Rai sat on a large rock overlooking the small pond where Nu was bathing. Her naked body moved through the water,massive curves creating ripples as she washed herself. He watched for a moment before his mind started spinning with problems.
A hundred thousand members? How the hell am I supposed to gather that many people?
He sighed heavily, running his hand through his hair. In all those cultivation novels from Earth he'd read in his past life, the protagonists always seemed to have some cool hidden power or rare artifact. A magical sword, phoenix companion, a broken system that gave everything. Not him. He got a dick ring and a mission.
At least the dick part is useful.
He pulled the interspatial ring off his shaft and examined it. He tried channeling Lei into it, focusing his energy on the magical object.
Nothing happened.
He tried again, pushing more Lei, visualizing it flowing into the ring like water into a cup. Still nothing.
"Come on, work already."
Finally, on his third attempt, the ring suddenly glowed with a faint blue light. The surface shimmered, and Rai felt a pull, like something was pulling. He took a breath and allowed himself to be pulled into the sensation.
The world shifted.
He found himself standing in a space with clouds stretched beneath his feet like solid ground, a starry sky above him that seemed to go on forever in all directions. But the space wasn't empty. In the center, floating above the cloud-like ground, was a single rock.
Just a rock. Nothing else.
You've got to be kidding me.
Rai walked toward it, expecting something to happen. Some great revelation or maybe some hidden power waiting to be unlocked. He reached out and touched the rock and it was warm. But it was still just a rock.
What kind of reward is this?
He got angry. All this buildup and he got a storage space that was literally empty except for a random stone.
"What about artifacts or magic skills? Even a mythic beast would be better! I could use it as my guardian!"
The rock moved.
Wait, what?
Rai stepped back, staring at the stone. It definitely moved.
"Oh... it has... a pulse?"
Some hope bloomed in his chest. Maybe there was something here after all
"Haha, I knew there must be some spirit inside, right? Even I can find stones like this in toilets too."
Words appeared on the surface of the rock glowing with the same blue light as the ring.
[LEI IS NOT QI. DO NOT USE IT AS SUCH.]
That was it.
That was the entire message.
Are you serious right now?
Rai stood there, staring at this cosmic wisdom engraved on a floating rock in his personal spirit realm, and wanted to scream again.
"Is that all? Nothing more, you fucking system?"
[REWARD: RARE SHORTSWORD]
A sword materialized directly in front of him and fell, the blade whistling through the air. Rai jumped back with a curse, narrowly avoiding having the weapon slice between his legs.
"Whoosh! Are you trying to take the only good thing I have?"
[HOPE YOU MAKE GOOD USE OF IT]
Rai picked up the sword carefully. It was well-made the hilt was wrapped in leather. Not bad, actually. Better than nothing.
He held it for a moment, then sat down heavily on the cloud-ground.
Maybe I should just check the system properly.
He pulled up his status screen and studied it carefully.
[TRIBE STATUS]
[TRIBE NAME: GODSTONE]
[TRIBE LEVEL: 1]
[TRIBE GRADE: 9]
[CONSTRUCTION LEVEL: 1]
[MEMBERS: 1]
[CONTRIBUTION POINTS: 0]
Name and level look decent, but what is this construction level? What are they expecting me to do, start engineering projects in the forest? And what the hell is this grade system?
He decided to just ask.
"System, I have questions."
[HOST MAY NOW ASK QUESTIONS]
"How do I improve construction level?"
[RECRUIT MORE MILFS AND TRIBE MEMBERS. CONSTRUCTION LEVEL INCREASES WITH TRIBE DEVELOPMENT.]
"What's contribution points for?"
[POINTS ACQUIRED THROUGH VARIOUS TASKS LIKE HUNTING AND FIGHTING. CONTRIBUTION POINTS ALLOW ACCESS TO THE TRIBE SHOP AND UNLOCK RARE ITEMS.]
"So there's a shop with cool stuff, right? But why can't I see a shop option?"
[MINIMUM REQUIREMENT: 1 CONTRIBUTION POINT. HOST MUST EARN POINTS TO UNLOCK SHOP ACCESS.]
Of course there's a catch. There's always a catch.
"Alright, so if I take Nu as my first official member, will that give me a contribution point?"
[AFFIRMATIVE. RECRUITING TRIBE MEMBERS GRANTS 1 CONTRIBUTION POINT PER RECRUITMENT.]
"Well, that's something at least."
He exited the spirit realm pulling himself back to his physical body. When his eyes opened, Nu was standing directly in front of him staring with concern.
"Hey."
"Why were you sleeping while sitting? Were you hungry?"
She pointed at one of her massive breasts, offering relief again. Rai couldn't help but smile at her eagerness, but he shook his head.
"No, not right now. Later, okay?"
He stood up and stretched.
"Nu, do you know about tribes?"
"Hmm, tribes do form here and there. Well, if you make one you're going to have to fight a lot. Other tribes won't take kindly to competition."
So there are actual consequences. This isn't just a fuck em all game.
"There must be people around here though, right? Other displaced people like you?"
"You should go to the shores. People from defeated tribes camp there. You can get many people, even if some are useless."
"That's useful info. Thank you."
He patted her head, and she smiled. They started walking toward the jungle's edge. Rai continued planning in his head.
I have to remember this isn't some normal stone age. It's a mix of cultivation fantasy and stone age. There are tiers, powers, tribes fighting for dominance. This is going to be more complicated than I thought.
"You'll join my tribe, right?"
"I thought you already considered me."
"Ah... yes, yes. Of course."
[CONTRIBUTION POINT +1]
[TRIBE SHOP UNLOCKED]
That was easy.
