Chapter 3.1: Upgrade Fragments - Part 1

Did she really think that would work?!

Yiren stood in front of Lisa defensively, and the black cat pounced on her with its whole weight, pinning her to the ground, and turned its head down to bite her neck.

Ah!!!

Lisa was nowhere close to being calm, this being the first time she was in a situation like this. They always had Xuefeng and the other sisters fighting the beasts while Lisa and Yiren provided support together with Tianshi.

Even her new ability, which she got from her Spirit, was non-offensive, just providing her with unlimited storage for her precious herbs and enhancing their properties. It only made her a better alchemist, not a better fighter.

Lisa wanted to help Yiren but hesitated. The power of her explosive pill was immense and she might end up hurting Yiren instead. But she decided there was no helping it -- she would just try to aim accurately.

"Leave her alone!" she shouted, holding up the pill and preparing to throw it, but she froze when she heard Yiren's laughter.

"Hahaha, don't lick me so much! It tickles!"

Licking? Tickles?

Confused, Lisa walked cautiously to where Yiren and the black cat were wrestling on the ground and saw that it was indeed attacking Yiren, not with violence but with slobbery kisses.

What...?

Lisa couldn't comprehend how Yiren did it every time. Every Beast that would rip anyone to shreds became her tamed pet in a matter of seconds.

Yiren's unique ability was just too broken...

It boosted the power of her elements in all ways possible, but because she was from a race of Forest Elves, her affinity to nature increased as well.

"Lisa, look how cute it is!" Yiren called out happily, sitting up while scratching the three-meter long cat behind its ears, under its chin, and cheeks

Grrr...

When Lisa tried to approach, convinced by the gentle nature of the cat, it turned its sharp eyes towards her, growling defensively.

"No! Bad kitty!" Yiren immediately scolded, pinching the cat on its cheek. "She is my dear sister! Go greet her politely!"

The black cat immediately became meek, gazing at Lisa apologetically.

It hopped off Yiren and began rubbing its head on Lisa's stomach. Yiren watched them with a soft look on her face, as though it was the most adorable thing in the world.

"It wants to be petted. Don't worry. It won't bite," Yiren said reassuringly.

Easy for her to say! Lisa thought. The Beast just growled at her, showing its long fangs, yet Yiren wanted her to pet it?

Nope! Nope! Nope! Not a chance!

Lisa's body was as stiff as a statue, her arms extended upward.

'If I pretend I'm a tree, it will go away... If I pretend I'm a tree, it will go away...' Lisa repeated her mantra, yet it didn't work at all. 'Why doesn't it go away?!'

"Yiren, please, please, take it away. I'm scared..." Lisa begged with her eyes pressed tightly together only to hear Yiren's playful giggle and a snap of her fingers.

"Come here."

One call from Yiren was enough to free her from the Beast.

Oof...

Lisa breathed deeply, trying to calm herself down. She was never good with scary beasts and didn't think that would pass any time soon.

A-choo!

Lisa heard a sneeze and saw Yiren get rid of all of the bloody-liquid from her back and hair. After a black cat knocked her to the ground, Yiren dirtied herself all over. Despite that, she was still cheerful, smiling happily without care.

Lisa wanted to ask what pills did Yiren take to be so positive every day, but she knew there were none.

Yiren was Yiren. She never suffered any injustice or met with any dangers, always sheltered, which made her not scared of anything.

An optimist from nature.

"Will you bring us outside the forest? We are kind of lost."

And now she was even talking with a Bloodthirsty Beast as if it was her buddy. To Lisa's surprise, the black cat nodded eagerly and slipped its head between Yiren's legs, popping her onto its back.

"Haha, it agreed! Lisa, hop on! Adventure is calling!" Yiren called out, extending her hand to Lisa.

"W-what...? You want us to ride it?" Lisa questioned, shocked. Only Yiren could think of such an idea.

Yiren finally got more serious. "Why not? It's big enough to carry us. Do you want to walk all the way on your own instead? We can't fly as we need to conserve our resources."

Right... They were all alone now. There was no Xuefeng with his unlimited supply of both money and Fate Stones.

There was only Blood Qi in the air with barely any other elements present. If they used any, their only way to replenish it was through pills or their unique method, Wisdom Trees.

