Maximilian sat on top of a large chunk of stone. His most recent kill was a hundred feet below him. The massive serpent was almost as strong as the bird, though it lacked any way to hit him in the air. The poor creature was a constrictor type, which was just icing on the bad day cake for it. The serpent provided a nice amount of energy. Not enough to grant him another level, but enough. The only question was what he should do next. He felt a bit guilty, so heading back was a solid option. He could take the time to check in with everyone before he decided what to do next. He was also confident that he had advanced as far as he needed to with direct combat for now. If I came down to it, he could spend a month or two in closed-door cultivation. The more he thought about it, the clearer his answer became. He formed an arc of electricity and leaped forward.

  The journey back to Nubia took about a week. Most of the creatures avoided him like the plague, so there was little fighting, but it did give him the chance to practice. He expanded the use of his new lightning steps with his spiritual energy. The result was crude and wasn't really a technique. Instead, it was more of an improvement in accuracy. He would launch himself through the air and then form an electrical step where he landed. Upon landing, he would push off again. The resulting technique required him to improve his body control. Yet when he had done it was amazing. Still wasn't flight, but it was something almost as good. He decided not to jump into Nubia. The last thing he needed was to have someone fire at him. There was also the chance that he would crash into something. He landed half a mile outside the settlement and sprinted until he came across a patrol.

  It was a trio of cultivators he didn't recognize but who were dressed in Nubia's colors. Which was something. He made a mental note to discuss it with his mother later. He got a brief rundown on everything he missed. At least from their perspective, and there wasn't much. Apparently, they bought a shop that explained the new gear. He figured that meant the settlement would be low on funds. That was something he would have to deal with. When he had heard everything they had to say, he continued on his way. He entered the settlement a short while later and was pleased to see it had grown. They were starting to reach the outer limits of the forest. They would need to prepare for it. He was pretty sure there were ways to build sideways into a mountain, but he did not know how. He would need to look into what Earth magic could do, or rather, the Dao of Earth. He briefly considered finding his mother immediately, but he felt dirty. His robes were clean, and he had rinsed himself down with his dao, so he was pretty sure it was in his head. Yet he couldn't stop the feeling. He also enjoyed nice warm showers.

  After his short break, he made his way to the main office buildings. He found his mother seated in one of the larger meeting rooms along with most of his advisors. He made his way inside. After a quick round of greetings, he was brought up to speed on the official business he had missed. He was disappointed to find that there was nothing. The U.W.G hadn't done anything since the meeting. No one had tried to enter the city, so he wasn't sure if that meant they were abandoning their plans to head into the desert or if they were recovering. No messages had come from the Wei clan nor Justinian. The whole thing felt odd. He had assumed his display would earn him more attention, yet now it was like they had been isolated. He briefly worried he had made a mistake, but he squashed those feelings. He still felt it was the right choice. He would have to live with whatever the consequences were.

  "Tell me about the new shop."

  "Its a general store. It became available soon after you left. I am not sure what the requirements were for, but the crucible hall helped." His mother replied.

  "Outside of the population requirement, the rest were related to the accomplishments of the lord. It included things like being the first lord and the first to form a network-recognized city. There were others, but those were the most notable." Nezha clarified.

  "I see. Do they have anything we need? Not the individual but the settlement as a whole?"

  "Not exactly. It's a general store stocked with most things. Further, the items are cheaper than what the Network run shop offers. The items are the same in terms of quality. They don't have any skills for sale."

  Maximilian nodded and shifted topics. "I am sure you've noticed our population has grown and that we will reach the edge of the peak. Do we have any plans for that?"

  "I had noticed. Unfortunately, there isn't much we can do about it. We don't have any architects with building experience in that field."

  Maximilian nodded and turned to Nezha. "If we buy housing along the mountain, would the Network handle it? Or would we be responsible for making it work?"

