Cultivating in Honkai!

The woman, Theresa, knew of her niece’s situation very well.

For four hundred years, she took care of the unconscious Shi Tian. The others also helped, but it was Kiana who took care of him every single second.

Seeing Kiana change her state to ‘Seclusion’, thoughts emerged in her mind.

“He’s awake?! Then…”

Theresa only saw one reason for the Tuna to put that status on:

The infamous dual cultivation!

She could not be blamed for her ‘unique’ deduction.

As a former President of the Federation, one of the greatest crises she faced was the population sex imbalance. The ratio of female-to-male cultivators is a shocking 6:1. To deal with this, there are short-term and long-term solutions.

One of the short-term solutions is the distribution of dual cultivation techniques. The rise of ‘polygamy’ was unstoppable at that time. The Federation, as a whole, decided to turn it into its advantage.

While the given techniques are inferior to the [Sun-Moon Creation Art], it boosted the population’s overall cultivation. However, it also produced a major problem. Every single female cultivator scrambled for male cultivators.

They could only pin their hopes on long-term solutions, one of which is letting geniuses inside the Memory Space—Elysian Realm—to experiment with immortal cultivation, honkai energy, imaginary energy, and quantum energy.

Fortunately, things were mended ten years after the two geniuses began. The cultivator population soon balanced out after some time.

Theresa saw its beginning and end during her term.

Thinking of what the Tuna and her son-in-law were doing, a trace of redness appeared on her cheeks. She involuntarily bit on her lower lip before breaking out of her daze.

“No, no! How is this fine..?”

She could not lie to herself.

She longed for the taste of his blood. Envy out of the unrestrained care Kiana receives.

Theresa wants to fall in love too!

It just so happened that circumstances happened between her and Shi Tian, hence the development now. Theresa feels very guilty with her feelings, but it is what it is.

“Hm, I should go and ask Himeko about this…”

With a thought, her body reappeared in front of a modern residence. The futuristic development of Earth did not erase architectural designs from the past eras.

Moreover, the cultivators who survived from the pre-cultivation era up to now are at the Purple Mansion Realm. They have a tendency of being nostalgic towards things from the said era.

“Headmaster..?”

The door was opened, revealing a red-haired woman wearing nothing but a huge white t-shirt.

“You still haven’t changed.”

“Yawn… Yes, yes…”

Himeko welcomed Theresa to her ‘abode’.

When Theresa stepped on one of her panties on the ground, the helpless look on her face increased tenfold.

“We have the cleansing spell! The laundry spell! The automatic sorting spell! How did you mess it up like this..?”

“No matter. It’s not like anyone else would come knocking to my place…”

Looking at the messy room, Theresa wondered if all single middle-aged women are like this. In Himeko’s case, she is a four-hundred and thirty something years old fairy.

She was like this from the start. Her long life merely magnified these bad habits of hers.

Originally, Himeko was eager to find a boyfriend, get married, and retire after settling all of the honkai schtick. Unfortunately for her, the farthest she went was a light kiss.

Anything beyond that and men found her unattractive.

Theresa used to laugh at Himeko’s dating luck. When she fell for her niece’s husband, she could not laugh anymore.

Love is damn complex.

“How’s everything?” Theresa asked.

“Not that bad. I don’t have to work anymore, I can sleep anytime, order takeouts, drink spiritual wine…”

Himeko listed a bunch of things that made Theresa’s face darker.

Out of the twenty-one partners Shi Tian has, Himeko is one of the ‘most diligent’. Sleeping equated cultivation… thus Himeko slept. She caught up on her all-nighters hundreds of years ago, turning into a bonafide “NEET”, also known as girl losers.

Her long red hair remained untied, spreading up to her waist.

“This retirement life is awesome. You should also be enjoying yours. Why the sudden visit now?”

Her sharp questions rid Theresa’s doubts.

No matter what happens to Himeko, she is Himeko.

Finding the crux of the problem is an easy thing for her.

Theresa cleaned a place on her couch and sat on it.

“...Have you ever loved someone?”

“...”

Himeko’s footsteps halted before resuming. She took out a glass bottle inside her refrigerator filled with thousands of wines.

With a flick, the cork flew off. The familiar sizzling sound felt heavenly to Himeko’s thirty-year-old mindset.

She chugged half of it before wiping her mouth with her wrist.

“I have not. I mean, there are quite a few that interested me, but that’s it. You are well aware of what I went through back then, Headmaster.”

Himeko’s words meant Theresa found the “wrong person” to ask that question.

It is essentially the blind leading the blind!

“How about Tian?”

“...”

Himeko fell silent again.

Shi Tian’s matters regarding “partners” are open-secret at this point.

Out of twenty-one, six had already confirmed their relationship with him. This “open secret” earned varying reactions from everyone else.

“I don’t know.”

She shrugged her shoulders before drinking the remaining half.

“I expected something to happen. We are unlucky in the first place. All those times he left the letters here, I was asleep.”

Theresa could feel a hint of sourness and frustration on her tone.

‘It’s not just me?’

Despite knowing it is a bad thing to be happy with, she felt happy with it.

Himeko’s frustration stemmed from that “open secret”. She expected some things with it. Meeting the love of her life is, for a good part of her career, a lifelong goal.

She bore the typical mindset of single women at marriageable age. Her mental maturity naturally reached that stage after going through a lot in her 20’s—her father’s death under the hands of the current Sugars Tribe and Welt Yang, for example.

When Himeko saw the failed repeated meetings, she decided to lay flat and focus on cultivation. The teacher became the doer; she exceeded Kiana’s ability to lay flat by a mile.

Seeing her like this, Theresa proposed something.

She could not do it alone, but if she has someone with her…

“Isn’t it simple? Let’s take the initiative.”

As if afraid of Himeko not understanding her words, she repeated:

“We will act proactively, just like the others.”

“...The others?”

Himeko’s eyes turned wide as she looked at Theresa.

The notion of the latter having investigated others’ movements is one thing. To think she would join in the chaos is another matter altogether!

‘How did the Headmaster…’