《Tales Of Dragons Demons And Gods》


 Chapter 1 - I am Long Wan!

    "Urg.." I slowly grunted as I opened my eyes, the bright sunlight threatening to burn holes in my retinas. Slowly rising backwards I held my head as my consciousness began to reset. ''That''s the last time I''m mixing vodka with sparkling baiju. Solani spiced rice baiju will be enough for me for a while..'' I thought as I rubbed my throbbing headache away, which stubbornly refused to leave my skull. ''Dafaq? Solani spiced rice baiju?'' My eyes widened. I didn''t remember exactly how I knew what it was or when I tried it but I could clearly remember the soothing taste of that beverage, like a less viscous jaggermeister but more minty and easier to drink.


    Snapping back to reality I noticed that I was looking at a pretty well crafted and mildy decorated wooden desk. Trailing downward I took a gaze at the bottom of my shirt and pants. I was dressed in some kind of traditional dark black Chinese outfit with bronze trims. They looked like props from a kung-fu movie. The only thing that was different from those was that the shirt buttons closed in the middle of the left b.r.e.a.s.t as opposed to passing in front of the sternum.


    I removed my gaze from the strange outfit and moved it up to find the f.u.c.kers who took advantage of me being wasted on booze to dress me up like some kind of Jackie Chan knockoff when my jaw dropped. I was in some kind of Chinese amphitheater being surrounded by kids around 11, maybe 12 years old. F.u.c.k Solani baiju, or any kind of booze for that matter, I''m definitely keeping off that shit forever. What kind of retarded dream is this? I pinch myself hard and I grimace ''That f.u.c.k.i.n.g hurt like a bitch!''


    Which meant that this was no dream. ''Where the blue moon f.u.c.k am I?!''


    I surveyed my surroundings like a hamster in a hawk''s nest. That''s when I saw her.


    A redhead woman was in the teacher''s spot, and she was steel melting capital H hot. Long flowing hair that reached below her a.s.s, legs that any man would kill to bury his face in between, and a dress (or were they stylish curtains?) that left very, ve-ry little to the imagination (Is that the string of her p.a.n.t.i.e.s on the side of her h.i.p.s!?). However her face, although gorgeous, was stuck in an absolutely disgusting mix of ''sharkweek bitchmode'' and ''I''m holier than thou''. It was a face that could convince even a hormonal 14 year old teen boy that the bitch wasn''t worth the hassle. So why did I have the nagging feeling that I knew her.


    She was blabbering some things which I was in no state to understand even if I was paying attention to her words.


    Suddenly miss Restingbitchface yelled "Scarlet Flaming Fox!" With that her body began radiating a flame-like aura that was almost tangible and her features took on more predatory tones, with fox ears growing where her human ones were, whilst a tail sprouted from her a.s.s.


    My eyes widened so much that they could''ve popped right out of their sockets if not for my brow falling onto them in a deep scowl. Of course I knew this queen c.u.n.t. Shen motherf.u.c.k.i.n.g Xiu. As a hardcore Tales of Demons and Gods fan I read the novel at least dozens of times, well part of it at least since the translation updates were painfully slow. By this time it was up to chapter 490 something or 500 something, by the time Nie Li was getting ready to return to the Tiny World from the Draconic Ruins Realm. Not to mention I also read the manhwa just as many times and put the animated series on play at least once a month whilst waiting for season 4. I like it that much so don''t judge. Anyway , that is not important here or now.


    What is important was that I was in Shen Xiu''s f.u.c.k.i.n.g class, in the motherf.u.c.k.i.n.g Holy Orchid in-stink-turd, in Glory hole City, in the goddamn Tiny D.i.c.k World, in the universe of Tales of D.i.c.kmons and Gods!


    Suddenly that earlier hangover returned with a vengeance and it took all my willpower not to scream to high heavens as I clutched my head in agony. Flashback after flashback filled my aching skull with different memories of a childhood I had but at the same time hadn''t...


    I remembered a new life, with a new name. My name was... is Long Wan (first name Night, family name Dragon). Kind of fitting considering my tall and fit-to-skinny build, long dark hair that reached between my shoulders, coal black eyes and pale complexion made me look like a dark serpentine dragon.


    Regarding my history in this world, I was an orphan. My parents Long Bai and Xiao Xing, no not Xiao as in Winged Dragon family but a term used denote a beloved person (usually female or young). They were Silver ranked fighters in the hire of the Divine family and had died during a routine hunt of demon beasts outside the city while protecting a young noble main family member. For their sacrifice, the Divine family took it upon them to take care of my upbringing in the orphanage and to sponsor my enrollment in the institute. All in all I was as background as a side character can be.


    I had just finished superficially processing most of these new memories when a new voice entered my ears.


    "Teacher Shen Xiu, I have a question,"


    I turned around and there I saw the mop of orange hair dressed in a burnt orange jacket and pants set. There was Nie Li. And if memory served well, he was getting ready to rip Shen Xiu a new one. This was also an opportunity I couldn''t miss...


    Shen Xiu coldly snorted, "What is it?"


    "Teacher Shen Xiu says that Glory City is the only one that survived the Age of Darkness, that we are the only surviving humans. What proof do you have on this statement? May I ask if teacher ever went out of the St. Ancestral Mountains and visited the Endless Desert, the Toxic Forest, the Blood Moon Marsh, the Spirit Gulf, the Heavenly L.u.s.ter Mountains, and the Northern Snow before?" Nie Li asked.


    Just as I suspected, it''s the novel timeline. I would''ve been f.u.c.k.e.d sideways by a demon beast with a spiked d.i.c.k if this was his first life.


    "What Heavenly L.u.s.ter Mountain? What Northern Snow?" Shen Xiu frowned.


    Shen Xiu snorted, "I''ve been in Glory City since birth, and have never been to those places."


    Nie Li smiled faintly and said, "Since Teacher Shen Xiu never went to those places, how can you be so sure that we are the only human beings alive?"


    Shen Xiu was clearly at a loss for words. Nie Li was ripping her credibility apart every time she parted her lips. Not to sound s.e.xist but this bitch should just stick to only using her mouth to kiss Shen Hong''s a.s.s.


    Seeing the students below discussing away, Shen Xiu''s was extremely displeased and scoffed, "So what? How can you prove that we are not the last surviving human beings?"


    Listening to what Nie Li just said, the students in the class couldn''t help but laugh. And the saying, "a frog viewing the sky from the bottom of the well", is basically calling Teacher Shen Xiu a frog.


    "Viewing the sky from the bottom of the well, what an appropriate description," a few girls said while giggling. If I remembered from the novel none of the commoner students liked Shen Xiu, and couldn''t help look at Nie Li full of admiration, since Nie Li was the only one brave enough to openly insult a teacher in class.


    "You¡­" Shen Xiu growled. This was my cue¡­


    Often had I imagined what would I have done if I had reincarnated into the novel. My mind had played out dozens of what ifs. Most disadvantageous would''ve been to actually be Nie Li but without his experience, slightly better would''ve been to be Shen Fei or his little bro and so on. Right now I was in the best possible situation. A nobody who had the chance to befriend Nie Li


    I raised my hand up high "Great teacher Shen! May I also humbly appeal to your wisdom?" I said very politely, swallowing my sarcasm and pride, together with a little puke that rose up from the sweetness of my voice.


    Shen Xiu frowned curiously at me before motioning me to speak. It would seem that Nie Li knocked some wind out of her sail.


    "Honourable teacher mentioned that commoners will never rise to mean anything." I paused a little for dramatic effect and to enjoy Shen Xiu impatient expression. "But wasn''t the City Lord''s father, the previous City Lord, Lord Ye Mo born a commoner? Isn''t the great lord also the only Legend rank in the entire city?" I ended with a smirk.


    Shen Xiu''s rage boiled that she unconsciously drew on her Fox spirit such that her features became vicious and her eyes silted and red.


    "You¡­ In the hundreds of years of Glory City, Lord Ye Mo''s the only one able to climb to the peak by relying on his own ability," said Shen Xiu, showing that she stuttered for the answer.


    What saddened me was that I couldn''t see teacher Restingbitchface''s bitch face but I caught Nie Li looking at me with equal amount of amus.e.m.e.nt and amazement. I playfully stuck out my tongue and saw him purse his lips to contain his laughter. However he couldn''t hide the blueness in his face from lack of air. He was holding his breath to prevent the chuckles from escaping.


    I returned to attention when I heard Shen Xiu growl, "You two, you think that anything like this could change the harsh reality? You only looked at Lord Ye Mo''s glorious moment, but didn''t look at how many people have failed. Not to mention being a Demon Spiritualist, even becoming a Fighter in itself is a difficult thing to achieve. Let''s see what kind of talent you both have." Shen Xiu lowered her head and took a look at the parchment paper in her hands.


    "Nie Li, right? You can be considered bloodline of an Aristocratic family.


    Let''s see: red soul realm, current soul force 5, strength 21. With your talent you can only reach Bronze rank Fighter in your entire life. Wanting to become a Demon Spiritualist is simply impossible. You''re even inferior to some of the commoners. No wonder you dare to speak in this way. You are just trying to hide your own low self-esteem!


    And you..." She turned to me before returning to her scroll " Hmph... not that much different. Long Wan: orange soul realm, soul force 11, strenght 18. You are someone who can be considered lucky to break into Silver rank fighter in their late 30. Useless trash belongs in the same pile afterall. Shen Xiu aggressively continued "With such talent, you won''t be able to get any attention. Yet, you act so rampant and are rude to your elders!"


    Everyone was surprised that even though both Nie Li and I were being ridiculed by Teacher Shen Xiu, we weren''t showing any signs of embarrassment.


    On the contrary, Nie Li''s gaze was firmly locked onto Shen Xiu''s and he said, "Teacher Shen Xiu, you feel that a person''s soul realm decides a person''s future, right? With that despicable character of yours, you''ll only defend the gifted and mock the mediocre. And yet, you still speak a bunch of principles. You''re just merely trying to cover your despicable character."


    Hearing Nie Li''s words, Shen Xiu''s body quivered with anger. She had never met this kind of student. He actually dared to contradict her so badly. Nie Li''s words directly hit the hidden thoughts within her heart, causing her to be enraged. She cursed uncontrollably, "Silence! Who do you think you are to discredit your teacher?!"


    Nie Li curled his lips in disdain.


    As he spoke, Nie Li''s gaze fell on Ye Ziyun, who was sitting far away. His eyes shined with an absolute resolve.


    When she saw Nie Li looking towards her, without knowing why, Ye Ziyun suddenly felt her heart speed up. Her cheeks were burning red. She had never thought that Nie Li would actually be so bold and say something like this in class. After meeting Nie Li''s gaze, she knew his meaning was clear. Except, in her heart, she doesn''t have any feelings for Nie Li. After hearing Nie Li''s speech, she had an indescribable feeling within her.


    Seeing Ye Ziyun''s expression, Shen Yue''s face turned a dull colour. Although he and Nie Li aren''t of the same standard, he still felt a bit threatened by him.


    "Hahaha! This is the funniest joke I''ve ever heard! A red soul realm actually said that he wants to become a Legend rank Demon Spiritualist like Lord Ye Mo. Even when Lord Ye Mo was younger, he was already tested and showed to have amazing talent. He had a cyan soul realm! You think success relies on luck alone? Ridiculous!" Shen Xu mocked mercilessly, "Rather than being a smart mouth here, why don''t you start learning seriously?"


    Nie Li''s next words were powerful and resonating.


    "I know your heart is full of contempt, but one day I will shut your mouth with hard facts. Aptitude cannot determine a person''s achievement! We use the weak to defeat the strong, to overcome the heavens! We practitioners are already challenging the impossible by going against the way of the heavens!"


    Nie Li''s words couldn''t stop causing the students in the class to feel their blood surging. Practicing was already going against the way of the heavens. If one did not oppose the heavens, how could they talk about practice?


    Nie Li enunciated powerfully, "Without a continuously fighting heart, without the courage to turn the impossible possible, even possessing extraordinary talent would be useless. Since I, Nie Li, was born into this world, I shall challenge the impossible! Teacher Shen Xiu, how abo..."


    It was my turn to intervene. Nie Li wanted to bet his time and status at the institute against Shen Xiu''s but it wasn''t the best moment for this. No, we needed some better witnesses for that and that opportunity will be in about a week.


    "I end my words but stand by them!" nodded Nie Li "Let the guilty suffer heavens retribution." he continued. Phew. I could tell he was slightly frustrated but understood the situation. Even if he challenged Xiu now, it would barely do any damage to her reputation. All I did was cool him down as he needed to wait for the right opportunity


    Shen Xiu let out a haughty snort "Such rudeness to your teacher. Nie Li, for the next two months, you will stand at the back of the classroom and listen to the class! "


    Shen Xiu''s famous for being unreasonable. Nie Li looked contemptuously at Shen Xiu before he smirked and strolled to the back of the class.


    Seeing Nie Li standing at the back, a few noble kids started to mockingly whisper.


    "The future Legend rank Demon Spiritualist got punished standing!"


    "Weren''t you being egotistic a while ago?"


    Shen Xiu turned to me as if I was a fly "Long Wan, since you know your wrongs, you can sit!" She dismissed me with a wave.


    Bitch, in half a year I''ll have you biting the pillow because of me going in dry. I will enjoy breaking you in.


    I silently moved from my position to the back with Nie Li. There I put a hand on his shoulder and turned and pointed rudely at Shen Xiu.


    I swallowed my embarrassment and peeked at Nie Li. The motherf.u.c.ker was actually looking at me like I was bat shit insane but couldn''t contain his amus.e.m.e.nt and happiness at having friends again. He finally shook his head with a smile and put his hand on my shoulder as a gesture of acceptance. Booyah baby! Call the devs because I got exploits.


    Du Ze was silent for a moment. He gritted his teeth, then rose up and went to stand beside Nie Li and myself. We were punished for helping the commoners speak up, so naturally, he wants to stand together with us.


    Seeing that Du Ze stood beside us at the back of the class, Shen Xiu''s eyes darkened and hummed, "Since you also like standing, you can stand together with them."


    Nie Li and Du Ze looked at each other before both turned to me. Their eyes flashed a sense of rapport as we lightly smiled at each other.


    After Du Ze stood at the side of Nie Li, Lu Piao was submerged in his thoughts for a moment and then stood beside us.


    Nie Li smiled as he asked, "Why are you here?"


    Lu Piao shrugged, "Sitting down is pretty boring. I feel cooler standing, can''t I?"


    "Haha, that suits you!" Nie Li laughed. Lu Piao , good ol'' goofy Piao. Although his mouth has no filter, he is very loyal. This punishment had nothing to do with Lu Piao, but he thought of Nie Li as a friend, and friends should share their fates together.


    I silently stretched my fist out and he looked at it curiously before raising his face towards me with a raised eyebrow. At this moment I noticed that I was about half a head taller than both him and Nie Li. I wondered if Duan Jian ever had these kinds of realizations. Lu Piao on the other hand didn''t take much to reset his brain (not that there was much to reset anyway) and bumped my outstretched fist with his own.


    Successively, three other commoner kids stood up and stood by our side. Nie Li belonged to a noble family, but he took a risk to speak up for them. They were grateful for that, so they felt that they have to support Nie Li. At the same time I felt that my actions also inspired them a little more than in the original story. I could see that with these brothers by his side, Nie Li felt that it wasn''t so bad to be punished and his mood turned exceptionally cheerful if that smile on his face told any truth.


    Seeing this, Shen Xiu''s facial expression turned ugly. She put on a cold face and continued her lecture. "After being tested, among the students in this class, Ye Ziyun, with a cyan soul realm, has a soul force of 86. Shen Yue and Xiao Ning''er both have a green soul realm, with a soul force of 78. They will soon reach 1-star Bronze rank. Congratulations to them!" Shen Xiu lightly said. Her gaze fell on Nie Li and myself for a moment and I knew what the bitch thought. However, she had no idea of the future I had planned for her . I had a lot of pent up frustration so just imagine what will happen when I get my hands on her the night her family is eliminated.


    This wasn''t goody good Earth anymore. No more protecting bitches who bark a lot but were weak as moist shit. By the time I deliver her back to glory city I will be at least Black Gold rank and a disciple of a righteous sect. Both myself and my future will be far too valuable to be lost over the rights of a criminal who is to be executed.


    I also noticed how the students in the class all cried out in surprise following Shen Xiu''s words. For them these three existences were like the full moon. Shining towards them but impossible to touch. I knew however their true potential and my plans involved all three. My glance flew towards Shen Yue who was glaring daggers at Nie Li. Storming my brain for an answer as to why, recollection hit me hard. Before Glory City was destroyed, Shen Yue and Ye Ziyun almost got married. In the eyes of their families, they had always been a perfect match. If Glory City wasn''t destroyed, both of them would have definitely gotten married. Before they underwent the ceremony, Glory City was under the attack of the Snow Wind beasts and the Sacred Family betrayed Glory City by abandoning their post and fled. Shen Yue was a rotten kid but not necessarily incorrigible. You would be too if all your life you were told that the you are the greatest and all the rest are worms. Maybe I should attempt to steer him to our side a bit later.


    Glancing to my side I could see that Nie Li was boiling with rage towards him. Can''t blame the guy since he lost nearly everyone he once held dear. However he also failed to see the bit of good they did for him. Had they not abandoned the city Nie Li wouldn''t have gotten to spend time with Ziyun, nor would he had the chance to find that superbook, err... oh yeah Temporal Demon something something book. I really hated having a crappy memory capacity on Earth.


    Wait, memory? There were several moments in the novel that described that a high-ish soul force equaled incredible, if not eidetic memory. Even Nie Li''s little cousin Xiao Yu could memorize a chapter from a complicated cultivation technique after only hearing it once and she had a soul force in the 30s (as a side note on that, my... Long Wan''s talent really s.u.c.k.e.d to be beaten by an 8 year old, or was she 9?). This was a gold mine that could be exploited like crazy but I needed to get my soul force at least into the 50s which shouldn''t really take long with Nie Li''s cheats.


    Speaking of said cheater, poor xiao Li (little Li) was given the cold shoulder by Zyiun. Judging by her expression she was definitely thinking we were some kind of weirdos. We were just some kids with no background or power yet we dared to stand out like this. The girl must definitely consider that we''re a few cards short of a full deck. Can''t say she wasn''t pretty though. A little on the underdeveloped side compared to some other girls but she will definitely grow up to be worshiped by men and maybe some women too. She also has the status of being the daughter of Glory City''s City Lord, as well as being the granddaughter of the Legend rank Demon Spiritualist, Ye Mo, and had a cyan soul realm. That information was not public knowledge but not necessarily hidden either.


    What only I knew (for now at least) was that she was a late bloomer, in more ways than one. Her soul form was one of legends, the Ice Phoenix soul form. While it takes much more effort to cultivate at the beginning than ordinary forms, once she reached Black Gold rank the phoenix will hatch and she would be nearly unmatched, easily enough to keep up with Ning''er.


    I tried to locate Ning''er in class but couldn''t find anyone matching my memories of the said person when I saw a black haired girl. That''s when I realized that the Ning''er I ''knew'' and the original were different. The manhwa artist took some liberties with her appearance, steering away from the novel. Raking my brain, the novel description popped up in my mind. Ning''er had long black hair, high boots and wore some sort of dress or light skirt and the person I saw earlier fit that description perfectly, except for the boots since I couldn''t see below her waist.


    She was also slightly bent forward while clutching her side. Seems like her Arctic Affliction was acting up because that should be where one of her bruises is, with the other being on her foot. It pained my soul to see her like that. She was my favorite character in the novel, someone my heart went out to. Now she was real and so became my feelings for her. My logic immediately fought with my heart and, swallowing my impatience I turned to Nie Li who was already planning his future and inevitable fight with the Sage Emperor and the Deity rank demon beast generals. This was something that personally shouldn''t involve me but in this world or the next my word is my law. I remember once giving my word to someone I hold dear and then didn''t keep it. While I was a preschooler then and the subject of my word was more than trivial it hurt being called out. I then and there swore that I will never make any promises I don''t intend to keep. Dancing around subjects became my specialty in order to avoid making deceitful promises.


    Nie Li certainly didn''t have any plan to share with us the future he wanted us to share. That was also something to correct. But how? Well, there is still time before Nie Li calls us into the library to share cultivation techniques and rope us in so the solution may come to me since then. Too many details to your plans mean too many things that can go wrong, and Murphy''s Law is a c.u.n.t.


    Anyway, before that my priority was Ning''er. In the next five to seven nights Nie Li will meet her in the hunting grounds and she will fall for him. No way and in hell no! I needed to squeeze the cure for her affliction which was two kinds of grasses, emperor striped grass and golden something, plus the Daoyin redirecting technique. I will definitely need those. "Arctic affliction..." I growled in frustration.


    "What did you say?" Asked a curious Nie Li.


    Shit, he heard me... Wait! This is a golden opportunity. "Sorry, I was just thinking out loud in frustration. " answered yours truly back with a goofy smile scratching the side of my head. "My... acquaintance has these symptoms and no doctor could find the root cause. But last night after scouring the medical archives I managed to find an old diagnosis that fit my acquaintance perfectly, however it said only ''Arctic affliction'' and no course of cure..." My words continued with a frustrated frown on my face.


    Nie Li for his part only nodded sagely and said "Are you sure it''s Arctic affliction?" He questioned


    "Yes. It matches the symptoms written there: Burning feet, painful night time chills and bruises." Came my answer. "Yes that sounds about right..." Responded Nie Li. Damn right it was right. "To cure the Arctic affliction one needs to consume medicine made by mixing Golden Striped Grass with Imperial Sky Grass for about a month or two. Best case, a few days and the person would be cured. But for the bruises, they need to be massaged the Daoyin redirecting technique..." Continued Nie Li. This was old information for me but it set up the perfect scenario.


    "Daoyin redirecting technique? " excitement filled my voice. There are two ways to lie successfully: half truths or masking lies with other real emotions. My expertise lay in the later, rather than the former. "I have never heard of this technique before." I never heard about it, only read about it in the novel... "Do you know it?"


    Nie Li smiled and nodded "Of course I know. After classes we can go see your friend..." He put a hand on my shoulder.


    "Actually..." I continued with a strained voice. The whole purpose is to avoid contact between you two. However this was within my expectations "That person is only an acquaintance for now..." Half truths are best truths "And is also rather shy and distrusting of strangers..." Not really lying here, Ning''er wasn''t exactly an extrovert at this point. "Can brother Li show me how to do it instead? I don''t have much but I will some day repay you! "


    "Of course I can show brother Wan!" He smiled " And don''t speak about paying me back, it''s really just a simple technique!" He dismissed. Holy yang cow, that really worked!


    "Still I, Long Wan have to thank brother for this kindness." I cupped my hands in respect towards him. Perfect, phase one complete. The next step would be to get the Lightning Dragon cultivation from him, and I think I have just the plan¡­


    "In the Fighter and Demon Spiritualist tests in two months time, I hope that there will be a few 1-star Bronze rank Demon Spiritualists. Both myself and the Holy Orchid Institute will feel proud of you!" Shen Xiu laughed.


    Bronze, Silver, Gold, Black Gold, Legend, these five ranks are further broken down into 1 to 5 star levels, and thus obtaining a 1-star Bronze rank is considered the starting point.


    Once a Fighter''s strength or Demon Spiritualist''s soul force reaches 100, they can be considered a 1-star Bronze rank. Entering the entry level is extremely difficult. Lots of people are unable to step into the entry level to become a real Fighter or Demon Spiritualist.


    Hearing Shen Xiu''s words, the students in the class started whispering to one another. In order to become a 1-star Bronze rank Fighter you must to be able to lift up a hundred kilogram rock, and break a coconut tree with a punch in order to reach 1-star Bronze rank. For these kids, it would simply be too difficult. Unless one has been consuming elixirs since birth they have little chance. As for becoming a Demon Spiritualist, one is required to refine a large amount of soul force within their body. This is a lot harder to accomplish compared to becoming a Fighter.


    Soul realms can have one of the following seven colours: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, azure and indigo. A normal human would have a red soul realm. According to the teachings found in Glory City it is nearly impossible for a red or orange soul realm to become a demon spiritualist. They would normally become a Fighter instead. As for people with yellow soul realms, they''re more likely to train their soul force. The people with green or cyan soul realms are considered extraordinary talents. Finally azure and indigo are only spoken of in tales long passed.


    The students in the class all looked at Ye Ziyun, Shen Yue and Xiao Ning''er. They envied them because they are the only ones that could become a 1-star Bronze rank in less than half a year. After becoming a 1-star Bronze rank, they can then enter into the official Fighter class or official Demon Spiritualist class. At that time, they won''t be in the same class as them. Feeling the gaze of other students, Shen Yue proudly puffed his c.h.e.s.t out. As a member of the Sacred Family, he''s had all kinds of elixirs ever since he was young. It would be an easy thing to get his soul force to hit 100 in two months. He shall await the test in two months time.


    Shen Yue looked at the elegant Ye Ziyun beside him. He probably thought that only he''s worthy of her, and that Nie Li''s nothing! Nie Li actually dared to belittle with Shen Yue''s aunt and state that he will become a Legend rank. So egotistical and ignorant! Nie Li thought that it''s easy to become a demon spiritualist? A red soul realm trash dared to make such an egotistical statement? Ha!


    Ye Ziyun and Xiao Ning''er looked each other in the eyes. They both had superior origins, which was certainly not bad. Ye Ziyun always wanted to be friends with Xiao Ning''er, but Xiao Ning''er had always gave her the cold shoulder.


    Shen Xiu looked towards Nie Li and myself with contempt in her eyes and spoke in a disdainful tone, "As for those who claim they can reach demon spiritualist so easily, I want to see to what extent they can actually reach!"


    One''s soul realm and physical condition determines a person''s cultivation speed. For both Nie Li''s and myself''s situation, according to normal thinking, we would need at least two to five years to reach entry level. Even we become 1-star Bronze rank, becoming a Demon Spiritualist while having a red or orange soul realm is simply dreaming.


    Nie Li did not put Shen Xiu''s words to heart and neither did I. My¡­ brother did so because of his cheats, whilst I ignored her because I knew the future, and thinking of that future made me so hard it threatened to rip my loincloth apart. "In two months I will probably be halfway to Silver rank demon spiritualist," whispered Nie Li as the side of his mouth upturned, showing a faint confident smile.


    "I have a feeling you will be at the border of it¡­" I continued in the same volume. "What makes brother Wan so sure?" Nie Li voice sounded genuinely curious, with a slight tone of arrogance in it.


    It was natural that he would be curious about me. In the novel Long Wan was such background that I didn''t even know he/I existed. Here goes nothing "Earlier I sensed a strange surge of energy from your direction¡­" letting my voice linger a bit I saw his eyes widening "Brother Li, have you ever heard of a book called ''Tales of Demons and Gods''?" let''s pray this works.


    Crossing both his hands and furrowing his brows, Nie Li closed his eyes in contemplation "Can''t say I have." he finally admitted. And I admit I would shit myself if he did¡­ It was almost murder on me to craft my story like this but it was the only way.


    Could I have gone to Nie Li and said ''Listen, I come from a world where your life is a novel and I have read it many times. I know about your previous life and want to help you. ''? If I were in Nie Li''s shoes I wouldn''t trust myself as far as I could toss me. Maybe I was the Sage Emperor or one of his lackeys that came back in time with Nie Li. Better not risk it¡­


    "It is a novel about a hero finding a particular artifact and growing up to be an existence to be both respected and feared¡­" my words were formed slowly as I crafted half-truths to make the story believable.


    "Sounds very interesting." admitted one of the other boys. He rose first after Nie Li and I so he must be Du Ze.


    Smiling, I continued recounting "It was written with Dao Intent" Dao intent to my knowledge is imprinting a portion of a person''s will in a recording, whether that was a picture, words or carvings. My eyes also caught Nie Li''s rising interest. Books written with Dao intent were very valuable repositories of knowledge "The artifact that the hero found was one of the two supreme artifacts in existence. All those touched by the artifact are destined for unimaginable greatness." Even Lu Piao couldn''t stop but listen to my crafting "It was a book, whose name was¡­ ummm what was it again? " I faked not knowing to avoid being too obvious "Ah yes, it was called the Temporal Demon Spirit Book!" I answered hammering my palm with my other fist.


    "Eh?!" gurgled Lu Piao in disgust "A book?! Whoever heard of a supreme artifact book?" he spat out "It''s definitely a fake story. A book could never be a supreme artifact!"


    "Just because you would rather sleep than study doesn''t make a book less valuable." I retorted sagely "But to satisfy you, the other supreme artifact is a sword, but I digress¡­".


    Nie Li appeared to be stupefied "Temporal¡­ Demon Spirit Book?" he said slowly, as if those words would leave him for another lover. My head moved in a nodding motion and I continued "The book I read had an array which contained a portion of the energy of the book. It was the same energy I felt from you. " I smiled looking away as if recalling but was actually hiding my face to prevent my lies being exposed "Come to think of it brother Li, why did I feel that from you?"


    Got to hand it to the two hundred something year old man in a 12 year old''s body, he recovered fast. Straightening his back he shrugged "I have no Idea brother Wan. Maybe you fell asleep in Shen Xiu''s class and dreamed it?" he answered like a wiseguy.


    Frowning I paused for a second before fisting my c.h.e.s.t "Well, I''ve already crossed this bridge. Also I, Long Wan will never go back on my words!" Ah stop it me! Please, any more and I will have to make some nachos from all that corn.


    "Do you still have that book?" asked a hopeful Nie LI.


    That surprised me a little but my answered followed a sigh "I no longer have access to it. It was only permitted to me to read it at a place I once worked years ago to make ends meat. Orphans don''t exactly live in luxury in Glory City. Though I was more fortunate than most that my parents had worked under and died for the Divine Family. As thanks for their loyalty the took care of my most basic needs as well as my tutelage at the institute. Unfortunately both my former employer and the book perished in a fire a few years ago¡­" Translation: When I was working retail on Earth I used to slack off and read the novel. It was my only solace during the short breaks before facing the demons called customers. Since then I have the conviction that people should have a mandatory service in retail of at least 6 months. Then I can guarantee we wouldn''t have anymore assholes pushing shopping carts.


    From hopeful Nie Li instantly took to looking like someone had kicked his puppy (to anyone who would kick a puppy: I really wish that your mothers swallowed you!). Houses in Glory City were made mostly of wood, fabric and paper so fires were common occurrence. Although they were quickly handled by the city guards and the people, casualties were still more than none and material losses were unavoidable.


    "Nie Li, do you like Ye Ziyun?" Lu Piao asked looking at Nie Li. Lu Piao wasn''t the sharpest tool in the shed but his instincts and empathy were second to none. Or maybe he wanted to stop talking about books¡­


    "Yes!" Nie Li said truthfully, instantly lighting up.


    Lu Piao stared into Nie Li''s eyes, after a while he sighed, "Ye Ziyun''s a beauty indeed. And seeing that you''re my brother, I shall not fight with you. But as a brother, I have to warn you, Ye Ziyun''s identity is too noble. She isn''t someone we can match."


    Although his family belongs to one of the twelve aristocratic families, Ye Ziyun''s identity compared to him is simply astronomical.


    "You two, can you be more realistic? Ye Ziyun''s a super genius with a cyan soul realm! Soon she''ll become a 1-star Bronze rank Demon Spiritualist. I estimate that in two months time she''ll be able to enter the official Demon Spiritualist class. After entering the official Demon Spiritualist class, her cultivation will definitely soar. Whether she remembers you or not is still a problem. What I hate the most is your kind of noble offspring is constantly thinking of how to chase after girls, when you don''t even know how to work hard and train!" Du Ze snorted, relentlessly.


    A chuckle escaped my throat "Du Ze, you have a point but counting someone''s talent by their soul realm color is amateurish at best." Du Ze frowned and looked at me hard. It was the way taught by the previous experts in the city''s history so it was natural that I was stepping on some nerves. "The color of a soul realm is really like guessing a person''s identity through a thick fog. The soul crystals used during the Holy Orchid institute testing are polluted by using it on too many people. Once a second person uses the same crystal it will form interference and the true nature of one''s soul realm will be indistinguishable, with only the color and quantity of soul force being visible."


    "Other than soul realm''s type and the strength of the soul force, what else can be tested?" Lu Piao asked curiously. Even Du Ze''s frown turned into a curious gaze.


    "The attributes and form of the soul realm! Just like Long Wan said, in this world there are no crippled soul realms. Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, azure, and indigo are the seven color types of soul realm. Each represents a person''s unique personality and talents. Due to various reason, some soul realms are more easy to train, but that doesn''t mean that red soul realms are crippled. If you find the right cultivation technique to train with, even with red soul realm, you can also unleash powerful strength. For those who grade the soul realm into different grades, in terms of soul force cultivation, they are a bunch of amateurs!" Nie Li faintly smiled as he answered. However, he never fully explained things and left things to be painfully deduced. That wasn''t in my nature.


    "Attributes, just as the name implies, are affinities to a specific nature. Just like demon beasts can be lightning natured, snow-wind natured, fire natured and so on, so can soul realms. This is very important because choosing a cultivation technique or merging with demon beasts that are contradicting to your nature will stunt your growth severely. In some cases even merging with a demon beast is impossible due to the opposition of it''s element to your soul. For example an ice natured soul realm will nearly always reject a fire natured spirit."


    Nie Li nodded in approval "There is a lot more to it but Long Wan summarized it perfectly."


    "Oh." hummed Du Ze. "What about the other criteria?" he continued.


    "You mean soul form. That is more difficult to explain. Whilst attributes are more external orientated, soul form is born with the self. In layman terms, it''s a person''s soul realm characteristics given form. You can consider it a person''s talents." words flowed out of my mouth following me cupping my chin to rub my non-existent beard. Damn adolescent fluff, I miss my beard¡­ "I realized after reading Tales of Demons and Gods that I had the ability to peek at a person''s soul form and attributes."


    "Really?!" asked Nie Li in sheer surprise.


    "It''s not something amazing. It takes an absurdly long time to map out a person''s attributes, at least in the order of days. More if the person is a lot stronger..." I nodded "It''s easier to use a demon crystal." pausing to let it sink in before continuing "However, since we were together in class so long I had the time to know how each of your attributes, and in some cases even soul forms."


    "I bet mine looks amazing!" declared Lu Piao tucking his hands arrogantly behind his head.


    "Can you please tell us how ours look like?" asked one of the boys. If Long Wan''s memories served me well, then this was Wei Nan.


    "Of course! We are all brothers here after all. I will share everything I know about it." Seeing the boys'' surprised expressions before they smiled filled my heart with joy. So this was even more painful to continue "Unfortunately Zhang Ming, Zhu Xiangjun and Wei Nan were seated a bit too far from me so I could only vaguely see something which I suspect are linked to your attributes". The boys still smiled and nodded in understanding. It would appear that it was enough for them to know even that information.


    "It''s not like it''s the only option. We can always get some unused soul crystals later to get the entire information." continued Nie Li saving the situation "Besides, cultivation is mostly dependent on attributes, the soul form is less impactful."


    Turning to Du Ze I began "Yours looks like an endless burning field that touches a greyish clouded sky filled with lightning" . I really hoped this worked. It was more than likely I was just sprouting nonsense since the novel rarely detailed such


    "Lightning Fire attribute, Heavenly Thundercloud form." interrupted Nie Li.


    "Lightning Fire attribute, Heavenly Thundercloud form?" asked Lu Piao. You could see the steam coming out of his ears as his brain struggled to keep up with us.


    Nie Li continued telling Du Ze "Once you find a suitable cultivation technique, any soul realm color can also reach legend rank! With a suitable cultivation technique, inscription pattern and a Heavenly Thunder Demon Beast for the Lightning Fire attribute, your achievements will be shocking. Comparatively, your power would drop if you practiced other things, not to mention your cultivation would progress a lot slower."


    Hearing Nie Li''s words, Du Ze showed a distress look on his face, saying "Unfortunately, the Lightning Fire cultivation techniques in Glory City are incomplete."


    At this moment, Nie Li revealed a smile as though he had a card up his sleeve. He whispered loud enough only for us to hear "With me here, there is nothing to worry about. It''s just Lightning Fire cultivation techniques, nothing too difficult for me. I know the top 69 strongest Lightning Fire cultivation techniques. In fact I have a lot more cultivation techniques for each of us. The fact that brother Wan can read our soul realms saved us a lot of time. After class, let''s find a secluded place to cultivate."


    Excellent. This was progressing a lot faster than expected. If I can keep Nie Li out of the hunting grounds then I can lessen the chances of him meeting Ning''er. "Let''s meet at the library after class. We should be able to find ourselves a secluded spot there."


    Nie Li nodded in agreement and so did the rest. Lu Piao however seemed to have a mild allergic reaction to books as he appeared to be less than enthusiastic. However his curiosity was always at the top "Long Wan, what about me?" he asked me curiously.


    "Yours is like a spinning red sun. However the area around it is like a formless ever shifting unstable mass." I tried to picture Lu Piao''s form and attributes as best as I could.


    "Scarlet Sun form, Chaos attribute" hummed Nie Li.


    Lu Piao puffed his c.h.e.s.t "Ahahaha! That''s good right?"


    Nie Li frowned his brows for a moment digesting the information, "Scarlet Sun soul form is quite common, but Chaos attribute is surprisingly rare. There wouldn''t be one Chaos attribute in hundreds of thousands of people."


    "I read a bit about Chaos attribute. Supposedly under the right conditions seeding your soul realm with Chaos Qi will start a reaction causing your soul force to continuously surge on it''s own, even in your sleep. You would only need to stabilize your cultivation every once in a while. It''s a slacker''s dream attribute" my comments flew at Lu Piao and Nie Li.


    Du Ze put a hand on Lu Piao''s shoulder, and he wasn''t gentle either "Fits this lazy person like a glove¡­"


    Before Lu Piao could retort, Nie Li cupped his chin and said "Sounds like the Holy Primal Chaos technique" He turned to Lu Piao "I will teach you that technique after class."


    Holy Primal Chaos technique? Is it strong?" Lu Piao asked excitedly, as it sounded powerful from the name itself.


    "Of course. As it doesn''t require much practice, only the need to foster the Chaos Qi in your body, it suits you." Nie Li said, laughing, "It will depends on your luck as for training to the highest level."


    Listening Nie Li''s words, Lu Piao''s eyes instantly shined. This piece of cultivation technique is too suitable for him. He chuckled as he said, "I don''t need to practice to the highest level, I will be satisfied as long as I can reach 1-star silver rank demon spiritualist."


    "That''s impossible." came my reply causing Lu Piao sink down dejected "The Chaos energies won''t stop swelling at 1-star silver rank demon spiritualist. Even Black-Gold Rank or Earthen Fate probably won''t be the end¡­"


    Immediately Lu Piao stood straight and smiled proudly. "Earthen Fate?" asked Du Ze


    Crap! I slipped¡­ "Ahem¡­ I read that also in the Tales of Demons and Gods book. It''s another name for Legend rank and is the top of the earthen fate cultivation. Supposedly, it is also the stepping stone into a realm called Heavenly Fate."


    Du Ze''s jaw fell loose "A realm higher than Legend¡­"


    "What else did you learn from that book?" asked Nie Li. I could tell he was getting suspicious. This never happened in his previous life so there was no way this couldn''t catch him off guard.


    "It would take too long to tell. I read it over many months and didn''t actually get to finish it. Also, I thought that book was nothing but a fictional view of reality. The only reason I even brought it up was because I thought I sensed that weird energy from you¡­"


    Nie Li nodded with a smile and put his hand reassuringly on my shoulder "Okay then. I hope that brother Wan can share his knowledge with me in the future."


    Relaxing a bit, I smiled and nodded. Don''t worry Nie Li, I will share a lot with you and keep your rear away from a lot of trouble that shows up. You may be centuries old but your character type is the one that puts their foot in their mouth when their pride swells¡­ "I''ll start by telling you that your soul realm has no form or any distinguishing traits. It''s as bland as I ever saw" He wanted me to share so I did.


    "What does that mean?" Asked another one of the background trio, Zhang Ming if I remembered correctly.


    Nie Li sighed "I suspected this. It means that my soul realm has no attributes or form. All soul realms are very powerful but my type is without a doubt the weakest of the strong..."


    Du Ze and Lu Piao threw some pitying looks at Nie Li. Poor fools, if they only knew the advantages he possessed. Advantages that I will be more than happy to clarify. "That sounds really versatile. While you don''t have any strengths to take advantage of, you also don''t suffer any limitations. You can practice any technique with equal gain and also merge with any demon beast."


    Nie Li nodded with a smile "It is also the formless soul realms are more predisposed to change. Practicing the right cultivation technique can attune one''s talent to that cultivation to bring about explosive results. It will take effort to build the foundation but in the end one must not be afraid to grow slowly."


    "Long Wan, what about us?" asked Wei Nan innocently. Thank heavens for secondary protagonists!


    I glanced at each of them and answered "Zhang Ming''s looks like his soul realm is covered in blinding, but at the same time soothing white light within a shell of red mist . Zhu Xiangjun''s is made of red flames with shining golden cores. As for Wei Nan, I can see red winds constantly blowing around."


    Nie Li was now resting his back against the wall and was contemplating with his eyes closed before answering "Holy, Sacred Flame and God attributes. I have a few powerful cultivation techniques for each attribute. We will change them later to suit your soul forms if needed and at least they will be leagues above anything the city can provide."


    "Thank you Nie Li! Thank you Long Wei!" answered the trio in unison while cupping their hands.


    I waved them off as sweat starting to form on my brow "I said we''re brothers so you don''t need to thank me. Thick or thin we need to stick together."


    "What about you?" Asked a concerned Du Ze "What is your soul realm like?"


    A bead of sweat formed on my head as I laughed it off "It doesn''t work with mirrors and humans can''t exactly detach their eyes and look at themselves..."


    Du Ze looked away and became silent for a moment "Sorry Long Wan"


    Smiling I shrugged it off but Nie Li interfered "Like mentioned before, we just need some soul crystals." He corrected with a smile.


    F.u.c.k! F.u.c.k! FU~CK~! We were back to square one: soul crystals. Fate is a f.u.c.k.i.n.g bitch on her period that needs to be slapped silly. Time for phase 2!


    "We will still need a lot of money..." I hummed using this frustration as a cover for my plan.


    "How much do you need? I have a lot. I saved up two thousand demon spirit coins. If I can become a Demon Spiritualist, I can afford to spend it all." stated Lu Piao as he loosened his breath


    "Unfortunately, two thousand won''t be enough. I was thinking that if we had elixirs, we could progress even faster" I threw out.


    "Elixirs that could enhance cultivation would cost tens of thousands of demon spirit coins." replied Wei Nan.


    Nodding I continued "As a side note, I heard that Alchemy in Glory city has steadily declined and that most of the pills now in use are just leftovers from the Snow Wind era. If an alchemist were to rediscover those old superpills once can only assume they would become incredibly rich."


    Suddenly we all heard a thud and turned back to see Nie Li crouching down holding the crown of his head. I can only imagine that he was contemplating with his head low and, hearing our conversation, raised his head too fast and hit it hard against the wall.


    "Nie Li, are you alright?" I asked in genuine concern.


    Said ginger recovered instantly and wrapped me into a hug "Long Wan I could kiss you!" He squeezed. His strength was slightly higher than mine so it was a bit uncomfortable. "If all works out, by this time next month we will be all filthy rich."