  "The Network would handle all responsibilities." Nezha's concise reply removed a bit of the weight from Maximilian's shoulders. He knew it wouldn't be enough, or rather, he couldn't afford to pay for housing forever. The Network handled the requirements, but it was pricey. For the short term, though, they were fine. He turned his attention to other issues.

  "I will provide more credits in case you need to make some more purchases. I have also explored a large portion of the desert region." He gave a brief description of everything he encountered. Including the various monster types and their approximate levels. Once again, he was reminded that he needed more skills. If it wasn't for what he learned in the tutorial, he would've purchased a few from the Network. Now it was too much of a risk.

  "Will you allow more people to head in that direction? The monster sounds dangerous, but that may also provide rewards." His mother asked.

  He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. His first instinct was to say now. He doubted anyone outside the top ten would do well on their own. Even for them, he would suggest they go in a group. It was too dangerous, and he didn't want to lose people. Yet he also knew that he didn't have anyone protecting him. That lack of support led him go off on his own. Let him pursue his own power. He wasn't sure if it would be better or worse for him to withhold those opportunities from others. It was surreal to think about. It was natural to avoid danger, but the Network changed that. Made it so danger was something to run toward. He took a breath and nodded his head.

  "Yes. Anyone who wants to explore in that direction should bring plenty of pills. Both healing, Antipoison and antitoxin. They should be aware that there are some stronger creatures in the region. Strong enough to give me a run for my money."

  "I will let the others know." She replied while making a note on her tablet. "You said you brought some of the bodies back. Can you drop them off so that we get any usable meat?"

  He nodded. "I had planned on it. I want to empty my storage. Speaking of which, have people earned more of them? Actually, does that shop have any for sale? If so, it might be a good idea to invest."

  "They do, though, from what I know about your bag, they aren't comparable. They are about half the size and will expire after a decade. For obvious reasons, the latter isn't a major problem."

  "Alright, in that case, I want everyone who goes out to bring back the dead bodies. Have them avoid targeting toxic creatures or anything that doesn't look safe. I don't know if diseases exist, but I don't want to spread a plague or something because someone ate a diseased animal. In addition, I want an update on the rest of the advisors. Have they found who they want to represent them?"

  His mother hesitated for half a second and then nodded. "For the most part, yes. We have the names, but we are waiting for final confirmation. Many of them have recently discovered that being a superhero isn't as fun as they had thought."

  Maximilian raised an eyebrow in silent question and then shook his head. It wasn't his business, so he wouldn't involve himself. As long as no one was in immediate danger. "Alright, how is Farrell? I am going to see him after this, but I want to make sure he hasn't caused any issues or that no one has bothered him."

  "No, things are fine on that front. He has asked to go hunting with the others, and a group did take him. Where he managed to kill a strong beast." She held up a hand when Maximilian opened his mouth to interrupt. "He is fine, and so is the group. They dealt with the beast before letting him get the final hit. It was originally done as a joke, but some are wondering if that's an easy way to get a title. There are some who earned titles for killing creatures at various levels above them. Since he doesn't even have access to the Network, we are betting on him being considered level 0."

  Maximilian cocked his head at that and had to admit the idea had some weight. It was reckless and idiotic, but it was also a potential path to power. One that could give the boy a leg up on his future cultivation. "Alright, I will go over things with Meredith later. I don't want him taking too many gambles, but I can see the wisdom. If we operate under that assumption than he will need to focus more on his meditation. A lesser dao can be a real game-changer. If he could get one of those without the Network, then who knows what's possible."

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "Speaking of which. I believe you said you had the ability to control electricity. Would you be willing to try that with some electrical devices? If it's possible, we could bring electricity back. At least until we find something better."

  Maximilian pondered it for a moment. The idea would likely be a great way to improve his control. Even if the goal wasn't possible. His dao was intended to electrocute things, so repurposing it could be interesting. "I can give it a try. I should start with either a battery or something small." Almost as soon as he finished, a block the size of his hand was tossed to him. He caught and raised an eyebrow at the device. It was a cellphone, his mother's to be exact, which only made him slightly confused. He still hadn't figured out what happened to his. It wasn't with him in the tutorial, nor was it with him when he went back. Now that he had the thought. This was the longest he had gone without it in years. He shook off the distraction and popped off the back. He didn't know much about how batteries recharged, so he decided to take the battery completely out and place his fingers at the connector points.

