Playboy Cultivator in the Apocalypse

Chapter 91 June 27th, 2032 | Mortal Incentives | 10 Days Remain

Kaze took a shower to remove the last residual impurities from the miasma in his body.

He methodically obliterated his chest, lungs, and shoulders and healed them to permanently remove impurities. Now his body was as pristine and unscarred as it was a week ago.

It was ludicrous from any rational perspective and showcased the absurd level of power he had amassed with his cultivation techniques and the indomitability of his mindset.

"Finally." Kaze grinned, getting out of the shower with a bright smile, "I'll finally be able to create spatial rings in a few days; I have long forgotten how inconvenient satchels were."

For the emperor, who walked around with a massive treasury on his finger in the Immortal Plane, wearing a leather bag to carry documents was chafing.

"That's for then. For now, I need to get Crux and Evalyn set up with training and also Crux about Ergo Seeds." He muttered to himself pensively.

Now that he had a soul core, he could establish permanent cultivation links, allowing him to create barriers, make spatial storage, and grow plants for impurity-cleansing treasures.

When he left the bathroom, Crux was waiting for him on the bed, sitting in her frog hoodie, the covers on her thighs, with her cat tail up straight.

While her pose wasn't noteworthy—

"Must you sniff those?" Kaze asked with a twitching cheek, "We're getting you undergarments right now."

The shadow cat's face flushed bright red to the tip of her ears. "T-These are undergarments?"

She had Riley and Sarah's bikini bottoms in her hands, sniffing them. The two seemed to have hidden them somewhere and left wearing towels.

He wasn't a fan of their [trophy of conquest] message or the current situation—especially because a divine beast was smelling them in puzzlement.

Crux threw them onto the bed in confusion. "I-I… I thought they smelled like… I'm not sure what I thought. I've never seen such strange cloth that ties together.

While it smelled like a human, there was so little cloth that it was hard to imagine it would cover anyone's bottom."

Kaze chuckled in disbelief and closed his eyes. "While everyone on the Mortal Plane is weak, their technology is vastly superior.

That said, every year, women wear less clothes when swimming. I looked forward to seeing what happened next year until the apocalypse rudely intervened."

Crux blinked twice in confusion. He couldn't tell what part of his statement was a joke or if it was completely serious. Regardless of the joking point, it all horrified her. "I think we should move on."

Kaze chuckled in amusement. "Moving on, then. Do you know when Ergo Seeds are being shipped to Earth? Or any other impurity treasure plant?"

Her eyes narrowed, and her expression became serious. "During the final Qi influx in ten days."

"That soon?" He asked in confusion.

"Yes, they're planting fields as part of the trial." She confirmed, "And they're creating an incentive to lure in fertilize them."

A lethal glint flashed across the emperor's eyes. Plant treasures are normal plants that cultivators endow with a [Soul Qi vein].

Soul Qi veins accept Soul Qi from dead cultivators and creatures, allowing them to grow.

In short, the more death occurs around a treasure, the more potent it becomes.

One notable example was the Tree of Immortality, a living treasure that housed over a million souls. It was regularly tapped for Soul Qi like a well until it was destroyed, sending the Transcendent Plane into disarray.

In this case, the cultivators planned to lead humans with a shot at survival to their deaths to plant the seeds. It was extremely dark.

"I see… that makes sense." Kaze replied pensively, "How long will they be here?"

"Only until the end of the 24 hour closure window." Crux said with sharp eyes, "They're coming and going with the Qi."

He closed his eyes in annoyance. While he wanted to obtain the seeds, the military would surely panic and seek refuge in Immortal Skye simultaneously.

If he left to retrieve the seeds, the settlement would be undefended. "I must train everyone quickly."

"Surely you're not planning to face dozens of cultivators to obtain seeds…." Crux whispered in disbelief.

"Of course I am." Kaze laughed, "Ideally, I'd like to do so without being noticed. I do not seek hostilities, but I can't wait around for three months for impurity removal treasures."

The divine beast smiled wryly. "I see. I wish I didn't know that."

"I'm not asking you to take part." He clarified, "But so long as you're here, you're a leader if you wish, and I will be honest.

They're actively killing billions of people; I'm seeking to protect some, not start a war. Now come, we must get you clothing so I can start the training.

Less than two weeks remain before the fifth influx of Qi, and every person of power comes knocking on Immortal Skye's door.

Evalyn must be trained, and I can't do it while training the faction members, real soldiers, and trade workers, raising elites, organizing the faction, creating political institutions, squashing internal enemies, and dousing fires from the impending panic.

There's much to do and not enough time. So let's go."

Kaze was on the edge of creating the most incredible place to live on Earth, apocalypse or otherwise. Therefore, he needed to protect it from outsiders and from within.

There was a lot to do, and he didn't have time to focus on Evalyn, so he was grateful she had a teacher.

Crux nodded and got up, using the baggy hoodie to tuck in her tail and the hood to hide her ears.

They walked out of the building and made their way to a mansion on the far side of the campus.

"Welcome to the [Luxe]." Kaze smiled, leading her into a mansion far larger than the rest. It was a simple white mansion with stylish black and gold accents. It looked very modern.

When they walked in, Crux's eyes widened in shock. It was a full store filled with a million clothing items of every size and description.

