ASER – Chapter 10

Upon entering the cellar, A’Diao had expected stale air, but surprisingly, there were no unusual smells. She figured there must be a ventilation duct connecting to the outside, just like the cellar in the old Daoist temple. Even country folk had their own ingenuity.

The cellar was empty of belongings, but shelves and some useless rags remained. Nothing else.

A kitchen knife would have been nice.

A’Diao wasn’t certain of any real danger. The toilet had just alerted her that the number of people had decreased to 20, yet she hadn’t heard anyone leave the courtyard.

This was highly unusual.

If she was wrong, she could play it off as a false alarm, blaming stress, anxiety, and paranoia. Better safe than sorry, especially if her suspicions were correct and a disaster unfolded.

So, A’Diao immediately contacted the authorities. What excuse could she use? She couldn’t exactly say her toilet sensed a decrease in headcount.

A’Diao typed her message silently: “Officer Feng, I’m currently renting at… I’m too scared to speak. I saw strange dark shadows outside in the courtyard, moving silently. I’m not sure what they were. With the recent deaths, could there be monsters?”

This message was cleverly vague and universally applicable.

Normally, the officer on duty wouldn’t pay much attention, but A’Diao was a familiar case. Her recent misfortunes, especially the exploding outhouse incident, were infamous throughout the authorities, even reaching neighboring counties. Recognizing her, the officer on duty immediately became alert.

Among the recent unexplained deaths, they had finally classified one that afternoon as a non-human fatality, occurring in the same alleyway. Their team had conducted a second investigation that afternoon, yet the culprit remained elusive.

Could it have reappeared?

The officer instructed A’Diao to hide and assured her they would dispatch someone immediately. He asked her to stay on the line, keeping her phone in her pocket. If anything happened, they could track her location and be aware of the situation. As long as she kept their side muted, it wouldn’t interfere.

This was precisely A’Diao’s intention. Before putting her phone away, she also sent a warning message to her landlady. Remembering the landlady’s Pavlovian response to the sound of a digital red envelope notification, she added a 0.1 Star Coin red envelope to the message.

It was up to fate now. She had done all she could. It depended on whether the sleeping landlady would be roused by the sound of incoming money.

These were external factors. A’Diao didn’t entirely trust the authorities to arrive instantly. Self-reliance was key. She took out the toilet.

The toilet lid now functioned as a smart display. The snowy white surface showed a Mental Energy value of 452. To A’Diao’s surprise, there was also a text notification.

Notification: 500 Mental Energy required to activate a toilet skill.

What?! A’Diao’s initial elation quickly turned to confusion. Not activating her skills, but the toilet’s?

What skills could a toilet possibly have?

One-second flush? No residue? Built-in air freshener?

She needed offensive capabilities. Did it have any?

“Could it be another outhouse explosion… No, not here. I wouldn’t survive.” A’Diao shuddered at the thought, thinking it might be better to conserve Mental Energy and wait for the authorities. Besides, she didn’t have 500 Mental Energy yet.

Suddenly, crack!

The wooden planks covering the cellar entrance creaked, as if something was touching them.

Then came a faint gnawing sound. Sharp teeth were biting into the wood, attempting to break through.

Startled, A’Diao stared at the entrance, quickly grabbed her phone, and sent the video she had edited of the Daoist temple outhouse explosion to the class group chat, tagging everyone. She also sent it directly to Zhao Min.

She knew that with school about to start, her dear classmates would be indulging in late-night revelry, making the most of their remaining freedom. Out of dozens, surely a few would see it.

Maybe they could help her reach 500.

A few seconds after sending the video, A’Diao grabbed a wooden stick, nervously watching the entrance.

From Zhao Min +58!

From Chen Xun +46!

From Qin Ke Ren +35!

From…

From Huang Wei Min +166!

Seven people responded with substantial amounts of Mental Energy. But the last name made A’Diao’s joy almost choke her.

Oh no, she forgot the homeroom teacher and other teachers were in the group chat too! And why was the homeroom teacher still awake?!

Would she ever be a model student again?

No matter. Her Mental Energy had skyrocketed to 992.

A’Diao immediately exchanged 500. The toilet flashed, and a skill description appeared on the lid.

Skill 1: “I’ll Punch You to Death with My Tiny Fist” (Toilet skill. Direct attack. G1 force. If used internally, combined with user’s strength, G1 force halved. Cost: 100 Mental Energy per use.)

The G1 force level had existed since the initial descent of Spiritual Energy.

In the early stages of cultivation, there were seven power ranks: G, F, E, D, C, B, and A, with G being the lowest and A the highest. Each rank had seven sub-levels, from 1 to 7, with G1 being the weakest and G7 the strongest.

In simpler terms, a G1 strike was equivalent to a 100kg punch, enough to break a 2cm thick wooden board. Comparable to some professional boxers, but unattainable for ordinary people.

The two attack modes seemed to be external projection or internal passive amplification. Given her own meager strength, the latter was clearly less effective.