  With the recent improvements to his dao, he decided to take things slow. He imagined his power as a thin, almost imperceptible thread. A thread that he slowly pushed toward the battery. Almost as soon as the two met, the battery heated up. It wasn't enough to hurt him, but he also knew his pain tolerance was much higher than before. He pinched off the thread and pushed the least amount of energy he could manage into it. It felt a bit like trying to control a fraction of a fraction of a grain of rice. Something so small that he wouldn't be able to perceive it. Yet here he was. He held that connection for several more seconds before he stopped. He wiped the sweat from his brow and let out a breath he hadn't realized he held. When he was ready, he put the battery into the phone and tried to power it on. A moment later, the phone powered on. He had seen the various logos more times than he cared to admit, but this time was special. The companies were gone, making the phone a historical object. But more importantly, he had made it happen.

  He briefly wondered what else he could do. Obviously, a water dao could create water, which meant drinking water, crops, and other similar things. Though he doubted it would be quite that simple. The amount of effort he had to put into charging a phone was insane, but he could see crafters doing it. Or an array master. From what he could learn about them, arrays were just lines of energy that went in specific directions. Like those old water circuit games. Before he could get too lost in his thoughts, his mother spoke, and he tossed her back the phone.

  "If you can do something like that consistently than we might be able to get some cars running and maybe some other equipment. Assuming we can get them up the mountain. That alone could make us more of an appealing destination."

  Maximilian nodded, though he wasn't quite as sure. "I agree, but we have to remember that it's meant to hold us over. Our priority has to be following the new world. Spiritual energy and Dao not clinging onto what used to be. I am already strong enough to wreck an army, at least. Which means that using it as a building material won't be good. More likely than not to create a glass world for me and others to move in. We also don't want to risk drawing the ire of the Network in case it didn't want us to use those things."

  "On that we agree. Is there anything else we need to discuss, or shall we return to what we need to get done?" His mother asked.

  Maximilian thought about it for a moment, but nothing was pressing. He had already dealt with the issues, and he wasn't ready to rejoin the rest of the world just yet. "No, that's all. I will likely schedule another meeting in the coming days. This time, a full one to make sure we are all on the same page. I am going to leave more and more often to find proper places to hunt. The last thing I want is to leave dangers behind." With the meeting over, Maximilian decided to make his way to his home and check on a few things. He had been gone long enough that his cultivation chamber should be filled to the brim with energy. Energy that was just waiting for him to absorb. He entered his home and was in front of his cultivation chamber in the blink of an eye.

  As soon as he opened the door, he was hit with a wave of spiritual energy. It felt both like a refreshing mist and a cool glass of water on a hot day. He took a moment to just enjoy the sensation before he closed the door and sat down on his mat. Even with the improved energy, he knew it wouldn't be enough to hit level twenty-five. The amount of energy each level needed had continued to grow, but every little bit helped. He started up his technique and watched as the energy poured into him. He sat there for about twenty minutes before he turned his attention to the other things. Mainly his status screen.

  He was definitely stronger when compared to before the journey. It was almost a night-and-day difference. He was confident that he could handle any problem on or near the mountain. Which of course meant he would need to range further. Perhaps to other cities or territories. He might need to try to visit the other continents. The frost one had potential. He couldn't and wouldn't do that until he was certain that things were stable. He didn't need a Poli-Sci degree to tell that his new government was held together with force and opportunity. Which wasn't bad. In a way, that was the origin of every country. He needed to find a way to gain loyalty and love of country. That was yet another long-term goal. He cracked his neck as the energy around him began to dissipate. He would go to see Meredith and Farrell after this, and then he wasn't sure. He might get a new hunt. His schedule hadn't been this free in a long time.