Chapter 217: Sponsoring A Venerable!

Chapter 217: Sponsoring A Venerable!

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Ding!

[You have exchanged 30.000 Plot Points! You have awakened [Character: Wai Tian] Innate Talents and Abilities!]

[You have officially become her Sponsor! Her Stats have increased.]

[Character: Wai Tian] has unlocked the following Innate Skills: [Claws Of the Fiery Tigress (S)] [Roar Of Dominance (S)] [Tempestuous Blazing Wild Charge (S)] [Divine White Tiger’s Embodiment (SS)]!]

Wai Tian was the first one to receive her awakening. Her abilities blossomed instantly. I thought she would only manage to unlock one Skill or a few first, but she got all of them right away, including her SS Rank Skill.

FLASH!

“W-What is this fiery power? It is flowing through my entire being!” Wai Tian gasped; her body was blazing with her Ki Essence, which erupted from her body like an endless aura of golden flames.

“Congratulations! You’ve become an Awakened, Wai Tian! We’ll have to train your abilities later!” I congratulated her. “You’re exceptionally talented amongst most people here too, so your abilities are really strong. It’ll take a while for you to get used to them.”

“L-Lady Anna... T-Thank you so much!” The tigress bowed to me, putting herself on the floor. “I will never forget your generosity; you have my eternal gratitude and my loyalty! I-I will now follow you to the end of the world, anywhere!”

“E-Eh? Okay, okay, calm down a bit.” I laughed, patting her head. “Just stand up; there is no need to kneel. I didn’t do this just out of goodwill; I did it because we’ll need more fighters around here if we want to truly end those robots’ invasion once and for all.”

“I will train; I will do my best to be of help. Since the world almost ended, I’ve been feeling so empty, but with this strength and the purpose you’ve given me, I want to fulfill it!” She said with eyes shining like an adorable cat; even her long tail was wagging.

I am so weak to cats, and her tiger-shaped face was so big and fluffy, I wanted to touch her little chin and scratch it! But I resisted the temptation for now.

“Thank you, Wai Tian; I am looking forward to working with you!” I smiled, shaking her paws.

“Y-Yes! Let’s train together and forge bonds as female warriors!” She nodded. She was so cute and innocent.

“Now, Heavenly Empress, it’s your turn.” I said with a smile.

“I-It’s impressive what you did to Wai Tian!” Said the white crane lady. “I had never sensed any of such power within her at all; it almost feels like you gifted her this power.”

“It technically is called Growth Gift Package.” I laughed. “But no, I didn’t gift her these abilities; I used power to awaken them. She always had that talent but just couldn’t find the opportunity to awaken it properly, unfortunately. And now it’ll be the same for you, Venerable.”

“Did she do the same with you, Fang Shuan?” Asked the empress to my familiar.

“Oh, well, not really. She used a different ability to raise me back as an Undead Monster. I used to be an enemy of her, a monster from inside a dungeon.” Sighed Fang Shuan. “It’s a slightly long story, but after becoming familiar with it, I also awakened my status, abilities, and skills.”

“Interesting.” The empress looked at me. “But Anna, you said you didn’t have the resources; how are you doing this? By becoming in debt... for me? We’ve only met for a day. There is no reason to go this far for me... You don’t even know who I might truly be, my dark secrets, or the sins I’ve committed as well...”

“We all commit mistakes; nobody here is absent of sins either. And there is nobody in this world, or in any world, that doesn’t have dark secrets they would prefer nobody knew about.” I explained it to her. “However, you’re one of the few hopes of this world, so of course I am going to invest in you, Master. After all, you’ve taken me as your disciple! Now stay there and relax.”

“Anna...” She looked into my eyes, slightly perplexed by my goodwill. “I suppose a different world comes with a different way of living, different morality, different thoughts... I can already imagine; the people of your world must be very kind compared to the ones from our own.”

