Chapter 11 - Mod Installed! Now, What?
In the dream, Fu Tong found himself in a library full of manuals, books, and parchments. As this was a dream, he drifted towards a bookshelf and picked up a shining grimoire by instinct.
The thick leather cover of the grimoire transformed into the Chinese word "Dao". It floated and detached from the book cover and entered his forehead. At that moment, all books, manuals, and parchments in the library ejected a trillion strings of words, sentences, and scriptures. Endless lines of texts rushed into his head.
Fu Tong felt nothing, but information entered in his mind. As new memories became his, he lost his sense of time.
Every book contained a lifelong experience of a martial artist, scholar, cultivator, commoner, artisan, bureaucrat official, merchant, or immortal. He felt as though he lived through another life every two seconds.
Manuals, though, were different. When they entered his mind, he absorbed the authors' knowledge. Some books contained the same martial arts or techniques, but the interpretations and understandings varied.
Parchments contained some mnemonic verses, short notes of high-level techniques, and famous cultivation methods, reserved for heirs or clan leaders.
And lastly, there were grimoires. Unlike the records left behind by mortals or immortals, these grimoires were unreadable due to their transparent text and the mysterious energies that sealed their contents.
When Fu Tong's body digested the last book, he awoke from his dream. But in reality, only three seconds passed.
Fu Tong deeply exhaled, releasing white smoke from his lungs. He opened his eyes. Without hesitation, he circulated his 30 Qi cells within him, forcing the energy to flow through his blood vessels to all his organs.
Instantly, he discovered some clogged passages within his blood vessels. Some were squeezed by his own muscles while several tunnels suffered from accumulating black substances.
Although the game didn't explain what the black substances were, Fu Tong learned about them from the mysterious dream's books.
These were toxin or impurities, which accumulated overtime. Everybody had these in their bodies. They were originally good blood cells, but they got mutated after they had made contact with Qi.
His Qi cells swept through the impure substances and carried them to his dantian, where the impurity melted everything into white goo. This white liquid, in turn, became food for his Qi cells.
Without absorbing Qi from the outside world, his Qi cells doubled every time they completed one lap of whole-body circulation. The split Qi cells consumed the new food and resumed their activities, searching for mutated cells or impurities to convert.
While the complex process went on, Fu Tong's muscles emitted muffled popping noises as they evolved. They retained the same shape, but the quality was far superior to what he had a minute ago.
He now had the physique of a peak immortal. Only his Qi volume remained the same as that of a newbie cultivator.
Meanwhile, the bride and her followers arrived at the wedding stage. Following the old tradition, she covered her face with a thin veil, but she dressed in white instead of red. She stopped in front of him.
Both gazed at each other. Upon noticing the aura of Fu Tong, she raised an eyebrow and looked up, asking him.
"Did you break through during the parade?"
Fu Tong slightly nodded, though he was still intoxicated by a long dream. This life's memories returned to him, yet he remembered everything in his dream.
The anxiety, stress, and concern earlier vanished like smoke. He relaxed, his deep eyes gleaming with intelligence and wisdom.
"I had an epiphany," Fu Tong replied. As his Qi cells never stopped multiplying, he had stepped into level 4 of Qi Condensation Stage.
"Oh, I see. But how are you going to convince the townspeople to support you?"
Fu Tong grinned and crossed his arms behind his back. He probed her. "Is this wedding some sort of a trick or another scheme of yours? I thought we'd agreed to share love and fate together."
Jin Yu confessed. "I'm so sorry, husband. We need to go through this to solve one of my city's long-term issues. Unless we announce your presence and status to our city, THAT cancer will continue haunting me."
"You and your city will be excommunicated though. Are you sure?"
"It has to be done."
Fu Tong closed his eyes. He nodded in understanding.
He remembered the conflicts and events in chapter 3. They were not supposed to occur yet as the protagonist team hadn't shown up.
Fu Tong was not the only suitor here in this city. Thousands of young male celestial foxes also vied for her heart, but none of them managed to succeed. Among them, a demonic fox clan established a family branch in this city, and the youngest son of the branch leader desired her.
At a glance, the young master was just another horny fox. But this came with a complex issue—The demonic fox in question was secretly selling information about the celestial fox clan to the Starlight Taming Guild. In addition, Xiao Han Ce, her mortal enemy, was a customer of this young master.
This wedding ceremony had two purposes: To expel the suitors from the city and to solidify Fu Tong's position as her husband.
Fu Tong complained. "In short, you want them to come out, interfere with our wedding, and challenge me. But isn't this reckless? I haven't restored my cultivation strength yet."
Jin Yu giggled. "I believe in you."
In reality, Jin Yu believed that Fu Tong managed to retain skills and wisdom from his previous life. Based on her understanding, he should be able to deal with a 4th-stage immortals in the city with minimal effort. She already gave him enough energy supply last night, which should be sufficient for the tasks.
She also added. "If you lack Qi, why don't you absorb some from your coins?"
Fu Tong's expression grimaced. He shook his head.
"I hate being tied to karma, so no. Also, I don't need Qi to squash some ants."
"…Oh?" Jin Yu's eyes widened, surprised. "Are you sure? You couldn't even defeat me last night?"
Fu Tong smirked and leaned closer to her face. He whispered. "You'll regret provoking me tonight, you little vixen."
Jin Yu blushed, yet she widely grinned, anticipating their wild night.
While the love birds teased and expressed their inner desire, a caravan of blue carriages flew over the city. They parked in the sky, and a hundred white foxes in blue robes stepped out of their vehicles. They floated in mid-air.
These humanoid foxes didn't bother wearing a mask. They had human limbs and torso, but they retained their white furs, fox heads, and tails.
One of the furries swiped a palanquin's curtain and stepped outside. Unlike the others, he was in a completed human form. His long white hair, fox ears, seven tails, and dark robes stood out from the rest.
Fu Tong looked up. Although they were 200 meters apart, his eyes could see the small scratch scar above his left eye. Someone had clawed this guy long ago.
He recognized the man. That was the chapter 3's middle boss and the "young master" in question.