So Hei let go of the possibility of an unexpected gain, but instead asked for compensation for the buffaloes that lived with him.

Although in the eyes of any martial artist it was absurd and crazy to do such a thing, Hei didn't care. They had been his companions for some time now, and since the work was done by them, it was obvious that the reward was also theirs.

"Sect leader, if you want I can also employ bees for the parade. Of course this under some compensation. "

Upon hearing his words, the sect leader smiled slightly and answered.

"All right, let's hear then. What do you want in order to use bees for the parade, other bees?"

"Well, the bees have their own system and well organized. Introducing other bees can be counterproductive, especially if there is a queen bee with them. Let's do this, could you give me some rare flowers already in bloom. If we transfer them and transport them, there should be no problems with the flowers, right?"

Hei had thought to ask for the seeds, but thinking that it was a reward for the bees, it was better to have something that they could use immediately.

"Rare flowers? There are no problems, I will pick up some more from my personal collection. Honestly, considering the size of the event, you might very well ask for more. Although I appreciate your not wanting to be shameless and asking for huge rewards, it doesn't even seem right to me not to reward you directly. Let's see, I've decided. You and Lian will have the option of taking a book from the library for a month without contribution point costs. You can decide at any time when to use it, is it ok for you? "

"Yes, sect leader. We thank you for your generosity. "

"Allright, I think that I said everything I needed to tell you. You have a month or so before we leave. I hope by then you have reached the fourth stage."

"Don't worry, we won't disappoint you at all."

With this, Hei and Lian bowed again to the sect leader and came out of her residence. Once outside, Hei could see an intense look dwell on them. Turning around, he saw the personal disciple of the sect leader looking at them emotionless.

Hei therefore made a small nod with his head as a greeting, and going up with Lian on the back of Shui, they quickly ran home to continue training.

Initially they planned to cultivate and gather little by little the necessary amount of spirit power needed to overcome the bottleneck, but now it was no longer necessary. With the third level spirit stone supplied by the sect leader, they no longer had that need. In addition, they also had the Explosive Blood Pills that they would take once they consolidated their foundations after reaching the fourth stage.

But the thing that excited him most about reaching the fourth stage was learning new techniques. Aside from learning the spear intent, the fourth stage contained the greatest number of techniques provided by Bao Bei for Hei - Snake Fang, Spider Bite, Chameleon Tongue, Beast Claw, Spider Carapace, Snake Hair.

He was curious to begin his training as soon as possible, also because this time, except for Spider Carapace and Snake Hair which were defensive moves, the other four were all attack moves.

*

Once they arrived, Hei and Lian immediately went to meditation. They sat cross-legged and held the third-level spirit stone in their hands. Then they immediately began to circulate their spirit power while slowly absorbing that of the stone.

The effects were immediately evident as the spirit stone was like fuel to keep them meditating without getting tired and raising their maximum quant.i.ty. In a couple of hours, the gap that needed to be filled to move to the fourth stage was filled with the energy of the spirit stone, and the two youths officially moved to the fourth stage of spirit apprentice.

But even when they broke the bottleneck, the two of them didn't stop their cultivation. Advancing one stage using external objects always required an adjustment time depending on how much pills or other objects the user had utilized. Obviously it was possible to disregard this and continue as if nothing had happened, but it would have created problems in the future.

It took another couple of hours before Hei and Lian stopped meditating. Both were tired and covered in sweat but there was a bright smile on their faces. They had finally moved to fourth stage!

'Yes, hurray. Nice job big brother, Lian.' The two little spirit beasts, Ye and Xing, ran towards them with excitement. Even though they were tired, Hei and Lian went along with their excitement and started playing with them a little, while slowly seeing their own improvements.

Bao Bei let them play a little before calling them. In front of her was a pile of wooden bottles.

"Mother, what are these bottles?" Hei asked in a questioning tone.

'They're for the next phase of your training. The bottles contain different special liquids created by us divine beasts to accelerate and harden parts of the body. Unfortunately, the main ingredient is a very rare plant that grows only in a place that is far from here. I don't even know if it still exists." Bao Bei said in a regretful tone.

The place she spoke of was nothing but the great forest in which the greatest number of divine beasts had lived, as well as the dominion that his companion once had ruled.

Seeing her become a bit dejected, Hei tried to change the subject.

"And what should I do now? What techniques will we start first?"

Listening to the words of her son, Bao Bei recovered from her thoughts and returned to focus on the topic in question.

"We'll start with Beast Claw, Snake Fang and Snake Hair but your body is not suitable right now to learn these moves. We need some change. Take off your shoes, my little one."

With those words Bao Bei waved 20 small spider web strings that went to stick on Hei's fingers and toes.

"Listen to me, my child. This will hurt, clench your teeth and try to endure okay? I will do everything in one fell swoop, you only think of resisting pain and standing still."

Hei nodded his head while for safety he sat on the ground. Next to him were Lian and his little sisters worried about what was about to happen.

Seeing her son ready, with a strong tug, Bao Bei pulled the 20 spider web strings. They flew towards her at full strength. At the end of these wires there was something hanging in the air.

Hei immediately groaned in pain that he tried to suppress as his hands and feet began to bleed.

Right, the thing that was swaying on the ends of the spider web strings were nothing but Hei's fingernails and toenails that didn't resist being dragged and broke away from the skin.

"Claws Beast requires a cycle of destruction and restoration of the nails. Thanks to the special liquid, they will heal again briefly and then be extracted again. You must repeat this cycle until you reach a degree of resistance such that your nails don't come off with a single tug of mine." Bao Bei explained as she trembled slightly with her eight legs.

She did not like all this but there was no time for second thoughts. They only had a month and if she wanted Hei be ready, he still had to undergo intense training regimes.