    Excellent! Nie Li will directly join the alchemists association skipping the training ground and thus will not meet with Ning''er anymore.


    Later, I will get the her that cultivation technique and finally phase three and the plan will be complete. It should be fairly easy to do but it''s not good to rush things.

 Chapter 2 - I am Long Wan! (pt 2.)

    After class we departed a bit on our separate ways, with the promise to meet within the hour at the library. Nie Li took Lu Piao with him on an errand and myself together with the rest went to the dorms to wash and get changed. Personally I took the time to work on getting that damn cultivation technique for Xiao Ning''er. If push comes to shove I will just ask for it directly and vouch for her. Nie Li already knows she is a good girl and an enemy of the Sacred Family. The hour passed fast and most of us found ourselves gathered at a table in a secluded corner of the library. The only missing parties were Nie Li and Lu Piao. It didn''t take long for them to join us though.


    "Long Wan, catch!" Lu Piao smiled as he threw something at me.


    It was a primary soul crystal. My gaze rapidly shifted towards Lu Piao who was smiling like a nut job. "Lu Piao, this is too expensive. Thank you but I can''t accept this!" My words came out as I moved to return it. A primary demon spirit crystal was a thousand coins, it would easily be enough to feed a family of four for a month or two from it and still have change to spare.


    However Lu Piao pushed my hand away "A gift once given to a friend cannot be returned." He admonished "Besides it was Nie Li''s idea."


    Nie Li smiled as I turned to him "It was Lu Piao who bought it though. Take it and use it well. And don''t worry about the money, your talents if proven true have just saved us a lot more. It also wouldn''t be fair to be the only one with no inkling of your soul realm. Besides, I have plans for the near future that will save us the worry of funding."


    I nodded with a smile and pulled the crystal up close while scouring my brain on how to use it. Once again Long Wan''s memories surged forward and the foreign feeling of using soul force invaded my mind. It was a funny feeling, like that one when you never know that you needed something until you got it. Inner energies are a metaphysical concept back on Earth, but now I couldn''t believe that I managed to exist without them.


    Tightening my grip on the demon crystal I willed my soul force into it. It was like breathing energy through my skin, and the feeling of having and controlling that energy was better than any coffee I ever had times a thousand.


    The crystal shone a bit before it became darker and darker forming an aura of boiling shadows and eleven lobes of orange mist around it. Finally I took to see that the center of the crystal was occupied by eleven wisps of different sizes, each darker than a moonless sky and writhing with tendrils. The light from the surrounding orange mist seemed to spiral in towards the center of the tendrils like it was going down eleven miniature black holes.


    Nie Li peeked over my shoulder to look at the crystal and gasped "Void attribute..."


    I turned around with a raised eyebrow that said go on. He coughed slightly and continued "It looks like your soul is also formless like mine, but to think that you would have a void attribute. That''s even rarer than Lu Piao''s Chaos attribute. Forget one in a million people, you would be lucky to find one in ten thousand generations."


    That was shocking. Did Long Wan always possess this talent or were we to thank our merger? Void attribute eh.. Then maybe that cultivation technique could work.


    Nie Li cupped his chin in thought "This attribute is so rare that I can''t think of a suitable cultivation technique. Most that I have were created to help stabilize merging with Void attribute demon spirits and not to increase strength."


    "Then what options are there?" I asked hopefully. This was Nie Li, there was no way he didn''t have a cheat for me.


    The said ginger rested his elbows on the table and thought for a while before answering "I know three cultivation techniques which are more neutral than any others. They fit formless soul realms very well but are not really designed for Void attribute." he sighed. Three cultivation techniques for formless soul realms? He couldn''t be thinking about what I think he was thinking¡­Could he? "They are War God, Void God and Heavenly God."


    My ears caught something that I can''t believe I missed before "Void God?" I asked. The name was kind of obvious there¡­


    Nie Li shook his head and waved his hand in front of me, motioning me to stop "A pretentious name for the technique. It doesn''t mean it''s linked to Void element." he laughed


    "Ah, it''s no problem at all!" he waved his hands in front of me as if he had offended me "We are all good brothers and they''re just cultivation techniques. There is no point to their existence if nobody is practicing them. Listen close!"


    Willing my soul force to my ears and brain I set up myself for memorizing the technique "Ready!"


    Nie Li nodded and said "First is the War God technique. It is the most overbearing and easy to fail at but also the one with the quickest progress of the three"


    He started the technique and as soon as soon as I contemplated on the words the surrounding energies surged towards me like a torrent. It was almost like rivers were converging on me filling me with power. However just like rivers can feed lakes, they can also drown. This new soul force was too violent. It twisted and churned my soul ocean and, although very strong, they felt wild and uncomfortable. This wasn''t the technique I could enjoy practicing.


    "This technique is very powerful but it feels like my soul force is rebelling against me. Please share with me the next one." came my reply as I wiped the sweat from my brow.


    "Knowing your limits is written on the staircase to progress. The next one is the Void God cultivation technique. It is the most secretive of the three. While a quite a bit slower than the War God technique but it is calmer. However, nobody ever managed to cultivate it, not even it''s creator. Even I don''t know the true limits of it''s capabilities."


    Words of power flowed through Nie Li and just like before, meditating on them caused my soul force to surge and accept the energies as my own. It was like darkness was enveloping me, it didn''t do so menacingly but more like it was protecting me. I could sense untapped abilities that would be unlocked, hidden in the dark and would be revealed to me should I continue to practice it. This technique was a lot more fitting for me who liked to fight more with my smarts than my fists but unfortunately, there was a lingering feeling that something was missing."


    I huffed a bit after releasing the technique "This one is also incredible." came my review as I turned to Nie Li who nodded " Still, it feels incomplete. It''s like someone served me a very delicious meal that just didn''t fill me up no matter how much I ate."


    "It''s indeed a symptom of incomplete compatibility. Perhaps Heavenly God cultivation will suit you the best."


    Light and dark energies began flowing towards me as if the heavens and the earth were connecting through me. It felt very comfortable and, although not nearly as fast as the previous two, power was still filling me up, energizing my soul ocean and strengthening me overall. But this was painfully slow and I could see that much more dark energies were being swallowed up by my Dantian than light. Sadly it would seem that even this third attempt would be for naught.


    As I chanted the words that Nie Li had shared with me my mind flew towards the Void God chant and a reaction occurred. My inner self suddenly found itself surrounded by darkness. All of a sudden golden words appeared within the dark and with them came a cultivation technique that looked like a mix of the Void God and Heavenly God. However, unlike each separate part felt incomplete, this new technique seemed to be tailor made for me. Dark energies surged towards me and mixed with the void in my soul realm. Just like a large black hole my Void attributed soul force absorbed this new energy without any protest, growing larger by the moment.


    At the same time two new abilities that could be willingly used came to my mind like distant memories long forgotten and then remembered again. Both were something to attempt later and gauge their capabilities.


    "Long Wan!" came a shout and my consciousness returned to reality and I opened my eyes "Are you okay?" asked Lu Piao.


    Why did he seem so scared? "I never felt better. Why do you ask?" my answer came together with my smile.


    Du Ze took the chance to answer "After meditating on the last technique your soul force began to explode outwards violently, the intensity increasing and decreasing periodically." he answered and you could see that even Nie Li was slightly worried an puzzled.


    My right hand moved to my temple and I sighed "Something weird did indeed happen¡­" I said pausing to think the best way to explain this "I think the Heavenly God technique and the Void God technique merged within my mind to form a new cultivation technique."


    From across the table Nie Li suddenly moved forwards towards me, slamming his hands lightly on the table looking like a kid in a candy store "Really? How?"


    Although taken aback by the suddenness of his actions I shrugged "No idea." The Heavenly God cultivation technique definitely didn''t cause something like this in the original novel "Perhaps it''s a side affect of the Void God technique. When I chanted it I felt like there were many secrets inside. Or maybe it has something to do with my Void affinity. For all we know it could be a combination of all these factors¡­"


    "I feel great. This technique seems to be a perfect match. When chanting it I could feel that my soul force turned into an all-consuming darkness that grew as I cultivated and with it so did my strength." taking the soul crystal my energies flowed into it and soon the my soul realm started being reflected in the image in its core. Unlike before however there were no more wispy shadows, but one writhing blob of slowly spiraling darkness with four tendrils reaching out as if pointing to the cardinal directions. What was strange was that, indifferent of how you looked at it or from where the blob always seemed to meet you with the same appearance .


    "Interesting." Hummed Nie Li. Meeting my curious expression he continued "Formless soul realms are indeed more likely to change. Whatever happened with your cultivation technique also mutated your soul realm into an entirely new form. I don''t know what its new limits are, but just by looking at it I can tell that it has near limitless potential. I am curious about how it matches your new technique."


    Focusing on the technique I began chanting the words that once had illuminated the darkness my mind had found itself in. Nie Li immediately closed his eyes and turned to his vast knowledge to analyze it "This technique is amazing. The chants are a mix of both parent cultivations, with characteristics from both but with a variation that I don''t recognize to fill in the gaps. Let''s see..." Explained Nie Li before sinking deeper into thought "From the Heavenly God technique it gained the ability to commune with the Heavens and Earth, the ability to refine the breath and then use it to refine the body as well as integrate with more than one demon spirit, with the limit being four. However, due to your Void attribute, those demon spirits must be either Yin or dark aligned. As for the Void God part, it increases your mental fortitude allowing you to have a high resistance to mental attacks as well as increasing your focus. You also gained the ability to use surrounding Yin energy to alleviate mental fatigue, very useful when aiming for higher levels of cultivation. "


    Forget amazing, this technique is incredible. While it had the limitation of dark aligned spirits, I really didn''t mind it. If I remember correctly from the novel, dark aligned demon spirits have some of the coolest abilities. Take for example the¡­ what was that called? ¡­ Ah yes, the Shadow Devil. Or that spirit that prevented Shen Hong''s escape, the Nether Phantom (I think that''s what it was called) which had the ability to seal space-time.


    "As for the parts that elude me, only time will tell¡­" finished Nie Li. There was more?! Holy hell what kind of monster did my mind give birth to. Talk about cheats and being overpowered, I feel more like the main character than Nie Lie. But I don''t wanna be a main character. I wanna be a side one. Side characters generally stay out of trouble since troubles are like MC seeking missiles.


    Lu Piao immediately perked up and said "Let me try it too!" He sat cross-legged and started chanting but nothing happened. "This technique is garbage. I had more increase in power from the institute''s techniques!" he cried out after failing to cultivate after a few seconds but was struck on the back of his head by Nie Li.


    The look Nie Li gave him was incredulous "That technique is not suited for you that is why it''s useless in your hands. It transforms the many kind of energies it absorbs into Void attributed one with nearly perfect efficiency. Your soul realm has a different attribute so it will reject that soul force and only absorb scraps." he chastised Lu Piao who looked sheepish. Then Nie Li turned to me "Long Wan, what will you call this technique?"


    "Me?" I asked taken off guard.


    The carrottop nodded "It owes it''s birth to you. You are its parent so you get naming rights."


    "Very fitting . The technique shall be known as that " Nie Li approved and the rest nodded.


    There was a real need to shift the attention from me. "What about the rest? Do you have some techniques for them?" I asked Nie Li.


    He snapped back to reality and looked towards Du Ze "Du Ze''s soul realm was Lightning Fire attributed with the Heavenly Thundercloud form. You''ll practice Heavenly Qilin technique, one of the three strongest Lightning Flame cultivation techniques. I will impart you with the chants for the technique and I''ll also make a copy of the various martial arts for it in the future!" Nie Li soon imparted the chant for the technique to Du Ze. Heavenly Qilin technique''s chant isn''t too cryptic, so Du Ze remembered it very quickly.


    Softly contemplating the chant inwards, Du Ze was extremely shocked by it. The Heavenly Qilin technique is definitely stronger than any other cultivation technique that he had seen in the past, save for the three¡­ uh four God techniques he saw before ! But this technique fitted him the most. Just by chanting, Du Ze already felt his soul realm frantically surging; his soul force also had obvious signs of strengthening. He has yet to begin training and his soul force already began to expand and increase! It''s foreseeable that after practicing this Heavenly Qilin cultivation technique, Du Ze will have all kinds of leaps and bounds with his soul force!


    All this time, Du Ze has been struggling with the bleak fate of his family. His dream is to change the fate of his parents and family, but he clearly knew that this goal was too far away. But at this moment, Du Ze probably felt that by diligently practicing the Heavenly Qilin cultivation technique, all of this wouldn''t pose a problem! All of this is given to him by Nie Li!


    "Seems we were correct in determining Brother Ze''s soul realm capabilities." I patted myself on the back. My plans would''ve been thrown down the latrine if something had changed¡­


    "Yes, that is correct. I will also record for you all the details of the cultivation technique in a few days!" Nie Li said as he faintly smiled.


    Du Ze is filled with gratitude for both myself and Nie Li. His eye redden, solemnly saying, "The kindness of imparting Heavenly Qilin technique to me, the help you gave me in determining my talents, I appreciate it all! If you have anything I could be of help to you in the future, even if it''s to hike the jagged mountains or to swim the flaming sea, if I, Du Ze were to event consider hesitating, then let me suffer Heaven''s retribution!"


    "Don''t put it this way, we''re good brothers! It''s just a cultivation technique!" Nie Li slightly smiled as he patted on Du Ze''s back. I also squeezed Du Ze''s shoulder firmly in reassurance.


    I was beginning to understand my merger with Long Wan. It would seem that when we merged he became a sort of subconscious. His instincts, memories and sentiments became my own while I became the conscious and the logic. On that part Long Wan was similar to Du Ze. Being an orphan he¡­ I¡­ damn reincarnation, anyway ''we'' had a hard life with no people to even call friends, much less brothers. Due to this, it didn''t matter how many schemes and plans I had, his existence wouldn''t let me betray anyone I declared close.


    At this moment, Lu Piao already couldn''t wait anymore from the excitement, saying at the side "You guys talk too mushy, as brothers we should share the blessings and the misfortune together! Nie Li, I''m just a red soul realm, am I also suitable to train soul force?"


    "Of course, everyone can train in soul force, even if it''s red soul realm, except there''s a difference in the cultivation technique that is suited for red soul realm!" Nie Li said, smiling "And as mentioned during class you will practice the Holy Primal Chaos technique.


    "Is it stronger than Du Ze''s ?" Lu Piao asked excitedly, causing Wei Nan to facepalm. Du Ze didn''t seem to take it to heart though. That was just Lu Piao being Lu Piao¡­


    "Holy Primal Chaos technique isn''t in any way inferior to Heavenly Qilin technique and again, it suits your lazy personality best since it doesn''t require much practice." Nie Li said laughing, "It depends on your luck but it will allow you to step on the road to reach the highest level."


    Nie Li also began to test Wei Nan, Zhu Xiangjun, Zhang Ming and gift them each with a set of powerful cultivation techniques. One after one, my words were proven true and those techniques fit their aptitudes perfectly. With each match I noticed how the last remaining doubts in Nie Li''s minds slowly evaporated into non-existence. Although it can''t be compare with Holy Primal Chaos, Heavenly Qilin technique or my Heavenly Void Dragon God technique, they are still cultivation techniques that no other technique in Glory City can be compared to.


    Nie Li then spoke "As for myself¡­"


    "Heavenly God?" I asked or more like predicted with a smirk.


    "Heavenly God." Nie Li nodded and began cultivating with us joining him a moment later.


    ***The Heavenly Dao shines and the Dao of the Void consumes. Heaven shrouds and the Void contains. The Great Dao envelops but cannot contest the path you chose. To know all is impossible for such is nature.***


    I continued mentally chanting over and over, contemplating the meaning behind the words. Then I remembered something from Earth. Astronomy was a small amateurish passion of mine, as were all the natural sciences so my mind flew to stars and black holes ( Heavenly Dao shines and the Dao of the Void consumes), to galaxies and voids ( Heaven shrouds and the Void contains.). To the nature of reality, a universe that exists because we acknowledge it (Great Dao envelops but cannot contest the path you chose). Finally to the uncertainty principle of the very small ( To know all is impossible for such is nature)


    Energies began pouring rapidly within the center of my soul realm until... Boom! My soul force exploded with green color and it felt unbelievable. It was like I could take over the world, like my fate was mine alone.


    "Long Wan you..." I heard Du Ze begin as I opened my eyes "1-star bronze rank. Congratulations!"


    "Congratulations!" This time it came from Zhu Xiangjun.


    "Wah! Brother Wan you are amazing! How did you do it?" Lu Piao asked me as he slung his arm over my shoulder.


    My mind was beginning to reset "I think... I ... managed to contemplate some of the true meaning behind the first chapter of the Heavenly Void Dragon God."


    "You truly are an amazing person." Came Nie Li''s stunned reply "Understanding true meaning behind a cultivation technique means making that technique truly your own. From now on your progress should be even faster than before. Achieving such understanding within the first hour is unheard of even in the most seasoned cultivator."


    Nie Li had never known Long Wan in his previous life. If my alter ego from that timeline was also Void attributed and had a formless soul realm then, with Glory City''s horrible techniques and his own lack of suitable talent then it would be safe to say that Long Wan would never had had the chance to stand out and thus no chance to remain in Nie Li''s direct memories. For f.u.c.ks sake he was an unknown even for me when I read the novel back on Earth. Now, I felt so cheaty I almost wanted to be nerfed.


    Du Ze and Wei Nan also approved what Nie Li said with Lu Piao and the resy looking at my like I grew a second head.


    I gently waved them off "Thank you for your kind praise but I am still very inexperienced. There is still a lot more I need to understand about both this technique as well as life in general."


    "As am I." Du Ze acknowledged.


    Suddenly Nie Li got up and stretched. "This is enough for one evening. We had a good head start so there is no point in pushing ourselves too much." He twisted around to get the kinks out of his muscles.


    "Ehh? I can still keep going!" Declared Lu Piao while puffing his c.h.e.s.t.


    Smirking I replied with " Don''t you mean you can keep snoring? You''ve been asleep since we started meditating." Of course I was lost in my own cultivation then so I wasn''t paying him any mind to know for sure. However, the dejected look on his face told me I hit the nail square on the head.


    "That''s just how my cultivation works. You guys are just jealous of my innate talent." He retorted causing all of us to erupt in laughter.


    "Nie Li.." came my call "Earlier you said you will show me the Daoyin technique." I wanted to meet Ning''er tonight so this couldn''t wait.


    My new brother from another mother smiled and nodded "Alright, it''s a really simple technique that involves using your soul force to grab hold of or redirect elements within yourself or another person so it shouldn''t take more than an hour so let me show you. First you need to memorize the meridian points and how to feel the person''s chi paths..." There were many more words and instructions after this and I used my soul force in my brain to memorize them all. A surprise came in the form of Du Ze also taking a liking to this technique and learning how to do it. Lu Piao however was far too impatient and the trio had neither the aptitude for it nor the ambition to learn.


    A short while later I was in the hunting grounds on my knees gasping for air while in front of me lay the body of a horned sheep demon beast. While searching for Ning''er''s cultivation spot I stumbled upon it and it charged at me as per its territorial nature. Although I made a tactical retreat (ran like I motherf.u.c.k.i.n.g stole something), the dammed horny mutton chop managed to corner me so in the end I had no choice but to fight. However, demon beasts are generally a half-level level stronger than practitioners so a one star bronze rank fighter/demon spiritualist was at a disadvantage when facing a one-star bronze rank demon beast. Coupled with my absolute lack of combat experience it meant that I was fodder for the beast. It almost trampled me to death until my instinct activated and called out all my soul force in my fist before throwing it forward right into its face. The next thing I saw were tendrils of obsidian dark that would make Shub-Niggurath itself jealous extended from my fist and pierced the skull of the beast killing it instantly.


    This must be one of the secret techniques of the Heavenly Void Dragon God cultivation, the ability to manipulate internal energies to produce these¡­ Void tendrils. After recovering my breath I moved to a nearby tree and summoned a single tendril from my palm. Getting more inventive I tried summoning it from other places and realized that any part of my body could be used to generate it. Also, it could split into any number of smaller tendrils, stretch to increase range or shape it into any shape I could imagine. The only limit was that it had a limited amount of¡­ what should I call it? Energy? Soul Force? Void mass? I kind of like that last one. Anyway, the Void mass was limited so each time I split or stretched the tendrils they would become thinner. The mass limit was equal to my own body but I had a feeling this would grow as my strength did. This means I could produce a kind of pure black copy of my body from this Void mass.


    Setting my target I summoned a tendril as thick as my arm and shaped it into a blade. My arm moved like a whip and I intended to chop down the tree with one fluid motion. The blade met absolutely no resistance up to a quarter of the tree''s thickness when it suddenly collapsed and crumbled like wet sand, taking a good bite out of my stamina as well. This got me curious and I made a smaller blade and moved to cut a boulder with it. Like before, there was absolutely no resistance up to a few centimeters when it also crumbled.


    Looking at the cuts I could see something strange. There was no crushing on the area. Even leaves that barely stuck to the surfaces of the rocks and tree seemed to be missing part of it but otherwise undisturbed. I sat down and began contemplating my own soul force and this new information. The only conclusion to be drawn was that this Void mass actually swallowed everything I wanted to pierce or cut, and when it had reached its limits it would crumble apart. However, doesn''t this mean I have a virtually unstoppable blade? I would need to experiment further.


    Stretching a string made from this energy my focused moved to a small rock. I wanted to get more information on how much this mass could ''devour'' . Seeing it wrap around like a net, I couldn''t help but think how cool it would be if I could reel in in. What the f.u.c.k?! I ducked fast as the rock came flying towards my head at blinding speed. I tried again and the same result. The next thing I wanted the rock to be brought gently into my hand and the tendril just fished it up and set it with the utmost care into my palm. Ok. So the mass followed my intention. It would devour things I wanted destroyed, otherwise it would act as an extension of my body. Also, using it without it consuming anything also didn''t affect my stamina.


    Nodding and feeling the exhaustion beginning to set, my thoughts moved towards Ning''er. As I was preparing to set out I remembered something important. There was a dead horned sheep near me and it was full of valuable items. The horns and fur were too bulky for me to carry, but the demon crystal was not. Forming a Void blade (corny name I know. It seems corny-ness will be a theme) I split it''s skull and a small light temporarily blinded me. It had a demon spirit! These demon spirits are rare, one in several thousand demon beasts have one. The spirit felt strangely solid in my hand so I took it and the crystal and stuffed them both into my pocket. This spirit was mostly useless but it could be used for inscriptions so it sold for at least a few thousand.


    Moving on, I took to jumping from tree to tree in order to avoid any more sheep along the way until I saw a green-ish light in the distance. Reaching it in the following moments I stayed up on the branch as I peeked at the source of it.


    The moonlight allowed me to see a slender and slim figure standing in the middle of the moonlight . She had shoulder length hair, was wearing a leather jacket, and was exuding a faint blue light. This is the light of soul force! Although she hadn''t step into Bronze rank, she should be entering Bronze rank soon. Using the light from the soul force, my eyes landed on her face . Her eyes were shut, her long eyelashes slightly trembled, and delicate eyebrows were slightly tightened in discomfort. She had flawless, white skin glowing a healthy pink, and


    rich, delicate lips .


    "Ning''er¡­" I whispered to myself but apparently it was louder than I intended. With her soul force her senses were probably a lot more advanced than ordinary people.


    "Who''s there!?" Xiao Ning''er suddenly opens her eyes, and frailly shouted, while retrieving a short dagger from her interspatial ring. Her facial expression was chilling cold as she scanned the area for me. Through the moonlight, those deeply alert eyes had an indescribable charm in them. Although she was only thirteen years old, the current her can definitely be considered beautiful. The leather jacket''s front c.h.e.s.t area was slightly budding. At this age, she can definitely be proud of it.


    Jumping down a good distance from her I waved in greeting "Good evening classmate Xiao Ning''er!" Although neither the past Long Wan nor myself have ever talked with Xiao Ning''er, we can still be considered classmates and thus somewhat familiar with each other.


    Xiao Ning''er lowered her short dagger, but still kept her guard up as she looked at me and said, "Long Wan? What are you doing here?"


    She knew who I was? Maybe se remembered me as I was one of the two weirdos who stood up to Shen Xiu. Crossing my arms in front of my c.h.e.s.t and tilting my head I answered with a kind smile "Looking for you." but then I winced as moving my head had unintentionally crushed a bruise I received as a gift from that damn sheep "Ouch. But it seems I found only trouble at first."


    Ning''er''s face showed a small trace of concern but her features were still icy "What?"


    My right hand moved to my neck as my left waved her concern off "It''s nothing. I just danced with a horned sheep earlier." That''s the first time I ever danced the Judo too.


    Her face twisted with mild annoyance "I did''t ask that. Why are you looking for me?" she raised her knife again.


    Sighing, my features turned serious "During class I noticed you were suffering some discomfort¡­" my gaze then fell to the bruise on her foot before she pulled it back. A slender hand moved to her mouth to hide her surprise but before she could voice anything I continued "As night falls doesn''t your body begin to feel colder and colder, getting absolutely unbearable near the peak of the night? " a gasp told me I was right "Besides that, your feet begin to burn as if they were boiling on the inside." each word made her eyes widen more and more "Finally, your body should''ve developed very painful bruises." I said confidently, "Thankfully you still haven''t reached Bronze rank yet. However, once your soul force breaks through, your affliction will advance at a rapid pace. Best case you''ll be bedridden for months. Worse case your soul realm will freeze and you will die. "


    Xiao Ning''er was momentarily dazed . Both of her fists were clenched tightly, and her eyes reddened. Despair flashed across her face and tears leaked from the corner of her eyes. Even wrought with misery she was still insanely beautiful. My previous self wouldn''t consider her more than a good kid, but this self of mine had Long Wan''s thirteen year old heart and body. Not to mention my own fanboy¡­ fanman love for her. I remembered that ever since she was young, her family had been wanting for her to marry into the Sacred Family by marrying Shen Fei . As she grew up, she gradually learned what kind of person Shen Fei was . Because she didn''t want to get married to that waste of space, she started practicing very hard with hopes of avoiding this cruel fate . Unfortunately, the


    heavens seemed to work against her, since she who would soon reach 1-star Bronze rank, suddenly got to hear from me such news .


    "Long Wan, since you know what kind of illness I have, you should know how to treat it, right?" Xiao Ning''er asked me. She was definitely frightened by my words since she unknowingly dropped her strong guard and pleaded "Can you help me?"


    Xiao Ning''er had a strong personality and rarely asked others for help . Crouching down and resting my hands on my knees I said with a smile "This affliction can be treated. You can look it up in the Holy Orchid Institute''s library . The affliction is called: Arctic affliction. It''s actually relatively easy and inexpensive to cure."


    "Really?" replied Xiao Ning''er . Her eyes shined with hope "How can it be treated?"


    "Every day you must drink an infusion made from combining Golden Striped Grass with Imperial Sky Grass, once in the morning and once before night falls. I would suspect that the chills and other sensations you feel will disappear within the month." came my reply and I could see the despair washing from her expression. "However, your bruises are a different story. They will need a long time to pass, perhaps years."


    "Is that so¡­?" she whispered dejected. They were painful. I remember in the novel it said she cried herself to sleep at night.


    My head moved side to side in denial "There is a way to dissipate them. It is called the Daoyin redirecting technique."


    "Daoyin technique?" repeated Xiao Ning''er . She knitted her brows. She had never heard of any Daoyin technique before.


    "Those bruises are from an acc.u.mulation of strong Yin energy. You have been practicing in the night so cold moon Yin seeped in." I had half the idea what I was talking about but she didn''t need to know that "Though there are exception to this rule, a woman''s soul force normally has more Yin energy whilst a man''s is full of Yang. Before reaching Bronze rank that extra moon energy couldn''t be contained by your soul realm so it moved to acc.u.mulate in other areas. The Daoyin technique can disperse that energy allowing the medicine to neutralize it. This is also why you must stop practicing when midnight comes." I explained "There is also a chance your cultivation technique is strongly Yin aligned. May I see it?"


    Xiao Ning''er hesitated for a moment. Cultivation techniques were closely guarded family secrets but I knew she would come around. She retrieved her cultivation technique from her interspatial ring and handed it to me. It was a piece of slightly aged parchment, with a bunch of densely packed words written on it .


    I couldn''t understand jack shit from it. It wasn''t me who had centuries worth of experience on it however trying to move my soul force according to it left me with a slimy feeing in my soul realm considering that I was comparing it to the supreme techniques that Nie Li imparted us as well as my own "Urgh, this technique is too poor." I rolled it up and moved to give it back to her and as she picked it up her fingers touched mine. They were indeed soft and even though she was a hard worker I couldn''t feel a trace of calluses on them. Looking up, the moonlight revealed to me her boiling red face. Girls in this world are so cute and pure! Letting out a breath of air I didn''t know I was holding in my next words followed "I will try to find a suitable cultivation technique for you in the next following days. Until then I suggest you practice using a more neutral one. At least until your affliction cures." I said and she nodded "Do you have a piece of soul crystal with you? If not bring one over tomorrow night. Just one will be enough and it must be unused before. I will test your innate talents with it."


    "I have one now¡­" she answered with a strained voice. Demons and Gods she was cute! A crystal appeared in her hand and she moved to give it to me.


    "Ah, you don''t need to hand it to me. Just channel your soul force into it and after we will take a look." I pushed it back without touching her


    "Okay," Xiao Ning''er nodded her head and injected her soul force into the crystal, the crystal released a dazzling light . Inside the light was slowly forming into a Jiao Dragon with large wings, and it was flying though a lightning storm.


    "Soul force of 83, Winged Dragon soul form with the Wind-Lightning attribute. "


    "Wind Lightning Attribute, Winged Dragon shaped soul form, what are they?" Xiao Ning''er couldn''t understand what I just said . Doubt filled her beautiful pupils .


    I smiled. Nie Li never explained this properly to her in the novel either "Reusing soul crystals causes a reaction with the lingering soul force in them that makes them cloudy. This is why only the color and the amount of soul force is shown in them. Using a fresh one reveals not only that but also the shape and attribute which are the actual things that influence cultivation." I could see more questions forming inside her mind but I didn''t allow her to continue "The attributes are the ones you should focus when cultivating. For example your attribute is wind lightning, which means that with a cultivation technique attuned to either or both elements of wind or lightning your cultivation will increase exponentially." pausing to let it sink in before continuing "However if for example you practiced earth or fire cultivation your progress would be negatively affected and you would need to put many more times the effort to obtain even a crumb of results."


    Her hand moved to her mouth in realization and surprise "Oh!" she whispered


    "As for demon spirits, a compatible demon spirit of good quality will increase your talents even further while an opposing one will decrease it. In some cases it is even impossible to merge with demon spirits due to opposing natures. Soul forms on the other hand are special traits that each person possesses. And just like attributes, some are extraordinarily rare, others not so much."


    You could see the look of understanding slowly being built in her head "Your soul form¡­" she tensed "¡­grants you exceptional cultivation efficiency. Practicing any kind of cultivation technique will produce more for you than nearly any other. It is a top tier legendary soul form. If I possessed such frightening talent, I would''ve already been scratching at the door to Silver Rank. This is why you nearly reached bronze rank with your low quality cultivation technique. But with a top wind lightning technique you would be unmatched. "


    Finishing my explanation before she could retort on her family''s cultivation technique, I stood up straight and stretched "I think this will be enough for the night. We should head home. Don''t forget to drink your medicine and take it easy.." I said as I made my way towards the direction that I came from.


    "Long Wan!" she called out. "Do you know the Daoyin technique?" she asked meekly.


    Turning around slightly I replied "The Daoyin technique is a massage so it requires contact with the bruised area. I know it but it wouldn''t be appropriate for a man to do it."


    She lowered her head, blush forming on her face and said, "I don''t mind . Isn''t it you just treating me? I don''t want to turn into a useless person . "


    "Very well, I''ll help you. Where are your bruises?" foot and her side, I already knew but she didn''t knew I knew¡­


    Xiao Ning''er''s cold cheeks slightly blushed and pointed to the back of her foot "There''s one here . "


    I crouched down, and sat on the grass patch .She then placed her foot on my legs and a light flashed across her eyes . She seemed to be thinking of something . Gripping onto Xiao Ning''er''s creamy marble white foot made my heart run miles. I could clearly see that Xiao Ning''er''s smooth tight calves were simply perfect "I''ll state once more just to avoid any misunderstandings, I''m only treating your affliction. It''s also a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to meet you . I hope that we can be friends in the future," I explained as I looked at Xiao Ning''er''s charming face . Hearing my words, Xiao Ning''er''s shoulders slightly shook . She nodded her head and faintly muttered, "En . "


    My hand gripped Xiao Ning''er''s foot, thumb at the bruised area and, gently, I started to massage it.


    "Ah" Xiao Ning''er couldn''t help to let out a pained sound .


    Pursing my lips I stated "The first time will hurt a little so b.a.r.e with it." I really wanted to say that "And yes, I do understand how that sounded but try to keep your head on the situation at hand."


    While my face was slightly rosy , Ning''er''s was a repository for blood. After all, some of the girls her age are already married with kids so she would be taught about intimacy by her handmaidens. After a while, under my massage Xiao Ning''er couldn''t help letting out a little ''ah'', which made her endlessly timid. The pain that clouded her eyes was slowly washing away as relief came with her breaths.


    "Done," I said a few minutes later as I finished the massage. The Yin energy was now dissipated but it would partially recollect again requiring the area to be massaged again until fully cured.


    "In the next few day, there will still be traces of pain, you will be fine with some rest. "


    "En," said Xiao Ning''er, nodding her head . Suddenly, her cheeks flushing red and I knew what she was going to say, "I still have another bruise, could you massage it, too?"


    "Another bruise?" my c.h.e.s.t started pounding but I swallowed the feeling back. "Where is it?" I asked. Here it comes¡­ Xiao Ning''er hesitated for a long time, her face shyly blushing red. "If it''s not appropriate¡­ . " I continued remembering the scene from the novel.


    "Long Wan, do you have someone you like?" she asked meekly.


    Tough I was expecting it, anxiety still started gripping me and it made me feel light-headed "Yes." I stated without hesitation.


    "Who is she?" she asked, slowly moving her hand to the top of her jacket.


    I smiled and looked directly in her eyes "She''s amazing. Strong, gentle, intelligent and unwavering. Regardless of hardsh.i.p.s she always pushed forward and was always someone to be admired. And to me she is definitely the brightest and most beautiful gem in existence." my words came out as I described the girl in front of me. It was so easy to point out each one of the things that attracted a person when the said target of affection is in front of you.


    Xiao Ning''er''s eyes flashed with a sentiment that I couldn''t quite decrypt. It also seems she didn''t understand that it was her and asked, "Then, does she like you back?"


    I shrugged my shoulders and smiled, not saying a word more. Ning''er looked puzzled for a moment before she giggled. It seems she will not push this matter further. Grinding her teeth, she began to undo the buttons on her shirt . "Ning''er." her name exited firmly out of my mouth and it caused her to stop at the second button "I suspect your bruise is on the side. You avoid leaning in that direction." she looked like a deer in the headlights and nodded not knowing what to do anymore. It wasn''t easy for her to undress in front of me and now I surprised the resolve out of her. I got up and moved behind her "I can treat the bruise from here."


    Xiao Ning''er actually began to look somewhat dejected.


    Sighing hard I snapped her out of that melancholy "Don''t misunderstand, there isn''t any man alive that''s not family that wouldn''t want to see. It''s just that a good woman''s modesty is too precious to her." I said with a flat voice to cover my excitement. I''m probably the only male her age that wouldn''t end up castrated by her for saying something like that to her face¡­ uh to her back.


    "Ah! En." She nodded in appreciation of my consideration for her. Even though she was now facing her back towards me I could feel that she was smiling.


    I watched as Xiao Ning''er slowly removed her shirt . Her cold back had an unspeakable charm to it . The first button, then the second button . Xiao Ning''er''s fat-less smooth white skin was already


    visible, glowing under the moonlight . After the fifth button was undone, Xiao Ning''er''s perfect curves were revealed and she was absolutely divine. Her c.h.e.s.t area was wrapped in a pink silk bandage and I couldn''t help swallowing down the drool that rained in my mouth. Her figure can be described as extremely hot . With only a glance, she would drive many men crazy .


    "Amazing¡­" I whispered but she must have heard it because I saw her flinch. Pushing the naughty thoughts away I calmed his mind bit and my eyes fell on Xiao Ning''er''s side. Near her lower rib sat an extremely dark bruise . Although it is only the size of a thumb, the color was very deep. "Poor girl¡­" I cooed softly "Even the strongest warriors would cry themselves to sleep when the moon was high. You did very surviving up to now. It''s something to take pride in, but you''ve suffered enough."


    Muffled heaves hit my ears and Xiao Ning''er''s body began trembling. A strange feeling welled up from the center of my Dantian. Fueled by pure rage the Daoyin energy changed from a silvery-blue to impossibly black. Rage towards the Sacred Family for putting her through such torture, rage towards the Winged Dragon Family that dared allow such torture, rage towards her friends who abandoned her and finally the purest rage towards the damn cold Yin energy that gave her many sleepless nights. Since my mind was brimming with such rage I failed to notice the change in my Daoyin technique. The Void energy rapidly seeped inside her, and like a pack of starving wolves on a hunt it barreled down towards the cold Yin destroying any trace of it that it came across and fully clearing it out in mere moments. All that Yin energy went straight into my soul realm enlarging it and pushing me closer to 2 star bronze. This happened before I realized that it did.


    The feeling of pain must have washed away instantly as a loud m.o.a.n escaped her voice. It wasn''t a calm one at that. It was a full on roar. "Ahaa!" she let out together with all the air in her lungs, sweat wetting her skin and the cloth on her c.h.e.s.t. She slumped forward, using her arms to avoid falling on the ground.


    Unconsciously my hands met her b.a.r.e waist to protect her and prevent her face from meeting the cold grass as I leaned forward to see her face "Ning''er, are you alright!"


    She shook out of my grasp and pushed me away "Ah! I''m alright!" She crossed her arms in front of her c.h.e.s.t to cover it.


    "My bad!" I turned away from her "It seems I lost control of my power and ended up removing all invading Yin energy too fast. Ahem, you should have no more problems but you should take tomorrow off from school to rest." Change the subject, change the subject, change the subject¡­


    Ning''er was silent as she put her clothes back. I needed a way to dispel this atmosphere "Let''s meet here tomorrow night as well. I will try to find a wind lightning attribute cultivation technique for you till then¡­" I said before jumping away. I couldn''t face her now. Had I turned back I would''ve heard Ning''er calling out my name ¡­


    The following day was pretty much the same until after class. It seemed that Ning''er took my advice and didn''t show up. This time I was fully prepared to get that technique from Nie Li. Yesterday I had scribbled something before meeting in the library with the gang. What I had written down was the Lightning Dragon cultivation technique. A bastardized, crude, almost inhumane version of the technique written from my memories of the novel as well as Long Wan''s memories on cultivation. Comparing it to the Heavenly Void Dragon God was painful to me. I had used very dilute ink , spilled some oil and dirt on the parchment and left it in the sun to bleach. I tried to make it look as scribbly and garbage as I could.


    You might ask why not just ask the technique from Nie Li. Well, how would it sound ''Give me a legendary technique that you found in some lost ruins in another realm that I wasn''t supposed to know about."? Yeah. You can see how that would work and stating that it was for Ning''er could backfire. Nope, this needed a stealth approach...


    Following my plan I was also the first in the library, and taking out the parchment I pretended to start studying it with gusto as soon as Nie Li''s voice registered in my ears.


    "Long Wan!" the group greeted and I nodded back.


    Lu Piao swung his arm over my shoulder "What are you doing?" he asked as he was the first to see the parchment.


    I chuckled and pointed at the paper "I once found this paper that had been thrown away and when I looked at it there was a cultivation technique written on it. It sounded powerful so I tried to study it but it didn''t work. Its become some sort of hobby for me to try and work out why."


    "A cultivation technique? Can you tell me what it is about, perhaps I can help." Nie Li interrupted as his interest peaked.


    "It''s supposed to be a cultivation technique called Lightning Dragon." I answered with a smile.


    "What?" a surprised Nie Li got up and moved to my side. Taking a few quick glances at the technique I could tell he could tell that it stinks. It was as if the paper was insulting him "Brother Wan should put it back in the trash where you found it. This is not the Lightning Dragon cultivation technique. Actually I don''t know what this can be called. A child''s scribbles at best." he almost vomited on the paper.


    "Oh" I answered dejected. All according to plan "Wait!" I turned to Nie Li in surprise, anxiety evident in my voice. "You said that this is not the Lighting Dragon technique. Does brother Li know the real one?" I used the anxiety I had from my plan as a cover for my hobby.


    Nie LI smiled and nodded "Actually I do. But Long Wan, that is not a suitable technique for you." he said as he took his seat back.


    I expected this but still pretended to be surprised "Ah, I don''t want to practice it." I want to give it to Ning''er "It''s just that, after so long¡­" my hand waved over the scribbled parchment as I started staring hard at the paper.


    The expression on Nie Li turned slightly softer "You want closure. That obsession is something I can understand... Listen close, this is the true Lightning Dragon technique."


    My mind filled in with the new technique and I finally had the last piece of the puzzle. I knew that Nie Li couldn''t resist. That hubris he had due to his knowledge was an exploitable weakness, of which I now suspect he also knew about which is why he always kept a tight lid on his mouth in the novel. But he always let his guard down around those he considered friends. It was also strange for me to have a virtual stranger trust me so much. That wasn''t something I had in any lifetime. Feelings I never knew I could have welled up from inside my stomach. It honestly made me want to give my life for Nie Li.


    Suddenly Nie Li beamed "Ah, don''t wait for me tomorrow, I have some plans and won''t be coming."


    Nie Li had plans for tomorrow? But he didn''t diss Shen Xiu in front of the experts so it couldn''t be Zyiun. Ah, of course. I looked towards Nie Li and said "Good luck and watch out for director Yang Xin. Roumor has it that s he has a thing for smart young boys."


    With that I scrammed before Nie Li started explain the reason for his .


    Moving through the forest at a rapid pace I landed at the spot where I left yesterday to find Xiao Ning''er waiting for me. Today she was wearing a checker laced dress . Her ink black hair was scattered around on her back and she wore a bracelet on her marble white wrist, becoming extraordinarily beautiful and charming. Usually she would wear a tight fitting jacket as it was convenient to train in.


    However, she seemed to have meticulously dressed herself up today . She was even more beautiful compared to how she usually dressed . This was how she would''ve dressed for Nie Li in another timeline. Now it just made it harder for me to keep my composure.


    She didn''t say anything, just shily looked away, a blush adorning her marble white cheeks. I approached slowly and said "I have a cultivation technique for you. This cultivation technique is much stronger than the one you''re practicing!"


    She nodded and started paying attention as I shared the Lightning Dragon technique with her, shyness rapidly being replaced by shock.


    "This cultivation technique is called Lightning Dragon!" I said when finished sharing the technique.


    Xiao Ning''er continued to stay silent and it pained me highly. Did I do something yesterday to upset her? Why would she doll up if I did? Sigh women, what an enigmatic species¡­ "Long Wan¡­" she finally called out, strain evident in her voice but still not looking at me "Yesterday¡­" she paused again "I acted disgracefully and even pushed you away when you were concerned for me."