It helped them convert Fate Qi, which their Fate Spirits used into any other element they desired. Each of Xuefeng's wives had a full set of nine, representing each element. As long as they had enough Fate Qi, in theory, they would never run out of any Qi.

Unfortunately, the only way to get it was through Fate Stones, which they didn't have much on hand. Who would think that heavens would suddenly separate them from Xuefeng?

"Hop on. It's alright. You already rode on Bella, and you didn't mind," Yiren added, trying to convince her.

Bella was one of the two Spirit Beasts that traveled with them, also separated inside the passage just like them.

"Yeah, but Bella is a massive Phoenix and also our friend so we could trust her..." Lisa countered when her body suddenly lifted in the air, forcefully placed by Yiren behind her.

Ah!

Lisa exclaimed, hugging onto Yiren in fear only to realize she was somewhat safe.

"Let's go! Chop, chop! Xuefeng, we are coming for you!"

———

"Her heartbeat was fast, and only now it stabilized... I hope nothing bad happened..."

Xuefeng spun Lisa's crystal on his wives' bracelet, and only when it returned to normal did he sighed in relief, ready to focus on Ming's words.

"What did we talk about again?"

They found a small cave behind one of the many waterfalls in the area and hid inside after setting a secure concealing barrier.

He was standing in a circle with three other beauties from which one was Tianshi. The other two were naturally Ming and Ling, who left his body in their physical forms, this way including Tianshi in their conversations.

"Gosh, did you listen to anything I said?" Ming scolded while pinching his side. "You are lucky we just started, or I would punish you."

She was the most senior from them all, living for hundreds of thousands years already, yet her aging stopped around thirty, right at the prime of her beauty. Her mature and sexy body gave her charm to seduce while her spicy and unruly nature allowed her to dominate.

Being once the Queen of all Fate Spirits, it was quite understandable.

"Ming was talking about the Upgrade Fragment we collected," Tianshi assisted, showing the Water Element Upgrade Fragment in her hand. "She said that each Land had their own Upgrade Fragments being born from nature. Fire Land had Fire Element Upgrade Fragments while Metal Land had Metal Element Upgrade Fragments. Same applied to other Lands."

Tianshi hugged onto his arm, smiling at him brightly as she explained. Her beautiful girl-next-door face was enough to cheer him up.

"We also said that Upgrade Fragments are scarce and appear in nature out of thin air. Because there is only one form of Qi in each Land, it's so concentrated that it sometimes forms into those Upgrade Fragments. They also always try to escape whenever you get too close to them," Ling added, hugging onto his second arm. "You need a few of them to improve the quality of your Qi. The better the Qi, the more Upgrade Fragments you will need."

Although Ling had similar facial features to her mother, her white hair differenced her from the blond beauty Ming presented. Her body was also much slimmer and innocent, fitting in Xuefeng's arms perfectly.

"Oh, alright, thank you," Xuefeng acknowledged the help and suddenly embraced them, pulling the two into his arms.

They didn't mind at all, letting him hug them as they laid their heads on his chest. Although Xuefeng wasn't in the mood for anything sexual, his mind still thinking about his other lost wives, his hands still landed on their bottoms on instinct.

He squeezed and rubbed gently as if to relieve his stress. It already became a habit of his.

"So, you didn't listen from the start, huh?" Ming questioned sternly, not as lenient as the other two. "Who did I explain it to?"

Xuefeng sent her a flying kiss and apologetic smile. "Don't be mad, my Queen. I will listen properly now. Shall we continue?"

Ming squinted her eyes and approached them. They took both of his arms, so she grasped onto his head instead and planted a deep kiss on his lips, pulling him closer by his ears.

"Mhmm!" Xuefeng exclaimed but eventually gave up resisting, letting her punish his lips until she was satisfied.

The scents of all three mixed, assaulting his senses with a pleasing aroma.

"Ehem..." Tianshi and Ling cleared their throats, seeing Ming was hoarding Xuefeng to herself for far too long.

Only then did Ming pull away, not yet releasing him. She showed a rare shy expression and muttered sweetly, "I want you to pay attention to me too... Okay? I'm also important..."

Ming gazed deep into his eyes and gave him one more peck before drawing away, not waiting for his response.

"We can begin now."