They walked for about ten minutes, moving through the thick jungle vegetation, when Rai decided to check the shop.
"System, show me the shop options."
[NEWBIE PACKAGE: 1 CONTRIBUTION POINT]
"Use it."
[POWER CARDS PLACED IN SPIRIT REALM. PROCEED TO ACCESS.]
Rai closed his eyes and entered the spirit realm again. This time, instead of just a rock and clouds, the space was filled with cards - dozens of them, floating around like leaves. Each one glowed with different colors and had different symbols. He could see labels: Fleeting Ability, Healing, Damage, Sword, Perception, Experience.
"Experience... what's that?"
[INCREASES SPEED OF CULTIVATION. ALLOWS FASTER PROGRESSION THROUGH TIERS.]
"Wait, cultivation here too?"
[CULTIVATION IN THIS WORLD IS SIMPLE. TIERED FROM 1-20 PER STAGE. NO NEED FOR SECLUSION OR YEARS OF TRAINING. LEI FORMS SLOWLY THROUGH NATURAL CONSUMPTION AND ACTIVITY.]
"So I can just live normally and get stronger?"
[AFFIRMATIVE. NEWBIE REWARD: DIRECT LEVEL UP TO LEVEL 5, TIER 1 STAGE.]
Rai felt the power surge through his body immediately, even in the spirit realm.
"Yes, I feel the power surging through me!"
[NEGATIVE. THIS IS MERELY TIER 1. THE POWER OF A DOG IS AT THIS LEVEL.]
He exited the realm with a scowl at the system's continued sass. At least he was level 5 now. That was something good.
After another ten minutes of walking the jungle opened up to a beach. The ocean stretched out before them, and along the shoreline Rai could see groups of people ,maybe survivors from defeated tribes living in makeshift shelters. This was his recruitment ground.
But before he could move toward the shore, five men came running toward him from the trees.
Oh, they seem eager to meet me.
One of the men, a scarred guy with a missing tooth pointed directly at Rai.
"Sir, he's the one who stole my prey!"
Nu asked: "Do you know them?"
"Maybe friends of the previous guy of this body."
The second man stepped forward with authority. His Lei was already forming around his body visible as a shimmer in the air.
"How dare you steal food from our Water Dragon Tribe? Who are you?"
Not great. Looks like every group here has a tribal name and some level of organization like gangsters.
"I'm Rai, and I'm leader of a tribe too. Godstone."
The men's expressions shifted.
"Isn't that the name of the tribe whose leader was caught doing... that... with boys? His tribe people left, right?"
"Isn't that like ten years ago?"
"He must be the son of that legendary man,keke."
Nu stared at Rai with a raised eyebrow.
"Was your father like that?"
"No. You think I named my tribe myself? It was... um... handed down to me. I didn't know its past."
Great. My tribe has a reputation for being run by a pedo.
The second man clearly the leader of this group sneered at Rai.
"How dare a piece of trash like you challenge our tribe? And that lass..."
His eyes traveled down Nu's body, lingering on her curves with horny eyes. She shifted uncomfortably moving closer to Rai.
"Such a fine woman. Alas, old. Well, we will take her for only a day or two. What do you say?"
Rai stepped forward, "Nu, go back."
She replied: "Before you die, pass on the chief position to me."
First MILF I recruit and all she wants is my authority. I can't blame her, honestly.
Rai gathered Lei across his arms, letting it flow out visibly. The men sensed it and their grins faltered slightly.
"Oh... only a level 3?"
They started laughing the fear dissolving immediately.
"Isn't a tribe leader supposed to be at least tier 3 or 4?"
"He doesn't even have a place to call his land!"
"How ridiculous. Calling himself a tribe chief to look cool to a chick."
They came toward him together, Lei forming in their hands. The second man was still smirking confident in their numbers advantage.
"Beg and offer the woman. Maybe we will spare you."
Nu's eyes widened as she realized something.
"So they're all level 4?"
None of them knew the truth that Rai was actually level 5.
So much for laying low.
Rai leaped forward with explosive speed, covering the distance in a heartbeat. He grabbed the second man,the leader by the face and slammed him into the ground with brutal force.
The sand exploded around them, and the man's scream cut off as the impact drove the air from his lungs.
"Kneel, you say?"
"I was a cannon fodder for two lives, you know. I don't want to be one again."
[SIDE QUEST: DEFEAT THE ENEMIES WHO TRIED FIGHTING GODSTONE]
[1/5 DEFEATED]
The second man spat blood, gasping for breath."Weren't you just a level 3?"
Rai punched him across the face hard enough to send teeth flying.
"I was bluffing, idiot. Haven't you read novels?"
Two more came running at him from the sides. Rai's Lei roared to life in his hands, crackling like actual fire. "Isn't this easy?"
He unleashed his full power letting his level 5 aura explode outward. The remaining four men stopped in their paths.
"He was really acting weak..."
"He's level 5!"
Rai didn't give them time to process. He jumped on them, his fists and feet becoming weapons of Lei-infused fury. These five punks didn't stand a chance.
Punches landed with sickening force. Blood splattered across the beach sand. One man tried to run and Rai caught him by the ankle, slamming him into the ground.
[2/5 DEFEATED]
[3/5 DEFEATED]
[4/5 DEFEATED]
[5/5 DEFEATED]
CONGRATULATIONS ON COMPLETING SIDE QUEST]
[REWARD: 5 CONTRIBUTION POINTS]
[CURRENT CONTRIBUTION POINTS: 6]
By the time it was over, all five men were unconscious or barely conscious, bleeding into the sand. Rai stood over them, shaking his wrists to get the blood off, his breathing heavy but controlled.
"Let's go, Nu."