    Huh? Is that what she was worried about? No way! I could hug her so hard right now it would split her in two.


    Before I could voice anything she continued "Now you even shared a such a powerful cultivation technique with me." She bit her lip "I don''t know how to repay you . But no matter what you want me to do, I am willing to do it. "


    I knew it would work. I had all the information and tools at my disposal. My plan was flawless. But actually hearing the girl I like say that, I couldn''t be more happy.


    Slowly, I made my way in front of her until we were less than an arm''s length apart. She started to tremble but put on a brave front and didn''t retreat "You should be careful with what you say. Anyone else other than me might abuse that privilege and take advantage of you."


    She nodded as tears started forming in her eyes "Yes." her voice trembled "You have someone you like¡­"


    ''Silly girl'' I thought as my hand moved a strand of her hair to her side. Once again she jumped a bit but didn''t move. My voice strained but in the end it came out as soothing as possible.


    "I never said that person wasn''t you¡­"

 Chapter 3 - All that is precious (pt 1)

    The look of disbelief Ning''er shot me was understandable. Her mouth started forming words but it would appear her voice refused to come out.


    Sighing with a smile I let the hand that pushed her hair away linger on her cheek. She did flinch at first but then relaxed her head into it and I could feel the warmth of her breath on my wrist "You actually didn''t realize I was talking about you, did you?"


    She pursed her lips and frowned "How could I?" she nearly sobbed.


    "How could you not?" I countered "There isn''t a single girl in the city that has braved more than you. There are many girls who sacrificed a lot, and many more who have suffered oppression and pain. However you took it all head on and never gave up. And when the Arctic affliction overcame you, you still pushed forward with the stubbornness of a thunder bull and the determination of a tigress. That is not something achieved by any girl I know, other than you." My thumb moved instinctively to wipe the tear that escaped the corner of her eye "And you are indeed a beauty hard to match."


    Ning''er took in the c.a.r.e.s.s from my hand a few more moments before she slowly removed it from her face, so slowly it was as if she was fighting with herself "Long Wan... I ... can''t. My family wants me to..." she began crying but I put my index finger on her soft cherry lips and once again she didn''t oppose.


    "Ning''er, I will share a secret with you. Should anything happen to me I need you to take this secret to the grave with you. Can you promise me? " I said as seriously as I could.


    She looked surprised since it was a side of me I never showed her. To her credit she quickly recovered and nodded "I promise to keep your secret."


    Nodding I began "I believe that the Sacred Family has allied with the Dark Guild." Hearing her gasp my words continued "I have no solid proof but I saw men dressed in strange robes talking with one of their elders. One of them had a wooden insignia with the Dark Guild''s seal. " Technically I ''saw'' this in a chapter of the manhwa. Eh, seeing is seeing.


    Her gaze became cold "The Dark Guild is an enemy of Glory City. Why would the Sacred Family ally themselves with such scoundrels?"


    "The answer is probably too complicated to understand right now." came my answer as I shrugged. It wasn''t actually. Shen Hong was dissatisfied with the declining power of the city. Coupled with the impression Gui Sha had left on him and his rivalry with Ye Zong, it became apparent that he wanted to become governor of the city (or what was left of it after the guild destroyed it) by using the power of the Dark Guild. However this will be revealed in time "What is important is that, without any proof these are just baseless accusations."


    Ning''er nodded. She wasn''t an idiot, quite the opposite "Long Wan, why did you tell me this?"


    My gaze moved towards the sky as my face darkened. Summoning my Void blade and turning towards a nearby tree as thick as a man, I cleaved it clean, separating it''s trunk from the roots while my aura radiated with a sickly green and black highlights, the signature power of a bronze rank "Because in half a year, at most a full one I will rescue you from your fate. I know it sounds crazy coming from an unknown orphan commoner. But I don''t, no¡­ I won''t have you do anything other than to not lose hope. Whether its Shen Fei or the entire Sacred Family, be they gods or Buddhas, should they stand in my way, I''ll feed them to the void!"


    Though I had my back turned to her, I could still see how Ning''er''s shadow moved her hands to her mouth and tiny drops traced her cheeks before they dropped. ''Feed them to the Void. How very fitting¡­'' I thought as I took in my beloved''s suffering. In this world Void wasn''t referring to empty space. It was ''non-existence''. It was that which ''was and wasn''t'' before the formless but ''existing'' cosmic primal chaos egg appeared at the beginning of time. Feeding them to the void meant erasing even the memory of them from the world.


    Spinning on my heel I embraced her in my arms and she just let her tears soak into my shirt as I gently c.a.r.e.s.sed her back. When she had finally stopped crying I slowly let her go "It''s best if we act like strangers in class for a while. I have a plan to raise my power and prestige but until then, we should be mindful of the Sacred Family. It shouldn''t take more than a month before we can be open." looked at her to see her put on a sad expression before she gave me a smile and a nod. Nodding back I turned and jumped away but not before throwing her a wink and leaving her red as a tomato.


    The following day I got up early and, after a decent breakfast, made my way to the market square. The place was as busy as an anthill. It was barely the crack of dawn and I could see a lot of people, mostly women, here to buy various necessities for the home. I took a few minutes to scout out the scenario and to my delight, everything was just as expected. Well, I really didn''t need to know this considering I had access to Long Wan''s memories, but it was refreshing in it''s own right. Finishing my sightseeing I went for a general trader and exchanged the demon spirit and crystal I got from that damn goat.


    I now had about five thousand demon spirit coins so I went ahead and bought a bucket, two cast iron pots, a ceramic tray, a fine weave cloth, a few other pieces of kitchen equipment, some concentrated flower oil fragrance, a pair of cheap leather gloves and about a kilo of demon beast fat. Since the experts of the city regularly went out to cull the beasts around the city, the market had an excess of animal products so they were generally very cheap. I spent about 30 coins on the cloth, 41 coins on the fragrance, 35 on the pots, 78 for the gloves, 44 on the miscellanea items and only 2 coins on the fat, and this including my tips to the sellers. Hurrying back at the dorms, I went to the courtyard in the back of the kitchen. There I found my target. A giant pile of ash somewhere close to the refuse pile. I used the bucket to scoop up as much ash as I could and then covered it with the cloth. I took all items to my room and stored them away. At this point I wish I had a storage ring. Well I''ll be able to get those later.


    Thinking about if I should go to class or continue with my work I decided to skip the morning part of the day. It wouldn''t help me in the future that much and I was already a step ahead of the rest. I assembled the miscellanea items from before and a pot into a shape I was satisfied with. Filling it up with the earlier ash and pouring a decent amount of water on top of the contraption I let it do it''s thing before cleaning up and going to class. Arriving just when Bitch Xiu decided to let the class have a break I managed to slip in without her noticing, taking my place next to the gang.


    My gaze shifted to another spot and met with Ning''er''s pair of wonderful eyes. She was dressed in her usual training jacket and her hair was held up in a tight ponytail. She shot me a smile and an eye bat that caused my heart to skip a beat. I winked at her in acceptance and she returned to facing the class, blush quickly forming on her face.


    The rest of the day went on as per usual, standing in the back of the class together with the gang. Turning to Nie Li I began whispering "How did it go yesterday?"


    Nie Li smirked "I was accepted in the association. In two of days we will see the fruit tree b.a.r.e fruit."


    "So what rank did you get?" my words continued.


    "Senior Alchemy Master." He responded with ease.


    "That is surprising." I answered. He looked fake dejected, as if I didn''t have any faith in him. "I heard that the Alchemy Association exams are incredibly hard."


    Nie Li waved me off "It was nothing difficult." but then turned to me "But how did you know that I would be taking them?"


    I made a silly kissing face and put my hands together " ''Long Wan, I could kiss you~!'' " I responded trying my best to imitate Nie Li''s voice in a whisper.


    His face paled in embarrassment "Ahaahaha." he looked away trying to contain his shame. Poor guy, I actually knew for other reasons but this was so much fun.


    Then again that wasn''t the best choice for an attention diverter. Let''s try a different approach "Nie Li¡­" my words came getting his attention "Now that you''re a big shot at the association, would you mind if I mentioned your name when doing some business with them?" I said scratching my cheek. Never was I the kind to ask for favors or loans.


    Nie Li for his part smiled and waved "Do you need something from them? I can get anything for you. And don''t worry about the cost¡­" he said while puffing out his c.h.e.s.t.


    I widened my eyes "Ah, no no no! It''s just that the project I''m working on." He looked at me with curiosity and motioned me to continue "It''s an alchemical product I''m hoping to sell through them. My hope was that I would be able to get to skip a few steps and meet with the decision makers faster if I said I had your backing."


    "What kind of project is it?" he looked at me expectantly. It seems like his thirst for knowledge didn''t diminish even after hundreds of years.


    Crossing my arms in thought "It''s not something that is really helpful for cultivation but it''s really useful to have in the house. I will have a sample for you ready in the next days."


    The ginger didn''t say anything. He fished around in his jacket and discretely passed it to me. It was a medal "When you want to meet with the association show them this and tell them I sent you." he said with a smile.


    My mind reset immediately and I pocketed the medal in order to prevent Shen Xiu from seeing it. If I wasn''t mistaken, this was Nie Li''s Alchemy Master medal. He would''ve gotten it together with a robe when he traded those lost superpill recipes.


    Nie Li also quickly changed the subject "I received some pills and primary demon spirit crystals from them as a congratulatory gift. Our session will be much more fruitful tonight." he smiled holding up his storage ring.


    Fruitful indeed. I also suspect that tonight I will finish my project which will hopefully make me, in lack of better words, motherf.u.c.k.i.n.g filthy rich.


    I swallowed a pill and the rush of energy hit me. If this was a junk pill of the Snow-Wind Empire alchemists, I shudder to think what a high level elixir will feel like. "Interesting..." I heard Nie Li say next to me. My senses fully returned to reality as I turned to face him with a raised eyebrow. He continued "The Heavenly God Technique is the most efficient when communicating with heaven and earth. This also applies to energy from pills which is extracted from plants that have absorbed and refined said yin-yang. Since the Heavenly Void Dragon God inherited the ability to communicate from the Heavenly God technique, then you''re also able to absorb the pill with a hundred percent efficiency."


    "Eh?" Asked (or grunted maybe?) Lu Piao. You could see him struggle with what Nie Li just said.


    My breath escaped my teeth in a sigh "You wouldn''t understand anyway¡­" and this caused a snicker to come from Nie Li, Zhang Ming, Zhu Xiangjun and Wei Nan. Du Ze was obediently cultivating.


    "I felt this when I tried practicing it. The Heavenly God is a technique that is designed to create a solid foundation which then evolves into versatility. It focuses on efficiency and core building. A person practicing this technique needs a lot more energy to step up so the Heavenly God technique was born to absorb every bit of energy without wasting anything, including pills. However there is an advantage as each step will be at least half a step stronger than someone at the same level cultivating a different technique. The Heavenly Void Dragon God inherited this trait from the former technique." I explained.


    Lu Piao nodded with an arrogant expression. He wanted to pretend he understood. I sighed, this blockhead didn''t understand anything I just said. Nie Li on the other hand looked at me with more respect than before. We finished up our cultivations for the evening. Taking the time to check my soul force, I saw it was at 142 and it jumped to 143 as I held the crystal. It seems like 2 star bronze was only a few days away. Pushing myself was not an answer but I needed to grow stronger, for Ning''er and my own''s futures. My plans also included joining Nie Li in a few days to the Holy Orchid city ruins. There were quite a bit of goodies there, and even if the Shadow Devil demon spirit was Nie Li''s, there should still be some other weapons and tools that could help.


    Returning to my dorm I resumed my project, moving locations to the training ground forest later that night to finish up. It was something I did a lot back on Earth, together with my grandmother from my mother''s side. This also brought a little sadness in my soul as I thought about my life that I lost, which I couldn''t even remember how I lost. Finishing everything up, I just needed to let it rest until the next day. It quickly became morning and as soon as I woke up I excitedly went to a covered ceramic tray that contained a strange, sweet smelling substance. I poked at the substance and confirmed it was solid so I gently scooped it out, cut it into pieces and thoroughly tested it out as I was getting ready for school.


    Making it to school earlier than usual, I sought an opportunity to catch a girl when she was alone. Long Wan knew her from the orphanage so we were relatively familiar with each other but not particularly close. What was known to me was that: a) she sat next to Ning''er and b) she was incredibly avaricious so there were few moral things she would refuse to do when offered the right sum. At one point she pretended to be someone''s girlfriend for a day for fifteen demon spirit coins. She didn''t engage in anything like prostitution¡­ well at least if she did she was discrete enough that nobody found out, another trait I found valuable in this moment. "Chao Xing." I nodded and she smiled and nodded back, saying my name in acknowledgement "I have a favor to ask you¡­" she tilted her head in curiosity. Like I said, whether this life or the other, I was a lone wolf so this was unusual for her to see me like this. Removing my hand to her pocket I passed her a card for 500 demon spirit coins and a small nicely wrapped square package the size of her palm in my other.


    She understandably looked shocked. That was enough money for a single person to live decently for a year. Before she could voice her questions I continued "The money is yours. In exchange I want you to give this small package to Xiao Ning''er as discretely as possible, preferably when no-one is looking. Don''t tell her it''s from me just in case someone is listening. If it all goes well, I will give you ten thousand coins in the next month. Can I trust you?" If my project didn''t work out I could always sell a pill or two and get the money. Rich or not, I will keep my word.


    Her brain seemed to have gone into meltdown but quickly reset at the sight of the money. Tiny hands moved so fast that both the package and the card were gone in an instant. She put a finger on her lips and winked at me with a smile before doing a one-eighty and walking away. Blinking twice, I looked at my now empty palms wondering just what the hell happened, and more importantly where did the card and the package go as they were nowhere to be seen. Scanning her attire you could see that she was dressed in a form fitting aquamarine cheongsam with something similar to leather biker shorts so even if she had pockets they would be mushed. Eh another unsolvable mystery to file under ''women'' secrets''.


    Joining the gang at the top of the amphitheater, I was greeted by a grinning Lu Piao. The gang was smiling knowingly, even the cool Du Ze''s mouth curved slightly upwards as he rested his back on the wall, hands together. "Long Wan, you''re already a man?" If you opened a dictionary and looked at tactful and discreet, you would see Lu Piao''s picture¡­ in the antonyms section. This guy had the delicacy of sandpaper.


    Sadly I was already used to these antics of his "Chao Xing is someone whom I grew up with at the orphanage, and is someone I view somewhat as family. I didn''t know you had such i.n.c.e.s.tuous fantasies Lu Piao." came my retort as I looked away with a hand on my mouth. His face lit up like a Christmas light, red and purple covering his skin. I chuckled a little and continued "Jokes aside, she recently did me a valuable favor and so I simply compensated a job well done. Ah! Speaking of that¡­" I fished out some cubes, similar to the one I indirectly gave to Ning''er, but smaller and less neatly packed. Turning to Nie Li I continued "This is the result of the project I was talking about¡­" my words came explaining the uses and at the end even Nie Li had to admit that this was incredibly valuable.


    Nie Li pocketed his sample before telling me "This is indeed worth a lot. Do you want me to join you at the Association? I could ensure you get a good price for it." he said in all seriousness.


    Smiling I bowed slightly but waved my hand in dismissal "Thank you brother Li but I couldn''t possibly ask that of you. Don''t worry, I can manage a couple of crusty old farts. Besides, you need to keep up with your cultivation. At this pace, within the next three days I will step into two star bronze. If you don''t put some effort I will leave you in the dust." I teased and he whisper laughed as we were still in class.


    "Well my technique is slower than yours so that''s natural." he dismissed and I nodded. It was somewhat true. While the Heavenly Void Dragon God technique shared it''s origin in the Heavenly God technique, it mutated into it''s own form with some special particularities.


    Lu Piao fisted his c.h.e.s.t "Heh, I will soon break into bronze too. My heaven granted talents allow me to cultivate even sleeping."


    I crossed my hands and nodded "Yup, mine as well¡­" I said to nobody but Nie Li heard me and looked at me expectantly, waiting for my explanation "It seemed that my new mutated soul form likes Yin energy so it started to absorb it during the night. Every morning, I would wake up with two to three more points in my soul realm, and once during full moon I got a five point boost just by sleeping."


    "Very amazing¡­" gasped Nie Li. I can understand why. My technique had too many advantages, not to mention built in void element DRM. We spent the rest of the time discussing alchemy when the subject of Purple Haze Grass came into play. From Nie Li I managed to understand about thirteen uses, most of them for cultivation with two of them for beautification. After this we talked a little about cultivation. Unintentionally because of the flow of the conversation Nie Li shared with us two more high-level cultivation techniques, named Yin-Yang Revolving technique and Soul Reforming technique . They weren''t element aligned and, although pathetic when compared to what the gang and I were practicing, they were leagues above anything Glory City had. Nie Li didn''t know how useful these techniques would be in the future in saving countless lives. As soon as I heard them I remember planning to raise an elite team to guard Glory City while the gang is in the Draconic Ruins Realm, especially against those five Heavenly Fate demon beast bitches.


    Evening came quick and I found myself at the reception of the Alchemy Association. Everyone above the rank of initiate apprentice was running around carrying herbs and rushing to refine. Probably going to refine the pills from Nie Li. Making my way slowly to the desk, I bowed gently "Good evening. I would like to request an audience with director Yang Xin."


    Bringing out the medal and showing it to her, before I could say any more a voice came from behind me "Young one, where did you get that?!"


    Turning around I was met by an aged man with gray hair, probably in his sixties. "Hello honorable master, I am Long Wan. With whom do I have the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of speaking?" I cupped my hands and bowed, the medal dangling from my fist.


    The old man stroked his short stub and answered "Greetings young Long Wan. I am known as Huyan Ming." . Huyan Ming, Huyan¡­ Ming, Huyan¡­ Lanruo. Ah! I remembered. Nie Li did consider that he could be related to Lanruo. He was also the elder examined Nie Li and knew of his identity in the association


    Nodding I held the medal to his vision "To answer your question honorable master, I am seeking an audience with director Yang Xin and I was told by my good brother Nie Li that this would prove of some use in securing it. It seems though that I have at a bad time. Perhaps I should return at another date."


    Moving at a speed that betrayed his age Huyan Ming grabbed my shoulders and smiled grandfatherly "Ah! No! It''s no problem at all. Please stay." he said before turning to the receptionist "Director Yang Xin said that all matters related to Nie Li to be passed directly to her. I will handle it from here." he said before ushering me down a corridor. As we were walking he took the opportunity and asked "If you don''t mind, what business do *you* have with the director?" he said in a polite speech. This was a funny thing here that had no structural analog in English. For example, *you* had multiple words that meant the same thing but one word could show great respect and another could be very insulting . He was using the former, rather than the later.


    Smiling I cupped my hands again in respect "Great master, I am a simple kid so please don''t speak so politely to me. " I said and he smirked and nodded before I continued "Besides, people speaking politely to me makes me feel old." This earned a hearty laugh from Huyan Ming. Seems like I was making a good impression. "As for my business, I wish to sell a recipe."


    "A recipe? For what?" he spoke, his tone much more familiar now.


    I put a finger on my lips and winked "With all due respect, we business men shouldn''t give up secrets easily." Huyan Ming nodded in acceptance just as we reached a paper and wood sliding door.


    "President Yang Xin, are you in? This is Huyan Ming. A friend of Nie Li''s has come to see you. " the old man announced and not even a split second later a thud-like crash was heard, preceded by a feminine yelp.


    "Ah! Thank you!" the woman said, holding her forehead and dusting herself with her other hand "Sorry you had to see me in this state."


    I waved my hands in front of my c.h.e.s.t "No. I must apologize for coming without an appointment." I bowed cupping my hands.


    She waved me off and said with a smile "Don''t worry about it. Nie Li and his friends are always welcome." she said before turning to a man in the side of the room "Chu Ning, go brew some tea for our guest!" The man didn''t say anything. He took a judging look at me before scurrying off like a c.o.c.kroach. What? This guy looked at me like I was some snot nosed brat, so I won''t describe him nicely. "Anyway, please have a seat." she motioned to a couch and I nodded and sat down. She took an empty seat opposite of a low table. Huyan Ming retired himself to go refine more pills. "So, what can I do for you?" asked Yang Xin.


    Fishing in my jacket pocket I pulled out a sample piece wrapped relatively nicely in paper before laying down on the table and sliding it to her. She took it in her hands and gave a long inhale through her nose, as if to judge the fragrance. "This is something I discovered recently. It is very easy to make, pretty adaptable and has a very useful property. And before you ask, it''s not edible." I said, sipping a freshly brought cup of tea. Yang Xing dismissed her assistant before returning to the package and eying it closely "Ah, please open it." I motioned and she gently unwrapped the package to find a yellow-gray solid block.


    "What is it?" she asked curiously, feeling it in her hands and quite enjoying the texture considering how fast her hands were moving on it''s surface.


    "It is a cleaning product. It has the ability to allow oils and water to mix to some degree. I call it ''Soap''." Who would''ve guessed.


    She eyed the block carefully before turning to me "You say it''s a cleaning product. What can it clean?"


    Smirking I nodded "Personally, I''ve used different variations to wash my hair, my skin, my clothes, my kitchen and dining equipment and the floor of my dorm room." I said taking another sip of tea. Who woulda thought that c.o.c.kroaches can brew such fine tea. "There are a couple of things it can''t clean, baked in grease for example. However those usually don''t come out with anything other than a hammer and chisel or a sharp knife. Also, if you combine it with a couple of other herbs it can beautify the skin."


    Yang Xin slapped her hands on the table and moved forward "This is amazing! How is it made." she shouted at me, her knockers swaying side to side. In her position, her cleavage looked more like a canyon. Transmigration or not, I was still a 13 year old boy with a teenage d.i.c.k and it was waking up.


    Moving my head to the side and shielding my eyes I coughed "Director, not to sound rude but please show more modesty." I stated in an attempt to be gentlemanly.


    Yang Xin scoffed "Forget that, it''s not like I''ll lose any skin from you looking. More importantly is this... Soap..." She said letting the unfamiliar word roll off her tongue. This woman is incredible, no wonder she was the director of this Alchemists Association.


    Swallowing hard I calmed myself down and said "It can be made by anyone at home so even initiates at the association can make it. I know that Nie Li occupied the senior ones and the masters with the new pills. So this would provide a source of income for the lesser ones. It would also be beneficial to the association in the whole."


    She looked like a kid in the candy store "Enough beating around the bush. What do you want for the recipe?" The director said with a business smile.


    "20% of the profits." I said nodding.


    "No." Yang Xin answered taking me by surprise. "We made a deal with Nie Li and his master for 30% on the pills. We will not take advantage of one of his friends and a potential partner. We will give 30%." She said sipping her tea as well.


    This woman. I had no reason to refuse so I''ve simply passed on my notes on the subject. She took a look at them and her mouth hit the floor. "This, is stupidly cheap to make...". After finishing the tea we bid each other farewell after telling me to return in three days to collect my first cut.


    The next day I returned Nie Li''s medal and from there on was just a basic routine, same for the following day. On the third day I visited the Alchemy Association again, and this time I was escorted to Xin''s offic by the receptionist without any delay. "Ah, Long Wan. How are you?" She asked kindly.


    "Fate has been favorable towards me recently. Hope it treated you the same." I replied as she handed me an ornate storage ring.


    "This is your cut, there should be about 350 million demon spirit coins. I''ve included a few new pills as a bonus." She said smiling. Nodding I accepted. WAIT! 350 MILLION? The surprised caused the tea to deepthoat me hard. After a few coughs and a another few more breaths of air I turned to Yang Xin to hopefully get an explanation on this. Returning my gaze with a warm smile she read my mind and didn''t wait for me to ask "A batch was sold the day before yesterday and it became unbelievably popular overnight. We received large orders from many stores and aristocratic families. Our initiates will be very busy the next few weeks." she took a sip of the tea before continuing "And by the way, this is just from the 10% down payment we requested."


    This was incredible. If 350 f.u.c.k.i.n.g million coins was just the down payment, doesn''t that mean that when the order is finished I''ll be a demon spirit coin billionaire? Talk about an untapped market "Thank you. This is, a lot more than I''ve expected." We chatted a bit more before I bid them farewell. But before I left I turned back and informed her of an event in a few days and for a small favor. Hearing me out, she raised an eyebrow but then shot me back the smile of a troublemaker. Ah, if I had a sister I would''ve definitely loved her being it.


    Feeling the metaphorical weight of the cash in my ring, I decided to visit the general smith store. I saluted the shopkeeper who looked annoyed that I was there. He probably thought I was just some poor brat wasting his time buying some cheap knife or something. After looking around I retreated from the heavily ornate items sections. Gold was pretty to look at but its soft, heavy and stands out too much. Those are three traits too many in a battle. As a major nerd, I wanted something like those found in videogames but this wasn''t a game. I didn''t have the option to save and reload so I needed to think practical. However, I also had little to no experience in this world''s smithing so I went straight to the shopkeeper. "Sir. Do you have a set or preferably two or three of Gold rank armor or higher?"


    Hearing my question, the aged salesman nearly fell from his seat "Brat, don''t startle me like that! Do you know how much that would costs?" he stated angrily at me.


    Smiling I pulled out five cards of ten thousand coins each and waved them in front of him to state the point that I was not some poor brat "Each set should be around nine hundred thousand coins. In the auction, it would probably reach one million." I said remembering how Nie Li broke Nie Hai''s heart during the auction with the Gold rank set.


    Seeing the big cards the shopkeeper''s expression went from sour to incredibly sweet in a few seconds "Ah, young master, unfortunately we don''t stock any Gold rank armor. We bring them to order in a week. We only have Bronze rank sets." he said apologetically.


    Cupping my chin in thought for a second I thought about the timeline. That armor was necessary for the trip to the Holy Orchid ruins, and that would happen in the next few days. At worst I had about three, maybe four days until then. Turning to the shopkeeper''s desk I willed 3 million demon spirit coins to appear. The man was visibly shocked to see so much money "Consider this my submission for an order of three sets, one should fit a female. If you can bring them in 4 days I will pay you this amount again extra and double this if you can do it in three days or less."


    "Young master, I shall do my very best!" he said as he put the money away. Money burns fast but it''s the best fuel to get the job done, especially when you know more is coming your way "Would there be anything else?"


    Nodding I continued "I need five sets of the best Bronze Rank armor you have and five decent Bronze Rank spears , ten of the largest sizes storage rings you have on you and a Gold Rank forbidden technique, sufficiently strong enough to kill a an agile 1 star Gold Rank beast" I listed. Spears were the best weapons for beginners. You didn''t need much practice to point a pointy thing at something. Swords needed much more finesse and practice.


    "Young master I have everything you need except the storage scroll. I can get you one in three days but it will cost three million coins. The rest of your order totals to five million two hundred thousand and seventy five. I''ve put everything inside a ring which is on the house." The shopkeeper handed me the ring with two hands and I bid farewell after making ten million spirit coins appear on his desk and telling him I will check every day for the order. He offered to send someone to notify me but I said I valued discretion which he understood.


    It was pretty late when I returned to the dorm. As I was walking down the corridor towards my room I passed by a door when I felt a familiar presence. Knocking twice I waited a bit before hearing a male voice ask for my identity. "It''s Long Wan."


    The door immediately opened to reveal Du Ze on the other side. "Long Wan, good to see you. What can I do for you?" he said extending a hand.


    I smiled and met his forearm with mine in a friendly greeting "I have something for you." I said as I made a ring appear from my ring (ringception).


    His eyes widened fast "Long Wan, I can''t. That''s way to expensive." he said but took his hand and shoved the ring in it.


    "Just take it. I got it for you and can''t return it." said as he took to looking at it "Besides, the ring is not the gift but the wrapping. Inside the ring you will find a set of top quality bronze rank armor, invincible under Silver Rank, as well as a somewhat mediocre bronze rank spear and twenty-five million demon spirit coins." I said watching his jaw drop to the floor.


    "Long Wan, this is too much! I won''t be able to repay yo..." he said but I stopped him by raising a hand in his face.


    Grabbing his shoulders I looked at him dead in the eye "An amount of money like this is nothing compared to my friend''s life. Use those items and grow into a great man." I said as he looked at the ring again and tightened his fist around it. "Besides I know you and your family are facing some difficulties right now. Didn''t your sisters sold themselves into marriage to fund your studies? Perhaps this will help getting them the life they deserve."


    He looked absolutely shocked. It was natural of course since that was his greatest shame. Turning to me with a stunned look he opened his mouth but no words came out.


    Tightening my grip on his shoulders I continued "How could I not know if my good brother is suffering. Besides the sisters of my brother are my sisters as well and it''s natural to help family. So don''t even think about paying me back." This guy was a lot of work to convince to take a gift that honestly didn''t have any strings attached. I just wanted to raise his opinion of me a little. And considering I had at least a three billion coins to come, this was truly chickenfeed for my bank account.


    Tears leaked from the corner of his eyes as he looked into mine and nodded "Then, I will accept this gift. Please let me know if I can do anything for you in the future."


    "Haha! The only thing I need from you is your friendship. Let''s grow old and give our wives headaches together." I said bumping my fist on his c.h.e.s.t causing a little laughter to escape his throat. After a while I bid him goodnight and went ahead and visited Lu Piao and the trio to give them their gifts as well, getting similar reactions in return. Lu Piao was the easiest to convince and we even shared some baiju that I bought from the market. All hail no drinking age restrictions!


    Next morning I awoke with a boom, quite literally as my Soul Realm had absorbed the night''s energies and shot me up to two star Bronze and blew the covers off my bed. As I made my way to class and up the stairs I wondered what Bitch Xiu would say if she saw this lowly orange realm commoner get to two star bronze on his own in a little over a week. And speaking of said woman, she came in and immediately ordered us to sit down. Ah, so today is that day. Chanting the words of the Heavenly Void Dragon God Technique whilst limiting my soul realm I began to slowly absorb the soul force around me when I felt a distortion. Imagine that soul force is like air and you become a vacuum when cultivating. If something solid gets in between you and the wind then you will naturally feel less draft coming from that direction. It was akin to a biological radar.


    Turning around I was met with empty air. It seems that the elders were indeed masking their presence but unlike the Shadow Devil who could become intangible, they only projected an intent to be ignored so the senses of weaker beings would naturally disregard whatever they detected. Looking around I also saw that Nie Li had turned and we met gazes halfway. He looked surprised that I reacted but it quickly turned into a knowing smirk before deciding to rest his head on the desk.


    "Nie LI!" Shen Xiu screamed out loud. She was in the process of explaining inscription patterns, specifically her family''s Scarlet Sunburst pattern. As a side note, during the days I waited for the Alchemist Association to sell the soap, I began reading on arrays and foundation patterns. What I had discovered was that they essentially functioned as visual programming blocks. Having had mild experience with a program called Labview during my days in collage, I found them easier than most in deciphering them. Coupled with my new supercharged memory I found it actually enjoyable to study them. Sadly, my calligraphy though was abysmal to say the least, so theory was as far as I could go.


    The ginger groggily raised his head and looked at her half asleep "What do you want?" he asked rudely, no hint of respect in his tone.


    This made Shen Xiu boiling mad. The students began to speak of his imminent demise. Du Ze and Pu Liao awkwardly smiled at each other. Seems like they wouldn''t dare be caught sleeping in class. As for me, I just bid my time waiting for the right moment.


    Shen Xiu said in a deep voice, "You are actually sleeping in my class. Do you already know all of this stuff?"


    "Yeah," Nie Li calmly said.


    "You¡­.." Shen Xiu became speechless from being choked by Nie Li''s words. Since the start of the lesson Nie Li has been sleeping so naturally he seemed just an average troublemaker. Shen Xiu coldly sneered, "Since you already know, why don''t you tell us about the inscription pattern on the board?"


    Nie Li''s eyes swept across the inscription pattern and said, "This is a low-graded Sacred Flaming Pattern. It can barely be considered a Bronze pattern. With 38 patterns in it''s structure " Hearing what Nie Li just said, the whole class started laughing


    "Haha, I almost died from laughing. He really did not listen to anything teacher said. To actually say that this Scarlet Sunburst Pattern has 38 foundation pattern in it''s structure when, earlier on, teacher Shen Xiu just introduced that there are 36 foundation patterns in it''s structure!" one of the other kids, a noble said while he''s laughing.


    Growling, I turned to him and said loudly "Amateurs!" causing the class to stop and turn to me "The two mirroring boundary foundation patterns are actually made of two patterns each, making them actually four. However since nobody knew how to use them other than together for Sacred Flame , they are considered as one pattern." I had studied the book of Divine Lightning Fire in preparation for this day. Specifically, I memorized all the patterns in chapter seven of that book, even though I barely understood part of them "The bottom pattern is a link one, allowing flame attribute to be merged with some other attribute." When I read the Divine Lightning Fire book I noticed that those patterns were always at the end of Sacred Flame inscriptions and continued on with some other unknown scribblings, which I suspected were lightning attributed, duh. But since during the Age of Darkness Glory City lost most other attribute inscriptions except for a small portion of them, coming from three categories. Snow Wind Patterns, Sacred Flaming Patterns, War Prime Patterns. The linked inscriptions belonged to none of them if my new supermemory worked as I expected.


    However, I wasn''t done there with the Sacred Family. I was an important business partner with the Alchemy Association. Yesterday they caused a huge uproar and got a surge in power due to releasing Nie Li''s pills to market. Nie Li got his share and gifted each of us with a bottle of one thousand Soul Nurturing Pills, six hundred Soul Concentrating Pills, two hundred Soul Temper Pills, a hundred Nine Transformation Pills, and a hundred Scarlet Body Enhancing Pill and also told us not to hesitate to let him know when we ran out. Total estimated value: nearly two hundred million per person. Conclusion: Nie Li was filthy rich now and would get richer.


    To continue tearing into the Sacred Family I continued "That inscription pattern that you showed us, I saw it before in a book from the Snow Wind Empire era." This made many in the class gasp "Volume seven of the Book of Divine Lightning Fire to be exact. It was part of a much more complex inscription that I couldn''t understand. Some idiot that also couldn''t understand it ripped out the Sacred Flame part the rest, added another fire attribute inscription to the boundary pattern to essentially cork it and turned it into this thing that is only useful for lighting incense."


    Nie Li backed me up "The original name of this inscription pattern is called Lightning Flame Burst Pattern and is a pattern of Lightning Fire attribute . It is a Silver Ranked pattern that consists of 60 foundation patterns. It can be considered a little complicated, merging Divine Lightning inscriptions patterns with Sacred Flame ones. With no real combat capabilities, it could only be given to the Sacred Flame Pattern practitioners to study."


    The students in the class looked at each other. You could tell that they had some difficulty understanding what I''ve said. Truthfully even I didn''t understand it completely but I was still comfortably above Shen Xiu. She was still ten years too young to mess with me, and a couple of centuries behind Nie Li.


    "Ridiculous! Such a book does not exist in the world! And what are you talking about with that Divine Lightning inscription?" Shen Xiu thought for awhile and countered.


    Seeing how furious Shen Xiu was, Nie Li chuckled lightly and said, "Teacher Shen Xiu is so knowledgeable, saying the book doesn''t exist because you''ve never seen it before. Does that mean that teacher Shen Xiu has read all the books in the world?"


    "Book of Divine Lightning Fire? Oh I remembered, I think I''ve borrowed such a book from the library!" a commoner student suddenly said in a frightened voice. The voice of this commoner student caused Shen Xiu''s face to darken. This commoner student flipped the Book of Divine Lightning Fire open. This book is a copied version, not the original copy. It was written with words that belonged to the language of Snow Wind Empire. I could also feel the hidden experts in the back shift. The vice-principal probably sent his subordinate Lu Ye to retrieve the book.


    The novel stated that when roaming the continent during his previous life, Nie Li became proficient with seven languages. Upon reaching Legend rank, he read various books and never forgot their content. Not to mention, in his previous life, Nie Li stayed in the stationary space-time realm within the Temporal Demon Spirit Book for hundreds of years, reading millions of books while he''s inside. There isn''t any obstacle in reading the words written by the language of Snow Wind Empire for Nie Li. Every student in the class focused their eyes on the Book of Divine Lightning Fire that the commoner student was holding. Both Ye Ziyun and Shen Yue were also showing very surprised looks on their faces. Being members of the three major families, they also read a lot of books, but they didn''t know that such a book called the Book of Divine Lightning Fire existed. This book is too obscure, therefore very few would take the initiative to learn from it. Since Lightning Fire inscription patterns have been long lost during the Age of Darkness, there were only a few books, such as the Book of Divine Lightning Fire, lying around. All of these were untranslated, so they were shelved. Occasionally, there would be some students borrowing them, but after realizing that they couldn''t understand the content, they would immediately put them back.


    "Let me see, Book of Divine Lightning Fire volume seven." The commoner student immediately began rummaging through the book. This Book of Divine Lightning Fire was several hundred pages thick. Inside, the book was filled with ill.u.s.trations, text, and Lightning Fire inscription pattern diagrams. There was no translation for it after the first volume. The complex, ancient words caused many people to have a headache just by looking at it. After turning to volume seven, the commoner student realized that this volume alone had hundreds of inscription patterns. He started comparing them one by one with the one on the board, searching for the one that looked similar to the Scarlet Sunburst inscription pattern.


    Everyone in the class looked like they were getting impatient.


    Shen Xiu''s face frosted coldly and said, "You probably found this book in some corner of the library and don''t even know what was written in it. Yet, you say that the Scarlet Sunburst originated from that book! Arrogant children, you dare defile the ancestors of my Sacred family! If you can''t find the inscription pattern, I''ll go to the Judgement Hall to sue you two for slandering my family''s reputation!"


    Frowning I met her frosty gaze with my own "Teacher Shen Xiu, you are being a bully! You threaten us with such punishment. You will need to sincerely apologize after we are proven correct, otherwise *I* will sue you and the Sacred Family for defamation and threats." putting emphasis on the I part.


    Nie Li laughed loudly and said, "Teacher Shen Xiu, it''s still too early to say this kind of stuff. This book was left over during the Snow Wind Empire''s time, existing over a few thousand years. It was written long before the creation of the Sacred family, right?"


    "Correct!" answered Shen Xiu nodding her head. This was a hard fact that she couldn''t deny. However she still kept her glare aimed at me.


    "Then, it''s simple." Nie Li looked at the commoner student. At the same time, looking directly into her eyes with the most defiant look I had, my words came echoing Nie Li''s "Flip thirty pages backwards from volume seven. The sixth diagram on page thirty. " we both said before turning to face each other with raised eyebrows. Those expressions quickly turned into knowing smirks.


    Shen Xiu''s face lost all traces of blood. She maybe had some small doubts if we were each alone, but together she just couldn''t keep believing in herself. If our words were true, it would be the stain of Sacred family. Because Sacred family had publicly announced that the Scarlet Sunburst inscription pattern, as well as 16 other inscription patterns, were self-created by the first generation house master of the Sacred family. This caused a huge increase in the Sacred family''s reputation. If the public were to find out that Sacred family''s inscription patterns were plagiarized from the ancient book, then the reputation of the Sacred family would be greatly affected. Seeing Shen Xiu''s face show traces of fear, Nie Li secretly smiled. The Sacred family''s fame mostly came from being the bearer of the Sacred Flame inscription patterns, which was claimed by many past house masters, to have been self-created inscription patterns. Their extraordinary talent is said to have saved the Glory City from distress.


    In Nie Li''s previous life, during the destruction of Glory City, every family was fighting for the survival of the city. The Sacred family was supposed to guard the west gate of the Glory City, but during the outbreak of the war, in order to save their own strength, they got every single one of the family''s experts to leave, most likely to the Abyss Prison Realm .This caused the breach of the west gate, and allowed the Snow Wind demon beasts to rampage into the city. In the novel it was said that Nie Li still remembers the horrifying scene caused by the demon beasts massacre. He and the rest of the survivors had no choice but to leave leaving Glory City! There was no doubt that after his rebirth, Nie Li didn''t have any good impressions towards the Sacred family. And neither did I.


    "Page thirty, sixth diagram¡­" The commoner student murmured. After being guided he found the Lightning Fire inscription pattern. "Ah!" he exclaimed. The crowd of students also let out a sound of surprise. My guess would be that they saw the pattern matched what we said.


    Just then Shen Yue who was among the crowd, looked towards the both of us, his eyes full of hatred. Can''t really blame him, we are discrediting their family.


    "So what if the first generation house master of my Sacred family took it from the Book of Divine Lightning Fire?" Shen Xiu coldly replied.


    "The Demon Spiritualist code of conduct¡­" I began and paused to wait for Nie Li. I didn''t wait long though as he read my thoughts " Article 161: When taking inscription patterns or copying inscription patterns from other demon spiritualists¡­" we then continued together as if one voice "One must indicate their source and cannot claim them to be self-created. This is the basics of Demon Spiritualist ethics!" we shot each other a side glance before returning to Shen Xiu


    "You¡­.you..." Shen Xiu trembled from the anger.


    Nie Li didn''t let it end there " The Demon Spiritualist code of conduct has been around for three thousands years. It long predates the Sacred Family." he said with venom in his sweet voice. "If they were learning from the Lightning Flame inscription patterns in order to create their own inscription pattern, then it''s fine. However, the Sacred family''s first generation house master directly took half of it and claimed it to be his own. Isn''t it a little too¡­.. absurd? Could the first generation house master of the Sacred family have some unmentionable difficulties?" Nie Li blinked his eyes as he spoke innocently. Shen Xiu and her nephew now had murder written all over their faces.


    The students also started to whisper "So the first generation house master of Sacred family was such a person." "It''s said that, although the first house master of the Sacred family was only a Gold Rank demon spiritualist, in the studies of inscription patterns, he was a great master who self-created several Sacred Flame inscription patterns. Has the Sacred family always been at the forefront of Sacred Flame Inscriptions?" "Never thought that the Scarlet Sunburst is actually copied from an ancient book." "I looked at the Snow Wind inscription pattern''s record. The inscriptions inside has been reproduced or taken from ancient books but they always indicated their source. They never claimed it to be self-created." "This is the ethics of Demon Spiritualists. Every noble Demon Spiritualist would do the same!"


    Shen Yue stood up from his seat and said with a dark expression, "You two! My Sacred family has existed for three hundred years. We are one of the three major families in Glory City. We aren''t a family that the likes of you, ordinary people, can criticize! This Scarlet Sunburst was written in the first house master''s notes. Originally, it was not to be publicly announced. We younger generations found it when we were arranging the first house master''s notes, so we thought that it was created by him. That''s normal." Shen Yue deepened his voice when he mentioned "Major Family", and pointed out that we had mediocre origins, all this loud and clear. If we were to pursue it further, then, as the Sacred family, being one of the major families definitely wouldn''t let us off.


    My rage boiled. I expected this reaction from Shen Yue, as per the novel but reading a something on the web and listening to it live is like watching road rage videos and actually getting cut off. This little brat actually dared to do it so, for once, I couldn''t take it lying down. I stood up myself "First teacher Shen threatens me with prosecution for being a good student. Now classmate Shen wants to say that pointing out careless copyright infringements are not some things commoners should do because of one''s family''s prestige. In this time when Glory City is facing attacks on all sides from demon beasts, is this showing the true face the Sacred family!?" I said pushing back, nearly yelling the last part back at him making him do a double take.


