Bianca changed in the dining area, returning to her previous outfit to give Huang Su and Han Rushu to work on the new one, and returned to the main room to sit around and ponder.

  She had nothing more she absolutely needed to get from the ship, and she couldn’t be entirely sure that Li Wusu wouldn’t do anything strange if they wandered around too much. Therefore, she figured that it would be best to rex for a little while and to let her mind settle after the changes she had experienced.

  There was a lot of information she’d picked up over the months she’d been in the world, and prior to today, she hadn’t been able to properly process it. As a result, there was a lot of nonsense floating around in her head, and she wanted to sort it all out so that when the time came to challenge herself once more, she’d be ready for it. At the very least, she wanted to have enough room in her head for her to be able to learn more.

  ‘As it turns out, my head is a lot more able to handle all of this stuff than I initially thought… though I still think that most of those things that Xue Yaling told me flew out of my head,’ Bianca contained her sigh as she tried to delve deep into her head, ‘I wonder if I should be trying to improve… How much do I really need to learn? After all, I can’t cultivate myself, since my body is all taken up by my current skills and techniques.’

  Still, she knew for a fact that she had to grasp everything well enough that she’d never end up in danger, or pce others in danger, because of her ignorance.

  ‘So, what’s the best way to understand all this stuff…’ she pondered, looking around the room at those that remained.

  Huang Su and Han Rushu were off in a corner, working on her clothing, and the others all found something to occupy themselves with, but Jia Bo Xun was standing sheepishly near her, fidgeting about and clearly wanting to speak with her.

  ‘… She’s cute, isn’t she?’ she thought idly before speaking up, “Did you want something?”

  “Ah, Master… I was wondering if you’d be able to show me a little more. I’ve been struggling to fully grasp your skill. I-I’m sorry for being so incapable…”

  “… I did say that I’d test you when it was time, and I hadn’t yet done so. What does that mean?”

  “It’s not yet time?”

  “Precisely, so don’t you worry about it. However, I will still see your practise, so do go on, show me. Nothing to be shy about,” Bianca said, crossing her legs and leaning back, one hand on the bed and the other on her leg.

  The pose came rather naturally to her, but it seemed to give her an appropriately proud air, given her disciple’s reaction.

  Jia Bo Xun bowed, then took out her sword and got into a simir position to the one that Bianca had assumed back when she executed her destructive ssh. However, she naturally couldn’t replicate every detail – she cked the same energy, the same… assets, and she most certainly didn’t have the Demon Queen to guide her along.

  ‘I do need to figure out whether that part is truly something separate, or if that’s just the side of me I was denying…’ Bianca considered it for a moment, then focused on her disciple’s actions.

  She noticed that the woman’s aura felt a little different the moment that she began to emute Bianca’s movements. It was a subtle change, but the normally crystalline aura that surrounded her got a sudden crimson tinge, as though Bianca’s energy flooded into it.

  At least theoretically, that wouldn’t be impossible. Bianca did infuse some of her energy into Jia Bo Xun, so it could get brought out under the right conditions… and if she was somehow able to replicate Bianca’s skill’s energy flow completely, then she might be able to successfully perform the whole skill… But if she was to be honest with herself, she was just specuting. Her understanding of her own skillset was still miniscule, and she wasn’t sure how the general rules of cultivation applied to her abilities in particur.

  ‘I am, as Xue Yaling says, an otherworldly demon, so- wait,’ she turned to the kitsune for a moment, “Hey, did you also have the same dream?”

  “Well… I might’ve done,” the kitsune said strangely, “Maybe I didn’t…”

  ‘She was able to avoid it, somehow…’ Bianca was sure from that reply, ‘What could have… Anathema! She has the ability to negate pnar energy to an extent, so if she had that up while sleeping, Li Wusu’s skills wouldn’t have been as effective, and so she might not have gotten in far.’

  Since the only person that knew that Bianca wasn’t from this world happened to be the kitsune, it meant that her secret might be safe.

  “M-Master?”

  “Hm? Ah, sorry, I realised something important just now… Go ahead.”

  Jia Bo Xun seemed to pout a little, but returned to her stance and tried to perform the swing. She didn’t really put much power behind it, so she wasn’t going to produce such a powerful bst of energy as Bianca could, but even then, she could barely bring out any of the power glowing within her. It was simply a sword swing that had the glow of energy around it, nothing more.

  ‘I wonder if she’ll need to get a lot more energy stuffed into her, or if she might be able to imitate my energy simply through enough practise…’ Bianca pondered.