“Eh? Ah, I don’t know; I think I might also be an outliner there as well.” I laughed a bit. “But yeah, there are still some good people, comrades I love and care for. And they also love me and care for me... We’re all a big family. And I can see something similar here. I hope this can help you recover, even if a little bit.”

“Thank you.” She nodded. “As the Heavenly Empress, I swear I will give you the best training I can, Anna. In this little time you have here.”

“Hahaha! Got you, you damned tree! HAHAHA- Ugh!”

However, the moment she laughed out loud, she felt weakened. Most of her energies were depleted, and she couldn’t recover them quickly like she might have used to, making her take some heavy backlash and making her look dizzy and sickly again.

“A-Agh, dammit!”

She quickly flew back here, falling to her knees and then sighing. She sat down cross-legged as we ran to help her.

“Venerable! Are you okay?!” Wai Tian asked her.

“I am fine, just... tired. I’ve done what I could for now, heh. That damned tree is almost destroyed. Anna, Wai Tian, it’ll be one of your missions to complete what I started with it.” She spoke. “For now... Hahah... Let me thank you, Anna. I’ve always wanted to do that for so long; even if it was short-lived, I was able to retaliate back against those mechanical monsters.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re happy... But please don’t push yourself too hard; you’re still not well.” I said, quickly touching her. I used my Healing Touch Skill on her at full power by imbuing it with Ki.

FLASH!

“Ahhh... T-That feels really good.” She sighed in relief as I gave her a shoulder massage. “You’re... You’re a good disciple, yes. The best I’ve had already~”

“Geez, we’ve met for just a day, Master!” I sighed. “Now, relax and let me give you a good massage so you can feel better. There, there. Don’t push yourself anymore if possible, okay?”

“You treat me as if I were your grandmother... Even though we've only met for a day, Anna, you become attached to people very quickly once they show some kindness. It tells me a lot about you, about how you crave attention and love. It tells me how lonely you've felt.” She said.

"L-Lonely? I am not lonely! I'm always surrounded by a big family and everything!" I said.

“Is that so? Sometimes, there's a loneliness that is born from what we can't tell others—a wall we build between us and those we love. This wall isolates us, and slowly, it makes us feel lonely even when we're surrounded by people we love. But there is sincerity and love in your words; you genuinely care. I will take care of myself, dear. There is no need to worry for this old woman.” She patted my hands, caressing them gently. “Now, let us have a meal. You must be hungry, I presume.”

“Oh yeah, I am starving.” I nodded.

“I-I should go back to my house for now and return when...” Wai Tian muttered.

“Where do you think you’re going, young woman?” Asked the Empress. “You’re staying here. I don’t believe you have any family waiting for you back in your little hut, so you better stay living with me from now on. Anna saw potential in you, and now I can clearly see it as well. She said we needed strong people, and she’s not wrong. I’ll personally train you as well.”

“I-Is that so?! T-Thank you so much! The Heavenly Empress is the best!” Wai Tian once more kneeled before her, almost about to kiss her feet.

“Enough with the praise." She spoke. “Now that I can move without feeling pain, I should prepare something for all of you; it is the least I could do for my new disciples. I’ll prepare you a delicious meal using premium ingredients harvested from my Inner Realm.” She opened a portal to her Inner Realm.

FLASH!

A portal was opened, which revealed the interior of a colorful and spiritual land within her soul. It was something that she apparently couldn’t do until I helped her get better.

“Amazing, it truly works! Just wait here; I’ll be right back~!” She stepped inside and then came back almost instantly, bringing with herself a huge red and yellow-colored boar with golden tusks and six eyes; it was dead. “I brought dinner! Freshly hunted Divine Martial Beast! Let us quickly enjoy it, dears.”

“Ooooh! Let me help you butcher it, master!” Wai Tian said.

“Yeah, I’ll help as well!” I nodded.

Like that, we spent a whole hour butchering the beast and then cooking it into a variety of dishes. Time seemed to go flying, and the sun had already disappeared by the horizon, the moon rising slowly as a beautiful starry night veiled the skies.

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