Primordial Villain With A Slave Harem-Chapter 798: Uncle with Amnesia [Bonus]

Chapter 798: Uncle with Amnesia [Bonus]

Feng Jiai gave him a look like he'd just tried to eat his own foot. "...Are you sure you're okay, Uncle?"

Quinlan didn't reply. His breathing was steady, but the skin around his eyes was tight from pain. Still, the way he watched her—sharp, lucid, and focused—told her he wasn't delirious. Or if he was, it wasn't the normal kind.

With a sigh, she adjusted the knot on his bandage and finally muttered, "Alright, alright... Memory wiped, fine."

She took a breath and began, pointing vaguely east as she spoke.

"There are four nations ruling the lands: Vulkaris, ruled by Serika Vael the Scorchheart… Naryssia, ruled by Queen Nalai of the Silken Veil… Daluang, ruled by Sage Rongtai the Immovable… and Aerynthia, ruled by Sovereign Zephyra Whisperleaf."

She glanced back down at him, checking to see if he was listening. He was.

"We're in Naryssia right now. Just barely. Near the western border with Vulkaris. That means we're not just near danger, but that we're dancing on top of it. You picked a really stupid place to wake up without any memories, you know that, Uncle?"

Quinlan's response was a faint grunt, followed by a murmur. "... Naryssia, ruled by Queen Nalai of the Silken Veil…"

Feng Jiai blinked. "You remembered?" ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

"I've lost my memories, not my brain cells, you insolent brat."

She stared at him again, with deadpan eyes that were twitching from time to time. Feng Jiai somehow felt like it wouldn't have been too bad if he were in a bit more pain. Just a teeny tiny bit so his life wouldn't be in more danger, just his giant ego and rude mouth slightly more restrained.

He then asked: "Anything near us I should know? Towns? Patrols?"

Feng shook her head. "No towns nearby. Zhang restrained me before taking me way off-road. He didn't want anyone to see what he planned to do. When he was undressing himself, I managed to make a run for it… And then he kept chasing after me…"

She sent his headless corpse a glance with narrowed, hateful eyes before continuing, "We're at the edge of a burnt-out fishing village, abandoned for years. Just trees, fields, and fire-scarred ruins."

Quinlan let out a slow exhale. That was good. Isolated meant no witnesses. No immediate pursuers.

"What about these cultivation powers? I want to become one as well. How do I go about it?"

Feng Jiai blinked at his question, then stared as if he'd grown a second head. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this, Uncle…?"

"I'll become a cultivator, obviously."

She stared a moment longer, deadpan, then slowly turned her eyes to the heavens, as though asking whatever gods remained if they were truly doing this to her.

Then she looked back down at him and sighed like someone preparing to deliver a death sentence.

"You really are brain-damaged, Uncle."

"Lean in closer so that I can slap the shit out of you comfortably, brat," Quinlan replied dryly.

"… You're serious about becoming a cultivator?"

"Completely."

Her mouth twisted. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and glared at him a little longer, then sighed in defeat and, with the face of a girl who had to explain to a rock why rain was wet, she began.

"Fine. But listen closely, Uncle. I swear that I'll cry if I hear you start snoring."

"Just not your shrill screeching, please…" Quinlan muttered lazily.

Her lips trembled as a throbbing vein appeared on her temple. But she obliged, inhaling and exhaling slowly to calm herself.

"Every person is born with an aptitude for qi absorption. Some are strong, some are weak, and some are just dirt. And if that wasn't enough, everyone also has an elemental inclination, meaning one of the four elements resonates with your body. Fire, Water, Earth, Wind. Trying to cultivate something that doesn't match your nature will backfire, so you're stuck with whatever your body chooses."

She gave him a long, deliberate look, ascertaining if he was truly serious about this. It was hard for her to accept that a person could be as clueless about their world as this rude uncle was while having the strength to fight so well as he did.

"Most people start this journey between the ages of six and ten. Their bodies are flexible, their spirit roots pure. That's when you have the highest chance of opening your meridians—that's the first step. Without at least one open meridian, you can't absorb qi. You can't cultivate."

Then, flatly, she added,

"You, Uncle, are old. You're way past the cutoff. Your odds of success are zero. Below zero. Negative. Very negative."

Quinlan raised a brow. "Old? Me? What are you yapping about, damned brat?"

"You're practically fossilized."

"You just wait until I feel a bit better…"

"Unlike you, Uncle, I don't have a rude mouth on me. I'm just being realistic," she said with a shrug, her tone bland as tofu. "Even if you try, you'll just sit there for years like a stone. Adults can't open a single meridian if they didn't start cultivation as a child."

Quinlan dismissively waved a hand, "Spare me this nonsense."

A second vein visibly throbbed on her forehead. "I wish Zhang had hit you just a little harder."

He ignored her hissing kitten noises and instead asked, "So how does it start? How do you gather qi?"

Feng strongly rubbed her temples before replying. "The safe method is meditation. Sit in silence. Try to feel the flow of qi in the air around you. Match your breathing to it. Center your spirit. If you were a child and your aptitude was decent, you might open your first meridian in ten years. Fifteen if your body's not suitable for cultivation, but it has a few drops of talent. If you're a genius, maybe seven. There's no shortcut."

She paused. Then frowned.

"…Well. There is another way."

He tilted his head with a big smile on his face. "I'm all ears."

"It has about ninety-five percent fatalities."

That got his attention.

She sighed for the umpteenth time, knowing she won't hear the end of this if she doesn't oblige. "Once your meridians are open, you can grow further only by absorbing the essence of elemental shards. That's how you grow in your chosen elemental path. But some prodigies try to absorb a shard before their meridians form. They think they can skip years of slow progress. They do it as young kids, risking everything."

Quinlan raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"Most die instantly. Their bodies rupture from the inside out. Poof. Gone. But the ones who survive... they shoot ahead of their generation. Years of advantage, power no one their age should have."

He nodded with understanding. "These shards… where do they come from?"

She looked at him suspiciously. "Why? You think you'll just find one lying around?"

"Maybe."

She huffed, then hesitated. Her fingers brushed the side of her satchel, then gripped it tightly.

"…I wasn't going to tell anyone about this, but…" she mumbled, "I do have one. A weak Fire Shard. Got it through… stealing it from my family. I was planning to run away from the marriage, but Zhang kidnapped me before I could go ahead with my plan. I was going to sell it once I made it to a city. Use the money to start over."

Quinlan sat up straighter. "Can I see it?"

She narrowed her eyes, cautious. "It's worth more than a village, you know."

"I saved your life."

"… Uncle, are you seriously emotionally blackmailing a young girl right now?"

"Brat, stop your incoherent mutterings and get on with the show."

Her little hands formed into trembling fists at his dismissive and rude attitude, but after a moment of extreme fidgeting, she accepted defeat and reached into her satchel. Slowly, she withdrew a small case of reinforced jade. She opened it and revealed what lay inside.

It was no bigger than a peach pit. A translucent, jagged crystal glowing orange-red. Firelight danced within its facets, shifting and swirling like a living thing. It pulsed weakly, as if it were breathing.

Quinlan reached out. She flinched.

"Careful! Touching it raw is-"

His fingers met the shard.

The air around them dropped a full ten degrees.

The shard ignited. Not into flame, but into radiance. Its ember-like light flared brilliant gold and crimson, and then…

His body drank it in.