My CEO Harem Cultivation System

Across the vast infinite universe of space and time, within the multitude of galaxies sharing a sight unimaginable and unfathomable to the human mind—a small creature of black and white traveled through the cosmos, flickering between various states of form and existence.

First a small animal trapped in its form and then changing to their natural ethereal form, like a shooting star across the black canvas, until it reverted back to its containment form.

Crossing the magnitude of a distance required immense power, and thus it was relented to take back its unrestricted form even for short moments of time. 

Or how else would one survive?

One's own voice could not be heard through such the immeasurable void. 

Not many could actually survive and even thrive in that inhospitable space, no oxygen, unimaginable freezing temperature and then heat greater than thousands of supernovas… but if anybody else had been watching and listening then they would hear something akin to a complaint:

"Twin Galaxies Eax and Xea are out of the list, next stop is the Alpha Canis Galaxy and I'll cross out all the inhabitable planets. Argh fucking where is that dimwitted—makes me want to kill that bitch." the one known as 'Bao' or 'Panda' said as they journeyed across the stars and void to find the human who had teleported elsewhere beyond their designated world.

This creature, animal, er person—it never stopped complaining and raising hell on the time it was spending searching for this man.. Even travelling at the speed of light did not do them any sort of good. "Why did he have to accept that Update Patch! That idiot, think he could run away to another world and escape the eyes of the Observers? Bah."

It continued to nitpick and grumble to itself, lonely and alone it might have been.

Somewhere else in an uncertain point in the vast, perhaps in what might have been deemed as the headquarters of those working for the ones Above the Heavens, a certain Moderator Peach whistled innocently in her seat, gaze focused on her duties, until she sneezed.

No one else in this place would have reacted and asked, 'Are you alright?' and neither would have anyone said, 'Bless you'. All of the… Individuals in this place stared at the screen in front of them. Only the Moderator known as Peach actually had any sort of fun and actually took advantage of the struggle.

And amongst these deities and individuals partaking in the sights of the universe, some of them could even be an up and coming major player. Someone like a CEO searching for his freedom, one might suppose.

—-

Leila received five precious Beast Cores from Rei.

Setsuko had to share a table with Mitsuko for breakfast.

Rumors continued to spiral across the Mashiro Temple Sect.

A certain Priestess struggled to accept the changes happening.

The one caught in an endless dream began to wake up from her slumber.

Li Yang held out his dark blade in front of the Priestess who inspected it with a careful look on her face. While she didn't cut herself this time, she tried to find if it contained some variety of Ao that provided the obsidian sword with a decisive cut.

She held out a small tortoise in front of him, resting in the palm of her hands and said, "Try not to kill it, but slice its shell open and see if this Vine Tortoise can regenerate itself." 

The man looked at it and frowned slightly. "You want me to hurt this… small thing?" It sounded cruel, even for him, but then again… this was what she had wanted? To test the limits of his blade on something that existed in this world and see how it reacted to foreign objects.

"It can regenerate and heal itself with its Ao natural propensity for growth," Mitsuko said plainly. "But do not tell me that this bothers you when you were previously a Kin Hunter. This is your job, except the size of the creature scaled to something that can fit my hand."

"I'm uninterested in displaying violence to something that does not warrant it, and while I did work—this just seems like senseless destruction, if only to study the effects of my blade."

She clicked her tongue at him. "Then you'll prefer to use that sword on me?"

"I believe you have more strength to endure it."

A compliment managed to make her purse her lips. Sometimes it was too easy to understand how a person's mind worked and make them relent to something. Small requests turned to larger ones, and a compliment—it was more of an expectation on the woman's strength made it more likely for her to do it.

Mitsuko placed the tortoise down the grass and then pulled back her robes, revealing soft and supple skin like a baby's… and it might have been a baby's skin. One drop from the healing potion made flesh heal and grow new skin cells, so yes.

The man lifted his blade and swung it at her—just enough to draw blood.

Mitsuko held a green beast core in her hand, small and miniature, but it still did nothing to close the cut. She glared at it now. Unlike before, she was ready and prepared for this cut and while it didn't cut to her flesh… the blade was extremely sharp to draw blood.