    The classmates began to frown as they looked at the Sacred family members. Their futures were at stake and these people only knew how to sow discord. Even Ning''er and Ye Ziyun couldn''t help look at both Shen in anger and disgust.


    Hearing Shen Yue''s words, Nie Li became visibly unhappy "Student Shen Yue is an arrogant bully. Ah, fortunately the law in Glory City is strict . Otherwise, I''d really be worried about what the Sacred family would do¡­ I have faith that a big family like the Sacred Family would protect our safety. If anything were to happen to us, I''m afraid the Sacred family wouldn''t be able to escape with their face intact." Nie Li put it in a way that if Sacred family were to go after us, then wouldn''t that be as if they were admitting their guilt?


    I noticed that Ye Ziyun couldn''t help but to look at Nie Li again. Recently, Nie Li''s actions made her unable to ignore his existence. On the other hand Ning''er eyes were glued on me, admiration and care showing all the way. Her family has always been wanting to marry her off to the Sacred family so seeing her hope filled vision made me boil on the inside. However, I suppressed it. There was no way to face off against the Sacred family yet. The current me had the funds but was lacking in strength.


    My focus snapped when I once again felt movement from the experts behind me. Lu Ye probably had returned with the book from the library and presented it to Ye Xiu. My guess would be that at this moment they were lamenting on Nie Li''s and mine''s poor talent.


    Shen Xiu looked at me with a vision that would make a lesser man tremble. I suspected that her hatred for Nie Li and myself had reached the limit, and she coldly said , "Today''s matters, I will remember it!" Shen Xiu is a vindictive person. BUT SO AM I!


    Smiling viscously I began "Teacher Shen Xiu! How about a bet?"


    She sneered but raised an eyebrow "A bet?"


    "I bet I can reach 3 star Bronze in two months." Gasps were heard from the class "If you win, I will leave the school and stop following the martial Dao." Who are we kidding, with the pills from Nie Li and my Heavenly Void Dragon God, I was worried I would be knocking on the door to Gold rank by then.


    "You actually think you can reach Bronze rank within two months from a soul force of 11? More so you think you can reach 3 star Bronze?" she said. I suspect she would be laughing if not for the earlier humiliation.


    Nodding I continued "I do. And I''m a man of my word. However, if I win the bet, you will resign from this school the same day I win. Do you dare?"


    "That being the case, why would I not dare? I will meet your bet." she flicked her hair at me.


    Raising an eyebrow I smirked "Actually, let''s make it more interesting." I said and she reflected my eyebrow raise "I also bet I can reach Silver rank at testing. If I can''t then I will sign my life as a servant of the Sacred Family to do with as you please, including end." Shen Xiu''s visage actually changed to a surprised one "However, if I win, besides you resigning from your teaching position, you will also owe me a favor you won''t be able to refuse, even if it means killing yourself or injuring the Sacred Family''s reputation."


    She trembled a little "You¡­ You would actually bet your life away?!"


    Resting my hands on my h.i.p.s I nodded, "I only asked the question. Will you stake yourself as well?"


    For a moment, Shen Xiu seemed conflicted . It was a big bet afterall. A slave servant versus a favour that couldn''t be refused no matter what. Not to mention that, with the experts here there was no way she could back out if she accepted the deal. She recovered quickly though and returned with a knowing smile "Very well, I accept your conditions. Don''t beg for forgiveness afterwards!" she hmphed. From the novel, I could tell that in her mind there was really no way an Orange soul realm could reach such heights. Even that geezer Ye Mo, a cyan soul realm couldn''t have such a growth in his prime.


    As she turned to leave the class I called out "Teacher Shen Xiu, I said am a man of my word. You slandered me in front of my classmates and friends when discussing the Lightning Flame Burst Pattern inscription, and I said I will sue you for it. If you leave now without apologizing then expect a summon to the Justice Hall to face charges of defamation!" I challenged loudly.


    The students became deathly quiet. Most commoners and even some nobles around me sunk in their seats to make themselves as small as possible. Even Ning''er had a terrified image adorning her face as she looked at me, blood drained from her face. It pained my soul to see such a good girl, MY girl frightened by such a lowlife. Trying to calm her down I shot her a kind wink, letting few see it. Well, even if they did, it wouldn''t matter anymore. I had Nie Li , the Alchemy Association and money on my side. My backing was far more valuable than the Sacred family. Speaking of Nie Li, he was the only one in class to make a sound, muffling his chuckles but doing so very poorly.


    Shen Xiu grit her teeth and growled as she merged with her demon spirit, gaining a beastly appearance. She flexed her nails, as if my throat was in her grasp, enjoying tearing out my imaginary vocal cords. Du Ze, Lu Piao, Zhang Ming, Zhu Xiangjun and Wei Nan shifted in their seats, probably to try and protect me. However before any party could act, the energies behind me shifted once again, growing stronger and aiming for Shen Xiu. Her eyes widened momentarily before releasing her transformation. She clenched her fists so hard a drop of blood flowed from her palms. Shen Xiu aimed her face at the floor while saying, "Shen Xiu¡­ made a grave mistake. This one admits her wrongs." she apologized like a little girl caught with the hand in the cookie jar by her father.


    Crossing my hands in front of my c.h.e.s.t, aiming my cold gaze at her before nodding "As long as you admit your wrongs¡­" No point in pushing this further.


    She quickly left the room, the humiliation reaching her breaking point.


    Letting out a small chuckle I turned once again to the seemingly empty seats and cupped my hands and whispered "Thank you for your assistance vice-principal Ye Sheng, professor Lu Ye and elder Ye!"


    The air shimmered and the three appeared almost out of thin air "Young one, that was reckless." Ye Sheng said with a somber tone.


    "How did you know we were here?" Lu Ye asked in surprise. A twelve-thirteen year old kid discovered him so easily when he was hiding his presence.


    Rubbing the back of my head I began grinning. I knew about you three from the novel but that wouldn''t fly in this situation "If I cultivate, I feel the surrounding soul force shift whenever something comes close. Even if you project your intent to hide, you can''t erase your physical presence. I suspected something from how teacher Shen Xiu was behaving so I started cultivating, and every student is familiar with the vice-principal''s and the professor''s presence. And the presence of the Snow Wind family members, especially one as strong as the elder''s is not easily confused nor forgotten."


    Reading their expressions, Ye Sheng and Lu Ye seemed to have some insights. This would definitely help them in the future. The elder Ye, Ye Shuo didn''t show anything but that was to be expected. He was the City Lord''s chief intelligence officer. It wouldn''t do well for a spy master to show emotion so easily.


    However , he finally opened his eyes and looked at me and Nie Li who was observing us from a distance. He then shifted his eyes to Shen Yue who was visibly shocked at the presence of the elders in the classroom. The rest of the students, seeing the vice principal was here, were all on their best behaviour. Finally returning to me he asked "You said that you suspected Shen Xiu''s behaviour." he let those words linger expecting my answer


    Nodding I smiled "Teacher Shen Xiu was being an unusually good teacher today. Usually she just spends the day degrading commoners, praising nobles, fawning over her brat of a nephew and generally sowing discord amongst the class."


    A loud thud came from Shen Yue as he hit his desk with his fists "Long Wan, you''re going too far!" he yelled while pointing at me.


    Turning around to meet him I scolded with a disappointed expression "Shen Yue, the a.d.u.l.ts are talking. You should be quiet now. Honestly, brats these days¡­" I sighed while shaking my head. His hostility was radiating outward so intensely that it nearly tanned the back of my neck. However he couldn''t act now with the elders next to me. Said elders chuckled at my antics. I was implying that Shen Yue was nothing but a child to me. Well, I was a 29 year old man in the body of a 13 year old. And don''t mess with the situation with Ning''er. If a f.u.c.k.i.n.g centuries old geezer could court Ye Ziyun then so could I. Shen Yue retreated quickly, probably to vent his anger somewhere.


    The principle let out a little laugh before his expression turned serious "Is this true?" Shen Xiu was a teacher at the institute so it was his responsibility to monitor her performance. Such an accusation if proven correct would damage it''s reputation, and by consequence his.


    Shrugging I motioned to the class "If vice-principal inquired about it in class then there wouldn''t be a straight answer. Everyone fears upsetting the Sacred Family too much so the students wouldn''t admit to it even under the threat of death." I said as he closed his eyes in contemplation. However, I continued "Vice principal needs not do anything. When the testing period comes things will take care of themselves."


    Ye Shuo looked at me with some kind of analytical expression "Do you actually believe you can reach Silver rank within two months from a soul force of 11?"


    There was no harm in having such powerful people back me up. Nie Li needed secrecy for his family, while I had no such constraints. Focusing, I stirred my soul ocean until a teal green mist surrounded me. The men nearly fell over as this was the glow of a Bronze rank demon spiritualist.


    Ye Sheng swallowed hard "We will need to move you to the genius class immediately." he whispered. A twelve year old kid moving from a soul force of 11 to over 100 in less than a week is unheard of so naturally he wants to protect me. However, I lift my hands to stop him.


    "This advance is due to my friends, so while I give many tanks to vice-principal, I must decline for now. We will follow the same dao together." I bowed and cupped my hands politely. The genius class would serve no help to me. Actually being in a different class than Nie Li would actually harm my future, so thanks but no thanks!


    Ye Shuo turned to the vice-principal and nodded. Thus he left me an impression that he was someone who could respect camaraderie and loyalty, which were bonus points in my book. "Very well¡­" muttered Ye Shen, disappointment edging his tone "However if you manage to pass the finals, then I expect no refusal." he said sternly. That''s fine with me also. By the time the year ends all of us will give him a reason to stick us together.


    Nodding I smiled "That''s fine" I said cupping my hands.


    Ye Sheng hummed a bit before saying, "We elders here admire yours and student Nie Li''s thirsts for knowledge. You shall be appointed library clerks. It comes with some benefits and no disadvantages."


    I bowed in thanks "I think I speak honestly on behalf of my friend by saying our thanks to the elders!". The men nodded and disappeared into thin air. A library clerk position means you get a decent amount of coins, about enough to keep a commoner family well fed but still a measly sum compared to what Nie Li and I were worth. But more valuably, we could reserve any section of the library as we so wished, provided we didn''t abuse the ability. This meant that the library was now our official base of operations¡­


    Hold on, that wouldn''t do. I''m, for f.u.c.k-all, stinking rich right now. And being an orphan was a cruel thing but it had small perks (To all the orphans out there I am sorry for this. I can understand you would these ''perks'' and probably an arm to have a family). One of which was that I was my own man¡­ boy¡­ ah f.u.c.k it! I was my own person. I should be buying my own house, probably tonight.


    On second thought, cancel that idea. The Sacred family was now as pissed-off as a hornet with a hernia so living alone might as well be equal to putting my neck on the chopping block. Yeah¡­ that house would have to wait. Better stay in the institute grounds, while outside I''ll stick to the populated sections.


    Bidding farewell to the group I made my way to the dorms as I wanted to wash before meeting them at the library to cultivate. A man should be clean at all times. By this time Shen Xiu should be barging in Ye Sheng''s office bitching up a storm. But since Ye Shuo supported me and he was witness to what had happened, Shen Xiu could only put on her period p.a.n.t.i.e.s and endure. The path to the dorms passed through a garden of sorts. As I was walking I noticed that my Void radar¡­ crappy name, let''s change it. Let''s see~ Void¡­ sonar. No, even worse. Hmm I can sense things around me so¡­ sense? Void sense. Rolls off the tongue better. Anyway, I noticed that my void sense was still active even though I wasn''t cultivating and I actually had to will it to stop. Meditating inwards a bit, I noticed that my new soul form had changed yet again, this time it seemed that it constantly absorbed waves of translucid mist from all around it. When I mentally ordered it to stop, so did my void sense.


    I began to speculate that my soul realm was semi-sentient. It instinctually knew what techniques and abilities would be useful to me and would transform itself to better suit my needs. What the f.u.c.k? What is this, a Prototype ripoff? Next thing you know, I''ll be ripping living things in pieces and absorbing their biomass, while questi-screaming ''where is my daughter?''. Eww¡­ Well, I''m definitely someone who doesn''t look a gift horse in the teeth.


    The sense was useful. Besides giving me 360 degree awareness, it also worked by absorbing soul force so it actually powered me instead of consuming my stamina and gave me an minimal increase to my cultivation speed. While not nearly enough to match Lu Piao''s technique, every little bit helps. Letting it run, I slowly got used to the feeling. The range was no more than fifteen meters, maybe eighteen if I focused hard enough. Anyway, as I studied this technique I noticed that a group of seven people entered it''s area of effect and were getting closer. One of those people I was really familiar with by now¡­


    Stopping in a clearing at the garden I turned around "Classmate Brat, I mean¡­ Classmate Shen Yue. How nice to meet you here." I said with a brave front but was actually pissing myself internally. In this world or the former I had no experience fighting. The only punches I threw were made with alcohol and I threw them down my throat. This f.u.c.ker brought six people with him and there was no doubt what he intended to do with them.


    "Bastard, we''ve finally caught you!" Shen Yue sneered. The six lackeys behind Shen Yue also looked at me with ridicule in their eyes.


    "Is there anything you want from me?" I said with a scared expression while scanning my surroundings looking for an escape root.


    "So you finally know fear you bastard! Damn, have I been unhappy with you all these days. Today you''re seeing your own death! Beat him up! Show no mercy!" Shen Yue thundered towards his lackeys. They didn''t wait for a second order as they pounced on me like vultures. Damn, if this had happened a few days later I would''ve been wearing my Gold Rank armor. But I will not give this asshole any satisfaction to beg for mercy! I stood straight and waited for the imminent beating.


    As the one lackey in the front reached me, he threw a punch aimed straight at my nose. ''That''s¡­ so slow.'' I thought as I tilted my head out of the way before dancing away from him, leaving him to stumble forward. He recovered a bit and threw a mule kick which once again I avoided by twisting my body away. Feeling something in the back of my head thanks to the void sense I ducked and the tallest of Shen Yue''s gorillas flew above me like Maito Gai from Naruto doing a dynamic entry, and kicking his friend in the nuts in the process. This dancing continued a few more seconds with the rest of the group.


    Well, well, well¡­. Apparently, Shen Yue''s bunch were all 1 star Bronze Rank or below. Maybe they had a 2 star but that made no difference. I was also a 2 star Bronze but my technique grants me increased power than the average cultivator at the same level. I was already leagues above them, so much so that they appeared to me to move like old ladies with bad h.i.p.s.


    "You bunch of useless idiots! Do you even lift?" Yelled Shen Yue at his cronies. He actually asked if they ''eat meat'', a.k.a are they strong predators, but remembering this way is much more funny.


    Deciding that they had enough fun with me I decided to rip another page from Nie Li''s book and inhaled a f.u.c.kton of air. Mixing soul force with it , I let out the most ungodly roar "MU~RDER~!". The vibrations of my loud voice disorientated the lackeys as they stepped a half-step back while clutching their ears "HE~LP! THE SACRED FAMILY WANTS TO MURDER ME!"


    "Damn, shut that bastard''s mouth! Hurry and shut him up!" Hearing my shouts, Shen Yue''s face twitched violently. My pleas could be heard throughout the whole Holy Orchid Institute. It sounded even more miserable than pigs to the slaughter. The apes started raining blows after blows on me which I danced around or blocked. My moves were clumsy at best. One time I tripped on a twig making me roll around in some dirt and rip my shirt in the side before getting up using that fancy leg flick from martial arts movies, unintentionally heeling one lackey in the solar plexus. It was nice to have a body that moved according to your imagination, just like when I was jumping on top of trees in the hunting grounds looking for Ning''er.


    I could see Shen Yue''s frustration boiling. No doubt he imagined that this would be over quickly but, though my clothes were now ruined, I was still unharmed. They were throwing hit after hit but I jumped, dodged and ducked under each of them, not once stopping from screaming bloody murder (hehe, see what I did there?). However, all they hit was air as I was buzzing around their limbs like a mosquito. Some tried to sneak up on me to grab me. If they managed that then it would be the end for me, but since I could sense them I always ran away before they could manage to get close enough.


    "Isn''t that Nie Li''s friend, Long Wan?"


    "I heard that they offended the Sacred Family!"


    "I heard that because of them exposing the plagiarism behind the Scarlet Sunburst Inscription Pattern, the Sacred Family is planning to secretly get rid of them!"


    "The Sacred Family is too evil. They''re actually trying to kill a student within the Holy Orchid Institute!"


    "Hurry and report this to the Principal!"


    Students began talking among themselves and approaching the scene to get better looks. One of the said people was a little older and looked somewhat regal. He was watching this with an expressionless frown on his face. That''s ok, come and see the show. The more people seeing this the better I''ll look and the worse Shen Yue will be. Brat, you''re a few decades too green to mess with me. I unskillfully made my way to a wall and ducked away at the last moment , letting one of them smash his fist on the tough stone. Unlike Nie Li however I couldn''t fight back and defend at the same time so all I did was cry out murder and keep focusing on defense.


    "Beat him up, ruthlessly beat him up!" Shen Yue roared. He was starting to foam at the mouth and his face was getting redder and redder.


    One 2 star Bronze fighter jumped again and aimed his knee at me. As I was preparing to roll out of the way I heard a lovable voice come to my aid followed by a miserable feminine yelp soon after. Looking in absolute terror at the source a slender figure skimmed over my gaze. It was Xiao Ning''er. And she was flying at high speed towards a wall. My world darkened¡­.

 Chapter 4 - All that is precious (pt 2

    A dark misty aura surrounded me for a fraction of a second and the next instant I was between the wall and my beloved, catching her while my feet skidded across the ground. Gently cradling her I moved some strands that had come undone from her bow to see an angry red bruise on her left cheek and blood dripping from her nostril, and my mind snapped. Letting her unconscious form rest I stood up, my back turned to Shen Yue and his cronies, dark emotions boiling inside me like never before. I tended to be a pacifist so I truly despised killing, but here and now all I wanted was retribution.


    "What¡­ What did you idiots do!?" Shen Yue screamed at the cronies. Ning''er was his elder brother''s fianc¨¦. If Shen Fei found out about this he would definitely be in a world of pain. He shouldn''t worry so much though, since I''ll make sure he''s not going to see another sunrise¡­


    "I didn''t¡­ She got in the way! I couldn''t stop." stuttered one bastard lackey, clearly in fright.


    My teeth clenched so hard you could hear them creak and my fingernails drew blood from my palms. Void tendrils shot out from back like I was some demonic incarnation of the archangel Tyrael, but there would be no justice this hour, only vengeance. Mist surrounded me again and the next instant my fist was digging a deep crater in that bastard''s face. With a sickening crunch he was launched backwards at high speeds, taking another lackey with him, crushing a couple of bamboo shoots before hitting firmly into the wall behind them leaving imprints of their bodies.


    The rest of the bunch once again pounced on me. One threw a punch but I avoided and crushed his wrist between my elbow and knee. His screams of anguish didn''t last long as I grabbed him by the face and planted his head a couple of inches in the dirt, knocking him unconscious.


    Seeing this his comrades growled "Bastard, you''re courting death!"


    Letting my soul force explode outwards they finally knew who they were dealing with. The remaining gorillas took a few steps back before running away. I had knocked out their strongest meaning that the ones behind were 1 star Bronze at most. They had no way to deal with me so they dashed passed Shen Yue who screamed at them "Bunch of cowards, get back and fight!"


    Moments later I launched myself at Shen Yue, grabbing him by the neck and slamming him hard in the wall behind him leaving cracks in it. He coughed up a little blood that spewed on my face "Bastard" he growled "Let me go!". This only caused my grip to tighten around his neck until he could only grunt and heave. My other hand moved to the side and the tendrils of void energy began to spin together in a spiral, a tip forming slowly. A very sharp pointy tip.


    Instantly I removed my grip from Shen Yue''s neck and let him scurry off after catching his breath. My worry was now Ning''er who was looking at me with equal concern.


    "Are you alright?" we both asked at the same time, my heart paining after seeing a little red liquid seep out as her words came out. Flexing my hand I took out three pills from my ring, before moving to gently place them in her mouth. She blushed a little but put up no resistance, surprising Ye Ziyun who was still holding her by the waist. Instantly the effect washed over her as the bruise vanished away without a trace , the small crack in her lips healed up without leaving a scar and her senses returned fully to her head, slowly letting go of Ziyun and blushing up a storm. She now probably fully realized that she just let a boy feed her.


    Ye Sheng''s eyes widened "Were those Nine Transformation Pills?" he said with mirth gaining looks of question from both girls "They''re the strongest recovery pill. Each one is capable of saving someone on death''s door. At the last auction, sets of ten pills went on average for twenty million coins.". This made Ning''er put her hand on her mouth. She had just swallowed six million demon spirit coins to heal a bruise.


    She turned to me with mild annoyance as if to ask how could I waste those pills on her but smiling I waved my hand to signal I don''t want to hear it. She was far more valuable to me than any stinking pill.


    Seeing this, Ye Ziyun''s mind started working. There was no way she wouldn''t figure out that something was going on between us. However, she was also someone to be trusted, and so was Ye Sheng. Speaking of Ye Sheng, he sighed as he rubbed his beard "Long Wan, you''re causing one headache after another. Looking at this mess, it is unavoidable that the Sacred family will ask for you to be punished, maybe even expelled." he said and the girls put their hands to their mouths


    "But, that''s not fair!" cried Ning''er. Tears were forming in her eyes and that is what pained me the most. Expulsion was no big deal for me. There was little to no useful information useful to me in this place. I had money, a super technique and Nie Li. And I could just buy any non-confidential book in Glory City, not that there was much to read. As for safety, I''m sure the Alchemist Association would welcome me dearly, regardless of the Sacred family''s bitching.


    "That is indeed unfair vice-principal!" came a voice from behind us. Turning around I saw that it was that regal looking teen from before.


    "Brother Ye Hong!" Ziyun cried out in a happy greeting. Ye Hong, Ye Hong¡­ now where have I heard that name. I think¡­ he is Ziyun''s cousin and Shen Fei''s rival in class or something.


    Ye Sheng frowned "Why is it unfair?" he asked although he already knew the truth but he had to play these political games to cover all spots.


    Nodding Ye Sheng smiled "Hmmm¡­ so that''s what that noise was. Indeed this changes everything. If the Sacred family wants to complain the can but they will have no ground to stand on."


    "I concur." came another a.d.u.l.t voice from behind us. It was master Huyan Ming from the Alchemist Association. Seeing him, Ye Sheng cupped his hands and bowed. The Alchemy Association now had equal power to the Snow Wind family, perhaps even more so economically. Huyan Ming was a high ranking official from the said association so it was natural to show respect "I was in the area when I heard the commotion and came to see what was going on. Everything that student said is true." he confirmed.


    Ye Sheng accepted this but frowned "Then can I expect your testimony when the time comes?"


    Huyan Ming nodded and moved towards me. Taking out a robe and some books he handed them to me "These are the senior apprentice robes and books you forgot last time." he said with a wink before turning to the vice-principal "You can expect my testimony. The Alchemist Association takes care of our own, and the Sacred family would be gravely mistaken to see us as herbivores." In this place, being a herbivore meant you were pray for carnivores. In layman terms, a pushover.


    "Then I won''t bother the students with any of this anymore. You can return to your homes and rest." he said dismissing us and we left after cupping our hands leaving the a.d.u.l.ts to talk, the two girls joining me as the gate was in the same direction as the dorms.


    We started walking the first few steps in silence, with Ning''er on my right and Ziyun to hers. They were awkwardly taking in each other''s presence, obviously trying to say something but didn''t know what. My hand moved up and a wooden jewelry box and some bottles appeared in my palm from my ring surprising both girls. Turning a little towards them I passed Ning''er the box and Ziyun the bottles "In that box there should be five hundred Soul Nurturing Pills, three hundred Soul Concentrating Pills, one hundred Soul Temper Pills, fifty Nine Transformation Pills, and fifty Scarlet Body Enhancing Pill. I was planning to give this to Ning''er next time I saw you. However it wouldn''t be polite to leave classmate Ye Ziyun out of it so you should find some of those pills as well in those bottles."


    Both girls gasped. Even they knew how enormously expensive this gift was. They moved to return them but I just put my hands behind my back smiling "A gift once given cannot be returned."


    "Long Wan, I can''t take this, it''s too much!" Ning''er cried out desperately trying to return the box. Ziyun also moved to return them also but I was having none of it.


    "I have a lot more of those. Let me know if you run out." I winked at Ning''er while pushing the bottles back to Ziyun and telling her "And classmate Ye Ziyun, you can consider those pills as a gift from Nie Li. He asked me to take care of you in anyway you need." my words came with a smile but it surprised me when her expression turned sour with a blush. Sighing I facepalmed "Let me guess, that knucklehead bragged that he knows about a butterfly mark on your c.h.e.s.t. "


    The city lord''s little girl''s anger washed away and she shot me a look of surprise "A dream?"


    Amused at her expression I smiled knowingly "A very vivid dream. In his dream you also eh¡­ cooked rice together (made love). And naturally, you did so in your birthday suits where he saw a butterfly mark on your c.h.e.s.t. Due to this he started to believe you two were husband and wife in another life."


    One of Ziyun''s hands flew to her mouth while the other covered an area above her right b.r.e.a.s.t "So Nie Li didn''t peep on me¡­" she said in surprise before she abruptly shut up and blushed. Brother Li, I owe you a lot, consider this the first payment.


    My smile widened before acting surprised "Ehhh? Peep?! How could he? Don''t you live in a mansion where not even a fly could enter unannounced?" I asked and she nodded. She was the city lord''s little girl. Naturally she would be incredibly well protected at home. "Also, if he did I would need to knock some sense into him! "raising my fist in the air ,tightening it until it crunched. This got a small giggle from the girls "How could he dare peep on Ning''er''s friend!"


    Hearing my words both girls looked at each other before turning to the ground in silence. Looking at that I smiled sadly before asking "You two are childhood friends, right?" Ning''er turned to me in surprise before looking away. She wanted to ask how I knew but couldn''t as painful memories probably returned to her. Lovable or not she was an easy to read honest girl. "I heard some stories and pieced together the truth on how you two used to be the best of friends until Ning''er got forcefully engaged to that sc.u.m Shen Fei." Small tears began wetting the corner of both girl''s eyes. "I can imagine that Ning''er was envious of the power classmate Ye Zyiun''s family granted her. Afterall, nobody can force the City Lord''s daughter to marry against her will. One small, childish fight later and all that frustration caused large wounds to open¡­"


    "Ning''er, I¡­" Ziyun''s tears began falling as she covered her mouth with both hands and looked longingly at Ning''er who was crying while looking ahead.


    Not letting this go one I continued "This is the problem when you don''t let wounds heal: They tend to fester. More so when surrounded by dirt and trash like the Sacred Family." I said before grabbing Ning''er''s hand. This snapped her out of her state and she turned to me with wet eyes, a little makeup running down both her cheeks "Ning''er~" I let her catch her breath a bit. Crying can leave you gasping for air, "Ziyun is also suffering hardsh.i.p.s. While you have the fate of your family to tend to, as the City Lord''s daughter she has the responsibility of the entire city''s wellbeing. While surrounded by many people, I doubt there is anyone amongst them with true enough intentions to be called friends. That loneliness is not something one can easily imagine."


    Ning''er head turned to Ziyun so fast that I was afraid she would snap her neck. It was so quick that a few strands of her ponytail slapped me over the face. "Ziyun..I.. Is that.."


    Ziyun just nodded, eyes full of tears. She couldn''t form any words right now, much less complete sentences.


    Not a second after I said this they flew at each other in a hug, grabbing hair, cloth and whatever they could to prevent the other from leaving again. It was enough to bring a tear even to my eyes. Even men can shed tears, especially those of joy. It took some time for them to calm down before stepping a bit back from one another, hands and arms still tangled together, refusing to let go.


    Ning''er was the first to break the silence saying, "Your makeup is a mess. You look terrible." with a cheeky smile.


    Her friend puffed her cheeks "Well, you don''t look too good yourself." and with this both girls burst into laughter, before Ziyun took out her handkerchief and started cleaning Ning''er''s face. Ning''er smiled warmly and gave into her friend''s actions before repeating them herself.


    After fixing themselves up a bit Ning''er turned to me to say something but paused. She tilted her head a bit with a smile before once again taking her handkerchief and moving towards my face, wiping some tears that I missed to wipe myself.


    "Classmate Long Wan, thank you!" Ye Ziyun said with a warm smile. She was indeed someone with competing looks with Ning''er. Unfortunately my heart belonged just to one girl.


    "Wan." I responded "You can call me just Wan. Long Wan if it feels too close." before I turned to the other girl "That applies to you too. Or you can call me ''honey'' or ''dear'' if you so prefer." I joked as her face lit up like a setting sun. This didn''t last a long time as she lightly stomped on my foot.


    "Yeouch! Joking! I was joking!" I said jumping around on one foot while holding the other "Or not!" I stuck out my tongue and had to duck as a hand whooshed over the crown of my hair. All this time the two girls were giggling sweetly. "Ah, this is my stop." I said as I reached the dorms. The girls were not residents as they lived close by. "It was refreshing walking with two beauties besides me. I will see you both tomorrow. Ah, and please don''t make any plans for the evening. I wish to formally introduce you two to our cultivating group. Ning''er, classmate Ye Ziyun walk slowly." It was an expression in this world, equivalent to ''have a safe trip''.


    "Ziyun!" the little miss ye stated "Please call me Ziyun¡­"


    Nodding I smiled "Nice to finally meet you Ziyun. Lets all be friends from now on!" I put my forearm out diagonally in front of me. I figured she wouldn''t have any problem touching me through our sleeves. She looked puzzled for a bit before she touched it with her own, effectively giving me a friendly bump.


    Hearing my words, Ning''er''s hands tightened around mine as she looked at the ground. The smile she had however sweetened the sour look she had in her eyes. Swallowing hard she turned to me and said with soothing gentleness "Long Wan, don''t ¡­ The Sacred family won''t forgive you." she said but I put a finger on her soft cherry lips. Ziyun twitched as she hid her own lips behind her hands. Ning''er however, didn''t react except for her blush widening.


    "I think I showed you today that I can take care of myself, and both the Divine family and the Alchemist Association will take care of my needs." I smiled soothingly "Regardless of how strong the Sacred family is, they can''t match the power of both entities at once. And don''t worry about Shen Fei. I have a solid plan. By the middle of the school break, you will no longer be engaged." Frowning hard I continued "My parents died when I was little and there is no other family alive that I know of. I have no-one in this world that the Sacred family can use to harm, other than you."


    Taking her hands I moved them towards Ye Ziyun before letting go and moving a half step away "Please take care of her. She is what I have most precious to me."


    Ziyun blushed and nodded but then frowned hard "Do you think you can confront the Sacred family alone?"


    My head moved from side to side "No, I can''t. But I''m not alone. There is an unstoppable force by my side: Nie Li."


    She tilted her head in surprise "Is Nie Li all that great?" she asked.


    Nodding I responded without missing a beat "He is someone in whose hands I can entrust my very life and soul. If you give him a chance I''m sure you''ll eventually feel the same way."


    "Maybe¡­" she said longingly.


    "It''s getting late. Let''s continue this conversation tomorrow. Once again, walk slowly both of you."


    "Have a good night¡­ honey!" Ning''er said with a cheeky smile before she quickly turned away and started pacing, pulling Ziyun with her. As she was getting further away I caught a glimpse of her megawatt neon blush in a polished bronze ornament that was on her way. In the novel she was always the boldest between her and Ziyun. She was the first to give red jade, a symbol of love to Nie Li and was also more direct than her friend. However even I didn''t expect that she''d turn out to be this mischievous of a girl. Sigh, women are indeed an enigmatic species...


    I leaned against a wooden post holding up the roof of the porch, wishing I had a cigarette right about now. Maybe I should invent those as well... Hmm, this reminds me of something amusing. The expression ''To smoke a fag'' has very different meanings in american English vs british English but I should return to the matter at hand..


    Turning towards the seemingly empty pathway I said with a tired tone, "You can stop hiding now."


    The area shimmered and Huyan Ming appeared where there was nothing but air before "Impressive." he said with a smile.


    Cupping my hands towards him "Master Huyan Ming. To what I owe another visit? I take it you didn''t remain behind just to observe some teenage love unfolding."


    Ming chuckled a little while petting his beard "I admit that that scene was very interesting. Though I am curious how you will cancel the little miss''s engagement to young lord Shen Fei."


    Waving my hand in front of me I said nonchalantly "I have three plans and am consolidating the fourth. If nothing else works then I could just pray that the young lord meets an unfortunate accident. It''s terrible when people just slip and fall backwards fifteen times on a dagger¡­" I said with a chuckle but quickly corrected as I saw his serious expression "Of course I''m joking."


    Ming hummed "Actually, that might not be that much of an improbability." he said thoughtfully. Turning to him and tilting my head I invited him to continue. He nodded "The favor you asked director Yang Xin, it bore the worst results."


    Nodding, I tucked my hands behind my head. Giving Xin the same story I told Ning''er the night I met her in the forest, I asked that she follows the Sacred Family''s transactions of pills. To prevent any complaints from the higher ups I asked that any wasted funds to be covered from my shares.


    Huyan Ming continued "As you requested we put tracking ingredients in their pills and then sent a Spiritualist with a hound spirit to track them. He found out that four out of five large shipments of pills were smuggled out of the city where they were given to mysterious robed individuals. The expert we sent unintentionally killed one of them, and he found the Dark Guild insignia on that individual. The expert was trying to capture the robed individual but something went wrong and it turned into a kill."


    Frowning, I turned to Ming "Did that expert at least cover his tracks?"


    Ming nodded "En, he made it look like a demon beast attacked and ate the corpse. Neither the Guild nor the Sacred family suspect anything."


    Crossing my arms in front of my c.h.e.s.t I looked at the master alchemist "It''s sad that a prestigious family is running with the wrong crowd but it''s good to find out early. Thank you for your and everyone''s hard work!" Prestigious my a.s.s. Those assholes have been gaining power by pulling back their troops during demon beast attacks. So while other families fought harder they preserved their strength.


    "All for Glory City!" he said nodding to me before disappearing.


    Grabbing a long straw of grass I put it in my mouth to simulate a smoke as I sighed and said nothing more...


    The next day I was once again standing at the back of the class together with our gang of misfits. Shen Xiu was glaring daggers at me and her little brat nephew kept on turning once every often to mirror her image. They probably tried to get me in trouble but failed miserably. To rub some salt in their wounds I would put on such an innocent face when they looked towards me that you could almost see a halo on my head. This pissed them off even more if the looks they shot me gave any indication.


    At one point they stopped looking altogether, probably to stop themselves from getting aneurisms. Or maybe they liked to pretend I didn''t exist. Either way this was fine with me as I turned to Nie Li with a pressing concern "Nie Li" I asked getting his attention "Do you know any silencing inscriptions or something that would grant us privacy when we meet today at the library?"


    Nie Li thought a few moments before smiling "I think I have exactly what you need and the materials to make it is in my storage ring."


    Nodding with a smile I moved on to the next subject. There was no way I would miss a golden opportunity like this. "Speaking of the library, I apologize for missing out yesterday. My hands were busy taking out some trash."


    Lu Piao chuckled "I heard about that. That was twice in one day that Shen Yue pissed himself haha!"


    Du Ze nodded towards me "I didn''t know that brother Wan had the skill to take on so many opponents." He said giving me a look of respect.


    I quickly raised my hands to refute "Actually I''ve never fought before in my life. I never even punched someone. It''s just that Shen Yue and his cronies were so much weaker than me. It almost felt unfair."


    Wei Nan crossed his hands "If you think that beating seven people who came to maim you is unfair, then I am truly frightened on what is your definition of fairness." The rest nodded in approval making my face heat up in embarrassment.


    "Does anyone here know any kung-fu? I realized that I am woefully inadequate so I would like some lessons." I let the bait hang, hopefully shifu Nie will bite.


    Nie Li nodded "I know a little. We can do that during our physical training. Our techniques refine our bodies as well so we don''t really need to do much physical exercise."


    Accepting it gratefully I remembered something from yesterday "Also Nie Li, did you really make Ye Ziyun mad yesterday?"


    His face turned into a surprised one "En, we talked a little yesterday and she suddenly got mad. Today though she greeted me kindly and acted as if nothing happened. I don''t know what to understand anymore" he admitted as he put his hands behind his head


    Sighing, my hands moved to grab his ear and he began to struggle in my grip. I was stronger than him now so unless he used my acupuncture points or some secret technique then he wouldn''t get me to let go "Listen here you numbskull, I worked hard yesterday to get her to forgive you. Don''t put your foot in your mouth again."


    His struggling stopped as he tried to turn his eyes to look at me but I didn''t let go of his ear. Actually I started tugging it around as he started telling me to let go "I can''t believe you would tell her that you knew about a butterfly birthmark on her c.h.e.s.t. How the hell are you supposed to know that? Did you really peep on her as she was bathing?"


    "What!?" he said in surprise as he once again looked at Ziyun who was dutifully paying attention "So that''s why she was mad¡­ ouchouchouch!" he stated as I began to tug his ear again.


    "''So that''s why she was mad'' my ass! Learn to speak to girls before you open your mouth around her." I ordered and finally let go of his angry red ear.


    He put his palm on it and turned towards me "How did you know about that?" he asked in a tone akin to desperation.


    Sighing I put my hands on my h.i.p.s and leaned in his face "Shen Yue was mad as a wet hen yesterday, both because of my actions and of yours. He stated clearly it was revenge for that. I later learned from Ning''er where the mark was located." I said and he blushed in embarrassment "Honestly, I doubt that even you could infiltrate the city lord''s mansion to peek in on girls bathing. Besides, that kind of despicable deed is something only Lu Piao would do."


    "Hey!" Lu Piao protested. However he didn''t deny.


    Shaking my head I leaned in even further in Nie Li''s face and whispered "I cooked up a lie and told her you saw it in a dream where you were husband and wife in another life. Don''t blow it! I don''t want to be known as a peeping tom''s brother."


    The ginger''s face filled with blood and nodded, not being able to say anything other than "I messed up. And thanks brother Wan."


    My arms entangled in front of my c.h.e.s.t "Don''t mention it. We are brothers after all. Ah~, and I had to spend most of the pills I had to fix that little mess¡­" I threw it in the wind. Truthfully, I still had around a quarter of the initial pill count but having a restock couldn''t hurt.


    "Pills?" Nie Li said before smiling and taking out another ring from his ring (ringception mk2) "Here are some more. I said last time not to hesitate to let me know if you need more and I mean it. And once again thanks Long Wan."


    Absorbing the ring with my own I cupped my hands in thanks and he waved it off.


    "By the way brother Wan." interrupted Du Ze "You said you learned about¡­ things from Xiao Ning''er, and you referred to her with a very intimate tone." he let it hang in the air awaiting my reply.


    Smiling, my sight fell on the girl. She was still so radiatingly beautiful, ink black hair flowing like a waterfall down her back. Shaking away I looked at Du Ze with a smile on my face "That''s because she is my woman." My hand shot forward to clamp Lu Piao''s mouth otherwise that moron would''ve screamed out to the heavens.


    Du Ze looked at me with both admiration and pity "Long Wan¡­"


    Nodding I continued "She is engaged to Shen Fei, that I know but that won''t be a problem for long. Nie Li isn''t the only one who can plan and scheme." I laughed lightly.


    "I don''t scheme¡­" said Nie Li as he drew circles on the floor while an imaginary rain cloud formed above him.


    Chuckling some more I put my hand on Du Ze''s shoulder. He was getting fitter as I could feel his muscles were much more defined than a week ago "Let me fill you in tonight. It''s very important, so don''t miss it. Also, Ning''er and Ziyun will be joining us so don''t be surprised."


    "Really?" Lu Piao said with expectations and rosy cheeks


    I nodded and continued while scanning both girls backs "I befriended Ziyun last night after she helped Ning''er recover from getting hit by one Shen Yue''s bonehead bastards." biting my nail I growled remembering yesterday''s event. Each time I remember Ning''er flying in the air I turn to Shen Yue''s back, darkness nearly filling me as I suppress my killing intent.


    Wei Nan also looked in Shen Yue''s direction in disgust "Though I''m happy you didn''t kill him I don''t understand how you could let him live. If it was me I would''ve ripped out his heart for hitting my woman." he said before realizing that everyone was staring at him in surprise.


    "That''s pretty gruesome. I didn''t know you had it in you brother Nan. Wouldn''t want to be your enemy" I said while laughing at his blush "And trust me, I couldn''t sleep last night asking myself the same questions." Before I used to think that he''s just a poor kid stuck in circ.u.mstances of his birth and wanted to give him a second chance. Now, I just see him as a dog to be put down. And don''t get me started about that sonovabitch brother of his.


    Nie Li sighed "That sentiment I can share but, like Wei Nan said it''s a good thing you didn''t." he said tapping my shoulder calming me down. I think he just hit a pressure point because my entire back relaxed.


    Shaking my head to clear the negative thoughts I smiled at Nie Li "Thanks. By the way, I wanted to warn you something. The Lightning Dragon technique, I shared it with Ning''er."


    He raised his eyebrows "Really? How come." he said as he relaxed against the wall, letting his head dangle slightly.


    "We used a soul crystal and I saw that she had a compatible attribute for it. Her crystal showed a jiao dragon with huge wings flying through a ravaging lightning storm." came my explanation.


    Bang! Nie Li was holding the crown of his head. Seems like a repeat of the first day I got here. He recovered quickly and turned to me "That''s the Winged Dragon soul form. It''s a legendary soul realm, as rare as Ziyun''s and only one in every few million people have it."


    I continued nodding "I suspected it. It was one of the few soul forms detailed in that book I read."


    Nie Li frowned as he looked at her "She gets explosive growth and increased efficiency in cultivation. For every step she grows, the following step, and even the step after that one will be much easier to reach. And her attribute is indeed wind lightning making the Lightning Dragon technique the best one suited for her. She might leave us in the dust soon¡­"


    Lu Piao whistled softly "That''s so unfair¡­" he w.h.i.n.ed


    Turning to him I hummed "So says mr sleeping cultivator."


    This made him throw me a toothy smile and to stick out his tongue. Why this cheeky brat! My hand moved like lightning and I grabbed his tongue and started shaking it around, his head following my actions as he tried to pry me off his mouth organ. Returning to Nie Li I questioned, "You''re not angry I shared your technique? " It was a matter of curtesy.


    The said ginger waved me off "It fits her best and you trust her. Its enough reason for me. Besides, knowledge is meant to be shared."


    "En." I cupped my hands in thanks and continued "You said that Ziyun''s soul form is just as rare. What is it?"


    Nie Li nodded and turned to look at Ziyun "Snow Wind attribute, Ice Phoenix soul form. It''s properties¡­"


    My hand stopped in front of his face interrupting him "Knowing you, you analyzed her soul form and gave her a special cultivation technique without explaining anything. Am I wrong?" He blushed a bit before shaking his head "Then you can explain it this evening." He nodded in acceptance.


