Amazon Apocalypse 6: Chapter 56

We were quickly led past the crowd and up the stairs. Most of the crowd seemed to suddenly vanish before I could so much as look at them. Those who had spoken up against me were doing their best to dent the floorboards with their foreheads.

"This foolish one shall break both his arms to atone for offending the great master!" shouted one of the people who'd moments ago offered to help the teashop kick me out. A moment later I heard the snapping of bones.

"A thousand apologies, great master! This humble servant dares not offend you. Here, take everything I have as a humble token of my apologies..." The young man with a sword started undressing and tossed all his belongings on the ground before running for the window, which he jumped out of a moment later wearing only his underwear.

That scene repeated itself a few dozen times as we were led up the stairs. Once we were in private, the boss of the Goldencup Teahouse also slammed his face into the ground, not daring to look up as Mimiko and I passed.

"Ensure that you correct the poor impression you made on my master. He is a generous man and might not hold grudges if you can make it worth his while," Mimiko said. Her hands were full of discarded clothes, weapons, and other trinkets from people fleeing the teahouse.

The smile she'd lost when we entered the Ninefold Lotus Heaven Realm was back on her face, and she walked with pride in her step once more, chin tilted up as she gazed down at the rest of the world. She enjoyed the showing off, preening before a crowd, and extorting the locals for loot from people eager to avoid being on my bad side.

Meanwhile, I held in a sigh and did my best to ignore all the cultivator antics around me.

I should have guessed that the whole fuss at the teahouse was because they were hosting the Goddess in Jade as a guest. Here in the Ninefold Lotus Heaven Realm, she wasn't as overwhelming a presence as she normally was, but she was still pretty powerful as far as the locals were concerned.

I'd seen plenty of B-Grades around these parts, but not a single A-Grade, let alone a peak A-Grade like the Goddess in Jade. No wonder the locals all wanted to get on her good side. Too bad a lot of them had already screwed up their first impression by getting on her personal guest's bad side.

There was another woman by the door from the Eternal Spring Sect. I nodded to Disciple Hyacinth, who seemed to be the Goddess in Jade's permanent shadow.

She bowed low in return. I nodded back to Mimiko.

"Remember Mimiko? She's reached the peak of the Nascent Soul realm. Pretty impressive, right? Why don't the two of you have a chat?" I nodded in Mimiko's direction.

Mimiko looked surprised, then her eyes darted to Hyacinth. Mimiko suddenly had a slight smile when she saw the shocked expression Hyacinth wore.

When we'd first visited the Eternal Spring Sect, Hyacinth had outright ignored Mimiko unless I addressed her. She was too unconnected and low-level for the disciple of the Eternal Spring Sect to pay her any attention at all.

But thanks to the cultivation chamber I'd made for her and her own hard work, Mimiko's cultivation had soared. Her rapid progress had to be impressive.

"A pleasure to meet you, fellow cultivator, Mimiko." Hyacinth bowed her head awkwardly, as though this was their first time meeting.

"Likewise." Mimiko returned the same gesture.

I let the ladies glare at one another awkwardly while I made my way over to the Goddess in Jade, hoping to have a much more pleasant conversation.

As I sat down next to the Goddess in Jade, my mind flickered back to Seraphyne of the House of Nemaryth. The two of them would probably hate one another if they ever came into contact, since one was a peak cultivator and the other a peak System user. Thankfully, Seraphyne was asleep for a good long time and would stay that way for the foreseeable future.

It was nice that the Goddess in Jade was at least friendly and understanding. Though our relationship was mostly transactional and businesslike, she had treated me fairly throughout it all. In fact, she might be the only woman I knew who stood in stark defiance of the crazy-hot matrix that had been on my mind lately.

The servers entered just after me, all of them women. They came bearing an elaborate tea set, which they assembled before us from a dozen small pieces.

"Immortal Godleaf tea, from the teashop owner's private stock. Normally, he reserves this for himself and the city lord, but it has been retrieved for our most esteemed guests. Each cup is said to add ten years to mortal lifespan. On the house, of course," said one of the nervous trio of servers.

She poured tea for us with practiced precision, but I could see her arms trembling ever so slightly as she stared at the table, not daring to meet either of our eyes.

"You may go," the Goddess in Jade said when the servers finished pouring. They looked like they planned to stand at attention to pour our next cups, but the Goddess in Jade relieved them of that burden by dismissing them.

Truth be told, I felt a bit more comfortable talking in private, and it seemed the Goddess in Jade was the same. If counterpart here hadn't already formed a shroud of mana preventing eavesdropping, I might have done so myself.