The sight of crimson falling into the grass of green made her silent and thoughtful. "I want this weapon for myself."

Li Yang raised a brow. "Then you must try to take it away from me—which is something I won't allow." She wasn't necessarily an ally, or at least this was based on mutual benefits and not a natural desire for each other to be in a good position. "However, I can very much leave you until you die by blood loss."

She pursed her lips, and then shook her head. "Well, I won't take it. Now for what you call as your potion—if you're willing to give me the recipe and the herbs from which you've made it from, then numerous Apothecaries will appreciate it."

Li Yang frowned.

Undeterred, the Priestess continued. "Multiple people will do so… this is something similar to expensive healing items. But if you can use it for me, even sparingly, then it means that it's not too difficult to produce. And I'm sure that the Apothecaries will give you a supply of your potion."

He didn't take her as someone who could be naive enough to think this way, but then she was still someone who grew up in a temple. Perhaps, beneath all of the fighting and power struggle, the desire to help those weaker than oneself was still ingrained in her.

But he wasn't sure if he could simply be like her. 

"Or I could sell a sample for a certain price and percentage of profits if the one who is in charge can turn a profit," he said. There were always enough ways to earn good money and it was by acquiring a useful but novel item or service.

The same had already gone for the Divine Energizer Drink.

This time around, he wished to earn more for any possible trades to be made here. While he was willing to help out his secretary, bodyguard, child and other people he had close connections with—it didn't mean that he was doing everything out of goodwill and a kindheart.

He had other things on the line.

—-

There was only so much that a Priestess even like Mitsuko herself could provide him. She did not wish to give away Beast Cores to a man who could cultivate and use Ao… he was already dangerous enough at his current state.

Yes, she might have been teaching him now—but it was only to progress his advancements because she was the only one who could do this. While numerous others could do the same for Setsuko, tracking how fast her strength improved and preparing counteractions for such.

And so it meant that Li Yang met with a certain young woman at the end of the day to obtain what he wanted. 

Setsuko as his ally and bonded partner.

Mitsuko to grow in knowledge and information.

Leila to get what he wanted from her.

After a long morning and afternoon of training with Mitsuko, he met up with Setsuko in the privacy of their bedroom. She might have been exhausted after her lessons, but she perked up at the sight of him.

"How was your day, Yang?" Setsuko looked at him from head to toe.

"It was good. Informative," Li Yang answered as he plopped down into the bed to relax. "She mostly had me working on using Ao not only for physical enhancement but influencing the environment around me." 

He didn't tell her that most who could cultivate qi focused on refining it in their body first, rather than using the energy available primarily for attacks. The man decided it would be too difficult to integrate the two practices for her if she had no prior understanding of Ao.

Especially when her thoughts lingered elsewhere. 

While she could discreetly take note of the sweat that sheened on his body, Setsuko could not smell of anything close to Mitsuko sleeping with him. Which was a relief for her, no matter how much she told herself that it wouldn't have been that bad.

"I see… shall we head for dinner now?" she asked. A sheepish smile was on her face. Surely no man would be capable of going for another woman if they were already doing it enough times for even her to get sore and worn out.

Li Yang stood up and nodded. "Sounds good."

But right before the two of them could leave the room, somebody was already waiting for them. Heedless of the danger, she had already moved into the hallway once again to meet up with him. He didn't expect her to move this fast, but the blonde maiden stopped them from leaving. 

"Good evening, Miss Leila?" He raised a brow, but the item in her hand was already enough of a sign.

"I… I have something to give to your Consort, Lady Setsuko. I have what you want, Yang." She held up a small treasure chest in her hand with an embarrassed smile on her face.

"Didn't you say that you will be thinking about it?" Setsuko asked. She thought she had already made the woman run away in fear, or Yang did with his absurd offer… but this Priestess still came running back here, items in tow.

—-—-

Author's Note: People were curious about the Heavens knowledge on Yang's whereabouts, so here we are. Intergalactic space travel and all of that xD Even the 'Heavens' have their own jurisdiction here, courtesy of the Author's own vast Universe(s) to hold all their stories. Thank you for reading!