So… as she experimented with controlling the toilet, the ordinary fixture felt weightless in her hands, light as a feather, yet throwable at will.

Before she could get the hang of it, BANG!!!

The thick wooden planks covering the entrance burst apart, splintering into pieces. A long, dark shadow slithered down the stairs. A’Diao glimpsed what she thought was a giant python, but had no time for a closer look. Not being a trained fighter, she instinctively hurled the toilet at the creature.

The monster, proficient in smell and taste but with poor eyesight, had locked onto A’Diao and was about to pounce from the stairs. It didn’t anticipate being hit by a toilet.

BANG!!!

The monster’s head slammed against the stone steps, chipping the stone. Its thick body and large head contributed to the direct hit in the dimly lit cellar. Otherwise, A’Diao might have missed.

The G1 force was effective. A sickening crack echoed as the monster’s head connected with the stone, and A’Diao saw scales mixed with the stone fragments.

It had scales. Its skin was broken, bleeding, but its head only tilted. Then, with a powerful flick of its tail, it slithered out from under the toilet, adhering to the wall like a gecko, and rapidly descended towards A’Diao.

The attack happened within two seconds. Before A’Diao could react, the monster’s mouth gaped open, a long proboscis extending towards her eyes.

Thud!!!

A’Diao thrust the wooden stick upwards, hitting the monster’s lower jaw, both blocking its mouth and pushing it away. She dodged back, but it was too late. The monster’s front half had already attached itself to her. What she had assumed was a smooth, snake-like body revealed itself to be lined with serrated claws extending from its jaw to its belly. Sharp and terrifying.

Fear chilled A’Diao to the bone. She pushed the monster away with all her might, but its claws dug into her arm.

Her arm was being gnawed, almost chewed clean.

“Get off!” A’Diao screamed in pain, her other hand reaching for the toilet…

And hurled it again!

BANG!! The monster’s head, already injured, slammed against a shelf, breaking it. As the shelf teetered, A’Diao quickly pulled it down, trapping the monster underneath. This also prevented its tail from releasing whatever toxic gas it had been preparing.

The monster struggled to escape from under the shelf, but A’Diao jumped on top, using her weight to pin it down. She continued to bash its exposed head with the toilet.

Again and again.

But the last blow failed.

Toilet: “Notification: Insufficient Mental Energy. ‘I’ll Punch You to Death with My Tiny Fist’ skill unavailable.”

Of course. She had exchanged 500 of her 992 Mental Energy, leaving 492. Four uses at 100 each left her with only 2 Mental Energy, not enough for a fifth strike.

This skill was a Mental Energy hog! 400 Mental Energy for four hits?!

But the monster wasn’t dead yet. It thrashed powerfully, shaking the shelf and nearly throwing A’Diao off. Desperate, with the toilet unusable, she grabbed the broken stick and stabbed furiously at the wound on the monster’s head, putting all her strength into it.

Like children play-fighting, A’Diao accompanied her attack with sound effects, yelling, “Stab you! Stab you! That’s for biting me! That’s for biting me!!”

Not out of arrogance, but to bolster her courage.

And it worked.

After several stabs, snap! The stick broke. A’Diao finally came to her senses, staring blankly at the mangled remains of the monster for a moment.

Dead?

Yes, it seemed motionless.

“Ow, that hurts.” A’Diao finally registered the pain in her mangled left arm and her aching right hand. She retrieved the toilet.

What was this?

The monster’s head was a pulpy mess of green slime and red gore, but within it was a crystalline object, about the size of a marble. She wouldn’t have noticed it if she hadn’t stabbed so thoroughly.

A’Diao cautiously used the broken stick to stir the mess, then used the rag to pick up the object, wiping it clean. It was indeed a small, irregularly shaped crystal, with black and red streaks swirling within. Rather disgusting.

Thanks to her childhood immersion in esoteric literature, a word popped into A’Diao’s mind: Spirit Core.

The solidified form of Spiritual Energy, the energy core of cultivated beings.

Spirit Core could be absorbed by cultivators, far more efficiently than raw Spiritual Energy. It could also power Forbidden Items, or be used in mecha weaponry. Its uses were vast.

She had struck it rich!

As A’Diao rejoiced, a system notification sounded.

“Absorbable energy +1. 9 more units of equivalent energy required to reach level two. Absorb now?”

What? It could level up?

Before A’Diao could inquire further, the Spirit Core vanished from her hand.

A’Diao: “?”

System: “No response within one second defaults to ‘yes’. Absorption complete. Thank you for your cooperation.”

So it was just a courtesy prompt?

A’Diao looked around for a rock to throw at the toilet.

Suddenly, the system added: “Alert: 19 low-level conquerable targets detected nearby.”

A’Diao: “???”

That wasn’t right. The monster was dead, so how…?

Unless there was more than one.

A chill ran down A’Diao’s spine. Her gaze fell on the broken cellar entrance.