It had five floors, twenty rooms, and two ballrooms.

Half the rooms and both ballrooms in the Luxe had clothing. The other ten had strange items the shadow cat had never seen before.

Lastly, the basement was called the Underground Bizarre and was designated for another purpose, so he didn't consider its rooms as part of the Luxe.

Needless to say, her eyes would explode if she went there.

It was a true wonderland to the cat woman.

"Why do you have something like this here?"

"This is a faction, is it not?" Kaze smiled, "Since the faction aims to become strong, not earn a profit, resources are free. So there must be incentives for people to work and grow."

"You mean to tell me that mortals will work for garments and trinkets alone?" Crux scoffed, "Is that a joke?"

Faction members worked for resources and techniques in the Sky Plane and above. Yet the mortals on Earth would work for simple clothing? It sounded absurd to her!

"True, it's a mortal thing." Kaze confirmed with an evil grin, leading her to the intimate's room.

"Since high plane cultivators are far superior, they haven't a need for more than a few outfits.

That's why you can only have a pair of undergarments today. You can use your faction bills for practical treasures and techniques when I release them."

"What's that grin for?" Crux asked in annoyance.

"Oh, nothing." He chuckled while walking to a waiting area, "I'm just laughing at the profound foolishness of mortals.

Quickly pick out your clothing, and we can take you to the training area."

Crux scoffed and walked into the room. When she did, her eyes widened in shock.

"How are there so many types!?" She cried in aggressive bewilderment.

On the Sky Plane, clothing items were made by hand and rudimentary machinery, similar to what existed leading up to the industrial revolution.

Looms existed, but the textile specialists did not use machinery beyond that.

She picked up a black pair of lace cheeky's with eyes as wide as saucers.

"Such detail! I must meet the artisan with this level of talent!" Crux cried in disbelief, "The team must be extraordinary. There are hundreds of different sizes and shapes!"

The cat woman searched through the area in deep fascination until she got to the racy section.

She picked up a simple pink thong with wide, trembling eyes. "What is this!? Such lewd depravity is beyond words!"

Kaze laughed his ass off outside of the room, reveling in her reactions.

He was never more grateful for his hyperthymesic memory. Knowing he'd never forget her reaction to seeing a g-string was a treasure.

After twenty minutes, he walked into the room. "Are you ready to leave?"

Crux turned away hurriedly, closely holding her arms to her chest, suppressing the desire to hiss.

"C-Can I get a bit more time?" She stuttered awkwardly.

"Hoh? Is there a problem?" He mused mockingly, "Surely it doesn't take a high-class cultivator this much time to pick out simple undergarments. They all serve the same purpose, do they not?"

"I-I…." She gulped, "These strange tailors have made features that do not seem to provide practical value.

It would be easier if I could get a few to prevent… making mistakes."

"Unfortunately not, Crux." Kaze grinned, "These are incentives for foolish mortals. If I let people run away with them or increase the supply, they would lose their value."

Crux swallowed nervously, torn between hiding her face in shame and preventing him from seeing a dozen pairs of bras and panties in her arms. "I did not understand."

"Of course, you didn't." He smiled gently, "You can have two pairs for your repentance. Train Evalyn and you'll receive further rewards."

Her eyes lit up with happiness, and she sneakily put items back or tucked them into discreet locations, leading him to grin further.

After she had picked out her pairs, she left the mansion bitterly and followed him to the cultivation area.

She was impressed when she entered the location because she was on the Mortal Plane. However, such locations are standard in the Sky Plane, not a fantastical wonder.

Evalyn opened her eyes from the rock in the lake's center, stood, and slowly walked across the lake while freezing the area under her feet.

Kaze watched in satisfaction, and Crux appraised her technique and grimaced, understanding how much work she had ahead of her.

When the blonde was ten feet away, she got too confident and excited and slipped.

SPLAAAASSSH!

Kaze burst into unreserved laughter as Evalyn bitterly swam to shore, her black v-neck, leggings, and blonde hair soaked.

She looked at Crux with a wry smile, embarrassed the woman saw her humiliate herself at the first meeting.

"Hello, Crux." Evalyn said solemnly, greeting her with a wave.

"He-ell… o. Evalyn Skye." Crux replied, using a bewildering strange accent to say hello, but fluidly saying her name with a perfect accent. It surprised both of them.

More so for the cat woman, who felt strangely capable of understanding English as Evalyn felt about the [Skylain] language.

It was as if something had locked away the ability, and it was a matter of time until it opened.

Either way, Kaze planned to give them both a Spirit Qi technique that allowed them to communicate through synesthesia and another geared to language.

However, he wouldn't do that for now. He wanted to observe how they communicated for the week.

"Okay, I must go train the others." Kaze clapped, "Evalyn, you're to do anything she indicates, no matter how painful.

Crux, you're to train her however you see fit. She can take a lot more pain than her countenance shows."

Evalyn was ceaselessly impressed by how fluidly he switched between languages.

However, her enthusiasm disappeared when she saw the malicious look in Crux's eyes. There wasn't a single shred of mercy within them.

Kaze grinned and walked away. "Have fun, you too. Make sure you check in periodically so I can heal your wounds, Evalyn."

"W-Wounds!?" Evalyn cried in shock, but the emperor had already walked away.