“Bloop Bloop BNSADJNSAJIODNASODGAAA~!”
“What is User doing?” The System questioned as it opened the vents within Jin’s room once more to slowly drain the massive amount of sludge which has accumulated.
“GAHHH!!! I thought I was gonna die for a second there!” Jin, who had just woken up in a panic, panted and spit out some of the sludge that had gotten in his mouth. He coughed some more and just hoped that he didn’t swallow any of it while asleep… or in case he did, that it might get it out of his system naturally. He looked around and noticed that it was his room. He had purposely refurbished it such that there were two sets of dimensional instances. One was his own room with his personal effects and the other with proper vents and drains so that the System was able to clear the space as quickly as possible when needed after his ‘cultivation’.
“User was doing just fine breathing through the sludge the entire time he’s been unconscious. System has taken the liberty to lock User into time compression for a speedier recovery.” The System brought him up to speed.
“How long was I out? Officially and unofficially.” Jin asked. No matter how often he was told that time was mendable by the System it was still hard to believe. Not to mention, it also messed with his sense of time, and he sometimes had to rely on his storage watch, which was now synchronised with his phone to get the timing. In a way, his living armour plates which made up a bulk of his storage watch had been revitalised after being in contact with the new plates when transformed into System Rider. This gave the older plates better durability and malleability to change while powering the mini device that the System recreated to suit the functionality of a smartwatch.
“On the outside, only 3 hours had passed. However, in here User has been snoring for the last 72 hours and 23 minutes.” The System answered.
“Ok, in that case, good job. It would have led to many headaches if I was out for so long. Wait for a second, how come you used it to help me get sober, but not when I was recovering for the past two weeks?” Jin wondered. He could feel the restraints on him loosen, and he was able to move his body a little. However, unsurprisingly after ‘three days’ of not moving, his body ached quite a bit.
“Pei and the others had been transfusing blood to User on a bi-hourly basis to replenish your chi and mana. Such a delicate process should not be hastened as it might cause unforeseen problems. Most people would not be able to handle time compression and dilation well, presenting side effects. In fact, User is starting to form a sort of resistance to this method. Fortunately, this means that your body has developed an affinity to time magic. To a certain extent, at least.” The System remarked.
“Then what about those giant creatures we ‘caught’ from the Giant World. We also use time compression on them, right?” Jin questioned as he went to his bathroom to wash his face and subsequently took out a water bottle from his storage watch to quench his thirst.
“The ones used as food products are being closely watched. However, given the purpose of us rearing them, the most important factor is not their quality of life, but the quality and quantity of meat they provide User’s customers. Still, Ayse’s Research Team has a researcher look into the side effects of time compression to determine if the compression of time could be resisted by giving them a sort of anti-ageing food to slow the degeneration of the cells.”
“There is also another experimental project centred around Zither Mistress Ke Mi. Her music has proven to accelerate time in a natural way when taking care of the seeds in the Jack’s instance. Another research team is looking into the effects of providing the food nurtured by her music to the animals.” The System reported.
“Then what about the time compression with Ke Mi’s music?”
“Magical Treant Shu, as well as the Great White Snake, have been the ones most affected by being near Ke Mi for the past few months. Their stats are considerably higher, and their growth potential had to be revised twice already. Of course, given that their races get strong with age, they might be the exception and not the rule.”
“For example, some extra fine-tuning was required to ensure that the plants grew correctly. At first, some of them grew too fast, and the produce was not up to expectation, but generally, the results were satisfactory and have been in use ever since.” The System remarked.
“So what was that about me having an affinity with time magic?” Jin, who decided to shower, started to think about it. What if his encounter with Ryuli had something to do with him unconsciously using time magic which he had not known about. (Somehow, that thought came naturally.)
Could it be some hidden power within the Astral Panda Cultivation which he did not know about? There was no mentioning of the time magic within the cultivation manual that Ming gave him but when had that dumb manual ever really helped him? It had always been Ming spoon-feeding him his training through his cultivation dreaming.
“Oh yea, speaking of-” Suddenly the Old Fox appeared in his bathroom, and Jin let out a scream like a little girl who had noticed a peeping tom while taking a bath.
“KYAAAAA~! WHY ARE U IN HERE?!” Jin shouted as he suddenly cringed into a ball like state. “Have you ever heard of something called PRIVACY?!”
“What do you make such a fuss about? I’ve already seen your everything back in the hot springs. And Pei naturally saw you naked while performing your surgery. What is wrong with you? Besides, YOU HAVE A SHOWER CURTAIN.” Kraft argued while pulling the curtain away, demonstrating his point.
“Get out! Get out!” Jin’s cultivation activated in a panic, and a large Astral panda silhouette emerged from Jin. It pushed Kraft out of his bathroom even though the old Fox could have resisted it. He immediately pulled the curtain back and showered with anger while Kraft decided to entertain himself with the Astral Panda silhouette that Jin had produced.
“Not bad. You can handle an astral projection similar to a chi summon like what Grandma Yuan did at your new grade.” Kraft said as he scratched the Panda behind his ears and it gradually laid its head on his lap.
“What did you want to say? It better be important enough for you to appear in person instead of using the System channel.” Jin was still pissed, not sure whether it was the slight headache he had from all the heavy drinking or Kraft’s intolerable need to surprise his master.
“As I was about to say, ‘speaking of time magic’, I might have found a bit of clue why the Ryuli you met could possibly be the same Ryuli you met in your dreams,” Kraft explained.
“But?” Jin wore a towel around his waist and folded his arm, waiting for Kraft’s request. “You always have a condition attached to your answers, so spit it out!”
“Hahaha! That I cannot deny and it makes me feel proud that I’ve managed to groom such a very understanding master.” Kraft sniggered happily. “But no. In the spirit of the Chinese New Year, I shall hand you this information for free.”
“Impossible. If you don’t want anything from me, it must mean that this new information is going to make me squirm trying to explain to Ryuli how I got to know her. Just thinking about how she is my ‘disciple’ from years back is starting to give me a headache….assuming that your theory is true.” Jin said with difficulty as he knew that time magic was something not to be tampered with especially after the time reversal that the System did.
“You know me well enough, Master. Meh, even if you figured out my intentions, the good show is bound to happen, and I am looking forward to it. Speaking of a good show, your little Tigress came by earlier to see you.” Kraft injected to see his reaction as part of his ‘punishment’ of knowing him too well.
“So what? I was dead drunk.” Jin queried.
“That didn’t stop Yun from showing her your body,” Kraft said as he opened the Panda’s mouth and put his head in. The big Panda tried to bite down, but it didn’t work and yawned instead.
“THEY WHAT?! Why will Yun even do that?” Jin started to feel embarrassed rather than concerned about how his cultivation stance had been exposed.
Kraft rejoiced in that reaction and gave him selected bits and pieces of the story, knowing that either Lynn or Yun would provide the whole story eventually. But for now a bit of teasing before telling the Dungeon Supplier his theory on Jin’s encounter with young Ryuli.