  Testing things like this had been her intention from the moment that she ‘recruited’ Jia Bo Xun anyway, and now she could analyse it a little better, she… still didn’t quite know what was going on. How her energy worked, how it affected others, how it seemed to almost corrupt and repce their power… she couldn’t determine any of that with ease.

  ‘It seems to confound the others too, I suppose, Huang Su and Xue Yaling can’t grasp it fully either…’ Bianca thought, ‘Still, feels frustrating. If only I could just tap into that part of me that’s even more clever… if it exists, and is a part of me…’

  “Master, could you tell me anything? Where am I going wrong?”

  “… You’ve yet to grasp the full essence of the skill, and my energy. Do you really think it would be easy to simply copy a skill I showed off once?”

  “… I suppose not, Master.”

  “Just try to understand it, and once I choose to test you, if you still haven’t figured it out, I’ll suggest some things. Perhaps direct you to Xue Yaling, since she’s better at expining everything to do with pnar energy than I am,” Bianca said, ‘Maybe by then, I’ll have figured out something to say to her…’

  Her disciple seemed to accept that, and that left her in retive silence once more, giving her plenty of time to sit and think.

  For instance, just how much she needed to be doing anything else. There were so many interesting things around the ship for her to attempt to steal, and-

  ‘Crap, I’m going off in to a bad direction again. Though… is it an improvement if I’m able to think about it instead of just… doing it now and then?’ Bianca pondered, looking over to the pair in the corner, who continued to work on her equipment.

  Perhaps noticing her attention, Han Rushu spoke up, “Want something? It’s taking a while, but should be done soon enough.”

  “What are you doing, exactly?”

  “We’ve examined the structure of the items you’ve selected and determined that the best we can do with limited resources and limited… quality of the items is to simply enhance your ability to channel energy through them,” Huang Su expined, “Rather than creating a feeble Armour Forming inscription, for instance, you will be able to use your own energy to reproduce the effects of the Abyssal Shield on your own body in a limited form.”

  “That… doesn’t sound like it should be possible. My Abyssal Shield only seems to apply in a sphere around me, never on me.”

  “Indeed, but it is true that you are able to manifest defensive energy. As long as you are able to condense that around yourself, that would be a second yer of protection for you and a way to protect your clothing in combat situations.”

  Bianca sighed, “Assuming I pull it off… but I’ll try. Better that than nothing, right?”

  “Indeed, Mistress,” Huang Su smiled, then returned to her work, “We’ll attempt to complete this as quickly as we can, so please do not worry.”

  She wasn’t especially concerned, given that the Sect Master herself was contributing, but she still felt like this was a waste of time. Her skills were far from the most versatile out there, to the point that they had one function and one function only, so she had the feeling that they would not produce anything usable. Of course, there was one fact that prevented her from simply stopping this and telling them to make something she’d be guaranteed to be able to use.

  ‘Although I can only apply my skills in very particur ways, I do know that my energy tends to change into one of three shades depending on what I’m using it for. It might be possible for me to change it without using a skill, and then just let it enter the items they’re altering,’ the idea came to her, although she needed to add a caveat, ‘Well, I’d need the Demonic Tyrant to do it. I’ve been trying, but I still can’t control my energy myself no matter what.’

  Rather than a knowledge thing, it was likely just a matter of cking any experience with controlling something more complex than another limb. Pnar energy could be formed in any way and shaped into any form, and understanding how to manipute it was incredibly difficult.

  Instead, she eventually got up and simply paced around the room, trying to come up with the best approach for the day.

  She had nothing specific to do, and she knew that the journey would take a while regardless of what she did, so she needed to determine what the best use of her time would be. It took her a while, and so she eventually decided that the best way to go about this was to get advice from people that were better able to process the situation.

  “Xue Yaling, do you have any recommendations?”

  “I was wondering how long it would take you… we need to scout out the ship and confirm our eventual battleground. Furthermore, we need to determine the full extent of Li Wusu’s powers, at least as best as we can,” the kitsune expined her perspective, “We could be assuming plenty of things about her that are simply not true, and therefore end up approaching the fight in a manner that would harm us more than help.”

  “… True enough. Would it be wise for me to be the one to look around, though?”

  “Perhaps. Of all of us, you’re the only one that can guarantee safety from Li Wusu’s influence, as the rest of us can only hope to ward her off in our waking hours, not to mention while we’re sleeping.”

