Hua Li was merely a peak-level Adept, so it was impossible for her to actually use her aura to attack anyone, but killing intent was different. Di once told me that there was some sort of ‘Heavenly Scoreboard’ that recorded all kinds of random shit.

If someone performed an impressive feat, they would even get rewarded in various ways. Unfortunately, the difficulty was way too high and the legends of people receiving crazy-awesome items or abilities was mostly just considered a myth. What would even qualify as something that no one had ever done before? The universe was too old and the records of the past had set the bar way too high.

 

However, there were certain things that everyone knew about. For example, as you killed people, you would gain an ability to intimidate others more easily. Different levels were achieved, depending on how strong the dead things had been.

 

Eliminating ten Novices, Apprentices or whatever, would be the first level. Second was twenty five, then fifty, a hundred, two hundred, five hundred, a thousand, two thousand, five thousand, ten thousand… There really wasn’t a limit.

 

The main thing was the rewards. If the difference in killing intent was only one level, you could make the other person nervous. Two levels, they would be slightly afraid. By three they would be scared. Four would be terrifying. If there was a five level difference, then the other person would fuck off as quickly as possible.

 

However, six would cause the other guy to cower in fear, unable to even move. Seven, they would just faint. Oddly enough, eight would cause the other person to become enraged, frenzied, and horrified. They might randomly attack their own comrades and friends rather than face you or if their willpower is strong, they would aim their hatred towards the one who was actually causing them to feel that way. A nine level difference could cause the intimidated Human or Beast to feel an intense desire to submit. Finally, the ten level disparity could cause instantaneous death.

 

Now, killing intent wasn’t a passive thing that would always be happening. There had to be ‘intent’. You can’t accidentally use it on someone, even if you’re angry or afraid. Also, you have a choice in the matter. Unless you truly wanted the other person or animal to die, it wouldn’t have much of an effect.

 

Obviously some people are much more sensitive to fear than others as well. Xiaotong and the roaches didn’t even have the ‘KI’ aimed at them, but they immediately fled. On the other hand, Mei and I were the targets but neither of us were scared. At most, I felt a little annoyed.

 

***

 

Anyway, we went back over to the futons again and continued our Qi-fueled sexcapades. It was mostly just missionary position, because of my size issues.

 

“More~! Harder~! Faster~! Levi~! I need your cum~!” Mei’s entire face was covered by grey and slimy scales, while her sharklike teeth made it difficult for her to talk.

 

I kept thrusting in and out, since there really wasn’t much else I could do. Well, I did bite or suck on her nipples every now and then.

 

Sex was already addictive enough on its own, but when you add mana and magic into the mix, things became a little complicated. There was definitely a ‘change’ happening within Mei’s body. However, I was slipping in and out of consciousness, so I couldn’t really figure out what the hell was going on.

 

Sure, I had been up for a long time and I was definitely getting sleepy, but it was still kind of weird. Each time I ejaculated, I would blackout for a few minutes, before waking up in a different position. Either missionary or cowgirl, since none of the other ones would work.

 

“I am the devourer of worlds, the illusion of fate, the creator of Karma, and the Guardian of Arcana. Death is ephemeral, life is eternal; seek damnation and receive salvation. Who is like God? Do not trust what you cannot believe. Seven is the key to Heavenly Hell; Nine leads to the Hellish Heaven. The truth lies in contradictory agreement. I love you… Hua Mei.”

 

Whenever I lost consciousness, I would hear those words echoing within the dark void. As the night went on, I started to notice that more and more of Mei’s skin was turning grey. Under normal circumstances, she was only able to transform her hands, feet and face to a certain degree. Yet, by the time that the morning light was shining through our windows, she was totally sharkified.

 

All of her hair fell out, along with her finger and toe nails, even her nipples were gone. No, they didn’t get covered by scales; they just fell off! There were two tiny, hard, dark-brown nipples laying on the floor, in a puddle of piss, jizz and flesh.

 

Mei’s legs fused together into a tail. It was less like a mermaid, and closer to a grey reef shark. Her asshole and pussy were still pretty much in the same spot, but her actual butt wasn’t there anymore. The anus was kind of right below the vaginal opening, just right there. It was actually really convenient considering my tiny dick problems. I was easily able to slip in and out of either hole with ease.

 

No, it wasn’t weird, don’t be a racist. Seriously, I can’t believe there are still people in the world who discriminate against Merfolk! Next you’ll be telling me that Humans shouldn’t fuck Centaurs just because they’re ‘vaguely’ related to horses! Moving on from all that bigotry…

 

Basically, my girlfriend had turned into a sharky mermaid. Every part of her flesh had been transmogrified and altered. I know, you’re probably wondering “So what? Couldn’t Di, Ying and Jiang do the same thing?”

 

Well yeah, they could, but they were all at least Experts. Even a peak-level Adept wouldn’t be able to change their body so much. According to my ‘teacher’, Mama Mei, an Apprentice shouldn’t be able to have such a dramatic transformation… Unless they used Forbidden Secret Techniques.

 

Yep, it’s definitely as bad as it sounds, or maybe worse. There would always be major side-effects to using such dangerous magic. Of course, the two of us were in a weird semi-conscious fucking-frenzy.

 

Xiaotong and the ‘Cockroach Legion’ were both kind of comatose from consuming too much Qi. Spirits typically had about ten times more mana than Humans and Beasts of the same Stage and Level. However, their physical bodies were obviously much weaker in comparison.

 

It wasn’t until the middle of the day, when we finally ‘stopped’. My Dantian felt like it was on the verge of bursting, my dick was really sore, I had a migraine, and I was starving. Aside from that, I also needed to piss and shit.

 

When I pulled out of Mei, she was already unconscious. Her body slowly returned back to ‘normal’, but I noticed something extremely disturbing. Although her level raised from three to four, the number on her left hand also increased by one.

 

“A year…” There wasn’t any physical signs of aging and she still looked like a busty, healthy teenage girl. However, that tattoo was more important than any other evidence. Mei’s birthday was the eleventh of Tianlong. In a single night of hardcore ‘cultivation’, she went from forty-five years old, to forty-six.

 

As I was standing on my rifle case, with my ass hanging out the window, I muttered “Goddamn it… Doesn’t this mean that if I keep having sex with her, she’ll die?” Then I checked my left hand to make sure that I was still ten. My level was four, so nothing really changed for me. At least nothing on the surface.

 

Deeply rooted in my subconscious was an intense desire though. A dark and terrible craving. I kept hearing that familiar voice whispering into my brainbox, “You are the devourer of worlds… Leviathan, the God of War. Why are you worried about the life of a mere Apprentice? Her usefulness will end the moment you become an Adept. It won’t be long now, maybe a year or so… Doesn’t she look so tasty though? Hehehe~, I know how much you love sashimi. Just take a bite, fuck her dry, no one will care when she dies…”

 

It wasn’t a Spirit or a Devil, at least not a ‘real’ one. Just the little evil cunt that lurks within all of us. That sneaky bastard who wants us to do anything it takes to get a tiny step ahead and leave everyone else behind. Most people in the cultivation world call them ‘Inner Demons’ or ‘Heart Devils’, and mine was growing at a rapid pace.