    I was seriously pushing my luck with Nie Li. Well, even if he thought something was amiss I had what I needed from now on. If anything, we can just go our separate paths, though that would be the saddest option possible. However, I had faith in him. We were both somewhat strangers in this world. You know how it''s like when you move to a different country? Even if everyone is friendly and kind, you still miss having someone who experienced similar feelings to discuss with. He was someone outside of his time and I was outside of my place, and I suspected he knew had a feeling about that but just let it happen.


    Evening came fast and I went with Nie Li to retrieve the girls. Ning''er was first and she greeted us kindly before following in silence. Moving onwards we came to Ziyun''s desk and she stood up to hug Ning''er before bowing slightly to me. "Long Wan!" she said, a little excitement and happiness in her voce before she turned to Nie Li and a little blush adorned her marble cheeks "Nie Li¡­" she whispered softly.


    Nie Li beamed a million watt smile at her "Hello Ziyun!" he greeted and waved.


    Ziyun grabbed her little purse bag and squeezed it a little "Yesterday, I¡­ was wrong to call you a scoundrel when you helped me so much. I''m sorry!"


    Impossible as it was the teenage geriatric ginger smiled wider and swung his hand over her waist pulling her closer "If it''s you then it was nothing."


    "Nie Li let go!" she growled at him like an angry puppy.


    "Whoa~ boy!" My hand flew and chopped him on the crown of his head leaving a bump where it contacted. It made him let go of Ziyun and clutch his head.


    "What was that for!?" he yelled in my face before I pushed him away a bit.


    Cleaning my ear with my pinky "You were pushing your luck."


    "You still didn''t have to hit me on the head!" he pointed at me.


    "Eh, I didn''t hit anything important anyway¡­" I shrugged.


    Both girls remained stunned at our antics at first before they started giggling. It was as if birds were singing of spring.


    "Ning''er./Ziyun." we both said with awe as we looked at our girls, lights shining around them.


    "Ziyu~n!" Nie Li launched himself at her to hug her again.


    Moving faster I grabbed him by the collar of his shirt as he kept pulling towards her. "Whoa~ boy! Whoa~!" I called out but he acted as if he didn''t hear me. Reaching the limit of my patience a large vein appeared on my forehead as I called forth my inner Yosemite "When I say ''Whoa~!''¡­" my palm heated up from atmospheric friction as it came crashing down on his head at Mach speed. BOOM! "I~ mean WHOA!" and the next moment Nie Li was face down on the floor as a new smoking bump appeared next to the previous one.


    Along the way to the library Nie Li had a mock sour mood as he cradled his head. Ziyun was looking at him with worry as she walked on his left. Ning''er was to my right and we were making small jokes, mostly about the Sacred family such as Shen Hong already being a grandfather with his son''s promiscuity. Unfortunately this also brought her some mild disgust and nobody could blame her.


    We arrived at the library where everyone was waiting for us. The trio greeted us normally. Du Ze made a more formal reception and Lu Piao just Lu Piao''d. We sat down in silence at the table, the girls sitting together with Nie Li and myself framing each of their free sides respectively, much to Lu Piao''s disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e. We had a few small moments of silence as Nie Li worked some inscriptions to ensure our privacy. He finished quickly and set it in the middle of he desk as he activated it. The scribblings shined a bit before Nie Li sighed.


    "It''s done." Said Nie Li with a smile and a little pride in his voice.


    "What is it?" asked Ziyun gently. She probably never saw such complicated inscriptions before. Even I barely understood it since there were no primary inscriptions from anything in the school''s studies.


    Humming gravely I willed my face to turn stone cold "Something that will ensure our privacy. I asked Nie Li to prepare this for us as I have something of the utmost importance to tell you. First of all, some of you may know and others not so much, both Nie Li and I are big partners of the Alchemy Association with honorary Senior Master and Senior Apprentice titles respectively." Nie Li nodded and the girls looked at both of us in admiration. It wasn''t easy to achieve such titles. Even my own required years, perhaps decades of study.


    Coughing I continued "You are all here because you are people I trust the most in this world. I ask that if you trust me, then you extend that same feeling to each other." Looking at each other I saw them nod seriously. Even Lu Piao could tell this is no time for goofing around.


    Nodding I said "As the boys know I created the soap that every household now uses and, while not hard for the guys who have been in this group longer to figure out, Nie Li is the source of the new pills that hit the market recently. I mean how hard is it to realize that Nie Li went to the Association one day and less than a week later they release not one, not two but five legendary pills? " Both girls once again looked at us, Ning''er at me with her mouth wide open and Ziyun at Nie Li with her hand gingerly over her lips and he just goofily smiled before taking out a lot of pill bottles and handing them to the girls who tried in vain to refuse.


    "I am telling you this so you would understand how I discovered what I''m about to share. Nie Li¡­" I turned to him and he motioned me to go on "Have you met with the Association recently?" I asked and he shook his head "Last night primary master Huyan Ming visited me bearing news. Long story short they discovered evidence to something I suspected a long time ago: The Sacred Family is working with the Dark Guild."


    Bang! Nie Li fists hit the table leaving indents and nearly splitting it in two. "Those bastards!" he growled, his soul force radiating outwards like a volcano ready to explode.


    Ziyun extended a hand towards him but timidly retracted it before turning to me and mouthing "How?"


    Nodding I continued "I once came upon a meeting between the two factions. When I got some authority in the Alchemy Association I asked them to track the shipments of the Sacred Family and they discovered that most of them had been smuggled out of town. They also killed one of the smugglers and found the Dark Guild insignia on that person."


    This news made Ning''er growl unladylike as she uttered "Sacred Family¡­". Since we were sitting at a low table I covertly touched her leg to calm her down. We were soundproof but we could still be seen so I couldn''t be too bold and cause trouble yet. A blush spread across her perfect face and she turned to me in shock before nodding with a smile, even gently pushing her leg towards to my hand. That innocently feminine yet bold nature of hers was what I loved the most.


    Turning to the rest I resumed my serious tone "Also, through some other means I discovered that the Dark Guild has the means to provoke the demon beasts to hoard and attack the city." Nie Li twitched, his eyes going wide with PTSD. Poor guy "We have all reasons to suspect that they will act if they feel that their power base becomes shaky in the city. This is why we must do our best to act with haste but also do so with care. Financially we are secure on every front. Nie Li and myself receive close to thirty percent of the profits the Alchemy Association makes. Politically, we mainly have the Association on our side and on a minor note we can count on the Snow-Wind backing Ziyun and the Divine Family being on my side. While the later two can''t act directly against the Sacred Family, they will protect me and Ziyun from minor backlash." Ziyun nodded in confirmation.


    "What about us?" asked Wei Nan.


    I smiled "First of all the rest of you are under our care. Second of all, you aren''t targets. The only link between us is that we are the troublemakers who stood together." I said and they all nodded "I will be incredibly straight forward but thinking strictly strategy you''re all useless as you are now." my heart sank a little as I saw Du Ze with a painful expression. It was a face only someone who felt powerless could have "All the information I shared with you was to get you to understand how important it is for you to get stronger. If you had no reason to practice seriously before then I think that this would change your mind completely. That is your job right now and it''s something only you can do! Imagine our political pull if we all reach gold rank before next year."


    "I agree." interrupted Nie Li "Long Wan said it the best. Leave the Sacred Family to me for now. You focus on growing powerful." he growled.


    "To us!" I corrected.


    He looked shocked before smiling "To us." he nodded.


    "Right. Another thing that I ask is that you keep silent about all that is said tonight. And should anything happen to Nie Li or myself then you keep it to yourself at least until reaching Legend Rank." Pausing I looked at everyone at the table expectantly with Nie Li backing me up. Everyone else nodded seriously so I let out a breath to relax.


    Sighing before smiling I resumed "One more thing. In order to fight better we need to understand each other as best we can. To achieve this we should tell a little about yourselves such as likes, dislikes, abilities so on and so forth." I was ripping off Naruto but I also saw this as a really good way to strengthen our bonds. It was corny as a cob but we needed trust more than anything.


    " I''ll start. My name is Long Wan. I''m an orphan who''s family died in the service of the Divine family so they took it upon themselves to secure my needs. While growing up I was mostly a loner and didn''t have any friends until I got to know this group. I dislike the Sacred Family especially Shen Fei, Shen Yue and Shen Xiu, demon beasts, overly insistent people and spicy food. My dream is to grow into a rich and powerful man who can protect his loved ones and live a carefree life, maybe have a loving wife or several, have a few dozen kids and give my wife or wives headaches as I grow old next to my friends. As for what I like, I love Ning''er and care for everyone else at this table. " I detailed earning a huge blush from Ning''er, a smaller one from Ziyun and a wolf whistle from Lu Piao.


    "You already know of my titles and my fortune. I am a two star Bronze rank demon spiritualist with a void element attributed soul realm and an unknown mutated soul form that grants me mysterious abilities, such as the ability to make solid all-consuming shadows, the ability to detect hidden tangible beings, the automatic absorption of Yin energy during the night to increase my cultivation and the ability to teleport distances proportional to my strength, the later of which I discovered barely yesterday.


    I cultivate a technique of my own creation called the Heavenly Void Dragon God which grants me the ability to merge with up to four dark aligned demon spirits, increased mental fortitude, higher communion with heaven and earth and the ability to refine the breath and then use it to refine the body. "


    When I put it this way I had the feeling I was some kind of monster. Looking at Ning''er I could see nothing but admiration and wonder in her eyes, her mouth slightly opened in surprise. My fears had surfaced a little as I had to admit I had expected some negative feedback from Ning''er when I said I wanted more than one wife but she didn''t even flinch. Polygamous and polyandrous societies are awesome!


    Smiling I motioned for her to be next.


    She nodded and began with a sweet tone that soothed my soul "My name is Xiao Ning''er of the Winged Dragon noble family. Umm, I don''t have any friends except Long Wan and Ziyun¡­" she lingered a bit so Lu Piao perked up immediately


    "I''ll be your friend!" he said with a beaming smile.


    Du Ze also shot a kind but cool smirk "So will I¡­"


    "As will I!" "Me too!" "Here here!" the trio shot one after the other.


    This made Ning''er smile warmly and bow her head "Thank you all for having me!" she said softly before continuing "Technically I am the daughter of the patriarch and heir to the Xiao name but I am also set to marry Shen Fei. As for finances, they treat me well but we are a declining Noble family so we aren''t that well off compared to some others. Umm, I dislike Shen Fei and the Sacred family. My dream is to have a nice family with the man I love. I like cooking, Ziyun, my friends and umm¡­ I¡­ lo¡­ ILOVELONGWAN!" That last part she yelled out after getting the courage and inhaling a lot of air. We were lucky that the area was silenced otherwise I don''t doubt that even Shen Fei would''ve heard that.


    Her head was now imitating a very ripe apple so I discreetly grabbed her hand lovingly and squeezed it for reassurance with Ziyun launching herself around her neck in a big hug with the rest applauding, with the exception of Lu Piao who was frozen stiff because of some Void tendrils swirling around me like I was some unholy spawn of Cthulhu itself and a look on my face that promised him that I would eat his very soul if he made her feel even more embarrassed.


    Seeing all the support around her Ning''er recovered quickly so she coughed before continuing "I have a wind lightning (storm) affinity with the Winged Dragon soul form. It grants me higher cultivation efficiency. I just became a two star bronze demon spiritualist last night. I practice the Lightning Dragon technique given to me by Long Wan which is a really powerful technique suited for wind-lightning combat."


    "This is fun! I guess I''ll go next." Said Nie Li "I am Nie Li of a branch of the Heavenly Marks family. Even though we are an aristocratic family we are the lowest with below average income. We mostly guard the northern outskirts of the city where the family grows herbs as a main source of funding. Long Wan already explained my position and fortune so I''ll skip that. My expertise lies in cultivation but I know a little about all manor of subjects so don''t hesitate to ask and I''ll do my best to help. I dislike the Sacred family, demon beasts with one in particular that I must kill in the future and the Dark Guild. My dream is to secure the safety of Glory City and of the woman I love, have a family with her and give her many headaches with my brothers like Long Wan said. I hold my friends dear to me and love Ye Ziyun!" he finished without missing a beat making the poor girl''s face light up like Rudolph the reindeer''s nose "As for my combat abilities, I haven''t yet entered Bronze Rank but I have a soul force of 89 at the moment. I posses an attributeless and formless soul realm, though I do feel something changing, perhaps mutating like Long Wan''s but the change is still to small for me to identity yet. I have a bit of knowledge on most Daos such as Sword Dao, Martial Dao and Cultivation Dao. Cultivation wise, I practice the Heavenly God technique which is the most suitable for me. It grants me the ability to merge with up to seven demon spirits of any alignment, higher communion with heaven and earth, some secret techniques like one to temporarily increase my strength well passed my level but at a much higher strain on my body and soul realm, and the ability to refine the breath and then use it to refine the body." He finished and then turned to Ziyun who was looking at him intensely with a lot of admiration.


    Seeing him turn towards her she flinched and blushed but also recovered quickly. She was an innocent girl, even by this world''s standards. Coughing she began "My name is Ye Ziyun of the Snow Wind family. I am the daughter of the City Lord and the granddaughter of legend rank Ye Mo. However, even though I hold that position, I don''t have much authority with the exception of appealing to my father and grandfather. My family protects but will not overindulge me. Even though I am the city lord''s daughter I grew up mostly alone without any friend except Ning''er before we had a falling out some years ago. We did reconnect yesterday thanks to Long Wan. I dislike the Sacred Family, the Dark Guild and demon beasts. My dream is to grow strong and help my family protect the city. I also hope to have a loving family with my future husband. I like Ning''er as if she was my sister, my friends and¡­" she looked towards Nie Li who smiled expectantly. Ziyun however blushed and looked away with a small ''eep''. Sorry brother Li. Better luck next time. "I am at the peak of 1 star bronze rank and have a snow-wind (blizzard) attribute and some kind of bird soul form. I practice the Nine Revolving Ice Phoenix technique but I don''t know anything about it other than it''s a very strong snow wind technique." she hummed at the end with a finger on her chin in thought.


    Frowning I glared hard at Nie Li who pretended not to see me "Nie Li~" I growled making a chopping motion and he started to sweat profusely. "Why do you never take the time to properly explain things?" I sighed as I raked my hair in frustration.


    He started to laugh awkwardly before taking over the conversation "Your soul realm is the Ice Phoenix. While it''s in egg form you will suffer maybe average or below average cultivation speed." he said and his face softened when he saw her dejected face "However, when you reach Black-Gold rank the phoenix will hatch and you will have unparalleled godlike cultivation ability if paired with a suitable technique." Ye Ziyun instantly beamed up in surprise. She looked in wonder and disbelief. I remember that all her life she was compared with her father and adopted brother and was shown to be mediocre in comparison, when in truth she was just a very late bloomer, at least by Tiny World standards. In the Draconic Ruins Realm Black Gold was something that ten year old kids were expected to reach.


    Nie Li laughed and continued "As for the technique, while it''s not the strongest in terms of combat ability, it is the most mysterious. If you successfully cultivate and as long as your soul is not destroyed, you can resurrect up to nine times even if your entire body is reduced to ash. I gave you that technique to protect you. Everything in my power, even my life, I will give it all to see you safe!" he said kindly as he looked at her and took her hand. She flinched hard and tried to pull back but looking at how she moved she didn''t really put that much effort in it. No protests erupted from her mouth either.


    Seeing her grow more uncomfortable by the moment, happy but also uncomfortable, I called out "Whoa~ boy!" causing Nie Li to instantly let go and shield his head. Feeling the lack of impact he relaxed his guard and shot a glare at me. I smirked knowingly. Conditional programming is a bitch.


    The rest followed shortly though I tuned them out since I was already familiar with their capabilities. When they finished we moved on to our devices. Ning''er and I took a soul nurturing pill each and began cultivating. The Heavenly Dragon Void God was nearly unmatched at absorbing the power of the pill but Ning''er soul form gave it serious competition. Next to us Nie Li was discussing inscription patterns with Ziyun, the trio were debating the most effective form of spear combat. Du Ze was doing his homework for class and Lu Piao was off to lalaland in the corner, sometimes sleep-mumbling something about b.o.o.b.s.


    I had just finished absorbing the pill when I checked my soul crystal to see it now showed a soul force of 288. In a couple of days I will be three star bronze.


    "You''re amazing!" came from Ning''er, her angelic voice singing my praises with a radiant smile on her l.u.s.trous cherry lips. She lifted her soul crystal to show 234.


    Shaking my head I smiled back "I had a head start and a lot of high quality pills. Even so, you nearly caught up to me in less than a few days. If anyone is the greatest here, then it''s you."


    She pouted sweetly and gently grabbed my ear "A week ago your soul force was at 11 while mine was at 78 so don''t pull that head start nonsense on me mister!" Ning''er admonished with a blush. Though the way she grabbed my ear sent shivers down my spine. She didn''t squeeze nor pull, but it felt like a massage. Her fingers moved softly along the lobe. She could have a thing for ears for all I know.


    Melting in her touch I exhaled contently "If this is punishment then know that I''ve been a very naughty~ boy." It seems that her movements were somewhat subconscious because after realizing what she was doing she retracted her hands with lightning speed, blood rushing to her skin and virtual steam came out of her ears. Even Ziyun got so red that her sweat was starting to evaporate. Pouting, I started grumbling "She stopped... Me and my big mouth." earning a light giggle from both girls.


    Suddenly a large group of people entered my range of sense and I turned around to see that a bunch of upperclassmen were surrounding a student that was proudly showing off his red armour. Smiling I stood up while making my way to the group. "This piece of armour in my hand is called Flaming dark armour. It''s bronze ranked and unless one had hundreds of thousands of demon spirit coins, they wouldn''t be able to get it! Putting on this Flaming dark armour, invincible under silver rank!" he said before taking it off and throwing it to a person in the crowd "I gift this to you!" Upon seeing it, several girls beside revealed envious expression. Among them quite a few of them threw flirtatious glance towards the generous youth from time to time.


    Laughing faintly, the youth continued , "There are six stalks of 5-year old Holy Dark Grass here. I brought them from my home. As long as you follow me and work hard, there will be many benefits for you guys!" Holy Dark Grass is solely the Divine Family''s. It has the effect of strengthening one''s soul force based on the age of the grass, the older it is, the stronger it becomes. A single 5-year Holy Dark Grass is worth 50 thousand demon spirit coins, as for 10-year and 20-year Holy Dark Grasses, they are several or even dozen times more expensive.


    Long Wan''s memories surged forward. This teen, Chen Linjian was a somewhat dear person to him, one of the few nobles who treated him like an equal. He could be pretty stern and upright but never without justification or reason. However, as we aged and he took on more responsibility for the Divine family we drifted apart, barely seeing each other from time to time.


    "Big brother Linjian!" I called out from behind the group.


    The teen turned towards me with surprise before it turned into a warm smile "Xiao Wan!" he said and went over to meet me halfway. When we were a step apart we locked arms in a brotherly fashion, giving a slight squeeze of reassurance. "I remember when you used to cling to my pant legs. Now look at you, almost as tall as I am." he said as he wrapped an arm around my neck and started to mess with my hair.


    "Ahaha, I had a growth spurt." I said as I let him have his fun with my head.


    "Who is this young man?" some people began whispering.


    "I didn''t know that young master had a younger brother!'' others soon followed.


    Chen Linjian let me go and took my shoulders in his hands before showing me a sombre look "I heard you''ve been making trouble for the Sacred family. You should know that I can only help you so much. Are you sure you know what you''re doing?"


    Nodding I cupped my hands towards him "Thank you big brother but I know what I''m doing. Considering your position I cannot possibly ask you to interfere."


    He frowned and lightly knocked me upside the head "Nonsense! What good is my position if I can''t help my dear little brother?"


    Fisting him in the c.h.e.s.t I replied "Just trust me!"


    Chen Linjian nodded and turned towards the crowd "Everyone, this is Long Wan. His parents committed a great sacrifice for my Divine Family so I''ve been helping raise him as if he is my little brother. I hope you receive him with the same kindness you''ve shown me."


    "Long Wan? You mean that Long Wan?" one girl whispered


    "What do you mean?" another one asked.


    "Supposedly he upset the Sacred Family very much so they attacked him 7 vs 1." she said while looking at me like I was a puzzle to be solved


    "Oh no! What happened then?" her friend asked again


    One boy approached them and said "The Sacred family attackers were beaten, some within an inch of their lives..."


    "Really?" they both asked at the same time, throwing towards me expressions of both respect as well as fear.


    "I was there. He was screaming for help until the princess of the Winged Dragon family tried to help him but got hurt in accident. Next thing you know, he came upon them like an angel of death and sent three men to the infirmary, scared off three more and made Shen Yue urinate himself." the boy answered.


    Nodding, Chen Linjian struck my c.h.e.s.t "About that, just how strong have you become?"


    Nie Li needed to hide his strength to keep the Dark Guild away from his family but I had no such concerns "I''m at the peak of 2 star Bronze demon spiritualist and close to middle 3 star in strength."


    Linjian whistled "When I was your age, I was barely scraping one star. Even now I''m only 5 star bronze." For Glory City, 5 star bronze at 15 was genius level.


    "Then I still have a while to catch up." Who am I kidding? A ''while'' for me means at most two months.


    Chen Linjian laughed "Listen, do you want to join my group? I can care for you better this way." he offered sincerely


    Shaking my head I let go of him and took a step back "Apologies big brother but I''ve already got a group. But if you see fit then we can still work together." As I said this the rest of the group started coming to us "Allow me to introduce my friends."


    Linjian nodded towards the group "Any friend of xiao Wan is a friend of mine.". They cupped their hands in return.


    "Young master Linjian, would you be willing to accept us on your team?" Nie Li said respectfully but firmly.


    "We?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.


    Nodding Nie Li continued "Ziyun wants to join as well. I tried to dissuade her but you know how women are." Well, well, well... Seems like the little ice princess is melting. Though that last comment earned Nie Li a stomp on the foot from the same girl and the laughter of everyone as he was jumping around on one foot while cradling the other.


    One of Linjian''s men barked "Brat, have you reached bronze rank? Do you think this is a game we are playing?"


    "Enough!" ordered Chen Linjian "I said that they are my friends so I expect you to avoid any disrespectful tones." he said glaring at the man


    "Apologies young master!" the man cupped his hands while bowing.


    The noble teen turned to me with a raised eyebrow. "I can vouch for any one of them with my life. Actually, I would also like to join." I confirmed


    "Would you be able to accept me as well?" asked Ning''er.


    Linjian nodded with a smile but then asked in a serious tone "Do any of you have an idea on what we are planning here?" he then started scanning our group.


    "Of course. You people are preparing to explore the Ancient Orchid City Ruins, right?" Nie Li answered without missing a beat.


    Chen Linjian showed hint of astonishment on his face. "Big brother Linjian meet Nie Li." I laughed at his surprised face.


    Linjian thought for a second before realization hit him. He looked at Nie Li and smiled "They say that you have read all sorts of ancient books."


    "That is correct. I have read anything that can be found in the library." Nie Li slightly nodded, revealing strong sense of self-confidence.


    "Ha ha, such big words!"


    "You are still to grow a bush, but actually dare to say that you''ve read all the ancient books in the library, how amusing. Even if you have been reading since you were in your mother''s w.o.m.b, you couldn''t have possibly read so many books." Linjian''s men started talking amongst themselves mockingly. Sigh, big bro you need to run with a smarter crowd.


    "Silence!" Linjian ordered before switching to Nie Li "Since you have read so many books, do you know what era the Ancient Orchid City Ruins belong to?"


    Nie Li nodded "According to the present clues found, Ancient Orchid City Ruins'' buildings are round, however the whole city is square, and with such construction there are only two compatible eras. One would be the Snow Wind Empire Era and the other would be the Sacred Empire Era."


    I cut him off there "Hold on! The specific lotus murals and the layout of the roads were only found during the Sacred Empire era and during the Woodland Empire that descended from the Sacred Empire and inherited their style and language.


    Nie Li raised an eyebrow at me but nodded in acceptance "True, but the city is much too large. The Woodland empire didn''t have time to expand so much."


    I cupped my chin "However since the murals are still intelligible then it means that they didn''t have time to sunbleach and fade, so the city can''t be too old either."


    The ginger nodded "En, which means that it was late Sacred Empire era."


    Nodding I accepted the reasoning "Close to the beginning of the Dark Age."


    Judging by their expressions it was obvious that the rest of Chen Linjian''s squad had no f.u.c.k.i.n.g clue about what we were talking about. "Good!" Chen Linjian suddenly got up. Swinging an arm above both Nie Li''s and mine''s shoulders he tilted towards me "Xiao Wan, when did you get so knowledgeable? You used to ask me if demon beasts pee or not ha ha!"


    "Did he?" Ning''er asked with a mischievous smile. Oh no!


    Linjian started laughing "He did!" he confessed and Ning''er started giggling as she looked at me with the corner of her eyes "That''s not the best one! At one time during a celebration he actually..."


    "Say another word about that and no pill in existence will fix what I''m going to do to you!" I growled like a rabid demon beasts.


    He started sweating a little but insisted on pushing his luck "Oh come on Xiao Wan, it''s just a funny story about..." A sharp void tendril was instantly aimed dangerously close to his family jewels.


    "Would you like to be called young master, or little miss? Your choice..." I said smiling as sweetly as I could.


    Now he started sweating profusely "Uhh... Actually, what did you do then? I don''t remember well, ehehehe..."


    The tendril vanished as I patted his back "You chose wisely."


    Ning''er approached my side and pulled my sleeve as she started whispering with a smile "Now I''m really curious." she bat her eyelashes at me and I almost gave in and told her.


    Grinning mischievously I whispered back "Tell you what. You tell me a really embarrassing story about yourself and I will tell you mine, I promise. "


    She pouted but didn''t push it. Ning''er is still a girl afterall. Embarrassing stories are even more so to her species. As she walked away she suddenly turned and before moving close to my ear and speaking with an extremely hushed tone. I nodded a few times to answer some whispered questions before my face instantly became cherry red listening to her story and I clamped a hand over my mouth, my shoulders trembling in contained laughter. This went on for many seconds as Ning''er just stood there timid and blushing harder then an erupting volcano.


    As soon as I recovered I turned to look at the little miss Xiao and shook my head "A promise is a promise¡­ " I muttered as I leaned in and whispered back in her ear. Her face lit up like never before she tried to contain her giggle but she couldn''t and let it run out loud. Her feminine giggle filled my ear as she wiped her eyes that had watered from all that laughing "I can''t believe it! You really ran out with her pa¡­"


    She began recalling when I interrupted with a smirk "At least I''m not the one who went crying to her daddy thinking she was dying when she had her first¡­"


    "Aaaaahhhh~!" she shot towards me to clamp my mouth shut with both hands "Don''tsayitoutloud!Don''tsayitoutloud!Don''tsayitoutloud!" she said in one breath until she was distracted by Lu Piao who let out a wolf whistle. She then realized that her hands were both on my face as she stuck her body onto mine. Blush returned with a vengeance reaching critical levels. The next instant she was all the way across the room behaving all timid and shy.


    Shaking my head I smiled and decided to pretend I didn''t notice anything. I turned to big bro Linjian who was discussing with Nie Li "You want to choose one item first? Okay, it''s a deal. And if you reconsider in the future know that my offer still stands." he said and Nie Li just nodded. He probably tried to get Nie Li as his subordinate. It pained to be the only one who knows that Linjian would be better of with HIM being Nie Li''s underling.


    "Hope that we can cooperate happily." Nie Li calmly said then turned around and left.


    "Three days from now at 6 o''clock in the morning. We''ll set off from here!" Chen Linjian looked at the back of Nie Li who is currently walking away, and revealed a little playful smile on his face.


    Three days?! F.u.c.k my shitty Earth memory sideways with a spiked dildo. I thought it would be tomorrow. Well, this gives me plenty of time to get the armor, the scroll and learn some moves. Speaking of moves¡­


    Bidding my fare well I ran after Nie Li, the gang following close behind "Nie LI! Can you teach me some kung-fu right now?"


    My friend though a second about it but then he answered with a smile "It''s a little late but why not. Let''s go to the academy combat grounds." It took at most five minutes to get there. As soon as we entered the arena both of us took to the center while the others remained at a distance watching us. "Show me what you can do and we can work from there." he said tucking his hands behind his back.


    I scratched the back of my head with an awkward expression "But, I told you I''m a rank amateur. The time with Shen Yue was the first time I hit anything."


    He just smiled kindly and made a come hither motion "We need to get a grasp on how your body and mind moves so we can work from there. I promise I''ll be gentle." he said with a smile that promised pain.


    Frowning, I thought for a couple of seconds as I lifted my hands in a simple guard, imitating Muay Thai. Going in with unfamiliar big moves would earn me a love session with the ground. This meant I needed to start small and keep at it. So swallowing hard and gritting my teeth I launched myself at Nie Li with the plans to throw simple left handed jabs. Next thing I knew was that the sky was full of pretty clouds.


    Nie Li tsked "You think too much. Planning too much ahead only means more chances for things not to go according to plan." This sonovabitch swiped my legs and sent me to the floor. I didn''t feel much due to my 2 star Bronze physique but my pride did take a serious hit.


    This pissed me off to no regards as I looked towards him. No more mister nice guy. I steadied my body and raised my fists again on the side of my face and launched myself at him, focused on guarding my lower portion, only to land with my face in his fist as it found it''s way perfectly through my sideways guard.


    "And this time you let anger cloud you and thought too little. You really are a beginner."


    Hearing what he said I growled as a fly landed on my nose due to my sprawled position. Angry I swatted the fly, giving myself the mother of all wakeup slaps. This cooled me down. He was right, I was a beginner. Hell *I* said I was an amateur.


    I stood up and dusted myself as I closed my eyes and focused my other senses, especially my void sense, to overdrive. My sight was my biggest weakness. It gave my intentions away and gave me tunnel vision. I wasn''t angry anymore, I just wanted this f.u.c.ker to hit the ground at least once. Since I had a body that moved how I wanted it, why not use it to the fullest. Relaxing my arms I shot forward in a curved direction aiming for his left, my void sense giving me a perfect outline to his body. As I shot a jab forward I could feel him... f.u.c.k, I could ''see'' him sigh disappointingly as he once again made to take me out.


    However just before he could prepare his move I accelerated, using soul force on the soles of my feet for explosive results. Grabbing his arm with my jabbing one I jumped forward and crossed my legs over his c.h.e.s.t, and pulling his arm towards mine letting both of us fall.


    This was my first armbar and as we both hit the ground I opened my eyes to find Nie Li looking impressed at my performance before he moved in a way I didn''t think was humanly possible and reversed the situation on me so that now it was I who was in a hold. Knowing that I had no way to get out I wanted to surrender to him but I just didn''t want him to get the satisfaction so I grabbed a handful of sand and threw it at his face. He managed to avoid it but had to let go of me.


    "That wasn''t very honorable¡­ " he pouted.


    Smirking I replied "I would rather it be effective than honorable. There are no second chances in real battles."


    From a disappointed frown it turned into an approving nod from Shifu Li. One couldn''t live centuries in a place like the Draconic Ruins Realm and still be honourable. "That''s enough. " he said "There are some flashes of genius from time to time but you think too much on the first move and little to none on the following ones. In short, you''re an absolute novice with some knowledge of kung-fu but no experience." he told me.


    Sighing "That''s what I told you at the start. Was there any need for all of this?" I asked with frustration and tiredness.


    Nie Li nodded "There was. For one I know exactly what I have to work with now. As for the other, let''s call it stress relief." he said with an evil smile.


    "Did you just hold a grudge?" I asked more rhetorically than not.


    Nie Li shrugged "Eh, I didn''t hit anything important anyway¡­" he chuckled.


    My grin overcame me hard as my left eye twitched ''This~ mother~f.u.c.ker~!''

 Chapter 5 - Have a nice trip! See you next fall! (pt 1)

    Next morning I woke up sore all over. If it wasn''t for the Nine Transformation Pills I would''ve looked like a chess board. That ancient adolescent really put me through the dish washer. I swear I''ll get back at that soulless motherf.u.c.ker even if it''s the last thing I do.


    Stretching a few times I made my way to get dressed in my regular clothes only to realize I had just my spares available. My very old, crummy spares. Ah right¡­ my regulars destroyed in that dance with Shen Yue''s thugs and I was poorer than a country mouse before so they were my only good... eh, decent set. Well, I should go check on the order today anyway so I''ll do some clothes shopping at the same time.


    It was a day off from school anyway and it was decided to meet the rest during the evening at the library. Lu Piao begged to be allowed to sleep in late, though I don''t understand why since the little lovable turd could cultivate on the toilet with his attribute. Well, not to look a gift horse in the teeth.


    Deciding to go for a walk I made my way to the more noble neighborhood as it was the shortest as well as safest for me, considering that the Sacred family could''ve put a target on my back. Walking passed a just two courtyards took a few good minutes , damn rich people and their big a.s.s houses. Anyway, as I was taking in the scenery I managed to sneak a glance at a gate that had two guards stationed there. However, it was not the guards that attracted my attention but the nameplate: Winged Dragon.


    I might be signing my own death certificate for doing this but¡­ what the hell, you only live once¡­ eh, twice in my case¡­ .


    Well, we could discuss semantics or we can get the show on the road. Putting my hands behind my back I strolled up to one of the guards.


    The guard scanned me over briefly before sneering "If you want to beg then you won''t find mercy here!" he growled. I raised an eyebrow. This f.u.c.ker thought I was a beggar? Truthfully I wasn''t dressed in fine clothes, and the material was on the thinner side, but to go that far¡­


    Swallowing my disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e I turned to him "Please inform Ning''er that Long Wan has come to see her."


    "You¡­" the guard put his hand on his sword. The other guard however stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.


    Sighing hard I glared at him "Does the Winged Dragon family hire deaf people to stand as guards? I said my name is Long Wan."


    The other guard grabbed me by my shirt, pulled me up and brought me close to his face. "Listen you insolent riff-raff! Get lost before I make you!" Yuck! I really should invent toothpaste or breath mints...


    I narrowed my eyes at him "Let go!" I ordered "Or don''t blame me for being impolite!"


    The guard smirked "I won''t! So what?"


    The next second he flew into the courtyard and landed with a loud splash, maybe in the carp pond, these rich families had their own miniature lakes afterall. The second guard took out his sword and made a motion to attack me before an angelic voice called out "What''s going on he¡­ Long Wan?!"


    Ning''er had come out in a panic. A man flying and landing in your yard isn''t exactly an everyday occurrence, even in Glory City. She was wearing a light summer white cheongsam made of silk that accentuated ever bit of her perfect body. Her hair was up in two buns with two strands hanging freely from them. Hearing the little miss, the guard skidded to a halt. It looked like his mind reset as he heard Ning''er call out my name. Looking at her for a second and then to me his expression turned very frightened as he quickly sheathed his sword and bowed deeply while cupping his hands "Young lord, please forgive us for this terrible mistake!" Seems that age did come with wisdom.


    Seeing this, Ning''er''s face filled with even more questions "Long Wan, what happened?" she asked as he gracefully made her way to me to scan me over for damages. Unlike her training clothes, this cheongsam restricted movement but it enhanced feminine actions so it looked like a wife was greeting her husband after he returned from battle.


    Chuckling I waved my hand in front of her. We were in public so we needed to keep intimate interactions at a minimum. "I was on my way to do some clothes shopping when I noticed that I was walking by your family''s estate. Due to this I''ve wanted to ask if you could join me since I don''t have any taste in clothes." It was true. My fashion sense was that of a dead skunk and my artistic skills could cause me to confuse a Picasso with a car crash. "It was then that your guards decided that they would help me cement the skills that Nie Li taught me yesterday."


    Ning''er wasn''t stupid. It didn''t take her more than a second to turn to the guard with an angry expression "You attacked my friend!?" she said with womanly rage making the guard take a few steps back. She was the genius little miss of the Xiao family. Pissing her off was the last thing he should do.


    She grimaced "Was it that bad?" she asked with concern.


    Rubbing the back of my neck I grunted "I woke up feeling like I made mad passionate love with a heard of horned goats." I said earning a giggle. That laughter evaporated my pain away as sparkles danced around her "But my pride took the most damage. My apologies you had to see that sorry state of mine." she was there in the audience so naturally she would see me at my weakest.


    She put her hands around her back as she gazed at the sky "Actually, I thought you were very manly when you put Nie Li in that hold."


    Well that was a boost to my self esteem. However I should change into something more fitting to my new confidence. Wouldn''t do for these stuck up nobles in this area to think of me as a hobo¡­ again.


    Crossing my arms in front of me I asked again "So will you come?" . She tilted her cute head like a puppy asking for what. "Shopping of course. Your guards mistook me for a beggar. I had a half-though to kill him by burying him in demon spirit coins." I said earning another laugh from her "But even I don''t have enough funds to crush all guards, and I need someone to help me chose what fits me. A feminine touch would be best."


    Ning''er''s cheeks became rosy and she nodded "En. I wanted to get a few things too." before moving a hand to her lips "Ah, I forgot my ring inside. Let me go get it real quick!"


    I quickly moved between her and the gate "Absolutely not! I will cover today''s expenses." I said as I blocked her path.


    "Long Wan, you shouldn''t¡­" she tried to sideways me but I still had a longer reach than her and her dress wasn''t helping her agility.


    "You there!" a male voice called out to me from behind. Not again! These assholes seemed to come out in a never-ending stream like f.u.c.k.i.n.g c.o.c.kroaches. Turning around I could see a man in his late 30s to early 40s rushing towards us, the aura he emanated clearly showing an expert of high degree. "What are you doing bothering my daughter?"


    My daughter? Father?! This was Ning''er''s dad. I had forgotten his name as he was an unimportant side character in the novel but here he was and considering how far I planned to go with his daughter I had to make a good impression. Too bad that he caught me now when I was in my spares. Damn luck.


    Ning''er got in between us, arms stretched wide an stood firm. Seeing this the Xiao Patriarch calmed down.


    "This is my good friend Long Wan. He wasn''t bothering me at all." she all but screamed at him. His abrupt actions must''ve scared her into thinking he was going to hurt me. I couldn''t back down now.


    Swallowing my fear and anxiety I stepped in between them as if to shield Ning''er, looking respectfully but also confidently in his eyes. Cupping my hands I stated politely: "Greetings sir, my name is Long Wan. As Ning''er said we are good friends and classmates. It''s an honor to meet you!"


    Her dad scanned me over before scrunching his nose "A friend? What are you here for?"


    Smiling I repeated for the I-don''t-know-what time by now "I was asking Ning''er to join me clothes shopping. My better clothes got ruined during a scuffle at school."


    His frowned deepened before realization hit him and his expression softened considerably. He cupped his hands towards me. This was a big move, especially from an elder "Ah! So you are young Long Wan. I heard about you. Please forgive me and my outburst. I am called Xiao Yunfeng." I did a double take. Why did he behave like this. I was expecting him to act.. Well more like a dad of a daughter. Smiling he continued "I heard how you got vengeance on the one who hurt my little Ning''er, chased away his friends as well as how you healed her." Ah of course. He was a noble, and a top middle ranking one at that so there was no way the vice-principal could keep the daughter of the patriarch getting hurt a secret.


    Smiling I moved forward summoning another box not unlike the one I gave Ning''er "Ah, it''s no problem at all. Misunderstandings happen all the time. Ning''er is a very good friend so please accept these elixirs as a gift on her behalf."


    He took the box with both hands (which was a sign of great respect in this world, as was giving with both hands) before opening one bottle and sniffing it. Instantly his eyes widened as he put the box away in his ring "We will gratefully accept. We are lucky Ning''er has such a great friend."


    Yunfeng mirrored my actions "Please walk slowly." he said before returning.


    As I was distancing myself I vaguely heard him yell at the guards saying they will get a pay cut this month¡­


    We made our way to the market square with Ning''er as close to my side as she could be without raising suspicion. My palm burned with the d.e.s.i.r.e to hold hers and I suspected she felt the same judging by how she kept stealing glances at my arm before biting her lip. Soon my dear, very soon.


    The first order of business was to change out of these clothes so we went to the appropriate district. Entering one shop that looked fancy I began browsing for menswear while leaving Ning''er a little to the side to check on accessories. I was looking for some different sets when a buff middle aged man, with a long thin moustache that framed his mouth and went down below his chin approached me from the side. Normally I wouldn''t have paid it any mind but he got really close before coughing hard and grabbing me by my sleeve. The fabric was quite a bit old so he tore it.


    "I thought I told you urchins to stay the f.u.c.k out of my store!" he grunted as he pulled harder making me lose my balance and fall to the ground. The f.u.c.ker didn''t stop there as he kept dragging me towards the door.


    This was really pissing me off right now so I grabbed his arm and dug my fingers right below his wrist where his tendons were. The next second he wreathed like some kind of branded stallion before pulling away, cradling the arm as if it was broken "You insolent... Get out of my store before I call the city guards!"


    Before I could comply another elderly voice called out "Young master!?". Turning around I saw that it was the store owner from where I had ordered my armor.


    The buff man turned to the new arrival asking "Big bro, you know this street rat?"


    The elderly salesman made his way to our side with a speed that was uncanny for his age and grabbed the buff man by the ear like a parent scolding a petulant child "You absolute moron! How are you treating my most valuable customer!?"


    To answer I simply raised my left hand, sleeve dangling loosely from my pit, hanging on for dear life by, quite literally, a thread.


    Blood drained from both their faces as the old man dragged the buff one down to the floor, prostrating themselves in front of me "Our most humble apologies young lord. We will surely make up for the offense."


    Chuckling at the scene I raised both of them by the scruff of their shirts as high as my adolescent body could manage "First of all, I''m no lord. It''s just that I''m a very rich commoner. Second of all, these were old clothes that I wanted to toss out anyway. Third and finally, I don''t want your apologies, I just want to buy clothes." my words came with an amused but slightly exasperated tone.


    "But of course! Xiao Xian, go and bring out the best stock!" the elder said before fl.i.c.k.i.n.g his wrist and sending his younger brother away with a kick in the a.s.s as bonus.


    Hearing the angelic giggle that I couldn''t rid myself of (not that I wanted to) I turned to Ning''er to see her hiding her mouth with her oversized sleeve, rosy color adorning her cheeks.


    Moving as close as I possibly could without fear of submitting to the urge to kiss her I said with fake anger "You know, you could''ve interfered at any time you wanted to."


    She giggled even harder and that made it difficult for me not to go in and not intentionally provoke mr muscle mountain again. If she would laugh all her life like this, then even my very soul would be a small price to pay. Recovering her breath she finally managed to say "But that was so amusing." she dismissed. ''Women...'' I thought shaking my head.


    I looked around and saw no other customers today. It was early morning on the equivalent of their Saturday so most were out shopping for groceries, not for clothes. It was also important to note that this store was the kind only for nobles or people with deep pockets could afford to visit. Even so, consequences be damned, I was drunk on love! My body moved on autopilot scooping her up into a bone crushing embrace. I felt her stiffen in my arms but other than that moment there was no resistance. It didn''t take long for Ning''er to return the embrace, her heat warming me up to the core.


    My heart didn''t want to but my reason said no so I released the girl, my girl. This left her pouting and my heart sank. Shen Fei, when I get my hands on you, you better pray I''m in a good mood because no elixir, no magical potion, hell no deity in the world will be able to fix what I''ll do to you.