  “Also true… When we’re done with this ship, we need to examine why exactly I’m able to handle these things and the rest of you struggle, because I most definitely do not have an iron will or anything like it.”

  “As long as you’re volunteering, there’s plenty of testing I can do… and also, I might have some ideas for your body cultivation technique, but I’ll need to examine your current energy flow in extreme detail to be sure,” the kitsune said, gncing in the direction of Han Rushu and Huang Su, “As long as she doesn’t mind, of course. I know she’s rather concerned about the things I do.”

  “Um… fuck it, into the corner, I want to ask something,” Bianca gestured over as she stepped into the corner of the room and put up a barrier over them as Xue Yaling joined her.

  The kitsune maintained a rather confused expression, although the instant she felt the barrier appear, she had the air of knowing exactly what Bianca wanted.

  “Let me guess, you’d like to have something else to enhance your scent?”

  “You don’t need to put it so bluntly, but… yes, it’s really hot to see people worship my scent. Is that an issue?”

  Her expression nearly faltered, but she managed to keep her look up to not give away the subject to onlookers, “I suppose not, though if I was blunt, you were a sledgehammer.”

  “Hah, of course. To be simirly honest, I am slightly concerned that I will make you into a menace that will turn a generation of cultivators away from men… and I do wonder how much our little group will be able to endure before we’re in a bind.”

  “You’re doing a terrible job at discouraging me from this, you know,” Bianca said, unable to hold back a smile at the idea, ‘I bet she’s afraid I’ll be able to control her as well… Would be super hot to have everyone at my beck and call just because I have a big musky cock they can’t help but drool at…’

  She felt herself get a little wet at the idea, though she pushed it out of the way before she got too horny. As fun as it would be to spend the entire boat ride finding opportunities to fuck – and, at least once or twice, get fucked – she knew that it would just leave Li Wusu to destroy them when the time came to disembark… and not in a good way.

  “Well aware, as I’m not entirely averse to seeing the first part of my concerns come true… not to mention how this advances my own research. Still, it would be best for us to work on this when we’re not under constant surveilnce, okay?”

  “Mhm, sounds good,” Bianca nodded and lowered the barrier, returning to the middle of the room, “Alright, then I should examine the area. Song Ming, would you like to come with me?”

  Her pet leapt up at the opportunity.

  “Of course, Mistress! Take me anywhere you like!”

  “Hah, I appreciate the enthusiasm,” she couldn’t help but come over and pat her on the head, earning a purr-like sound, “We’ll need a bit of coin, just in case we decide to buy anything. Huang Su?”

  The Sect Master nodded, “Of c- wait, Mistress, did you just-”

  “I had a thought. You’ve both travelled via this ship before, haven’t you?”

  “… That’s right.”

  “And tell me, did you ever realise that you’d been affected in your dreams prior to today?”

  “Even then, if Li Wusu was unaware that you knew-”

  “Also wouldn’t matter,” Xue Yaling chipped in, sighing, “The rest of us had our memories inspected, so it would be very easy to tell that we know your identity all too well. Perhaps the only one that’s remotely confused is Jia Bo Xun, but as long as she saw a glimpse of the truth in one of us, she’ll have a pretty good idea of the truth. Thus, chances are that she won’t attempt to rely on shocking us with this information to gain an edge, and therefore we might as well speak openly about it.”

  “… and this is why I despise abilities that can read thoughts and minds…” Huang Su dropped her shoulders in defeat, looking to Han Rushu, “I had been hoping to avoid this kind of thing by guiding us here, you know. I thought it would be a simple journey.”

  “To be fair, I can’t help but notice the same oddities that Bianca pointed out,” the bcksmith shrugged, “She doesn’t want money, and she provides us with rooms that should be able to seal away the spiritual perception of sixth realm experts, which would naturally include herself. If she couldn’t monitor us, that would be rather strange, and if she wants people to remain on the ship for as long as possible… Gathering information on us one way or another seems like the most obvious thing she’d do.”

  “I do not appreciate you being right,” the Sect Master muttered, “But regardless, Mistress, I’ll leave you with a few shards and coins, use them as you wish.”

  She threw over those items after pulling them out almost as though out of thin air, with Bianca easily catching them.

  “Thanks,” Bianca stowed away the money and waved over to Song Ming, “Come on, let’s look around and see what we can find for you. There’s a particur store that caught my eye, so we’ll check that on the way.”

  Song Ming eagerly nodded, looking as though she was an eager puppy, only missing the wagging tail at her back, “Yes, Mistress!”