I took a small slip of the tea. It was quite honestly the best tea I'd ever tasted. It had a nice flavor and a considerable amount of life-aspect mana to it, but the whole thing about adding ten years to mortal lifespan was probably just marketing.

Eventually, I turned to the woman across from me and began our discussion. "So, I brought your followers and can give them to you here or on a nearby planet. If you need proof, I can have a few come out and greet you," I said.

"Straight to business then? Very well. And I trust your word. There is no need to ruin our private little chat by bringing others into it. Besides, the whole goddess act requires a lot of preparation and presentation. I'd rather keep things less formal." The Goddess in Jade swirled her teacup for a moment, seemingly dissatisfied with its contents. But then she looked up at me, and the expression vanished.

She flashed me a flawless smile. I realized she wasn't wearing her veil again, but I'd grown a lot since she'd shown me that trick, and no matter how inviting her red lips and large breasts were, I managed to maintain eye contact. It was a struggle, but I managed it. The task grew progressively easier as I threw my full willpower into it.

"This is good stuff, isn't it?" I said, draining the rest of my cup of tea. If the Goddess in Jade wanted a little small talk, I didn't mind providing it. Though I did want to keep this visit fairly short, since the unfavorable time dilation meant Crownhill was moving fast.

The Goddess in Jade sighed. "They discarded my original order in favor of this. I wanted Succubus Kiss Infernal Dew."

"Sounds... intense." I chuckled at the name. Normally, I enjoyed lengthy and ostentatious cultivator names, but Succubus Kiss Infernal Dew sounded like some sort of aphrodisiac. But a woman like the one before me would never need such a thing. Her smile alone was enough to wrap any man I'd ever met around her finger as soon as he saw it.

"Anyway, do you require the reward sheet I provided you before? I warn you, many of the items you didn't select were given away to disciples of the Eternal Spring Sect as rewards for meritorious deeds during the battle," the Goddess in Jade warned.

She locked eyes with me, and when she realized I wasn't looking at her breasts, she seemed to tug her robes a little lower. No doubt she was testing me to ensure I'd made full use of the experience she'd given me before. Honing my abilities against an unveiled member of the Eternal Spring Sect at this woman's level was supposed to be a rare gift, according to Mimiko.

"No need. I'm looking for something a bit less tangible this time. I'd rather have the opportunity to ask questions and have you answer honestly," I said.

"That's it? While many sects consider knowledge quite precious, you've done me enough service that I see no harm in answering simple questions for free."

I flashed her a wry smile. "I'm afraid this is no simple question. You see, I have a little Chaos God problem."

I tugged at my left hand and pulled off the glove I'd been wearing ever since the scales appeared on the back of it after the fight with the undead in San Francisco.

"I see. May I?" the Goddess in Jade asked, and I offered my hand. She took it in her own, and her soft fingers stroked along both sides as she turned it over and examined it deeply.
"This is the result of acquiring a Chaos God title?" Jade asked.

"The Chaos Dragon title, yes. Before, I drank a Potion of Absolution to suppress it, but that wasn't enough. I've been hoping to get a second Potion of Absolution, but the System hasn't extended any offers that might lead to one. And even if I found one, I'm afraid it would just be another temporary fix."

"Hmm. I suppose the System would be able to suppress the influence of a Chaos God title through its powers. In truth, that is all the Potion of Absolution is. It's a request for aid in removing malevolent spiritual effects that do not align with your path. While pleading to the System for aid is sometimes effective, oftentimes a more hands-on approach is needed," the Goddess in Jade said, still not releasing my hand.

"So you know a way to suppress a title? One that doesn't use the System at all?" I asked curiously.

"Indeed. I have several meditation techniques that allow the user to look inward and modify their own soul at will. Suppressing unwanted spiritual effects is part of that process. I have used these same techniques to defeat many inner demons." She kept running her hands along mine as she spoke, and she pressed her fingers against mine until we were holding hands.

Cultivator examination techniques must require a lot of physical contact. I much preferred a simple use of Analyze.

"And so if I can master this cultivator meditation technique, I won't transform into a giant angry dragon that wants to destroy worlds?" I asked hopefully.

"Well... yes..." the Goddess in Jade trailed off, eyes on my hand instead of on me. It sounded like a very noncommittal answer. Her cup of tea sat half drunk beside her, growing colder by the moment.

"I sense a 'but' in there. Forgive me, but this is one of those questions where I'd like as complete an answer as possible." I debated tugging my hand back before deciding against it.