    Turning to Ning''er I smiled "Please help me choose a few." and she blushed deeply but nodded. Why did she blush? Ah! From Long Wan''s memories I recalled that boys are usually chosen clothes by their mothers. However in the case of men, that duty falls to the wives. How cutely innocent she is.


    Steeling my face I turned to the shop owner "The way you treated me today... I''ll forgive the offense if you swear to keep our transactions a secret."


    Xian bowed and cupped his hands "Of course young master! No worries, we take customer privacy very seriously."


    "Long Wan." Hearing Ning''er call out my name I turned to her only to see her standing with a couple of clothes in hand. Taking them from her with both hands I mouthed a thank you to her before returning to Xian and giving him a storage ring "There are 1.5 million demon spirit coins in there. It will cover any purchase that either I or the young lady will make. You can open a credit line for us with the rest and keep ten thousand as a tip." The man''s eyes nearly jumped out. It''s really no surprise he acted this way since I doubt his entire store wouldn''t match that value even if he included the building as well.


    "Long Wan, you shouldn''t have done that!" Ning''er scolded while tugging my good sleeve.


    Smiling I shrugged "But I did it anyway. So you better chose some things too otherwise it''s just wasted money."


    Puffing her cheeks she turned towards the accessories again while I went in the back to change. After struggling a few minutes with the unfamiliar clothes I finally stopped to check myself in the mirror. It seems Ning''er chose clothes similar to what I wore before. The shirt was black as well, except that the shirt was now made of fine silk with intricate patterns at the seams and the edges were made of tightly woven gold thread. It was also looser than my previous shirt and closed with a sash rather than buttons. The pants were of matching design. The only new edition was a white sleeveless vest with a high collar, with the edges and decorations made of gold weave. As for the decorations, there were two lotus flowers, one on each shoulder and a Jiao Dragon on the back.


    Stepping out of the dressing room I grimaced as one thread of the pants got stuck in between the globes of my a.s.s making it very uncomfortable to walk.


    "Long Wa..." Ning''er began but stopped instantly when she got a good look at me, blood filling her cheeks.


    "Well?" I asked with a smile, or at least a combination of a smile and a grimace as the thread kept on violating me.


    "You look... Regal..." she said with a blush "It suits you very well... Even your expressions seem to have changed."


    Catching a glimpse of myself in a mirror I couldn''t help notice how much I looked like Shen Yue with the face I was making while the thread dug deeper in my nether realm. "So that''s why..."


    "What?" she asked with concern.


    I sighed "A thread from these clothes came undone and is now in a very uncomfortable place, making me imitate the Sacred family members. It puzzled me how they could always walk around with that ''I can''t believe I''m breathing the same air as you peasants'' look. Now I know they have something stuck up their asses."


    Ning''er blinked twice as she processed what I''ve just said before she burst into a full blown laugh, the sweet sounds of her happiness echoing loudly into my ears. Tears of joy wet the corner of her eyes as she bet over while holding a crate for support with one hand and her stomach with the other "That, haha, that does indeed make, haha, make sense!"


    Flexing my lower cheeks I summoned a void tendril to rip the thread to pieces. Superhuman powers did have some advantages after all. After this I made a motion to call the shop owner who arrived in a flash "I''ll take six sets of these clothes. I also want some more flexible clothes for training and a set or two of light but durable clothes that don''t restrict movement for adventuring outside the city gates, preferably a combination of dark green and black, no decorations."


    "Coming right up!" he said and five minutes later I had 25 sets of clothing in my ring "The total is 23 thousand demon spirit coins, including the young lady''s purchase. It is well within your coverage sum. If there isn''t anything else I can do for you then please, walk slowly!" he said with a bow.


    Now that he said it I did notice some new items on Ning''er. She had new silk ribbons tying her hair buns, a lovely new jade and gold bracelet on her even lovelier right wrist and a tiny gold and silver hairpin kept her bangs away from her eyes "They suit you very well. I didn''t think it was possible for you to look lovelier than you did before." I said with a smile and she responded with a shy thanks.


    The next move I did was to get some new shoes though no major event happened this time thank the gods. Finally our last destination was the emporium owned by the elder brother of the clothes shop owner.


    "Ah! Young master, welcome! I hope that that idiot brother of mine made proper amends. Anyway your order is ready." he said happily.


    I nodded "As long as he keeps my business private then I will ignore everything that has happened. I also request the same from you."


    The man puffed his aged c.h.e.s.t out "Do not worry young master! We brothers take our customers'' image very seriously." he said and I nodded, after which he retrieved three rings. "Here you go. The pink jade ring is the female version while the gold ring also contains the scroll."


    "And here is what I promised to give you for a job well done." Summoning a ring of my own I exchanged it with his three "Ah, I wish to try it on now. Is it possible?" I asked and he nodded.


    "Yes, I can open a storage room. Would the lady like to as well?" he asked towards Ning''er who was behind me a half step.


    She shot me a puzzled look as I handed her the pink ring. "There is a Gold rank armor set in there. You can wear it now or wait till you return home."


    "Gold rank?! Long Wan, that is too much. I can''t accept it." she said as she made to return the ring but I stuck my hands in my sleeves. Can''t understand why she thinks it too much considering that not too long ago I gave her 100 pills, each worth more than one armor set.


    "It was made to order for you to protect you when I''m not around. If you don''t want it then it will have to be thrown away." I shrugged "But if you do then I''ll tell your dad about the planned trip. Not sure how thrilled he would be to see his little girl frolic in the dangers outside the city walls."


    She gained a look of terror as blood drained from her face "You wouldn''t!"


    "''I wouldn''t'', only if you wear the armor on the trip." I smiled.


    Ning''er looked conflicted for a moment as she looked at the ring before wrapping her palm over it "Long Wan. Why do you care so much about me?"


    "I think I made it clear that night in the hunting grounds." I replied with a hum and a smile.


    "But why?" she asked with her own mouth curving slightly upwards.


    Tucking my hands behind my back I looked everywhere and nowhere "Why does the sun rise from the east? Some things are what they are for no particular reason. It''s just how my heart moves." I said as I made my way towards the storage area where I tucked the armor under my clothes. It was pretty light but definitely tough. There were vambraces, a sleeveless c.h.e.s.t piece , short pants and finally chausses. They were all made of some kind of lizard leather, with it''s scales interlocked like lamellar armor.


    Walking out I turned to the store owner again "You said you stock only Bronze rank armor. What about Silver rank?"


    The man smiled "It''s also to order. In stock I have only one set that was ordered previously but the owner didn''t show up to pick it up. Rumour has it that the person died. Unfortunately it is for a female fighter so it''s not as easy to resell." Even if some girls joined our class they were outnumbered many times by the boys. Even then, those girls would usually focus on crafting and inscription patterns so female frontliners were exceedingly rare.


    However that suits me just fine "I''ll take it. And also some demon crystals of primary, intermediate and advanced natures, three of each." I said.


    "That''ll be 798 thousand demon spirit coins." the man said enthusiastically as he went to retrieve the items and put them in a ring free of charge.


    I turned to Ning''er who stayed quiet all this time but you could see questions cooking in her brain. Smiling I answered "The armor is for Ziyun. She will be joining us on the trip and even with her position I''m sure that she doesn''t own anything like this. Ning''er nodded and accepted it with a kind smile. Ziyun was her best friend afterall (besides myself) so she cared for her very much.


    We bid our goodbyes to the store owner and started to walk towards Ning''er''s home when the most unpleasant voice called out from behind.


    "Ning''er?!" . The voice belonged to a man but the feeling it gave me is like Satan himself slithered up my back while l.i.c.k.i.n.g me seductively.


    We both turned around to see a group of teens led by a regal looking young man. "Shen Fei..." Ning''er called out his name in response and I just frowned.


    "What are you doing here?" he barked arrogantly before turning his gaze at me "You''re walking with another man? Are you putting a green hat on me?" he yelled angrily causing the entire market to stop and turn towards us and made Ning''er look extremely depressed and oppressed at the same time. He dare accuse her of cheating? Him?! Even now while a woman was coiled around his hand, her t.i.t.s swallowing his elbow.


    This f.u.c.k.i.n.g asshole just blew my fuse. I growled "Young master Shen Fei, you''re disturbing the harmony. If you wish to accuse infidelity perhaps you should first take your hand off the evidence." I said pointing to the woman who pretended that nothing happened.


    He turned to me with the most snobbish expression I''ve ever seen "Do you have any idea who you''re talking to? Do you have a death wish?"


    My frowned deepened "Do you?" I growled.


    "That''s it!" he screamed as he launched himself at me. He was faster than anything I have ever faced but he telegraphed his moves even more than I ever did. Compared to my session with Nie Li, he was sending me a perfumed envelope a week in advance with a letter telling me where he was aiming at.


    However I was a novice and he was Silver rank as well so the only thing I could do is move in front of Ning''er to shield her from any downfall and guard my face with my forearms. A sickening crunch was heard as Shen Fei recoiled from the hit while my bones reverberated with shock but were otherwise fine. His fist however was red and swelling up by the second. Oh yeah, Gold Rank armor. I forgot about that...


    "What did you do to me?!" Shen Fei growled while the girl was cradling his now injured hand and his friends stepped forward ready to attack.


    My mouth curved into a grin that would make the Cheshire cat envious as I inhaled a lot of air and mixed it with my soul force. Like idiot little brother, like moronic elder brother. "HE~LP!" I yelled out loud "THE SACRED FAMILY IS ATTACKING ME! MUR~DER~!"


    "Y-You!" Shen Fei yelled back "You''re Long Wan!"


    "HE~LP! MUR~DER~! HE~LP!" I continued screaming as if I was in mortal danger.


    "Damn it! Shut him up fast!" he ordered his goons. Unlike with Shen Yue, these people were at least 4 star Bronze, some even Silver so I quickly pushed Ning''er out of the way and curled into a ball, protecting my head and letting those morons hurt themselves on my armor, all the time my screams continued to sound out.


    "What''s going on here?!" came a duet consisting of a resounding beastly voice and a more feminine one.


    "Shit! It''s Huyan Xiong!" growled Shen Fei. The Huyan weren''t a major family but he was sworn brother with the City Lord so he had some serious backing. Turning to me he sneered like a sneezing snake "You''re lucky brat! Next time you won''t get off so easily!" and with that he took his cronies and bolted.


    Ning''er had just recovered and made her way to help me up. Just as I was about to stand, Huyan Xiong walked behind me, his impressive physique putting me in his shade. At the same time, a young lady of about 16, maybe 17 and impressive beauty came over to the side of me opposite of Ning''er.


    "Little brother, are you alright?" she asked in concern before looking in the direction the attackers had fled "I knew that Shen Fei is a lowlife, but to even attack kids now. Has he no shame?" she said while helping Ning''er lift me up "Do you need a doctor?"


    Getting to my feet "No thank you miss. The only thing that''s hurt is my pride and to cure that all I need is some baiju and a good woman." I said before cl.i.c.k.i.n.g my teeth in annoyance "And I had just bought these clothes."


    "Bwahaha!" Xiong roared out like he just heard the best dad joke. "I like you little fellow! You''ve got guts." he slapped my back so hard that I felt my soul leave with the breath of air I expelled, and that was through the c.h.e.s.t piece. He might as well have killed me with kindness had I not been wearing protection "Hmm?" he kept his hand on my back and felt around


    "Dad?" the girl asked. If Xiong was her dad then she must be Lanruo.


    "Bwahahaha! No wonder you''re fine, you''re wearing armor underneath. At least silver rank, maybe even gold rank."


    Nodding I took a breath to regain the air I lost before "The later. And thank you for the help patriarch Huyan Xiong!" I said cupping my hands.


    The man continued laughing "Help? If you''re wearing that kind of armor then Shen Fei is the one who needed help. "


    Huyan Lanruo giggled "Little brother that was so devious of you!"


    My eyes scanned her figure once. She was indeed a beauty over Ning''er but it wasn''t a fair comparison due to the age gap. I don''t doubt that it will be truly difficult to choose a winner between the two. Sadly for her, I was a 29 year old man in the body of a teen. I had some experience in my life with women and had seen enough p.o.r.n to write a dictionary.


    Sighing I fixed my eyes into hers and smiled "But I didn''t do anything to them. Shen Fei attacked me out of nowhere and then set his dogs on me. How am I the devious one?" I said trying to look as cute and innocent as possible.


    This made Lanruo giggle out loudly but to also look at me with a sly look. She bent down seductively, letting me have a deep look at the valley between her twin peaks "Little brother is indeed cunning. And if Shen Fei bothers you again you come and tell big sis Lanruo."


    Smiling I looked up to her face and shook my head "Thank you big sis Lanruo but a man must fix his own bed." I cupped my hands towards the both of them "Once again thank you. Sorry to be abrupt but it''s getting late so we''ll be leaving first."


    My feet turned my body towards Ning''er who was waiting for me obediently. I guess Xiong''s presence made her wait out in silence. "Shall we go?" I asked and she nodded.


    I barely made the first step when my world turned dream-like, like I was floating around on clouds of cotton candy. It really tickled my sweet tooth. Speaking of sweet, Huyan Lanruo appeared out of nowhere and she was now wearing a very skimpy swimsuit. Then another appeared in a schoolgirl''s outfit, and another in a s.e.xy nurse dress. Soon I was surrounded by Lanruos in different provocative clothing. It was paradise. Too bad my Heavenly Void Dragon God technique gave me resistance to such illusions. Chanting the first verse the dreamworld shattered and my mind immediately returned to reality.


    My head turned a bit towards Lanruo with a raised eyebrow to meet her shocked appearance "Snow Cherry Blossom demon spirit. That''s a very rare spirit and it really fits big sis Lanruo. That was most impressive."


    I sped up my pace and Ning''er slowly followed leaving the two Huyan behind.


    Walking towards the Winged Dragon complex Ning''er seemed deep in thought about something. Slowly she angled her head towards me "Long Wan?"


    "Hmm?" I answered with a smile.


    "Did you like Huyan Lanruo?" she asked all shy and sad.


    Smiling even more I nodded "She does seem to be a brilliant, charming girl with some unique talents. Why do you ask?" There was no way I would misunderstand what she was thinking of but I needed to find out more about her views on such things.


    "But do you like Lanruo?" she put a hard emphasis on the word ''like''.


    Tilting my head I replied "You mean as a woman?" I asked and Ning''er nodded. Putting my hands behinds my back I looked at the sky "She does indeed have a very impressive figure and her face has a m.a.t.u.r.e charm." I replied and peeked at Ning''er with the corner of my eye to see that she now looked like a puppy forgotten in the rain. Smiling I sighed and looked around to make sure that nobody was close.


    Feeling that it''s safe I let ourselves walk a few more steps in silence as I formed my reply "Do you know why I fell in love with you?" I said softly and she blushed.


    "You said that some things just are what they are..." she replied while looking away from me.


    I chuckled "No, that is the reason for loving you. But I *fell* in love with you for a different motive and it wasn''t for your looks. I fell for you because you are different. When life fed you only adversity you powered through. When you were in pain you didn''t beg for help. And when you were alone you fought for many. I didn''t fell in love with you because I l.u.s.ted after your gorgeous body. What attracted me most of all was your pure and powerful spirit."


    She blushed and turned away. Girls of this world are so sweet.


    "So¡­ you don''t like her?" she asked


    Blessed be her little heart "What you need to understand is that I love you and that will not change, no matter the circ.u.mstances. And it''s not like I have a limited supply of love. It doesn''t work that way. "


    She smiled as well but turned to ask me, this time more security in her voice "Then if I have other lovers other than you?"


    I smiled darkly "Simple. I''ll kill them."


    She giggled "Long Wan."


    "Am I a hypocrite? Definitely. But am I a liar? Most certainly not!" the pride in my voice came out clearer than I expected. One would not usually take pride in admitting to hypocrisy.


    Her giggle turned into a full laughter "I was just joking. My heart belongs to you and I need no other man. Besides, they would have a very difficult time to match even a shred of you." then her smile turned slightly sad "If I''m not enough for you then I will not stop you from having more wives."


    "Then I won''t." came my answer without missing a beat.


    "Long Wan¡­" she said, a strange unidentifiable mix of emotions emanating from her voice.


    "If me giving you a sister-wife will make you feel inadequate in any form then I will not have any more than you." the conversation went on a path which I didn''t want to go on yet "You are more woman than any man could dream of having. It''s just that¡­" I paused to search my heart.


    The me from Earth never wanted a harem. Most think it would be sweet to have one but I used to think that those are just either selfish jerks or just reclusive v.i.r.g.i.ns who don''t know how incredibly emotional high maintenance even one woman could be. Having had my own experiences I thought that one woman is enough trouble for me. However, here I was, the idea of such a life being one of my greatest wishes. There was a feeling that I needed to pull out.


    A sigh escaped my mouth as realization finally hit me "Ning''er, do you love your family?" I asked and she nodded after a confused pause "I don''t." came my response following her gasp "It''s not that I don''t want to. I¡­ can''t even remember my parents'' faces. My earliest memories are at the orphanage. My mother''s touch, my father''s voice, I can''t remember any of it." my gaze turned to her with a sad smile and she covered her mouth with both hands, tears wetting her crystal eyes "Before meeting you, I wanted neither fame, nor power, nor fortune. My most burning d.e.s.i.r.e was a large family, as large as possible. One where we would all live in harmony and love. It is very selfish of me, I know. However, even I can''t control how my heart beats and what it d.e.s.i.r.es."


    Ning''er didn''t say anything but I could tell she was fighting the urge to hug me tight. Soon my beloved, very soon.


    I dismissed the longing in my heart away with a shake of my head "Also, I really didn''t want this conversation to happen now." mild annoyance evident in my voice


    She didn''t reply, just looked at the ground like a child who blamed herself for her parents being angry.


    Lovable girl "I wanted to propose in a more intimate setting after settling the issue with Shen Fei."


    "What!?" Ning''er reacted quickly, her surprise evident on both her face and in her voice.


    "You mean you didn''t notice what we were just talking about?" I said with a devious smirk. Sigh, three, two, one¡­


    Her face lit up like a traffic light. No surprise considering that she finally realized that we just spoke for a few good minutes about our marriage. So adorable. After dropping her off I need to think of ways to get the Shens to f.u.c.k up more. I don''t know how much more of this secret relationship I can take.


    There were people around us so I couldn''t touch her but thankfully they were well out of earshot. At least I hope so. You could never know with cultivators and their supernatural powers. "My heart spoke now but I want to make a proper proposal when it''s time."


    Ning''er looked at me with tears of happiness in her eyes as both hands covered her mouth as we continued to walk to her home in silence. We said our goodbyes and she went deeper into the courtyard until she was out of sight.


    Turning around to leave I saw the same guards from this morning stiffen up. Yunfeng, Ning''er''s dad must have torn them a new one.


    Taking out two cards of ten thousand demon spirit coins I handed it each one a card getting absolutely shocked looks in their eyes. These were at best bronze rank fighters stationed at the gate. Their max annual income was around six thousand so it''s natural they would be surprised by something like this.


    "Patriarch Yunfeng was too heavy handed on you. Loyal people are hard to come by these days. I''ll be leaving first so take care of the young miss." my hand moved to wave as my feet took my body away from them.


    "Thank you young master!" they both bowed and cupped their hands at the same time. The youngest of them called out "You can come and throw me in water anytime!" before the elder smacked him upside the head.


    My mind kept on raking through my memories about the Sacred Family. How else could I get them to f.u.c.k up so that they lose prestige. One option will be during the youth tournament that they will be holding during school break. However that was still a bit of time away. Hmmm, what about that Dark Guild agent, deacon Yun Hua? I remembered him clearly because he was the first properly introduced antagonist of the novel. And he will be present during the field trip in a couple of days. Sadly, he was 5 star Silver at this point so there was no chance to mess with him...


    Moving fast I made my way through the streets and towards the dorms. I extended my void sense through the corridor until I reached a certain room and knocked a couple of times.


    A shuffle came from the inside before the door opened and I was greeted by a mop of burnt orange hair "Long Wan?" asked Nie Li with surprise in his voice before it quickly turned into a grin "There is still time before we will hold our cultivation meeting. Is there anything you need?"


    Extending my hand I presented a storage ring to Nie Li "There is a set of Gold rank armor in there. I wanted to gift it to you."


    "What, Gold Rank?! Those are made to order or found in ancient ruins. How did you manage to get one?" he asked in surprise but didn''t hold back and quickly swiped the ring.


    "The former option. I ordered this after I got paid by the Association." came my reply.


    "But why?" he asked, a little suspicion etched in his voice. Why is it always this question? Does everyone here only receive gifts that always have strings attached?


    Sighing I replied "To keep you safe, why else? We''re both targets for the Sacred Family so I thought I should take every precaution. I got one for myself as well." Moving aside my shirt collar I showed him mine "And one for Ning''er as well. The others are in less danger so I got them all Bronze Rank armor." I said and his eyes nearly left their place in his sockets "Speaking of the others..." I fished out another ring and tossed it to him which he skillfully caught "That one is for Ziyun. It''s only Silver rank which unfortunately is the highest I could get in such a short notice. If I had known she would be coming with us then I would''ve ordered a Gold Rank set for her as well."


    Nie Li frowned and puckered his lips at me "Long Wan?" he lightly growled "Do you... like Ziyun?" he continued. Is that jealousy I''m detecting?


    My hand flew downwards impacting with the crown of his head "Whoa~ boy!" Crossing my arms as he crouched holding his head I replied "If I liked her the way you accuse then I would''ve personally given her the armor. The one I love is Ning''er, so don''t get it wrong again. Ziyun however is my dear friend, as are you. On that note if you break her heart, then I''ll break my hand on your head. The chop that I will give you would make the others until now feel like love taps." I said keeping the edge of my hand on the new bump on his head.


    Nie Li blinked a couple of times before he burst into laughter, with myself joining him. Finally he stopped laughing after a good couple of minutes as he bumped my armored c.h.e.s.t "Long Wan, you''re a good brother."


    "Just make sure you don''t put your foot in your mouth again. She''s the only one that could be a sister-in-law worthy of me!" came my reply while puffing out my c.h.e.s.t earning another burst of laughter from Nie Li.


    Two days flew by fast and it was now morning. Myself, together with Ning''er, Nie Li, and Ziyun were in the library at the crack of dawn waiting for Chen Linjian to appear with his group. Normally the library wouldn''t be open so early but being clerks meant that Nie Li and I had the keys to the place.


    Checking my soul force I saw that I was on the very edge of 3 star bronze. By tomorrow I should have a breakthrough. I didn''t slouch on my physical training either. Because of the pills from Nie Li and my own efforts I was close to middle 4 star Bronze. Ning''er wasn''t that far behind because by her estimates she needed only one more day after me to breakthrough with Ye Ziyun slowly catching up.


    The only one without a breakthrough was Nie Li. However, he was on the edge of one star as well. He kept saying he didn''t mind at all about lagging behind and kept praising Ye Ziyun''s ability, making her endlessly shy.


    Deciding that standing around doing nothing wasn''t my thing, my hand fell on a half-translated book from the Black-Gold Empire and began reading it, straining my memory and my experience in trying to learn the language. I wanted to graduate from it in order to move on to the Snow-Wind empire language. Eventually I would try and learn the Sacred Empire Era language as well. Call it a hobby. Back on Earth I''ve always wanted to study foreign languages. Starting with German and moving on to Japanese I found myself lacking in either two very important aspects of studying: ambition and keen memory, so I''ve never gotten passed learning how to count to 10 in Japanese or how to sing "Oh Tannenbaum" in Deutsch.


    Here however, there wasn''t much distraction and my spirit force gave me excellent memory so it was the perfect environment. As I was studying, Ziyun approached and began to discuss with Ning''er "Are you also wearing armor under your clothes?" Ziyun asked in surprise. Since women''s clothing was tighter the outline of the armor was visible . However, both girls also dressed modestly so it was only if you looked hard enough and from up close.


    Ning''er nodded with a blush "Long Wan gifted me with a set of Gold Rank armor a few days ago." she said softly.


    "Gold rank?!" Ziyun yelled in a whisper. Even though it was just us we were still in a library. Any loud words would reverberate deafeningly so the volume was kept to a minimum. She did puff her cheeks though and looked away in mild annoyance "Mine''s only silver." she grumbled.


    Chuckling I removed my face from the book and turned it towards her "Any armor above Bronze is made to order. I had ordered Ning''er''s many days in advance, before all three of us became friends. Nie Li was extremely lucky to get hold of a Silver rank armor on such short notice, especially one made for women."


    Nie Li just smiled and rubbed the back of his head with an awkward expression on his face, a little sweat dripping from the side. Ziyun just blushed and looked away but not before throwing a smile at Nie Li.


    "Thanks again..." whispered Nie Li in my direction.


    "If you want to thank me then I could always use more pills." I shamelessly threw at him. Well it''s not like he doesn''t have a virtually endless supply of them.


    The ginger threw me a deadpan stare "Again? If you eat this much then a field of rice won''t last you a day." Another saying. Basically telling me that I consume too much.


    Shrugging I turned to him "I met Ning''er''s father and gave him some dowry in advance." Though I only gave him about ten percent of my stock.


    He nodded in approval "That is something I can stand by." He hummed before handing me another ring which I unceremoniously accepted. By my estimates I should have close to a billion demon spirit coins in pills (market value). I should do a headcount as these will be of many uses in the future.


    Ning''er came close to us and started whispering to me "You got that armor for her. Why did you say it was Nie Li''s?" she asked as her stare fixed on Nie Li who was sweating bullets.


    I lightly chuckled "Did I say Nie Li bought it? What I said was that he was very lucky to get one. Second of all, Ziyun deserves someone who will treat her well, and Nie Li is the only one I could think of that is fit for the job." came my answer. Troublesome women¡­ hmm, I was starting to think like a certain shadow using anime character. Maybe I should try to see if that works with Void element.


    Ning''er smiled mischievously "What about you?" she poked and Nie Li tensed. Sigh, where did my shy Ning''er go? This little she-devil just loved to poke any hornet nest.


    "Ziyun is a good girl but she is someone I could love only as a younger sister." and not the sweet home Alabama kind "I can''t see her anymore than that. The one who cares about her in that way is Nie Li. While I would die to save her life, Nie Li would also do so AND sell his soul on top to let her live another day."


    "En." Nie Li nodded with a big smile "There really isn''t anything in this world I would exchange for her, or her happiness."


    Ning''er smiled but stayed silent as she took a seat next to me and looked at the book in my hand "What is that?"


    "It''s a story from the Black-Gold Empire Era. It''s about a hero named Bao Shi and his journey to enlightenment." I answered turning to the book. At least I hope so. Eidetic memory or not, learning a new language altogether was hard.


    "Oh, that''s a good book." Nie Li smiled a knowing smile. This geriatric ginger probably read all the books in this library many times over.


    "Is it that good?" she asked hearing Nie Li''s praise. I suspect she focused more on cultivation to escape the Sacred family and left all other p.l.e.a.s.u.r.es aside until a little while ago so naturally she would be curious.


    "Unfortunately I can''t enjoy it at the moment." I hummed in an annoyed tone "My goal is actually learning the Snow-Wind Empire era language, but their words are somewhat sibylline so I''m trying to learn their progenitor language, the Black-Gold Empire Era. Figured it would be a good place to start. However, it''s not going as fast as I hoped as I can barely make out some sentences." Sibylline in this case meant that it carried a deeper meaning not evident from the start. It''s like all the people from the Snow Wind empire era spoke only in sayings and poetry. The Snow Wind language was heavily symbolic which made sciences difficult to understand without understanding the basic structure of their language. Many lost arts, inscriptions and alchemical formulas dated to the Snow-Wind Empire era so it would only be useful to learn.


    "You don''t know the Snow Wind empire language?!" asked Nie Li with shock in his voice. Well duh, the novel author wasn''t exactly Tolkien here. The Snow Wind empire was barely skimmed through in the story. "But you knew about the Book of Divine Lightning Fire and about the formulation of the Lightning Flame Burst pattern." the time traveller clarified.


    Sighing I turned to him "I have some understanding of structuring base patterns to obtain an effect. My discovery was that most experts focus on the effect and not the cause. For example, say that they aim to add sharpness to a sword through a War Prime pattern. They usually start from a ''sharpness'' base and then add base patterns to try and inject it into the blade. They''re also taught that so way so little to no breakthroughs are made. My method is to start from blade and understand why the blade is sharp and then focus on simulating what makes the blade sharp and maintaining that effect." The inscription experts of Glory City are kind of big on tradition. This also means that they share a mentality to scientists of old from Earth ''Anything that can be discovered has already been discovered.'' And just like Einstein, I wasn''t too keen on that train of thought.


    "It took me over seventy years to understand that¡­" he whispered, in a volume barely above silence.


    "Hmm?" I asked. Pretending I didn''t hear was easier than pressing for the answer.


    "Ah, it''s nothing!" he quickly dismissed in a panic "It''s just that you''re amazing. If you weren''t my friend I would think you were a monster or something¡­"


    Monster huh? As if you''re one to speak¡­


    Shaking my head I returned to my book "Well, it''s no point knowing how it works if I don''t have the tools to make it work. That''s why I''m trying to study."


    The rest of the time was spent with Nie Li teaching Ye Ziyun about different areas of the Divine Continent and with Ning''er cultivating at the same table opposite of me. However, it wasn''t take long before Linjian and his group were cluttering in, some with one strap backpacks... uh backsacks (hmm, perhaps I should consider expanding my business to include some proper expedition backpacks). While some of the more wealthy could afford storage rings, most commoners still relied on physical storage to prepare for trips.


    "Xiao Wan! Everyone!" Chen Linjian greeted with a smile "How come you''re already here? The library barely opened a few seconds ago." he asked, curiosity etched on his face. He was always the business man, as was his entire family. Originally being a merchant clan, they rose to a top dominant position through their cunning strategies, herb deals and investments in their men. And in that business, information is a prime resource.


    "Vice-principal Ye Sheng graciously offered us positions as library clerks so we have access outside of normal hours." Came Nie Li''s reply.


    Nodding in acceptance Linjian turned to us "My men have all gathered. Are you ready to go?" and we replied with nods of our own.


    "Let''s not wait for the rice to grow." I said as I made my way with Ning''er by my side and Nie Li by Ziyun''s, both of us flanking the girls who were shoulder to shoulder. It was at that moment I felt a stare burning a hole in the back of my head. Turning my head around slightly, I saw Shen Yue. Oh yeah! The little c.u.n.t is with us on this trip. That means that his goons will be following us shortly.


    "Allright everyone, remember that this is a discreet operation. Let''s move out!" he called out eliciting a resounding ''Yes''sir!'' from the crowd "Quiet you dimwits! Do you want the entire city to know we''re leaving?!" he admonished, a vein swelling up on his forehead.


    Bending forward and looking passed the four wonderful girl hills I turned towards Nie Li "The area we''re going is quite a well known territory of ape type demon beasts. However, the name of the beast eludes me at the moment." once again curse my shitty memory.


    "The only ape type demon beasts that I can think of that live in this area are Snow-Wind Great Apes or Giant Blue Armed Apes." said Nie Li while cupping his chin.


    "Ah yes, it''s the later rather than the former." I didn''t remember what they were called but I do know that the great apes are the ones that led the demon beast hoard on the city in this timeline.


    Nie Li then smiled deviously and brought out multiple bottles of a potion from his ring which he passed to the girls and myself. "This is a potion especially toxic to Giant Blue Armed Apes. Just smear it on your weapons and it will work wonders."


    "Any effect on humans?" I asked out of concern for safety for the user. A small cut by mistake could mean instant trouble for us.


    "With the exception of a foul metallic taste, none whatsoever." Nie Li confirmed.


    "Do you have a few more? I wish to share some with big brother Linjian and his guards." I asked and he fished out ten more which he handed to me.


    Moving close to Linjian I tapped his shoulder and he turned with a surprised look which quickly turned into a smile "Xiao Wan, can I do anything for you?" Flipping my wrist I chucked seven bottles of the poison to him together with five more bottles and he caught them all with high expertise "What are these?"


    "We''re heading towards a Giant Blue Armed ape area and that is highly effective poison against them. Coat your sword with it and tell your men to do the same. If you have any hand-to-hand demon spiritualists have them keep a bottle and have them rub their hands when¡­ if we meet any apes." I told him, the image of the Silver Rank demon spirit sending shivers down my spine. Well, with the armors we''re wearing we would be safer than most them. I got in close to Linjian and whispered in his ear "The more ornate bottles are cultivation pills including Soul Tempering ones, Scarlet Body Enhancing pills and some Nine Transformation pills. All of them courtesy of Nie Li and myself." I said and his eyes widens.


    Turning back to the group I moved to approach the group when a feminine voice resounded loudly from my side "Little brother Long Wan, you were also in the group?". The question came from Huyan Lanruo who quickly moved to my side "If I had known you were here I would''ve made some delicious meals for you." she pouted cutely.


    Smiling widely I turned to her and greeted "Big sister Lanruo, nice to see you!".


    Before I could act she squeezed me into a tight embrace, squishing my face in the valley between her soft mountains. I returned her hug, no need to act like a prick, especially considering the benefits but after a few seconds of her not letting me go I started struggling. "Mphhh!!!" I tried to protest her actions but it only reverberated against her warm skin. As my vision became blurry I knew I had to act before this chick loved me to death, so I teleported a short distance away leaving her to wrap her arms around herself as a shadowy mist outline of myself slowly dissipated.


    I reappeared instantly a few meters away near Ning''er and Ziyun, my hands on my knees as sweet oxygen started returning to my burning lungs. Ning''er came close to me in concern, a shy hand holding on to the shoulder of my clothes. "Smothered by b.o.o.b.s. What a way to almost die¡­" I gasped softly as my mind returned to normality, only to see both Ziyun and Ning''er blushing up a storm and covering their mouths, shoulders gently trembling in contained laughter. Turning around I could see that even Lanruo sported a heavy blush, as well as the tip of her tongue lightly parting her lips in an ''oops'' expression.


    Shaking my head with a smile I sighed "I suppose there are worse ways to perish."


    "Hehe! Sorry about that little brother." Huyan Lanruo apologized "Anyway, if you need anything I''ll be with the girls so don''t hesitate to ask!" she made a discrete retreat, but not before giving her h.i.p.s an extra bounce and as such giving me and all males in visual range a good show.


    Ning''er giggled "You looked like you were enjoying yourself." she hummed and I just looked at her with a raised eyebrow, causing her to giggle even harder. Ziyun looked with heavy concern between the two of us but I guess there was nothing to warrant her care since she quickly sighed and resumed talking normally. Truthfully, even I wasn''t expecting Ning''er to react so casually¡­


    Changing my position I approached Nie Li and whispered to him "Nie LI. Big brother Linjian is a good person who would give his life for Glory City. On his behalf I would like to ask you to extend the same courtesy you showed me and the rest of our friends. It will only benefit everyone in the future." I asked while cupping my hands.


    Nie Li touched his chin for a second, probably remembering what he knew about Chen Linjian. In the novel, the young master of the Divine Family slaughtered a few traitors from the Sacred Family when they tried to abandon their post during his first life timeline. Smiling widely, Nie Li turned to me after a few moments and nodded "Very well, when we get a soul crystal I will find a proper technique for him to practice. Any brother of my brother is my brother as well." he said sagely


    Making a crystal appear out of my ring I showed it to him "I actually have a few crystals on me. You never know when they could be useful."


    My friend nodded in acceptance and we continued walking until


    "Thank you Nie Li!" I smiled while bowing my head and he just waved me off like it was nothing for him to help me.


    The group kept walking towards the ruins until the sun was close to setting. Chen Linjian was busy coordinating the encampment so I left him a message through one of his men to come and find us when he gets a moment of reprieve. Ning''er and Ziyun went off with the rest of the girls to a nearby creek and after chopping the perversion out of two guys who planned to do some immoral espionage I retreated and took the opportunity to set up my tent near the area where Ning''er had done hers. Nie Li might have no trouble sleeping out in the open but I liked to be sure that rain will not ruin my night.


    I was just finishing tying down the last rope when Linjian appeared from behind a tree "Little bro, you wanted to see me?"


    Taking a second to think about how to word this properly I decided to f.u.c.k it and wing it "Big bro Linjian, I know a way for you to get even stronger. Can you indulge me for a few minutes?" I said smiling.


    "A way to increase my strength?" he looked at me with doubt but it quickly changed to a smile and a nod "It can''t hurt to listen and see what it is about at least."


    My mind ordered my expression to become as serious as possible "Just so we''re clear, I''m only doing this for you because you are the closest thing I have to family in this world. I won''t do this for anyone else, even if it''s your dearest family or friends. If you can''t understand this then there is no point to continue. Can I trust you?"


    Chen Linjian smiled and nodded in understanding. He grew up in an environment where trust is a valuable thing to earn so I had faith he wouldn''t betray mine.


    Nodding I motioned for him to follow me and we both made our way to where Nie Li was cultivating. Sensing us coming he opened his eyes and smiled at us but otherwise said nothing. Sitting down a little ways away from Nie Li I motioned for Chen Linjian to sit down next to me so that we three would form a triangle. Taking out a soul crystal I tossed it to him "Inject your soul force in that."


    Linjian looked confused "Umm, I already know my soul force."


    "It''s for a different reason." clarified Nie LI.


    Chen Linjian shrugged his shoulders. It wouldn''t cost him anything to do so, so I guess he thought why not. No sooner than he did, did the soul crystal shine with a yellow light, the intensity specific to 5 star Bronze rank. However, the centre of the light quickly changed to show two more colors: muddy brown and hot red. Both Nie Li and I took a look, myself only out of curiosity. It showed some rocks and dust and a raging fire, both rotating opposite of each other forming a yin-yang pattern.


    Nie Li whistled softly "This is pretty rare. A dual fire-earth natured soul force with the Heaven and Earth Harmony soul form."


    The young master immediately looked to us in a shocked curiosity "Dual nature? Heaven and Earth Harmony soul form? What are those?" he immediately asked.


    I put a hand on his back causing him to turn towards me "Judging soul talent by the color of the soul realm is the same as judging the freshness of the egg by the color of the shell. What impacts cultivation is the individual''s talents represented by their soul form and using an appropriate cultivation technique that matches the elemental attribute. Basically, if your attribute is fire nature and you practice a fire attuned cultivation, your talents will skyrocket, regardless if your soul realm is indigo or red. However going with a water technique, even if it''s a powerful one will only cause you to swim against the current. The final aspect is the quality of the technique as better techniques will cause fewer deviations allowing your strength to soar."


    Nie Li nodded and continued "Your soul form doesn''t give you any increases to your cultivation speed. What it does is that it offer you incredible stability, minimizing deviation. This means you can abuse your soul realm more than the average person with much less risk to suffer crippling consequences. It''s also the reason why you are able to have a dual attribute. Usually one attribute would consume the other becoming dominant. As for your affinity, I have a technique for you to practice that suits you best called the Divine Immolated Earth technique. Pay attention!" he answered and imparted the technique.


    Chen Linjian focused on the technique and suddenly, BOOM! His aura exploded with a silver color. "I made a breakthrough¡­" he whispered before turning to Nie Li and myself and cupping his hands "Thank you for this little brothers! For this technique , for your help, I Chen Linjian am in your debt and a Chen always honours a debt. Should you need anything from me then I will do my best to help!"


    Both Nie Li and myself put a hand on his shoulder before the ginger began "It''s just a technique, think nothing of it."


    Thinking a little I turned with a more serious expression "Please don''t forget to keep things a secret. Should the Dark Guild find out about this, then our safety will cease to exist."


    Chen Linjian''s eyes widened before he frowned darkly "My lips are sealed even under pain or threat of death."


    I smiled and got up while stretching "You better leave first before everyone starts to worry." I told Linjian who nodded and gave us another thanks before he left. Nie Li also returned to cultivating in peace and I decided to meditate a few steps away to stabilize my cultivation and try to breakthrough to three star Bronze. It was later in the evening that a strange smell entered the area. Growing up I had a cat, a male that wasn''t neutered and the stench that filled up the house during it''s first heat was ungodly. This was similar to that.


    Nie Li immediately stood up "This smell¡­" he said with worry evident in his throat before taking off.


    Not wasting a second I jumped as well and quickly caught up "It smells like a beast in heat." I said to his side and he nodded, both of us speeding up towards the part of he forest where the smell was getting stronger. We landed at the same time near an area with a jumbled up pile of large branches. Nie Li started investigating on one side and I took to the other, finding some clues of recent activities in this area.


    "Who''s there?" called out a male from behind a tree. It was Chen Linjian followed by a few of his men and by Shen Yue. Seeing the little shit in tow made me growl internally. I''ve been keeping watch over my back the entire trip, knowing he definitely set something up before we left Glory City, I just didn''t know when the Sacred Family mutts would take action. So far no unknowns entered my sensing range but that doesn''t mean that I should relax. "Little brothers?! How come you''re here?" he asked with mild surprise.


    "Can''t you smell it?" I asked him while pointing to the nest.


    "Smell what? What the hell are you blabbering about? Being alone here in the middle of the night, you''re definitely up to something!" Shen Yue interjected, his holier-than-thou tone pushing me closer and closer to giving him the MOABS (mother of all bitch slaps).


    Chen Linjian''s face immediately turned vicious "Silence!" he growled at Shen Yue who quickly moved to retort but smartly chose to back off. Linjian''s status was the same as his elder brother, while his was just that of another descendent. He couldn''t compete with Linjian. At the same time I suspect that us giving Linjian the means to reach Silver rank grew us even more in his eyes. The young master took a whiff of the air and his nose immediately scrunched up "What the hell is this stench?!" he said while tucking his nose in his sleeve.


    Nie Li then moved to an outpointing branch and picked up some silver fur "This is a Fox Bear nest. They are Silver rank beasts, about the size of a man but with a very strong physique. This nest is huge so there should be a large population of Fox Bears in this area." he said as he examined the nest closely.


    "Look at the state of it! This nest has been abandoned for a long time." Shen Yue barked out, and despite being a brat, he had a very good point as the nest looked like it collapsed a long time ago.


    I sighed "Fox Bears use the nest only to breed, so during the cold season they hibernate letting it collapse. However, when it starts warming up they wake up and start rebuilding it. They''re also highly territorial so, unless some catastrophe happens then they won''t leave the area. When they become active they start marking the areas to attract mates and ward off intruders. Look!" Pointing to an area to the side of the nest they saw a couple of claw marks on a nearby tree and some freshly upturned earth. Now, since they smelled like cats, I suspected they acted like cats so I just recalled stuff I saw on the Animal Planet channel.


    "How are you so sure it''s Fox Bear nest? Just admit that you''re making things up!" Shen Yue called out again, becoming bolder and bolder by the minute.


    Chen Linjian''s soul force exploded outwards, shining with radiant Silver as he pointed an oppressive force towards Shen Brat "I told you to keep silent. If you can''t follow instructions then you can leave!" he growled causing the trembling Yue to take a few steps back. Linjian returned to us after letting out a breath and calming his aura "You said that Fox Bears start waking up when it gets warmer¡­"


    "Early summer to be more exact." replied Nie Li, worry etched in his face.


    "Which is now¡­" Linjian wheezed out, realization finally hitting him.


    Nie Li nodded "Fox Bears only mark out their favorite areas and the borders of their territories. My guess is that they should be close. Considering their territorial natures and their very acute sense of smell, then we should leave immediately, least we go to battle with them. A nest of this size is sure to have housed at least five individuals."


