowly transforming his foundations from the inside.

Even the karma centipedes in him were also lively. Half of the eggs and weak babies were swept and devoured by the new blood while the stronger ones began transforming and evolving to adapt to the new environment.

Now, they formed physical bodies. They became real parasites, which could shrink or enlarge their bodies at will.

Miaomiao counted the number of parasites in him. There were at least 100 million of them now, but each of them only ate a blood cell. Then, they hibernated.

As for his Qi, none of the parasites touched them. It seemed like the evolved centipedes were no longer bothered with it after they got better food.

While Miaomiao was inspecting the centipedes inside him, Adam's voice transmission sounded in his mind once more.

'Oh, hey. You move up so soon! Don't you worry that you might be targeted if you move up with that meager strength?'

Miaomiao frowned, "What do you mean by moving up?"

'You killed an initiate, so you take over that dead guy's position.'

"Oh, if that's the case, I won't show up in the lecture or complete the sect missions. I'll just stay here for three months and let myself be demoted."

'Are you sure? You won't receive any wage if you do that.'

"I don't care. Oh, by the way, senior. Can I ask you for a favor?"

'What is it?'

"When I left my continent, I forgot my subordinates and a treasure there. Can I ask you to bring them here for me?"

Miaomiao never forgot about the Holy Grail of Mao Xueyan. He wanted it back so that he could sell the elixir water here for coins.

Unfortunately, Adam could be cruel sometimes.

'Sorry. I'm too busy. I can't be your errand boy.'

"Then, can I go there and fetch the thing myself?"

'No disciple can leave the planet without the sect's authority.'

"YOU!! Are you going to trap me here?!"

'I'm doing this for your own good. Forget everything and focus on cultivating. This is an order.'

"…"

'Also, I have three bad news, which is why I'm talking to you again.'

Miaomiao didn't have high hope on this bad news, but he prayed that it wouldn't involve his wives.

'First, Devil has been captured and imprisoned by a sage.'

"Ah, I already knew," Miaomiao witnessed the event himself. He wasn't surprised.

'Second bad news, Lilim has put a bounty on your head, and several immortal clans are searching for your whereabouts, especially the Qin Dynasty.'

Miaomiao assumed that the fated rivalry between him and Lilim might be at work. Now, she proactively caused problems for him.

"Are my wives and the other hostages okay?"

'That comes to the third bad news.'