Hei, whose pain was fading, nodded his head.

"Don't worry, mother, do everything you need to do. Lian, Ye, Xing, go. Continue your workouts. Don't worry about me, as there is mother with me. "

Although they were reluctant to leave, they still did as they asked. Seeing suffers like this to become stronger, the least they could do was concentrate on their training.

"Mother, so now I have to dip my hands and feet in that liquid?" Hei asked once he was alone with his mother.

"The amount of liquid is little to proceed that way. I have to put a few drops directly on the nails one by one."

Then she proceeded to do as she had said. When the liquid fell on Hei's fingernails, they created a foaming spice while green bubbles rose on the surface.

'I forgot to tell you, the side effect of this liquid is that it turns the body part that heals to green.' Bao Bei explained.

"Green? It isn't bad as a color, but I would have preferred black or purple like you." Hei commented with disappointment, apparently not disturbed by the change in color of his nails.

Hearing this, Bao Bei chuckled and continue to complete the medication on all the other fingers and toes.

'Well, now that we've done this. We have to switch to Snake Fang. It will hurt less but it is still a bit annoying. Well, now open your mouth'

Listening to his mother's command, Hei opened his mouth and held it open. Bao Bei then floated a knife with his spiritual power as he had no hands to hold it directly. With accurate and precise movement, she began to sharpen Hei canine teeth to make them more like animal fangs. Once finished, she gave Hei a liquid to keep in his mouth. Inside, he could hear a gurgling sound similar to what happened on his fingers.

'Stay like this for half an hour before swallowing it down. The liquid will also change your teeth colour and make them blue. If you wonder why I only sharpen your canines, it's because it's not advisable to sharpen all your teeth. Since human canines are already poised by nature, it is advisable to sharpen just them.' Bao Bei added, sensing what her son was thinking in his head.

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Not being able to answer because of the liquid, Hei nodded yes before remembering that they could still communicate telepathically.

'Mother, what about snake hair? What should I do.'

'Snake Hair has the longest process but it is pain free, fortunately. Stay seated and relax.'

So Bao Bei proceeded to take another wooden bottle and slowly pour it on Hei's hair while her legs was rubbed his hair. Although normally the males had short hair, Hei had a rather long cut that reached the height of the shoulders. He was undecided whether to cut them or not, but Bao Bei had told him to leave them in antic.i.p.ation for this moment.

'This liquid will strengthen and make your hair grow more. To have a good use, they must reach at least the height of your lower back. As for the coloring, the liquid gives a black color, but since you already have black hair, you won't change much on that point of view.'

So Bao Bei sat with him for half an hour while gently rubbing his hair to allow the liquid to evenly enter the layer of scalp and up to the tips of existing hair.

When they ended, it was already sunset and they concluded the unusual body modification session in order to go and eat. During dinner, Hei was amazed how his fingers were already showing signs of nail formation. Moreover, it had become easier to tear the meat.

The only negative thing was that the hair was still wet from the liquid, and gave him discomfort during sleep but in the end he managed to fall asleep anyway.

*

The following morning there was confusion in the spiderweb house due to various visitors. Some members of the inner sect were in fact conducting a herd of water buffaloes while others were carrying some pots containing flowers. It was the reward the sect leader had talked about.

Normally the rewards were given after the work was done, but because more than a reward this was a commission price, she decided to pay Hei immediately.

The arrival of the visitors immediately alerted Shui and the buffaloes, as did the bees that set themselves in defensive formation. Hei however made them stop and went to greet the people who had arrived, alongside Shui.

Then, after having received the plants and water buffaloes, he sent away the inner members of the sect and spoke to Shui.

"Shui, actually I didn't tell you anything because I wanted to surprise you. The sect leader asked if you guys could help her with something. I took the trouble to answer for you and ask for a reward. I hope you are okay with this; I tried to think of something that could please you and the other." Hei said as he stroked Shui's head.

Actually, he had acted a little selfishly deciding all on his own, but he thought that Shui and the other buffaloes wouldn't have objected about how he handled the request. And in fact they were more than happy.

Although they were rather calm, they were still male specimens. Therefore, they wanted to have a companion, not only for the fulfillment of a physical need, but mostly for procreating and creating a family. During their stay with the merchant, they had forgotten this dream but now they had unexpectedly fulfilled it.

The buffaloes broke out in a series of mooings that resonated throughout the surrounding area. On seeing this, Hei smiled and waited for them to calm down.

It took awhile for them to calm down, but fortunately Shui had a strong grip on them. So they went to welcome the new arrivals all together.

Hei left the buffaloes alone and went instead to the bees. Inside the hive, Mi was busy modifying the honey produced by the bees, but when she saw Hei, she came out quickly while flapping her wings fast.

"Mi, h.e.l.lo. Excellent work as always with the honey. I have a surprise for you, come. But first call the queen bee."

Mi made me a sign of joy and went to call the queen bee. Afterwards, a team of bees came out with the queen bee of the hive in the middle.

"Queen bee, please come with me. I want to show you something. "

That said, he brought the group of bees where the vases with rare flowers were. At seeing the flowers, the bees emitted a more intense buzz; evidently they had been excited by the quality of the pollen contained in those flowers.

Hei then went on to explain the situation behind the flowers. The queen bee listened in silence and gave her permission. She decided to send Mi along with the team a.s.signed to the little queen bee due to her familiarity with Hei and the others.

Happy to be able to travel with Hei and the others, Mi started buzzing around him before settling on his head. Laughing, Hei sent her back to work in the hive again. There was still about a month left before they left, and he still had to start training other techniques, understand the spear intent and go to the library to see if there was something useful.