    Linjian instantly turned to his men "Tell everyone to get ready to leave! We need to move out quickly."


    "Yes''sir!" the men bolted after cupping their hands.


    By the time we got back to the camp everyone was feverously packing up in a haste. Seeing us return , Ning''er and Ziyun approached us in concern. I guess that since they both have interspatial rings they managed to pack everything out fast.


    "Whats going on? asked Ning''er, concern written in her voice.


    I looked at her with urgency "We found a demon beasts'' nest. They''re highly territorial so we need to move out now. With our armors they pose little threat to us as they''re just Silver rank but the numbers they sport are guaranteed to cause some casualties. Please help the rest that have not yet finished packing."


    Both Ziyun and Ning''er nodded and soon enough we were on the move but not without some protests.


    "What''s happening?!" some people grumbled. "I was having such a nice dream¡­" another complained before sounds of trees being toppled and loud demonic howls were heard from the direction of our former camp just as we were exiting the forest.


    Their protests immediately turned to praise "Young master Chen is very wise!" "Wah! I don''t want to become food for the beasts! Many thanks to young master Chen Linjian!"


    Chen Linjian told us to stick close to him so we were part of his surrounding entourage when Lanruo appeared from behind the young Chen "That was close. We are lucky to have you lead us Chen Linjian." she said with a smile, hands cutely entangled behind her.


    Linjian chuckled "Actually I owe this to my two little brothers here. They discovered the nearby nest and advised moving out." he said while pointing to us.


    Huyan Lanruo quickly looked in the direction he was pointing and immediately flowers appeared in her background "Little brother Long Wan! Everyone!" she exclaimed and moved to my right as my left was taken by Ning''er. "Little brother that was very wise of you!" she said while bending down, her mountains swinging in the night breeze.


    Moving a hand towards Nie Li and the rest I smiled "It wasn''t all me but a collective effort. I have wise friends."


    She didn''t say anything else but just smiled and nodded towards them who responded with their own kind smiles and nods, except Ziyun who just jumped a little in surprise as per her shy nature.


    A moment later my vision darkened as something entered the range of my void sense from behind us. Turning towards my left I whispered in a low voice denoting the seriousness of the situation "Nie Li."


    He nodded with his own frown "One, two¡­ three. Three silver ranks" he responded in a similar hushed voice.


    Both Ning''er as well as Lanruo and Linjian turned towards us in surprise. They weren''t stupid by any measure so there was no doubt they could tell something was wrong by the tone of our voice. Looking towards them I growled "Don''t look behind as it would give out our advantage, but we are being followed by four silver rank experts."


    Nie Li frowned a bit before his eyes widened "One was lagging behind¡­" he whispered, surprise and frustration etched in his voice.


    Chen Linjian turned to me and asked with urgency in his voice "Four Silver ranks? Why are they following us?"


    "They are probably from the Dark Guild." Nie Li answered with a smirk


    I turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. My memories of this part from the novel were fuzzy at best but there is no way this guy didn''t know they were Sacred Family members. Maybe he thought that Chen Linjian would be more heavy handed towards Dark Guild members but I saw another opportunity here. As Linjian discreetly retreated to speak with his men I turned to Nie LI, not caring if Huyan Lanruo was still here. She was also a trustworthy, albeit flamboyant person, though that last part runs in her family.


    "You know that they are most likely members under the direct command of the Sacred Family." I scolded and he pretended to be birdwatching with an all too innocent face.


    "Little brother Long Wan, the Sacred family might not be the most upright but they are still part of Glory City. Why do you think that they would send people to trail the group?" Lanruo asked with startled surprise. It wasn''t obvious to her why they would need to covertly send men when we could always use the manpower.


    "Why else? Us!" I said and she frowned "Both Nie Li as well as I are thorns in the Sacred Family''s side. Before leaving Glory City I saw Shen Yue speak to one of his men before that man left the group. This happened only after he saw that we were also joining the expedition. Considering how we exposed their wrongdoings and have also insulted them on numerous occasions, this would be the best opportunity they have to get their revenge."


    Her expression darkened as realization hit her "Then why didn''t you tell Chen Linjian about this?" she asked, worry edging her words.


    Sighing Nie Li looked in the direction of the young master "Chen Linjian has a delicate position so he can''t risk a direct confrontation. If he knew that they could be Sacred family fighters then he would''ve held back and the danger wouldn''t pass. They deserve no such mercy if they don''t want to follow the rules." he growled.


    Huyan Lanruo''s mouth made an O before she smiled and looked up "Well, regardless if they are Sacred Family or Dark Guild. If they came here looking for trouble then they deserve what''s coming to them." she said in a sing-song voice while holstering her arms behind her. I admit I was starting to like this shrew of a girl. There was an air of fun and enjoyment surrounding her that made it hard to get bored.


    Sending a discreet look towards Linjian, I saw that he joined five of his six silver rank experts and went to greet our uninvited guests. However, I still needed to put my plans into motion so I turned to Ning''er and whispered softly with a smile "I''ll be right back." before teleporting away a few times, until I was behind the Silver ranks trailing us just as they were engaged by the Linjian''s forces.


    "Who are you?" Chen Linjian barked out, his voice thunderous as he confronted the three unknown experts "Why are you following us? Talk!" His hand was already holding the hilt of his sword and his aura was exploding outwards with hostile intent.


    The three didn''t answer and attempted to retreat. "They really must be from the Dark Guild. Kill them!" Linjian told his men and they went into pursuit.


    One of the unknown attackers, a fighter by the looks of it was engaged by one of Linjian''s men when he was blindsided with a kick by another one from our team, causing him to jump backwards right onto a branch directly below mine, unsteady footing showing he was still dizzy from the previous impact. Linjian''s men decided he wasn''t worth pursuing as they went to help the young master take down another. Taking this chance I pounced on him like a bat out of hell, Void blade extending from the tips of my knife like fingers. Due to him still feeling the effects of the kick from before he failed to notice me on time and I managed coil one hand around his forehead while piercing his spine at the back of his neck with the blade, the flesh hardened by years of training offering no resistance to my hungry soul force.


    Some of his blood dripped down my hand as he slumped forward on the thick branch like a puppet with cut strings and I felt like puking, a strange tremble beginning to take hold of my hand as the blade dispersed. Swallowing the bile that rose from my stomach and wiping the sweat from my brow I walked forward and checked his vitals. Thankfully as per my plan, there was a pulse. Calling forth a gauze I had prepared before departing, I proceeded to wrap his wound to prevent him from dying yet, also using the bandage to gag him up to keep him from biting his tongue.


    "Bastard¡­" his face-down position on the tree and the gag making him gurgle.


    I sighed as I picked him up like a potato sack and jumped down near Linjian who tensed but immediately relaxed seeing it was me. "Xiao Wan?" he asked and I unceremoniously dropped the human I was carrying in front of him.


    "Ah! That''s one of them!" one of his men, the one who landed the kick pointed out with a sneer.


    Sighing I ran a hand through my hair "I''ve been suspecting that the Dark Guild might have a suicide technique which is why nobody has managed to capture one until now so I''ve paralyzed this one in the hope that they can''t activate said technique. This way we might get some information. They may have been only the scouting party and more could be on the way."


    Linjian approached the man and removed his mask and moved to taking off the gag when someone from the crowd that had gathered, a girl, called out "Luo Ban?!" . Chen Linjian immediately looked towards him, sending a non-verbal command. The girl made her way closer and looked at him in shocked surprise "It is Luo Ban!" she cried out "Why are you here? Weren''t you working as a guard for the Sacred family?!" she called out, trying to get to him but was held back by Linjian''s guards.


    "Long Wan, you''ve exceeded what can be tolerated under the heavens and on earth! You dare cripple an employ of my family?" Shen Yue called out to me. However I was in no mood to play games.


    I was ready to march over there and slap the nobility out of him when Linjian stepped forward, face hardened like granite until his c.h.e.s.t was almost touching Shen Yue''s nose "Why were your men following us in secret?" he growled, suspicion and anger evident in his voice.


    Shen Yue started trembling "I-I don''t know." Su~re you don''t. "M-my family¡­ must have sent them to protect me."


    "Then why all the secrecy classmate Shen Yue?" came Nie Li''s return with a cheeky grin "Could there be another motive besides protection?" he said causing Shen Yue to sweat out more.


    "Ulterior motives?" someone from the crowd whispered.


    "I heard that both Nie Li as well as Long Wan upset the Sacred family. Could it be reason?" another responded out quietly. Clever girl¡­


    "No way! That''s just too low¡­" a man responded and the crowd continued to discuss in a hushed tone.


    "You!" Shen Yue turned with fury towards Nie Li but was grabbed by the collar and lifted up by Chen Linjian


    The young master of the Chens growled viciously in Yue''s face, eyes lighting up with silver aura "My loyal men got injured confronting them so answer me this. Why didn''t they respond to my calling out for their identities?" While composed like solid stone I could tell that there was a volcano raging inside of him. No wonder he had that soul realm.


    "I-I don''t know! I will ask my family when we return to give a proper answer and compensation for your men!" Shen Yue quickly answered, trembling like a petulant child being scolded by a strict father.


    Chen Linjian stared at him hard before letting him go and walking away, anger so great that he crushed rocks beneath his feet. I opened my mouth to sigh when I felt a metallic taste assault my taste buds. Wiping my face with my left hand I saw that my sweat was red. Looking at my other hand I saw it was also red and then remembered that the Sacred family''s fighter''s blood was still on my hands. Earlier when I ran my hand though my hair I did so with the bloody one so it trickled down my face.


    Instantly I felt my stomach go to war, violently reminding me what had happened so I collapsed to my hands and knees, absolute panic striking me. I may not have killed him but I drew human blood. I destroyed his spine so that man will never walk again or use any of his limbs for that matter. Death might have been easier on him¡­


    "Long Wan!" Ning''er and Lanruo called out at the same time as the both rushed towards me followed by Nie Li, Ziyun and Chen Linjian.


    Hearing their voices I took to a knee, aiming to stand up before they got here. As I did so, I moved the bloody hand on top of said knee and instantly the smell of human fluids filled my nose. Retching and heaving twice, I collapsed forward yet again as today''s dinner spilled out on the grass.


    "Long Wan, what''s wrong?!" Ning''er called out by my side as Lanruo moved to support me. How she managed to avoid my disgusting mess I''ll never know, nor why she didn''t care about it. However I couldn''t pay her any mind as said mind was frozen. All I could do was look at my trembling, bloody, hands. I hadn''t even hurt a mouse before let alone drawing another''s human blood with my b.a.r.e hands.


    Had I been able to look to my right I would''ve seen both Ning''er and Ziyun''s worried looks, and more importantly Nie Li''s shocked expression. Speaking of him, he sighed and stepped forward to slap me hard. So hard in fact I fell backwards and my mind reset.


    "Nie LI!" both Ning''er and Ziyun called out in admonishment but they quickly silenced themselves when they saw the caring look he had for me.


    He bent down and took my hands, blood and all and moved them down before grabbing my shoulders "Let it go." he said and I looked at him with an empty mind, hearing his words perfectly but my brain refusing to process them "First time drawing blood is always hard. Killing another is even harder." he said grandfatherly "The fact that you''re experiencing remorse is proof that you''re no monster. And as long as you don''t start to live for the kill then the heavens will accept your deeds or forgive you."


    Ho~ly~ f.u.c.k, that was corny as hell, but corny or not , it worked as the trembling stopped and my senses returned to normal. "Thank you brother Li¡­" I whispered with a smile and he returned the smile. I slowly raised my hand up and the rest, including him looked at me with confusion. That was before I brought it down on the crown of his head giving him an angry red bump.


    "What the hell was that for?!" he yelled, almost breathing fire at me.


    Smiling I shrugged "I don''t like getting slapped¡­" I answered innocently causing the girls to giggle like angels.


    "Ziyun¡­" a stunned Nie Li breathed out before turning to me and angling his head towards me "Ziyun''s laughing so sweetly... Quick, hit me again!" he said while driving his head forward like an orange ox.


    The sole of my foot landed softly on his head as I began using my leg to push him away "Hell no! Take your weird fetishes away from me, I don''t swing that way!" I hissed at him earning another round of harder giggles from Ning''er and Lanruo and a blush from the innocent yet knowledgeable Ziyun.


    Ning''er bent down to my level and began wiping the blood from my hands and face with a damp cloth "Lets get this filth off of you..." She said sofly, except the flex on the word filth showing the extent of her appreciation of the Sacred family and the people who worked for them.


    At that moment another youth approached us. He was wearing fine clothing which indicated he was a noble, and a pretty well off one at that. Seeing the girls in our group he threw a l.u.s.tful gaze at them and sneered in my direction.


    "What are you guys doing here? Would you mind some company?" he asked, troublesome intent clearly evident in his voice.


    "Nothing that concerns you Chu Yuan." Lanruo grumbled in annoyance. Ah, I remember him and I also remember he was a new addition to the group that wasn''t present that time when Linjian introduced me in the library, so he probably doesn''t know about my relation with Linjian and Ziyun. This might be a good chance to score some extra soul force and save Nie Li from Lanruo'' admiration.


    Slowly standing up I extended my now clean hand to shake his but he just looked at it with a disgusted look on his face, his hands locked behind him. "Take your filthy hand away from me commoner!" he spat out and I could feel Chen Linjian''s hair stand on end.


    Big bro Linjian would''ve probably tore him a new one had I not turned to him with the most mischievous grin I could muster "Young master Linjian you should return to the group first. There is still the matter of what to do with that man from the Sacred family. I''ll handle cleaning up the trash myself." The corners of my mouth were almost touching my ears as my eyes were barely open. All in all, a face that said that I''ll take care of Chu Yuan personally... Very personally...


    Just to remind you once again that Chen Linjian was smart. Really smart. It took less than a moment for him to switch to what I love to call ''business mode'' as he nodded and left, leaving us alone with Yuan.


    I moved closer to Chu Yuan, scanning him from head to toe, looking for an opportunity to provoke but not seem insulting. Fortunately this noble numbskull made my work that much easier "Is there something you want lowborn?" He barked, scrunching up his nose as if he just smelled his own bullshit.


    "Chu Yuan, you''re going too far!" Huyan Lanruo countered. She was a girl who cared little for social perception or for politeness so I could tell Chu Yuan was pushing her in all the wrong buttons.


    "I don''t understand why such lovely girls associated themselves with such sc.u.m as these two. If you need company then I''d love to offer mine!" Yuan boasted making me hard not to whoa~ him too on the spot.


    Lanruo''s and Ning''er''s faces scrunched up as if they ate something sour. Ziyun just frowned and turned away from him. However, I did say that Huyan Lanruo was an outspoken girl, and she was going to prove this right now "You? More than these two? Don''t make me laugh. You''re thee years older than them but only 3 star Bronze. You''ve got nothing to gloat about so get lost!"


    A vein appeared on his forehead "Don''t think that you can talk to me like that just because you''re Silver rank! Remember that I''m a yellow soul realm genius. If I wanted to I would break into Silver rank by the year''s end."


    He made a step towards Lanruo but I moved in between them "Being so overbearing towards a lady... You''re no man, you''re garbage. And I did promise Linjian I would take out the trash." I growled. Had I turned around I would''ve caught the stars in Lanruo''s eyes.


    Chu Yuan fumed "Allright plebeian! You want to fight? Lets draw out a circle and throw it down right here. If I win then you stay far away from me and from these women!" He yelled, getting the attention of nearly all the camp.


    Hook, line and sucker "Fine by me. However, should I win, besides apologizing to big sis Lanruo, you will keep your mouth shut unless ordered otherwise either by young master Linjian or by me, regardless of circ.u.mstances. " I said with the most pissed off voice that I''ve ever put out.


    "Hmph, fine, fine!" He said with mild indignation.


    We moved to a nearby clearing as the rest of the camp gathered around us.


    "What are the rules?" I asked before engaging. It was good to clarify things like this from the start.


    "Eh? Rules?" He questioned in a mocking tone "We fight until you are thoroughly beaten or surrender." He laughed.


    I ignored how he worded that as it suit me just fine "What about techniques, weapons, pills or items?"


    He waved his hand lazily and dismissively "Use whatever you want, I don''t care." Famous last words... "Can we start now?" He said with arrogance and annoyance and I nodded. He put his hands behind his back and smiled "You can strike first. Let not anyone say I bully my juniors."


    I rubbed my forehead to calm the headache this royal asshole was causing "No need for that. Let''s just fight already!"


    Taking a stance I moved towards him slowly at first when I noticed that this idiot intended to keep his word and let me attack first. Well I won''t look a gift horse in the teeth so I bolted forward with sub-bronze speed as he smirked.


    "Amateur!" He mocked and just as I was almost within striking range I accelerated to the max, taking him by surprise and nailing him full-strength in the gut with a solid uppercut that knocked all the air from his lungs. Removing my fist from his diaphragm, I let him collapse onto his hands and knees as he heaved hard.


    "Did you drop something young master Chu?" I mocked. The feeling of punching this asshole was one of the most satisfying sensations in my life.


    Taking a few more breaths he stood up with murder in his eyes "You''re courting death!" He yelled, a trail of saliva going down the corner of his mouth. A moment later he launched himself at me with his maximum speed. However he appeared so incredibly slow, almost slower than Shen Yue''s goons. I knew he was 3 star Bronze from the novel so I was thinking I might need to cheat by using my armor (which is why I asked for the rules) but apparently this lazy motherf.u.c.ker neglected physical training so he was maybe 1 star Bronze in that area.


    By the time he got to me I had enough time to count the wrinkles on his face. I don''t know what he was expecting by throwing a roundhouse kick at me but I simply ducked low and swept his remaining leg to send him to the ground. He got up fast after that and made to punch me but I simply redirected it upwards and away with one hand and countered with an elbow in his now exposed sternum. And once again he fell to his hands and knees after staggering a few backwards steps, his eyes becoming wide and bloodshot.


    After he managed to get his diaphragm under control he stood up in an uneasy stance "You bastard! How dare you! Do you know who I am?!" he yelled out to me.


    Do all noble asses share the same parents? I smirked "Do you?"


    His soul force surged outwards in a violent tornado. Just what I was hoping for...


    Lanruo cried out in shock "Chu Yuan stop! Do you want to cripple him?!" She then turned to Linjian with tears wetting her eyes "Stop him! Chu Yuan is 3 star Bronze and he wants to shatter little brother''s soul realm!" However Linjian just stood by relaxed, arms crossed as if he was enjoying the weather.


    "After this, lets see if you can talk tough to me again!" Chu Yuan barked at me like a mad dog.


    I simply rested my hands in my pockets "If this was a battle of words then you would win by attrition." Translation: you talk too much motherf.u.c.ker!


    Chu Yuan''s soul force became a violent wave that came closer until it washed over me. ''Thank you for the meal!'' I thought as I began to silently chant the Heavenly Void Dragon God technique and rotating my soul realm until it became an all-devouring black hole. All of the invading soul force was being absorbed not letting even the light from it escape. The next moment my soul force flamed outwards, a resounding bang filling the area.


    "Long Wan reached 3 star Bronze." I heard Nie Li say behind me, and I could feel him smirking even without looking. This wasn''t the end, as nearly every bit of soul force was gobbled up and a few moments later my soul realm pulsed again, the bang once again announcing my advancement, this time to 4 star Bronze. Unfortunately it seemed that Chu Yuan also realized that something was wrong for him as his eyes widened. Instantly I felt a tug on soul force stream but it didn''t stop flowing, it only got weaker. He was trying to reel in his power but there was nothing he could recover anymore. What''s more, my abilities were stronger so while the flow slowed down considerably, it never stopped and I had no plan to make it easier for him.


    Seconds later I was approaching the boundary of 5 star Bronze when he let out a blood curling scream and cut the flow of soul energy.


    Chu Yuan fell on his knees , a look of utter disbelief etched on his face "My power¡­ What have you done?"


    "What any good host would do: you came and I received you. You only have yourself to blame." I replied as I stepped closer and closer to him until I was only a step apart.


    He started trembling like a beaten rat, the look of absolute terror he shot me made me almost pity him "I-I surrender!" he yelled out with his remaining strength.


    I took the last step and raised him up by his hair with my right hand before burying my left fist in his stomach. As he hunched over in pain I grabbed his head and slammed my knee in his face making him fly backwards until he was on the ground. My frustration with Shen Fei had hit boiling point and this knockoff clone of his would do nicely for stress relief. He shakily started lifting his body up and I made to continue the beatdown when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Looking back I saw that it was Chen Linjian.


    "He already surrendered. What are you doing?" he asked, a little disappointment mudding his voice.


    "Following the rules he set up." I replied pointing at Chu Yuan, earning an eyebrow raise from Linjian "He said that the fight will continue until I''m beaten or I surrender."


    Chen Linjian smiled but shook his head "That''s enough. No need to go that far." he said and then turned to Chu Yuan with a look that one would give something that was scr.a.p.ed off the bottom of the shoe "He''s not worth it¡­"


    I turned to Chu Yuan "Since big brother Chen Linjian asked me to spare you I will consider it only if you honor the agreement and apologize to Lanruo!" I said, completely forgoing honorifics as I was still fuming on the inside.


    "Ah abmith ma'' wongs!" replied Chu Yuan, having trouble pronouncing words as his mouth became swollen from the earlier hits.


    I turned on my heel towards my friends, Linjian shadowing me a little ways behind to my left. As we made our way back to our little group the audience parted way, stunned silence. The silence was broken by Huyan Lanruo who jumped at me "Long Wa~n!" she chirped out and made to hug me. As she almost got close to me, my vision became blurry before it all faded to black, the sound of my friends calling my name being the last thing that I would remember....

 Chapter 6 - 3: Have a nice trip! See you next fall! (pt 2)

    Waking up, a sweet scent invaded my nose from underneath me. My attempt to open my eyes was unfortunately prevented by some rays of orange light and feeling a little sore from the previous events I decided to stretch a little and groan. As my hands moved upwards they bounced off something. That was strange¡­ I took to feeling around, finally managing to grab onto something pointy a moment later ''Funny, since when was my bed''s headboard this soft?" I gave the unfamiliar object a light squeeze


    "Ah~n!"


    Ahn!? Either my bed creaks like a h.e.n.t.a.i girl or¡­


    My eyes shot open, sunlight be damned. Looking around I was still in the forest clearing lying down surrounded by the people I trusted the most, each wearing their own odd expression. Nie Li was looking at me with a knowing smirk, while Ning''er was giggling a bit behind her sleeve and sporting a neon red blush, Ziyun covered her face with both her hands, however each part of exposed skin was as red as Ning''er''s, and Chen Linjian had his back turned and was looking at the sky, but the skin on the back of his neck was also beet red. That was all of them so I guess Lanruo returned to her friends¡­


    "Mnnn~¡­" I heard another muffled m.o.a.n and realized I haven''t removed my hand from the before place. Looking up I saw that the sky was being obstructed by two large spheres with two smaller pointy parts protruding from them. One such part was still in my hand. Oh~ shit~!


    "Ah! L-Long Wan. This is v-very bold of you but I-I don''t thi-ah! think we should d-do this here¡­" I heard Lanruo speaking to me behind the two spheres.


    My body shot up but about halfway there my vision became slightly blurry again. Two delicate but firm hands grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back onto the earlier pillow. The angle that I landed finally allowed me to see that it was no pillow, but a pair of slender, m.a.t.u.r.e and beautiful t.h.i.g.hs, and the socks that covered the rest of the legs definitely belonged to Lanruo.


    I could see Ning''er looking at me with dear concern but the only thing that went through my mind was that I was either so dead or so single at this point.


    "You shouldn''t move too much yet." came Nie Li''s stern voice "You''ve taken in too much energy and overexerted your soul realm. A normal human''s soul realm would''ve exploded had they attempted something like this. What were you thinking?" he scolded me, but his expression was more amused then upset.


    Sighing I made to imaginarily grab a cloud "It''s one of my soul realm''s basic characteristic: the ability to grow by eating other energies. So¡­ I figured that I could handle what Chu Yuan would throw at me. Now I guess I understood why you can''t get fat in one meal."


    Nie Li moved closer and touched his index and middle finger on my forehead, the location of my soul ocean. The same fingers lit up with the Daoyin technique for a few seconds before he sighed and smiled "I tried prodding your soul realm for instabilities but it gobbled up even my energies, so I guess it should be fine. Though I''ve never met such a ravenous soul form. Any idea on how to name it?"


    Thinking a moment I decided to continue with the Dragon theme for no other reason than because dragons are awesome "Black Dragon''s Maw soul form."


    "A soul realm that can swallow up energies coupled with your family name. Once again, a very solid choice." The geriatric ginger nodded.


    "What are you two talking about?" Asked Lanruo with puckered lips and a cutesy expression.


    Sighing I summoned my demon crystal and focused some energy inside. She was someone who supported Nie Li and the city lord in the novel so she is trustworthy. It took a few seconds for the crystal to shine orange with the intensity of a 4 star Bronze


    "Only thirteen and already at 436 soul force. Long Wan is very amazing!" She said and Chen Linjian nodded.


    Sighing I smiled "That''s not what I wanted to show you. Look closer..." I said and she moved her face closer to see that in the middle of the glow there was something twisting and writhing, something of an impossibly dark nature.


    "What is that?" She asked, looking a little scared at the sight of it.


    "That is the true form of my soul realm. It can only be seen though a crystal that only I have ever used and it grants me the abilities you saw me use." I explained before putting away the crystal "It also tells the attribute I''m most aligned with."


    Her expression told me she understood only half of it but still something clicked in her mind "A crystal that only you have used? I have one too." She said as she took out an intermediate crystal and filled it with a little of her own inner force. Instantly, the crystal shone green to show her 2 star Silver strength. The center of the crystal however showed an closed ephemeral eye shining with pink energy.


    "Yin attribute, Eye of Sa?sara soul form." whispered Nie Li, shock causing his words to sound raspy "It''s a very rare soul form, with only one in every generation being in possession of it. And what''s more, it''s a perfect match for your Yin attribute which best fits illusion type demon spirits. Once you cultivate to 3 star Legend, the eye will slowly begin to open and you will be able to turn illusions into reality and vice-versa. The changes you will be able to make will increase in scale as your power grows."


    Lanruo dropped the crystal in shock and it bounced on the ground before rolling near her b.u.t.t. She continued to stare in absolute disbelief at Nie Li and nobody could blame her. This is godlike levels of power.


    Nie Li crossed his hands in front of him in thought before smiling "I have the perfect technique for you." he inhaled and started chanting. Moving my soul realm according to this technique I got the same feeling from the Void God technique: powerful but incomplete.


    But this was not for me to practice and so, as he finished transferring the chant Lanruo gasped "This technique¡­ it''s incredibly strong!" she whisper-shouted, the loudness of her voice leaving her due to shock.


    Nie Li nodded "It''s called the Astral Yin technique." he said smiling.


    Lanruo''s eyes watered "Little brother, thank you! This is an incredibly valuable thing you have shared with me. I could kiss you right now!"


    The ginger paled a bit then pointed at me "If you want to thank someone, thank him. Long Wan is the one who convinced me to trusts you!" he said with a knowing smirk and threw me a discreet wink. This little snake wanted to throw her on me so that Ziyun wouldn''t be pissy about it.


    Next thing I knew Lanruo squished me into her in a bone crushing hug, her huge knockers blocking out my sight, and her valley gobbled up my nose, luckily though leaving my mouth open to breathe. She smelled so nice though¡­


    "Ah, b-big sis Lanruo, Long Wan is currently recovering. Please be gentler!" I heard Ning''er call out, her voice firm but respectful.


    Lanruo immediately let me go, but still kept my head in her l.a.p and began running her hand in my hair. It felt divine but I couldn''t do this anymore. Making movements to stand up, dizziness once again overtook me but I pushed forward, regardless of the lady''s protests. Turning to her I tried to smile but sweat was heavily pouring on my face as nausea was rising from my belly to my throat "I''m sorry big sis Lanruo but I have someone I like and this feels like I''m cheating." I said as I tried to take a step away but my knee gave out and I fell forward like a warrior being knighted.


    Ning''er was first to step forward and stared hard in my face with concern and shook her head, the small corners of her mouth slightly curved upwards and her cheeks rosy. She then pushed my head back into Lanruo''s l.a.p before saying "You need to rest. Your beloved will understand. If not I''ll help explain it to her."


    Ziyun''s hands moved to cover her mouth in shock and even Nie Li lifted an eyebrow and grinned, teeth showing and all. He threw me a pill but I was too dizzy to catch it and it struck me right in the middle of the forehead. "Nie Li, you!" Ziyun shot forward in his face, metaphorical steam coming out of his ears and began to give him a scolding as he sweat bullets.


    I shook my head, both at the scene and to recover my senses, before taking the pill into my mouth preparing to swallow it when Lanruo quickly declared in all her feminine fury "Long Wan, I''ve decided. You''ll be my man and I''ll be your woman!" I immediately started coughing, the pill that was aiming to go down the esophagus taking a sharp ''surprise deepthroat'' detour towards my trachea. ''Funny how a recovery pill will be my end'' is what I thought until Nie Li came over and tapped the tip of his foot on a specific part of my ribs that made the pill jump back on it''s correct trajectory.


    "Big sis Lanruo I already¡­" I couldn''t form a complete sentence since my lungs were still starved for air so all I could do was gasp.


    She calmly patted my c.h.e.s.t and held my forehead to calm me down "Great men are destined for great futures. I don''t care how many women you''ll have in the future as long as I''m one of them!" she declared without a fear in the world "And I''ll fight anyone who gets in the way!" she continued as she raised her hand and squeezed it with full-on fury.


    ''I''m too sober for this shit!'' is what I thought as I turned my body to the side and fell asleep...


    It was some time later that I woke up covered by a blanket and having my head resting on a sack of clothes. Looking at the sky I could see that the stars were just coming out meaning it was late evening. I probably slept about two hours.


    "Ah, sir, you''re awake." A twenty year old man bowed to me, an action repeated by his two comrades.


    "Sir?" I tilted my head in curiosity.


    "Young master Chen Linjian told us to watch over you as if we were protecting him." he clarified.


    Nodding I stood up and checked myself and my soul realm. It seems that I had fully recovered as my stance was no longer unsteady. Looking at the men I nodded and took out three bottles of pills, tossing one to each man. They gave the pills a sniff and instantly their eyes widened. Those were simple soul nurturing pills but even those weren''t cheap so they naturally were very grateful.


    "You can go first but please help me return the items to their owners." I said motioning to my makeshift bed.


    They immediately cupped their hands, picked up the goods and took off. Deciding that some stretching was in order I took to the trees, jumping from branch to branch like an oversized macaque. A few minutes later my stomach sounded the alarm letting me know that I''ve missed dinner so I settled down on top of a large tree and took out some demon beast jerky plus some wine and proceeded to snack down on them until they were all gone.


    Well, after a good meal comes a good rest. As a consequence I sat down and rested my back against the tree, dozens of meters above ground. The stars were so gorgeous here without light pollution or smog. Suddenly hoards of feminine voices filled my ears so I peeked out from behind the branches to see the women from our adventuring group walking together. Considering how their clothes were lightly sticking to their bodies and how there were tiny drops of water dripping from their hair I would say I was close to their bathing area. If there was some sort of misunderstanding here it would mean social suicide for me so I decided to remain as quiet and still as possible, my skin becoming one with the bark of the tree.


    "Ah~ this feel nice!" said one girl of which I knew the voice. It belonged to Lanruo.


    "En." came the shy reply of the girl that I wouldn''t ever mistake: Ning''er. They took a few more paces in silence until they were right at the base of the tree that I stood at. My soul froze. Of all the girls to come close, it would be these two... "Umm miss Huyan Lanruo, you said you wanted to talk to me." asked Ning''er.


    This peaked my curiosity as I discreetly moved to just barely make out their figures through the leaves. "You don''t have to be so distant. Call me sis from now on." the older girl said as she moved slightly away from Ning''er to gaze at the stars that seemed to come out more by the second. "You''re the one Long Wan loves, am I right?" she asked the younger girl.


    "I-I..." Ning''er responded quietly, words failing to leave her "I''m...engaged to Shen Fei..." tears dripped from her eyes as she reminisced about that horrible deal her family made with the Sacred family.


    Lanruo spun on her heel and, with lightning fast speed, embraced the younger girl tightly, letting her wet her shoulder with tears. After Ning''er was done, Lanruo took her by the shoulders before fl.i.c.k.i.n.g her nose making Ning''er yip in surprise "Do you really think Long Wan will let that happen to you?" she said softly before bursting into soft laughter "I know Shen Fei quite well. He may be from the Sacred family but comparing between him and Long Wan is like comparing a stale pond to a vast ocean. The man we chose isn''t so simple." she smiled and dropped down to Ning''er''s level "Until Long Wan fixes this mess just tell this big sis of yours if Shen Fei gives you any grief and see how I''ll waste him!" she declared with both kindness and malice in her voice, making such a special flex of the word ''waste'' that even I tightened my a.s.s in the hopes that my nuts would get s.u.c.k.e.d back in my body.


    Both girls shared a good giggle at the thought of ending Shen Fei''s linage whilst I just puckered my lips and cringed at how vicious girls could be. Seriously, if girls had gonads then they wouldn''t aim so carelessly for them anymore.


    After regaining her breath Ning''er launched at Lanruo to squeeze her into a big hug which was returned in full. Seconds later they broke apart and Lanruo once again flicked Ning''er''s nose eliciting another big yip from the girl "This doesn''t mean that I''ll give up on Long Wan though. So you better get used to having a real big sister or start finding another man because this boss lady isn''t a quitter!" She said with a grin making Ning''er''s brain shut down for a moment. She blinked twice before bursting into a giggling fit, followed shortly by Lanruo.


    As soon as she finished laughing Ning''er nodded to her, determination showing in how she carried herself. They then started to walk in the direction of the camp while talking about things which I couldn''t hear. Finally, after a while they moved out of range of my senses and I could finally breathe easy and unclench my asscheeks.


    The next day we were back on the move, although there was a major change. Each time we would stop for a break Huyan Lanruo would come barrelling towards me with some scheme to make me fall pray to her charms.


    Speaking of the she-devil, here she comes again "Long Wan, I have some peach cake here. Do you want a bite?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at me.


    I smiled and nodded "Thank you, I would love some but only if you share some with everyone. Eating together is more fun." I said pointing to our friends. She puffed her cheeks in frustration but ultimately everyone got a piece of the cake. Deciding to take a slice out of her repertoire I smirked and said "It''s very good. Did you make it?" She answered with a nod before I continued "You''ll make a great wife one day." This caused her to go through three shades of red on her face. She was used to being praised and courted but was never on the attack so what I did now seriously caught her off-guard.


    "What about Ning''er?" Nie Li poked. He really knows when not to shut up. Just you wait you reincarnated redhead, I''ll get you for this.


    Sadly for him I had expected this so I turned to my dear girl and spoke lovingly "We already discussed things before we left Glory City, correct?" I smiled.


    Ning''er''s blood rushed to her face and steam began coming out of her ears as she nodded shyly. Meanwhile Lanruo recovered and, seeing the younger girl''s reaction, tilted her head in curiosity and asked "What did you talk about?" causing Ning''er to somehow blush harder until she looked like a ripe tomato.


    "N-n-nothing really.." the Xiao girl said as she moved away from Lanruo who quickly gave chase.


    Huyan Lanruo smirked as she went after Ning''er "Didn''t I tell you that I don''t quit so fess up!" This went on for a little while before they both returned to the group, slightly out of breath. However both girls were smiling widely, Lanruo even more so while Ning''er was doing her best to keep up a lady-like appearance "If this would be what it''s like to have a lil'' sibling, then I should''ve pushed my dad to get another wife haha!" she declared wildly before wrapping an arm around Ning''er''s neck to which the younger girl responded by grabbing her forearm with both hands but didn''t fight back.


    Both Nie Li and Ziyun turned to the both of them with questioning stares. In response Ning''er just nodded with a smile and mouthed ''she knows'' silently. Nie Li shrugged and returned to fawning over Ziyun while the latter''s eyes shot open, shock overtaking her gentle expression.


    We continued making marry for the remaining days along the way to our destination. A few, including Nie Li, Ziyun, Ning''er, Lanruo and a couple of Linjian''s men even made breakthroughs, the men did so since Linjian shared some of the pills he got from me, so now our group was relatively stronger than we were when we set off. Our pace was kept until we entered a clearing that was filled with a sombre aura. As we walked down the overgrown ancient path I could feel an unnatural chill in the air and I could see that the mood shifted from the one from before as everyone was on high alert. Further down we came upon the sight of countless humanoid bones, sun-bleached and partially buried in the ground. Most of the people in the group looked away and I was tempted to follow but this was a good opportunity.


    "All of you, don''t look away!" I barked out with steel in my voice causing a lot of people to flinch " This is the fate that awaits Glory City if you don''t take your training seriously. Lord Ye Mo is getting older and even if he was in his prime, there are many times more beasts than there are of his lordship. Take a good long look at these remains for they could one day be joined by your loved ones if you don''t have the strength and courage to protect them!"


    My friends faces turned dark, especially Nie Li. He didn''t need to imagine the pain of loss for he had felt it before. His fist clenched so hard that you can hear his knuckles popping and his bones creaking "Never again..." he growled in a whispered tone. Even Ziyun took his sleeve tightly in her fingers.


    Ning''er approached my side, longing for a comforting embrace but couldn''t due to Shen Yue and his acolytes being here.


    Just then Lanruo appeared silently between us, took us both by the waist and brought us tightly to each of her sides, all the while throwing a knowing look at Ning''er. To be honest, I was starting to appreciate this woman more and more.


    "Remind me to pay some gold and black gold experts to come and dig them proper graves." I said to no one in particular to which Nie Li put a hand on my shoulder and nodded. We both had more than enough funds which would serve little to no purpose in the Draconic Ruins Realm. So, while I was a cheapskate in my previous life, I was feeling pretty open handed here. It didn''t help that I was filthy rich either. I did have some plans to improve Glory City''s situation, especially for non-combatants but that didn''t mean I couldn''t splurge a little... a lot...


    Anyway, we were just crossing the ruins of the city walls, getting surrounded by roars of bronze and silver rank demon spirits. This was when Linjian motioned for the group to stop. "We''ve finally arrived at the ancient Orchid city ruins." each word coming out with a hint of relief "Here is the map to the city created by those previous experts that visited this place. Our main target is the city core, so the best path would be along these walls." he said pointing to some lines "And along the way we can explore some houses to see if we can find some loot."


    "I agree!" came from the crowd. "Young master is wise!" another followed.


    Chen Linjian then turned towards our small group, specifically towards Nie Li and I "What do you guys think?"


    Sighing I pointed at the map "Searching the houses would be a waste of time. The outer buildings are most likely to have already been searched. Besides that, if we take Glory City as a template then the perimeter is usually where less wealthy families live, while the center is for the nobility."


    Nie Li nodded "We need to consider other places. Look at these buildings, they''re the largest but are also the sparsest. They''re also in the center of the city."


    "Rich families usually have large courtyards." Ning''er intervened and I nodded with a smile.


    Lanruo followed soon after "And this one is right in the middle and is the largest so it should be the mansion of the ruling family." she said pointing to the building in the middle of the map.


    Linjian nodded with a sad expression "Those places were already explored by other experts before us."


    "Yes, so our best bet would definitely be inconspicuous places in proximity to the central mansion. Within sight of the main building lie three places that seem ordinary enough to be overlooked, namely here, here and here!" said Nie Li while pointing at three open areas on the map.


    Linjian looked at the said places and frowned "The first is a training ground where the ruling family trained their soldiers. The second is an open and unmaintained field. fort made of obsidian. It is very durable and hard to penetrate and could house a treasure." he said, his face scrunched deep in thought.


    I shook my head "That fort would be too obvious. The best place to hide something would be somewhere where nobody would think to look for it."


    Nie Li nodded in acceptance of my reasoning "The second location would be a trap field which is why it''s unmaintained compared to the rest of the city. It would give any beast or enemy easy cover but then take them out when they least expect it."


    Moving my finger, I traced a line from the central mansion to the training field "Both the fort as well as the trap field are within sight of the mansion but there are some buildings in between. However, the training field is directly down the main road of the city from the mansion. My guess is that there is a hidden chamber underneath it with a tunnel connecting it to the mansion under the road."


    Shen Yue appeared from behind us with a scowl "Those areas have been explored before. The experts have even dug down a height of a man without any result. We would just be wasting time. I say we continue with the original plan." His words bore hatred for us like fire.


    Shaking my head I turned to him "If the Sacred Family''s treasure vaults are buried only the height of a man I''m surprised you guys aren''t poor yet. However unlike some others, the people of Orchid City were actually intelligent so the underground facilities they built were hidden deep to ensure that they can support both the traffic on the road and the training drills. During their times, they had many Legend Rank experts so you can tell what kind of damage the training ground would suffer during their practice."


    Shen Yue''s face turned a boiling red and his teeth crunched so hard you can hear them creaking. Before he could retort Chen Linjian approached him and put a hand on his "Get lost!" he said, his voice sharper than any blade. I could tell Linjian was still royally pissed at Shen Yue and the Sacred family for his men getting injured.


    The said Sacred family member smartly withdrew backwards, fearing Linjian''s wrath. Hells, even I had a shiver go down my spine. Well, it was either that or from Lanruo''s admiring gaze that was firmly locked onto me.


    Linjian nodded "Agreed. We will make that training ground our main target."


    Nie Li suddenly took out his crossbow and dipped the arrows in the poison he shared the moment we left the city. Seeing this I also took out some empty ceramic bottles from my ring and filled them with the same substance.


    "What are you guys doing?" Asked Ziyun.


    Ning''er''s eyebrows furrowed a bit "Isn''t that the poison for the Giant Blue Armed Apes?" she asked, the expression on her face telling us that she remembered what was discussed a few days ago.


    I nodded "Those roars are mostly from those apes so we should be prepared. I have the means to fight them off but a little surprise back-up wouldn''t hurt. In case I need it I can just chuck some of these bottles at them."


    "Good idea!" beamed Nie Li as he took some bottles out and copied my action. Of course it was a good idea! I stole... Inspired it from one of your future weapons.


    Lanruo turned to us "Giant Blue Armed Apes?" she asked with both curiosity and a little fear. She wasn''t a sheltered princess by any means but she was still a 20 year old young woman. That and beasts were terrifying regardless of age.


    Making sure to throw a reassuring smile towards her "Don''t worry, I won''t let those dear to me die due to some overgrown monkeys!"


    She jumped forward with incredible speed while yelling out my name affectionately before once again suffocating me in with her t.i.t.s. I squirmed a few times to get air before Ning''er and Ziyun wrestled her off of me, letting me catch my breath. If this chick continues to threaten my life like this, then I can''t wait to grow out a beard. A nice, stubby, -prickly- beard.


    The first ape appeared from behind the buildings as we started walking towards the training ground. That one was then followed by one after another, the apes manoeuvring from building to building with grace and agility that would be uncanny for an animal of their size, light-blue fur shining in the sun. I guess their preferred mode of hunting is to descend from the treetops onto unsuspecting prey, their blue coloration helping camouflage them with a sky-like pattern.