"Most of the existing Chaos Gods already have access to these meditation techniques. And you will find most of them remain in their bestial forms despite that. Only the Chaos Raven seems to have the mental discipline to spend much of his time in humanoid form using these methods."

"I still find myself unexcited by such limitations. While being able to transform into a dragon would be occasionally useful, I prefer to spend most of my time in human form," I said.

"Then you will need to tap a greater power than what either ordinary meditation or the System is capable of providing. You need the power of a true god of the Kindling Realm," the Goddess in Jade explained.

"So solving this is going to be as easy as becoming a god. Great." I wore a wry, joking smile.

Godhood seemed like the sort of thing powerful A-Grades spent centuries chasing. By the time I reached that level of power, I would be so deep into the effects of draconification that I'd probably declare all my women princesses and keep them locked in a tower. It simply wasn't an option.

"It is indeed as easy as becoming a god. And despite your jest, I believe you are capable of it," the Goddess in Jade said seriously.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. The only requirement to use the Kindling Realm as a god is that you wield a powerful enough soul and willpower to not be lost in its presence. While the System will not provide powers related to divinity until you have reached the A-Grade, I can provide them to you now."

"Is that safe?"

The Goddess in Jade shrugged. "No safer than battling an A-Grade Chaos Wolf while only in the B-Grade. You are exceptional, Carter Smith. Do not hold yourself to the same standards as others. I would hate to see you confine yourself to mediocrity just because of some ancient safety standards."

I realized she was right. Risk or not, I was strong enough to fight an A-Grade. Maybe it would take me a bit more effort, but if I put all my will behind something, I was certain I could do it as well as an early A-Grade.

"Alright, please teach me," I said.

"You have already embarked upon the first step. I sense fate and faith swirling around you. I don't know how you did it, but many people already seem to consider you a divinity. It took me years to build such a following, and yet you've done it yourself by accident. If you can harness this power, you will be well on your way to making the very fabric the System is made of into a tool to enact your will."

The Goddess in Jade rummaged around in her sleeve and withdrew a square shard of jade crystal. She held it to her forehead for a moment, and mana flowed from her mind into the stone. When she was done, she passed it to me.

"This stone contains recent memories of me practicing the divine techniques you wish to learn. Use them as your guide. Once you have familiarized yourself with the techniques, please destroy the stone. I do not want that falling into the wrong hands. The memories in the stone will degrade on their own within the year."

I bowed my head in thanks. "I will take good care of these. Thank you. No one but me will view these memories."

"Good. Now I have given you one reward, but I owe you one more. What else would you ask of me? I'll grant any request you might have. Don't be shy." The Goddess in Jade smiled at me once again, and I had to blink a few times to keep my thoughts flowing properly through my head.

"I'd... like you to..." I stammered for a moment.

"Like me to what?" The Goddess in Jade leaned closer to me with a knowing smile on her face.

"Like you to help me fight some powerful void monsters for an A-Grade rank-up quest," I said once I had full control over myself again. Her charisma really was potent and it had taken me a moment to shake it off once more.

I rummaged around in a bag of holding and produced a physical copy of the quest the System had given me for reaching A-Grade with my Sage of Forbidden Knowledge class.

"Oh, did the System assign you some weak A-Grades to take out? Quests, right? When I was at the peak of Soul Formation, the sect tasked me with taking out some weak..." The Goddess in Jade's voice trailed off as she read.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

The Goddess in Jade furrowed her brows and muttered something under her breath.

"That stupid machine is trying to get you killed. These are not weak early A-Grades. They're powerful creatures of shadows, darkness, and forbidden knowledge. Even I would not take any of these opponents lightly." She shook her head.

"I'm sorry if it's too much to ask. I'll take a smaller reward then if..."

"No!" The Goddess in Jade stood. "We will clear this quest of yours together. I will not allow the System to send you off on some suicide mission. I will deal with this." She suddenly looked ready to leave.

"Like, right now?" I asked, blinking in surprise.

"Yes, now. I assume you don't have an appointment with anyone more important than little old me?" the Goddess in Jade's eyes sparkled with challenge as she placed her veil back over the lower half of her face.

I knew better than to answer that question. "Alright then, let's go. As it turns out, I have a shiny new ship I found just outside. We'll drop your followers off on the way to these void monsters."

<Note>

The Goddess in Jade was giving off some mild signals here, but I figure it's understandable that Carter missed them. His last few girlfriends have been less "I want to hold your hand" and more "I built a goon cave in your balls and have been living inside a giant tower of your dick."

I could easily see such directness in prior experiences desensitizing a man to more subdued feminine signals.