"So it relies on desire to level up? Similar to mine... wait, what? You can also just kill people and absorb their soul force directly?" Alistair understood why Mina found it cruel. His own method involved... well, a lot of sex and absorbing artifacts. He didn't have to go on a killing spree.
"Since we were contaminated and sealed, my sisters and I have suffered soul damage," Georgia sighed. "Most of our memories are gone. We only remember the primal, core cultivation methods. I can't give Mina the high-level stuff yet because incomplete techniques could ruin her."
"How many people would it take?" Alistair asked. If the number wasn't too high, he could disable the targets and let Mina land the finishing blow to build her progress.
"I'm not sure. This 'malice' method appeared in my core after the contamination. Based on our era, it would take about forty people to build a solid foundation," Georgia estimated.
"Forty people from your era?" Alistair's eyes widened. "The 'Mystery' back then was thousands of times denser. If it takes forty of them, wouldn't it take hundreds or thousands of modern humans?"
"Not necessarily," Georgia replied calmly. "While 'Mystery' is thin now, the malice and suppressed desires in your modern society are far more concentrated. Simply tormenting and bullying others might actually provide a higher yield than direct killing."
Alistair liked that logic. He wasn't a saint, but he didn't like unnecessary slaughter. "That's easy then. This city is full of low-life gangs with plenty of malice to spare."
He made a mental note to find some "donors" for Mina. But as he looked at the red-tinted shield, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu. Wait... a sealed artifact... a specific red color... this feels just like that crazy sword-woman, Snaya.
"Georgia, do you recognize this?" Alistair pulled out the gold disc Snaya had given him.
"That... I remember that. It's a crest from our kingdom. But only our eldest sister carried that... Wait! How do you have this? You met Snaya?!" Georgia's voice spiked with excitement.