    An arrow whooshed by courtesy of Nie Li''s crossbow and struck an ape cleanly in the side. It grunted a bit in pain before drunkenly stumbling to the ground to which Linjian responded by drawing his sword and decapitating it, his sword now dripping with blood and poison. Seeing their fallen comrade, the remaining apes roared in anger and made moves to flank us before two of them met the same fate as the one before and they smartly retreated some distance away.


    Smirking, I turned towards Nie Li to congratulate his marksmanship but just as he was taking aim at another gorilla, I spotted something in the corner of my eye. Shen Yue was in a position where the blue armed ape and Nie Li''s head were relatively aligned and he was taking aim. It would be pretty simple to claim an accident while trying to shoot for the beasts. And I knew it would be even easier for Nie Li to sense and dodge. But I refused to take that one in a million chance so I teleported behind Shen Yue in a position where I could pretend to protect him from some approaching apes.


    "If your finger comes anywhere near that trigger while Nie Li is in your sights, your linage will end with you, Sacred family or not!" I growled like a demon beast from the lowest depths of hell, Void tendril extending and c.a.r.e.s.sing his right cheek which was away from the group''s eyes. Nie Li was my brother in this world, to hell with the consequences! There was so much rage emanating from me that even some Blue-armed apes slowly retreated away.


    Not bothering with him anymore as Nie Li was no longer within his sights I teleported away and easily skewered three Bronze rank apes that were within my range. The rest started swerving through buildings and windows so it would only mean wasted energy to give chase.


    "Everyone, use your crossbows!" Linjian called out seeing more and more apes approaching.


    Hearing this I turned towards them "Delay that! The apes are too agile and intelligent so you would only be wasting arrows. Silver ranks should go after them up close. As for the rest, group up close together and protect all sides! If they scatter us we''re done for since they know the area much better than we do. Don''t let them pick us off alone!"


    "Why should we listen to you?" one of the older teens shouted back with slight arrogance in his tone.


    Just as he finished saying this, two apes came crashing down on the place where I was standing a mere moment ago only to find otherworldly smoke already dissipating. I appeared above them, calling out tendrils from my foot and my hand stabbing each one in their backs. The next moment I teleported behind the teen, right hand lodged deep in an ambushing ape''s brain through under it''s jaw.


    The teen blinked for a second before shouting to the group "Get close and form up! Peak Bronze ranks protect the perimeter!"


    Everyone grouped up tightly including Ning''er much to my relief. Seeing this, the apes started getting more cautious and they started prodding the defences. Unfortunately for them, this also meant that they couldn''t pay attention to Nie Li who started raining arrows on them without missing a shot.


    I heard Shen Yue growl "Even if they''re agile, they''re also big. If he can hit them..." he said pointing to Nie Li before taking aim at a beast "... then so can I!". The tip of his arrow shone in the sun as it flew in a slight arch towards a demon beast that was hanging from a window frame. Seeing this the beast in question just lightly moved it''s left leg up, letting the arrow fly past and gave Shen Yue a taunting look. The youth took another arrow and fired again, this time missing completely since he was too angry to aim properly.


    The ape must''ve had enough since the next thing I saw was a fistful of the beast''s faces flying fast and hitting Shen Yue square in the face, this in turn making him fall on his a.s.s while screaming in disgust. This probably would''ve caused me to laugh my a.s.s off if the situation wasn''t so serious. Talk about going apeshit...


    I remembered that Ziyun took pity on him in the novel so I shot her a gaze


    Void energies enveloped me as my hands became coated in darkness. Tearing holes into the very fabric of reality I pounced on the apes like an angel of death, delivering precise but deadly strikes at their heads or necks. Ever since my confrontation with Chu Yuan I could use my skills a lot more before getting tired. Being a 4 star Bronze meant that I had a lot more energy and stamina than when I first summoned my tendrils.


    Taking out another beast I moved to scan the area for more when I noticed that my shadow was getting bigger and bigger before an ape entered my void sense area directly above me. I prepared to teleport away, when a metallic shine cut through the air and hit the ape in the side of it''s ribs making it go limp before it could hit the ground. Jumping sideways I avoided the 500 kilos of pure muscle falling on top of me. Gazing to my right I saw Nie Li give me a two finger salute and then turning to reload and fire some more bolts on the apes, each one hitting a vital area on their targets.


    Turning back to the group I called out "Those in the middle of the perimeter, take out your ranged weapons. Don''t aim at where they are, aim at where you think they will be when the arrow reaches them. Be careful not to hit allies!" Playing shooter games really helps some times.


    A hail of arrows came following my words, most of them missing but a good few hit their targets. The arrows weren''t poisoned unfortunately so they didn''t kill outright but they did manage to stagger them enough that the Silver ranks had a much easier time killing them off and allowing me to catch my breath. While I was stronger now, the usage of my skills drained a lot of energy, so after only a few minutes of killing beasts I had about two thirds of my soul force remaining.


    Just then an incredible roar filled the area with beastly rage "Spirit grade demon beast!" Nie Li an I said at the same time. These were beasts that have formed a demon spirit inside, raising their intelligence to human levels and increasing their overall strength.


    Linjian frowned and turned to me "How strong?"


    Shrugging I answered "I don''t know. At least Silver rank." that''s all I could remember from the novel.


    "5-star Silver, a step away from Gold." answered Nie Li as the beast came crashing down on our location.


    The demon beast immediately set his eyes on Chen Linjian and threw a massive fist towards him. Seeing this, one of his men, the only demon spiritualist of our group with a demon spirit pushed him away, intent on taking the blow "Not good!" I thought as I teleported in between him and the demon beast, it''s strike impacting me in the back with more force than Xiong''s. This launched me into Linjian''s man and together we flew towards a tree. Seeing the tree approaching in virtual slow motion I took full advantage of the mental fortitude that the Void God part of my cultivation technique granted me and kicked my legs around, effectively twisting us so that I would impact the tree first since I would suffer the least due to my armor.


    With a resounding bang the air was forced out of me as my organs respected Newton''s law of inertia, meaning that while my body stopped, they continued to dance around inside of me. Tasting some iron I coughed out a little blood, an action mirrored by the man in my hands. Summoning two Nine-Transformation Pills I swallowed one, the blood in my mouth lubricating it''s passage down my oesophagus, and shoved the second pill down the throat of the teen.


    Instantly, both of us were lit up by a bright aura and I could see color return to the teen''s face. He g.r.o.a.n.e.d a bit before blinking himself awake "Are we dead?"


    "You will be if you don''t get off of me." I laughed as I got up and helped him up as well.


    "What happened?" he asked with mild surprise while checking himself out.


    Dusting myself a bit "I caught the ape''s punch before it hit you and then healed both of us. Can you still fight?" I said, my gaze steely as I aimed it at the ape who was busy with Linjian and three of his Silver ranks.


    To answer he simply transformed into his lemur like demon beast. I nodded and threw him two bottles "The less ornate one is poison for the demon beasts. Throw it at their face if you need an opening. The more ornate one contains three Nine-Transformation Pills. Use them well!"


    My legs tensed as I jumped away towards my friends hearing him say "Call for me if you need anything. I, Luo Ming owe you my life!"


    The Silver rank continued to rage on. "We can''t defeat it with our strength. Everyone scatter, I''ll draw it away!" Nie Li yelled before firing a bolt at the ape and running away.


    "Wai..!" I called out but he was already gone.


    The silver rank ape avoided the weapon before it roared in anger and started giving chase. Meanwhile Chen Linjian reinforced his words and ordered everyone to set out in different directions in groups.


    "Nie Li!" Ziyun called out in fright, tears framing her eyes. She tried to chase after him but was held in place by Ning''er and Lanruo.


    Smiling I turned to her "Fret not. Nie Li is too cunning to fall to some banana breath." I said and got a giggle from Lanruo and a smile from Ning''er "Besides, he has a Gold rank armor so even if that ape was even stronger then there wouldn''t be much danger." I saw relief wash over Ziyun''s face as she nodded . However we were starting to get surrounded by beasts as they were inching closer and closer. Frowning I turned to them "You follow Linjian''s group. I''ll cover you then go assist Nie Li."


    "Long Wan!" Ning''er called out, her outstretched palm wanting to grab hold of me but hesitating "Be... Be careful!" she whispered, worry seeping in her voice.


    Nodding with a smile I gave a wink and a moment later all that was left in my place was an outline of dark smoke, my body appearing in between a group of four apes, tendrils outstretched from my body like a hellish porcupine. Those apes died before they even knew what was up.


    Seeing the girls go further in the forest I sped up through the treetops, following the trail of destruction left behind by the Silver rank ape, the sounds of rampage getting closer and closer. Finally, I managed to find Nie Li just as he was preparing to dodge the ape.


    Teleporting behind the ape, I prepared a Void spike to impale the beast and let gravity carry me forward. However, just as the tip was a nail''s width from the ape''s hide it stopped as if repelled by an unknown force, blinding light spiralling towards the spike. A second later the spike dissolved into fine black sand and the ape turned, swatting me on the side and sending me crashing towards Nie Li.


    I gasped hard as I recovered, my left nostril filled with liquid and a metallic taste slowly filling my mouth and throat. Spitting out a blob of blood and saliva I glared hard at the beast who started to bang his c.h.e.s.t like an overweight Tarzan. "What happened?" I asked in a whisper, still dazed from the shock of the impact.


    Nie Li growled "You said those tendrils consume anything they touch. It seems they ate through some of the Giant Blue Armed ape''s spiritual aura before becoming over-saturated. It''s close to Gold rank so it has much more energy than you have." he clarified before turning to me "What are you doing here anyway?"


    Keeping my gaze on the ape I answered "Figured you could use a hand. The girls will be safe with their armors and Linjian by their side."


    My friend nodded just as the ape pounced on us yet again.


    "Shit, dodge!" Nie Li yelled out as he jumped away but I just flexed my hand, a scroll appearing in it. The ape was now in mid-fall, with no possibility to avoid.


    "Surprise motherf.u.c.ker!" I yelled out as I spit on in my hand, blood from the earlier hit covering it and unfurled the scroll "Gold rank forbidden technique: Blooming Frost Fangs!" came my war cry as an inscription pattern appeared in front of the scroll with dozens upon dozens of icicles raining out of it and heading straight for the ape who could do nothing but roar out with spiritual force to try to suppress the technique. However, it was above it''s grade so the icicles ignored the roar before reaching the fur of the ape and piercing deep into it''s skin. Wherever it did so, a flower made of pink blood-and-water ice erupted outwards, taking some of the surrounding flesh with it.


    A few moments later Nie Li and I were looking at a melting sculpture of flowery gore. As the flower on top of it''s head started melting and a shining flame-like substance started rising from it, the beast''s demon spirit. Nie Li took it and handed it to me which I graciously accepted. Looking deep into it I could see that it had a dull shine ''I wonder what grade it is?'' I thought.


    A split second later I found myself pushed out of the way by Nie Li as another Giant Blue armed ape crashed down on our location. This one with a lighter coloration and a more unique facial structure. It took a few slow steps towards the mass of melting ice and flesh and gave a few sniffs. Instantly it''s eyes turned neon red before giving out a raged and pained roar. "Shit, that must be his mate!" Nie Li whispered with worry "And it''s 3-star Silver."


    Oh crapbaskets, I wasn''t expecting this. This was outside of the novel timeline so I only prepared one scroll. Who knew that the f.u.c.ker had a c.o.c.k-sleeve.


    The she-ape turned and pounced on us like a demonic tiger from hell with Nie Li dodging and myself teleporting away a mere moment before she turned the rock underneath us to gravel. It didn''t take long for her to find us again and we started dodging and weaving through the forest, taking turns distracting her so that the other could escape.


    Whenever Nie Li was close to be pinned I would jump in and strike her from behind before teleporting away and likewise, whenever I was close to being in danger my friend would expertly throw a rock or a tree branch aimed at her eye or other s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e spots.


    Finally, after a few minutes of running, I felt a group of living beings enter the range of my sense and I remembered something from the novel. "Nie Li, there is a large group of experts up ahead. At least five Silver ranks." I said and he focused before nodding as we sped up slightly, followed closely by that furious female.


    Just as we were about to enter the clearing Nie Li whispered out in shock "Those are Dark Guild cloaks..."


    Squinting, I pretended to be confused by their appearance here before grinning "Well then, how about we leave them a nice surprise?" Shifting my center of mass I made a slight turn before teleporting above the bitch. I summoned all the ceramic poison bottles I had prepared before and rained them down on her.


    To her credit, she dodged most of them but two which landed right in her mouth and right eye. This caused her to crash into the ground while gasping and wiping her eyes.


    Nie Li grinned as he turned to me "She''s too high level. That won''t incapacitate her on her for long."


    Shaking my head I answered "It''s not supposed to incapacitate her."


    Just as I finished saying that, she let out a murderous roar and jumped high towards us as we sped up and landed in the middle of the Dark Guild group "It''s supposed to piss her off." I whispered to my friend.


    Nie Li rolled out of the way and I teleported just as the bitch landed where we were and kicked up a lot of dust. While she did take a second to wipe away the confusion she soon roared out in rage that only a demon beast female scorned to produce.


    Smirking widely I turned to Nie Li "Shen Yue, let''s get out of here!" I yelled out loud, my voice booming hard enough for them to hear me "Let them take care of it!" to which my friend raised an eyebrow at me before grinning even more sinisterly "Yeah! They should be honored to do it for the great me, Shen Yue!" he repeated, soul force amplifying his voice.


    We bolted away, leaving sounds of battle behind us, stopping at the base of a large tree only when those battle cries and roars were but a distant memory. We gasped and heaved, the escape nearly depleting my soul realm. I was maybe a little bit over one tenth of my full power so my engine was basically running on fumes right now.


    A rustle came from the bushes and we turned, guard up at the ready, when we noticed that the people who had snuck up on us were the girls, namely Ziyun, Ning''er and Lanruo.


    I let my knees buckle and my back hit the tree as I slid down to sit, relieved that it wasn''t another enemy.


    "What are you girls doing here?" Nie Li asked with worry-born annoyance, like you would scold a child or a lover when they refused to listen to your warnings.


    Ning''er rushed over to me followed by Lanruo while Ziyun went to check Nie Li. We had a few scuffs and scratches but nothing too serious "We were worried." Answered Ning''er as she used an embroidered handkerchief to wipe away the sweat that was dripping down my forehead and into my eyes "The roars and explosions seemed endless. We wanted to back you up."


    My heart surged before I calmed it down and checked the surroundings. Thankfully there were none other than us so I took her handkerchief filled hand and brought it to my lips. After pecking it I s.u.c.k.e.d in my lower lip and ran over it with my tongue. She tasted like almonds, mint and honey mixed with a sweet girl.


    Ning''er turned her head away from me and sank it low, as if she was trying to hide it inside her clothes. At the same time her skin''s temperature rose and the coloration took on a deep pink hue with virtual steam coming off of it.


    It was so adorable to see strong girls behave like girls. Back on Earth you would be hard pressed to find one reserved and feminine like her. I remembered a quote from a movie about the new first base in the 2010s being anal.


    Lanruo puffed her cheeks and softly glared at us. She would''ve voiced her disputes if not for the beastly roars that filled the area that we were resting in. "We should move. It''s not safe here." Nie Li announced, his voice filled with worry as he took hold of Ziyun''s hand and made to leave.


    "Nie Li, let go!" Ziyun protested, a blush heating up her face.


    I took hold of both Ning''er and Lanruo''s hands and turned to her "It''s for safety. Getting separated here would be suicidal." I spoke seriously which caused Ziyun to stop struggling. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your p.o.v.) Lanruo took this as a sign to be more aggressive, judging by how she basically coiled around my entire arm and leaned her cheek on top of my head. My growth spurt was sure taking it''s sweet time¡­


    Soon enough it was nightfall so we decided to make camp in the shade of a large tree. "What''s that?" I heard Ning''er whisper. We all made our way to her side and looked in the direction she was pointing in.


    "It looks like an obelisk¡­" answered Nie Li.


    From the novel I remembered that this must be Emperor Kong Ming''s memorial site "Careful, there could be traps." The ground underneath the memorial had caved in, reaching the underground shelter but there was no way to credibly explain how I knew this.


    Nie Li examined the area but didn''t find anything suspicious or dangerous so he made his way closer. Ning''er and Ziyun wanted to approach together but I stuck my hand out in front of them "Wait. Let Nie Li confirm it is safe. Be ready to help him if he''s ever in need!" Hopefully I can fish him out before he falls out of range in the sinkhole.


    The girls nodded and tensed up a bit ready to jump in at a moment''s notice. Gazing at the writing on the large stone slab, Lanruo narrowed her eyes "I wonder what it says¡­"


    There were few words that I could understand on the wall but I still had my otherworldly knowledge "I''ve been studying the lost languages for a few weeks now so I can barely make it out: ''Those who follow me be honored! Those who go against me be destroyed!'' or something like that¡­"


    Nie Li nodded "Indeed. The person who wrote this was full of hubris." he hummed as he looked for more clues about the writing''s origins.


    I turned to him while saying "You see it as either hubris, while I see confidence. This is Emperor Kong Ming''s letter to the world."


    "What!?" Nie Li''s eyes widened. He took an urgent step towards me but the tile under his shoe sunk in and so did the surrounding ones, taking him with them on a ride on Newton''s gravity express.


    "Nie Li!" Ning''er and Ziyun yelled out. I made to summon a void tendril to catch him when the later moved towards him and unfortunately the slabs under her feet fell as well. This made Ning''er jump towards her and she met the same fate as well.


    My heart sank. Moving on instinct I rocketed towards her, unwittingly taking Lanruo with me as she was still glued to my arm. While falling, my mind was blank as my only thought was to save them, especially Ning''er. There were some luminous rocks on the edges so I could see how Nie Li tried to grab onto them while jabbing a dagger into the wall. The wall however was too crumbly so he couldn''t get a good grip.


    I had enough. Focusing my energy I teleported underneath them all and summoned a mass of void tendrils and wove them together instantly while sticking them deep in the walls on all sides. This made them into a safety net that they all fell into. Shifting my hand slightly I moved a few strands of hair from Ning''er face. Her trembling eyes told me that this was no skydiving experience for her but she slowly recovered as I gave her cheek a reassuring c.a.r.e.s.s.


    "Uuuu¡­" I heard a soft murmur on my side and finally noticed the heat in my other palm. Turning that way I could see Lanruo clutching my hand with a vice grip, while she was curled like a ball in my net. What surprised me though was that I was also holding onto her own soft fingers and realized that I had done that on pure instinct. At the same time I felt an immense relief, on the same level as that of Ning''er at knowing the fact that she was now safe as well.


    "Is anyone hurt?" I asked, dispelling my own selfish feelings away. This was no time to ponder the qualms of the heart.


    Lanruo slowly recovered "I think so¡­" she said softly.


    "I''m fine. Ziyun, are you okay?" He asked while taking hold of her shoulder and shaking her lightly. He was as gentle as possible, his love coming out with every word. She nodded softly before slowly using her hands to stand up and look around, finally moving her eyes up where the sky was nowhere to be seen, especially considering that it was nighttime.


    "Can we climb back up?" she asked, still not taking her eyes away from where we fell.


    Summoning a handful of coins I let them drop, hearing the ping after mentally counting one to five Mississippi. Five seconds fall means about a hundred meters, give or take. Judging how long it took to catch them¡­ "The end of this hole is about three times closer than the top and I''m not sure how much longer I can keep this up." I said with raspy breath as my energies still hadn''t had the chance to replenish. To emphasize this, some of the tendrils started to crumble into sand. "Move close and hold onto me. I think I can make it down."


    They moved close, with me grabbing Ning''er and Lanruo by wrapping my hands around their waists. Meanwhile Ziyun and Nie Li took up residence on my back. As soon as they were secure I willed my tendrils to move like spider legs, jabbing them into the walls into steps to descend.


    It took a couple of minutes to reach solid ground, at which point I collapsed on my hands and knees, sweat pouring out from each pore of my skin. Everything inside me screamed at me to just go to sleep but I refused to give in so I took out a Nine Transformations Pill and swallowed it, recovering a bit of stamina.


    Nie Li shook his head "You should rest." he chided, concern evident in his actions.


    I looked at him tiredly but firmly "This entire area could collapse on us. We should find a safer place."


    He looked at me with a concerned annoyance for a second but nodded afterwards and produced two torches from his ring, one of which was handed to Lanruo. After lighting them he motioned for her to follow him, with myself supported by Ning''er and Ziyun close behind. This would''ve been something to remember with two beauties by my side but right now I didn''t even have the energy to pop a boner.


    "Looks like brother Wan was right. This is the tomb of Emperor Kong Ming." Nie Li hummed while reading some inscriptions etched on a wall.


    "Long Wan, you mentioned this Emperor Kong Ming before." Ye Ziyun reminded, curiosity edging her voice.


    "En." I said, feeling my eyes droop a bit. That pill may heal but it doesn''t fully replenish stamina. Nothing beats a good meal and a long sleep for that. "Emperor Kong Ming of the Sacred Empire. One of the most powerful beings to have ever lived." came my answer.


    "Right" Nie Li slightly nodded and continued, "Within the history of the Sacred Empire there have been many emperors. He adopted his title in his name, as strange as that may sound. Also, he abdicated in middle of his rule and his throne was inherited by his son. Legend has it that he cultivated to the point of immortality as nobody could find a trace of where he was buried, not even his descendants. I never thought that he would actually be buried here."


    "Is there any way to cultivate immortality?" Ye Ziyun questioned, looking towards Nie Li.


    Shaking my head, I beat Nie Li to the point of answering "This world has been sealed off eons ago by a supreme expert of unfathomable power. In doing so that expert set some rules, including limiting the energies of this world so that Legend rank would be the level that you would normally max out at. However, there are steps beyond that with some exploits existing to overcome that limitation. What I want to get at is that somewhere there might be a way achieve true immortality."


    "There isn''t." Nie Li answered abruptly "Even if one were to cultivate past Legend rank, the most that they can expect is to extend their lives with one or two hundred years." he continued while scanning the writings on the wall with their hands.


    Shaking my head I reached out of the grasps of the girls and supported myself on his shoulder "I know a way for one to potentially to live for as long as the world lives."


    He turned to me with shock "How!?" was the only thing he could say.


    Chuckling slightly I looked at the writings with a mused face "This world was structured by that supreme expert when they refined their own spiritual energies into a purified soul force called the Power of Laws, such as the Laws of Fire or Light. If one manages to cultivate a said Law above Legend rank then their own soul would become part of the law. As long as one doesn''t cultivate the Law to a level above them or their own soul isn''t disrupted then their bodies would be able to reform from pure Law energy. In essence, as long as that Law structure exists then so would they. Some Spiritual Gods are millennia years old, some even older."


    Ning''er who remained silent, admiration shining in her eyes as she looked into mine.


    "A realm beyond Legend rank¡­" Ziyun gasped softly.


    I nodded "Honestly, I''m surprised that you and Nie Li don''t know about this yet. Both your dad and that old fart of a gramps of yours should know about the power of law."


    Ziyun''s eyes widened and her cheeks puffed "Long Wan! How dare you talk about grandfather that way!"


    Shakily I moved my hands up in surrender while resting against the wall "My mistake, I shouldn''t have done that in your presence." Annoying her right now would serve no purpose.


    She however wouldn''t let this rest "Are you saying you''ll do it when I''m not around?"


    Sighing I looked at her seriously "I recognize your respect for him but I don''t share it. Let''s have this conversation in more favorable conditions. Having any animosity here could be fatal." I pointed out to the caverns.


    Ziyun is a smart girl. Her indignation washed away from her face as she nodded "En. But don''t think I''ll forget this."


    Nodding back I smiled "You''re more than welcome to enlighten me about your family''s successes when we return to Glory City. But keep in mind that I will point out the failures that I noticed as well. I hope you won''t be obstinate about them."


    We continued making our way down the maze like corridors following Nie Li''s lead. I had also recovered enough to walk on my own. On the way, he turned slightly towards me while still keeping his senses sharpened for any danger "Long Wan, earlier you mentioned the Power of Law¡­"


    "It''s something that''s incredibly difficult as well as absurdly simple to cultivate. To be completely honest I still haven''t gotten a grasp of it yet. When we reach Glory City I will share everything I know about it and maybe we can work it out." I had just remembered earlier about the Power of Law when Nie Li mentioned immortality so I hadn''t had the chance to experiment with it. I did know that, at it''s core it was structured as simple rune-like inscription patterns and some other minor things but I had no idea how they looked like. Nie Li should be able to decipher that part on his own. If we start cultivating the power of law now then we should reach Black Gold rank before the Dark Guild starts the demon beast hoard.


    Nie Li nodded and said nothing more. Soon we reached a crossroads with multiple paths splitting from the center.


    "There are six passages here so which one should we enter?" Asked Lanruo while looking at the entrances to each passage.


    "Simple." answered Nie Li "Based on the Sacred Empire''s Book of Numerology, Emperor Kong Ming''s tomb should be facing south so we should head north." he said with a scholarly tone.


    "Sacred Empire''s Book of Numerology" both Ziyun and Ning''er muttered mutely, most likely impressed by Nie Li''s knowledge.


    Taking out a piece of steel wire from my interspatial ring I rubbed it against my hair. At the same time I chipped a bit of wood from Lanruo''s torch and set the wire on top of the wood in a puddle that dripped from the roof of the passage way. A second later the floating wire moved by itself into a new position "This wire indicates the north-south line. Considering that one end points at where we came from I suggest we take the passage indicated by the other end."


    Nie Li crossed his arms but nodded "I was going to suggest to follow the layer structure of the rocks in the wall but your way is simpler."


    Along the way on the chosen corridor we stepped only where Nie Li stepped. At one point he picked up a rock and threw it forward. What soon followed was a shower of arrows from every direction and I kept wondering how hundred, maybe even thousand years old wooden and stone traps still remained active. Perhaps some inscription patterns gave it some resistance to decay.


    It took us a few more hours but we finally reached a massive and decorated hall. While the carvings were obviously deteriorated, they were still identifiable enough. At the same time, hundreds upon hundreds of skeletons that were cradled together, especially those of children wrapped up in larger ones. Seems that entire families had met their miserable ends trapped here.


    "What happened here?" Ning''er asked, with tears in her eyes. All girls had moist eyes at the scene.


    My fist hit a large rock breaking it in half down the middle "Demon beasts happened." I growled "When the riot came they retreated to this place. However the hoard was endless and so they most likely hid here until they perished from lack of food and water." Those damned demon beast Spiritual Deities¡­ If I don''t destroy every last one then I won''t be able to rest! I''ll tear out their divine spark and let my soul ocean consume it like cheap snacks.


    I watched how Nie Li just stood there with a blank expression but the way his fists were trembling told me that his train of thought wasn''t that far away from mine.


    "Let''s just leave¡­" Ziyun whispered softly as she took a small step backwards.


    Nie Li shook his head "We should take any valuables from here. There could be useful items we could use." he hummed.


    I saw the girls hesitating while I made my way to a nearby skeleton "Forgive us elders!" I said as I removed a small dagger that still looked pristine from the hands of one who looked to have used it to end their own life, taking the utmost care not to disturb or damage the bones. Turning to the girls I continued "Their legacy could help the living children of Glory City escape the same fate. However, be respectful and take only what appears to be of use. Try to avoid anything that looks like it had some form of personal meaning." I said while avoiding another of the dead that looked to be holding a valuable gem close to their ribs.


    Seeing this and hearing my resolve the girls looked at each other before silently nodding. We all began to search the entire area. Personally I found a lot of demon crystals and some other small things. I avoided any armor as it was mainly bronze rank and jewelry that seemed pretty but useless.


    Finally, we reached close to the center of the hall where a large and ornate tomb lay. The tomb of Emperor Kong Ming. Nie Li started pacing towards the said tomb and for appearances I also followed him with the girls in tow, ignoring the strange pull it had on me and my own curiosity. Feeling the pressure on my soul ocean and expecting to be rejected at any moment, I was somewhat surprised when the girls suddenly shook and jumped backwards slightly. Strange, only Nie Li should be able to access this area.


    "Long Wan, I can''t go any further¡­" Ning''er murmured as she used her hands to shield her face.


    "Me neither." Lanruo agreed and Ziyun nodded.


    Feeling my soul realm steadily expanding at a faster rate I hummed "There is a strange soul force permeating this place. You can see none of the people of Orchid City died close to the coffin. It must be set up to let only those with a compatible soul ocean nearby. I can feel it pushing on me as well but my soul ocean''s form is devouring the invading force allowing me passage. You girls standby while Nie Li and I check the casket." I said and they nodded with worried looks.


    Approaching Nie Li''s side as he was blowing the dust from the lid of the coffin and I coughed "Demon spirit coin for your thoughts?"


    He hummed a bit "The coffin definitely belongs to Emperor Kong Ming but the top inscription is not of the Sacred Empire''s language."


    Nodding I turned to him "Emperor Kong Ming wasn''t born in this world but fell into it from a much higher realm. There are many enigmas surrounding his particular person."


    Nie Li once again looked at me like a puzzle to be solved but didn''t say anything as he moved to open the casket. I moved to stop him as I remembered this would be a particularly painful for him. However I lost my footing by slipping on some moss and we both touched the lid at the exact same time. As soon as this happened a pillar of bright light erupted from it towards the sky and then barreled towards the both of us.


    I let out an ungodly scream as the pain rocking my body was out of this world. It felt as if every cell in my body was being ripped apart while simultaneously set on fire. Losing consciousness from the shock could''ve definitely been a reality had the pain itself not kept me awake.


    A cry hit my ears "Long Wan!/Nie Li!". Oh no! You know how your body releases adrenaline during intense pain or stress and that dilates your senses. Well it did for me and that managed to numb the pain enough for me to crack open an eye and see how the girls were rushing towards our location in slow motion.


    They were repelled again but this time instead of jumping backwards they wanted to push forward but I managed to tremble the arm closest to them parallel to the ground and sent a pulse of regular soul force repelling them backwards.


    "S-st-ahy aw-ahhh-y!" I gurgled out through .


    The light rays seemed to converge on Nie Li''s and mine''s foreheads, flooding our soul realms. The Black Dragon''s Maw started rotating and s.u.c.k.i.n.g up all invading energies but it was slowly becoming overwhelmed as cracks started appearing. It was then I remembered a trick I had invented during a particularly nasty toothache: try to understand pain, to describe it, to realize that is was nothing but electrical signals carried by our neurons to our brain. Pain isn''t real. Danger is often very real but pain is virtual.


    Gritting my teeth I cracked opened my eyes in annoyance. The discomfort was still unbearable but I could focus now as I started to mentally chant the Heavenly Void Dragon God technique with all my might. This made my soul realm''s rotation and suction increase dramatically as the cracks in it slowly faded away. I quickly broke through 5 star Bronze and kept pushing forward.


    This will not be the end of me!


    With one final verse I made a final breakthrough and the Black Dragon''s Maw temporarily shifted from formless to an actual dragon''s head releasing an incredible roar followed by an explosion of black light that radiated outwards dispersing the coffin''s soul force.


    When I felt that everything finally calmed down I opened my eyes to find myself floating in some kind of space. Everywhere I looked there was nothing but a vast emptiness with two exceptions.


    The first exception was that about 50 meters in front of me there was a large sphere with a Yin-Yang symbol rotating inside it and a small vine growing in the boundary of the black and white parts. This sphere was floating in the middle of a sort of eight trigrams inscription pattern with seven circles found equidistant around the sphere.


    The second exception was that behind me about twice as close was something that I recognized from my own Primary Soul Crystal: my soul realm. The burnt orange surroundings and indescribably black shifting mass.


    Looking around I squinted my eyes until I came upon the outline of an a.d.u.l.t man with spikey hair. "Hello?" I called out and the man came closer to me. When I finally got a good look at this person his identity came almost instinctually "Nie Li!?". He looked just like an a.d.u.l.t Nie Li would look like in his twenties. A long travel coat adorning his body and a strange sword stuck to his back.


    The man squinted and frowned "Who are you?" he called out.


    "Nie Li, it''s me. Don''t you recognize me?" being seen with so much distrust sent a stab to my heart.


    Nie Li''s eyes widened almost instantly "Long¡­ Wan?" he called out as if his own voice betrayed him. He took a look around and focused his thoughts before his eyes widened in surprise. Soon enough his features softened and he looked at me with a smile "So that''s it¡­" he chuckled "I take it that this is your soul''s true form¡­".


    Raising an eyebrow I looked at him with confusion. He simply waved his hand and an ornate mirror the size of a man materialized in front of him and slowly floated until it was in front of me. I looked at my reflection but I couldn''t recognize any of it. My hair was still long and black but had orange highlights. My face was full of freckles and there was some roundness to my once chiseled cheeks. At the same time my body was now close to twenty years old and very athletic with the exception of the roundness of my belly. The biggest change though were my eyes. One was emerald green while the other was bright hazel. Realization hit me like a freight train, that was my past life''s eyes. Hells, every extra feature looked carved from my body back on Earth. I was a tall, slightly overweight ginger with hazel eyes back then. Now I looked as if someone threw Long Wan as well as myself in a blender, hit the max speed setting and then poured out the results.


    Even my age seemed to be a net average of both my lifes''.


    Panic would''ve taken hold over me had I not had the calming and focusing effect of my cultivation. Touching my face a few times to make sure I hummed in agreement "So it seems...". Tilting my head past the mirror I turned to look at the boy-now-man in front of me "And this must be your own."


    Seeing his raised eyebrow I moved my hand to push the mirror back towards him but it did so automatically. I then had a weird thought and imagined conjuring a floating sphere and cube. Immediately they appeared in front of me and dispersed as soon as I thought about it. So this space answers to our mental commands.


    By this time Nie Li had finished looking at himself in the mirror with an amused face and ordered the mirror to disappear.


    "So..." he began softly "You''re a reincarnated soul." His expression told me that he just received an answer to a question long time pondered.


    I shook my head. No point in faking it anymore "More like transmigrated. My current body had an original owner. You''re the one that''s reincarnated, although there are some arguments against that." I hummed. Souls were such complicated dilemmas. My gaze shifted to him and I saw him nod in acceptance with a smile "You''re just going to accept that?" To answer he simply used his hands to point at himself as if saying ''see all this?'' "Right¡­". He was a special case too so what happened to me wouldn''t be so unbelievable for him. "Still¡­"


    He raised his hand "I know what you want to ask. To be honest I suspected something was up with you and kept my guard up at all times."


    My eyes widened in surprise "I never noticed that." This f.u.c.ker played me like a harp all this time.


    Nie Li laughed good willingly "The heavens would strike me down if I had let a novice like you read me out." Gee , I''m surprised you could eat considering how full of yourself you are, bud.


    Crossing my arms I huffed at him "So what made you change your mind and reveal your thoughts?"


    He waved a hand at the empty space "This place." he answered cryptically. I took an at ease position while floating in mid air, silently telling him to explain "Can''t you feel it?" he asked. Hearing this I focused a bit on the area and a wave of intent filled the back of my mind, specifically Nie Li''s intent. It was like I could feel his sentiments echoing within my own. His care for his friends, his love for his family, everything. I could even feel his husbandly love and l.u.s.t for Ziyun, however weird that might be. It was similar to an empathic link shared by monozygotic twins. Could he also sense my own?


    As soon as I thought of that amus.e.m.e.nt that was not my own appeared in my heart. Seems like Nie Li understood I realized what was going on and became amused at my reactions. "What is this place?" I asked while looking around.


    He flew closer until we were in arms length of each other "This is a boundary space connecting our soul realms. Whatever happened in Emperor Kong Ming''s tomb merged our realms together." he said while pointing out to our soul oceans.


    "Is this a good or a bad thing?" I asked, a little shock finding it''s way into my voice.


    He cupped his chin and stretched out his soul force. After probing for a few minutes he answered "I can''t see any disadvantages. For one, our cultivations will now progress at a more accelerated rate. Also, now that we are linked like this we will share our soul energies we will have access to reserves equal to two men but the backlash will be twice as heavy if one were to overuse it. Also, if one of us pulls ahead of the other in cultivation it will pull the other towards the same level so they will experience a spike in cultivation speed. As we speak, your soul realm is bringing me fast towards Silver rank. In a day or two I should be at that level as well."


    I was genuinely impressed at what he was telling me "Good thing I''m not Lu Piao." I joked while throwing my hands in my pockets.


    Nie Li chuckled for a bit but returned to being serious "There''s more." Really? More cheats? "Not only can we share energy but also demon spirits. Naturally, it will take more soul force to use a spirit if you''re not the owner but that shouldn''t be a problem at higher levels of cultivation. Besides this, we can also grant permissions to the other to use any special attributes and advantages that the other may possess."


    Tilting my head "So you''re saying that you can now use my void mass, teleportation and other abilities if I allow you to and I can use your seven future demon spirits?"


    He nodded "At a cost of increased stamina, yes." This isn''t much of an advantage for me for now but it may prove useful in the future. "Also, we can use this space as a place to communicate between ourselves. Regardless of distance, we can always spiritually retreat in this place and chat." A built in chat room with limitless range. Take that cell phone service providers!


    Nie Li floated forward and put his hand on my shoulder "But what is most useful right now is that we can sense each other''s hearts. Up to now I didn''t know how to truly feel about you. Your knowledge of subjects that shouldn''t be wide spread in Glory City was raising alarms in my mind, you''ve also had plenty of chances to kill me at my weakest. However, in all those cases you''ve done nothing but be a friend and more. When you''ve showed up with a Gold Rank armor I''ve decided to invest in you. But still worry kept itching in the back of my heart. If you proved to be an enemy I would be forced to steel my heart and kill you." he said with resolve and shame. "While I don''t know your history, I do know that every doubt that I had about you has been erased. Brother Wan, I sincerely hope you can forgive me for holding them." he said with a smile while bowing his head and the feeling I received from him confirmed that he was genuinely feeling what he was saying.


    Sighing I shook my head "I have nothing to forgive as the fault is mine for hiding things from the start." My fist gently touched his c.h.e.s.t above his heart.


    He smiled and mouthed a thank you before floating slightly towards my own realm "Why did you hide it?" he asked.


    "Why did you?" I shot back.


    There was a long pause in the conversation "Point taken." he nodded "So¡­ can you share it now?"


    Chuckling I looked at him "There is a saying where I come from: curiosity killed the cat. That thirst for knowledge of yours is an exploitable weakness."


    He smirked "You''ve figured me out pretty well." His feelings told me he didn''t mind that I was the one who did it though.


    Inhaling deeply, I willed the space to shift to show pieces of a city on Earth. I couldn''t remember if this was my own hometown or if it was just something random. Images of gray buildings, parks, kids having fun, cars speeding around and so on. Sighing I looked at the conjured clouds and spoke "Part of me comes from a different world. In that world there are no demon beasts and cultivations are borderline metaphysical with inconclusive proof that they even work. In that world just like here most humans are weak like commoners. However they are resourceful. They created fantastic weapons and gear that let them top the food chain. The beasts of my world are under threat by humans as opposed to here. In that world this one is nothing but fiction, a novel written by someone with a flash of inspiration." I said and turned an eye towards him to see him still analyzing the images with an amazed and excited expression. "Perhaps that author had the ability of clairvoyance, allowing him to see this world but chalked it up to imagination."


    He nodded but his eyes stayed glued to the sight of children playing in the shadow of a large buildings "And I was a serious fan of that novel and of you." I hummed and he finally turned to me "You were my hero and I idolized you. I went to sleep at night thinking about your adventures. How you faced adversity and loss. How you went through thick and thin with your friends, your master Ying Yueru, and everyone from the Divine Feathers sect. How you and Ziyun fell in love only to lose her in that demon beast attack after the hoard destroyed the city in your previous timeline. Only for all of it to be reset by the Temporal Demon Spirit book."


    Nie Li was silently analyzing me when he spoke with a raised eyebrow "Then that novel you spoke about in class was¡­?"


    Chuckling I nodded "Yes, it was your story. And the story of everyone."


    He let out a long sigh before looking back at the floating images "That''s pretty incredible¡­"


    "So is a centuries old geezer hitting the reset inscription but here we are." I said and he chuckled. It felt good getting that off my shoulders "I admit that my plan was to mooch off of you but something changed and I honestly began feeling that you are my brother."


    Nie Li raised an eyebrow "What changed?" He was always a curious person.


    Cupping my chin I replied "The original owner of this body. His soul and mine must''ve merged. He was a lot more honest than I was so those feelings m.a.t.u.r.ed from there."


    "So who are you?" the ginger asked.


    Smirking turned to him "I am Long Wan." came my cheeky reply "Truthfully, I don''t remember my name from back in my world or even how or if I''ve died. But since only my soul came here then I may have perished somehow. I couldn''t just come up front and tell you everything. Such a story would be too convenient and that would make you distrusting of me. That was one of the things I wanted to avoid at all costs." I hummed "Even though my existence is not from here, you accepted me as your friend. You shared with me knowledge and fortune without missing a beat. Regardless of how much my logic told me to stay out of this, you became a true brother to me."


    Silence permeated the area for a few agonizing seconds as Nie Li soaked everything in.


    Finally he nodded with a smile "Same for me. When you stood up to Shen Xiu with me I felt¡­ alive again." he said, reminiscing the moment this all started.


    I floated to him and grabbed him by the arm just below the shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze in the process "You''ve been alone for a long time, haven''t you?"


    Nie Li closed his eyes and grimaced at the memory "Decades¡­ Centuries¡­ More than I can remember. Even more than you can imagine¡­" he coughed out, swallowing tears of loneliness that had long dried out.


    Swinging my arm around his neck I let him sob his desperation out of him. It doesn''t matter in what world or in what universe you lived, loneliness was the worst hell one could suffer. Patting his back I whispered out "You''re not alone anymore, brother."

 Chapter 7 - 4: Primocreatus Draco Inanis Imperator

    I let my hand stay coiled around Nie Li''s neck as his feelings washed over me. Regret, sorrow, pain, loneliness all of them came pouring out of his soul and onto mine. It was incredible that one human being could harbor such negativity in his life, past or present. Soon however I felt that he was starting to get control of himself and the emotions transmitted became ones of joy, resolve and relief.


    "You... can let go now." he chuckled awkwardly and I complied. He scratched his cheek, face red with embarrassment "So, what happens now?" he asked trying to shift the atmosphere.


    My shoulders rose in a shrug "Whatever you want to happen." I then let myself fall backwards, still floating in the metaphysical space. Flying was such a convenience. "I was only in my late 20s when it happened to me. Technically you''re my senior so you think of something!"


    Nie Li chuckled before turning to me "Is that any way to talk to your elders young man?"


    "Shut-it gramps!" I shot back and we both enjoyed a good laugh "May I suggest we get hell''a stronger, kick the Sage Emperor''s a.s.s to the moon and back, strengthen humanity as a whole and then live a peaceful life with our wives?" I said with half-seriousness etching my voice.


    He mirrored my action and let himself float mid-air "Sounds like a plan. Do you know how to do that?"


    Standing up I became serious for a moment "I may or may not. Back in my world there is a saying: The wings of a butterfly flapping on the other side of the world could eventually lead to devastating storms where you are. You have your past life''s knowledge while I have this one''s to a degree. We need to be careful regarding what to change and when. This is the reason why I won''t tell you everything I know from the start. Too many modifications could render my knowledge pointless."


    Nie Li nodded in acceptance "I see what you mean. The spiritual grade blue armed ape for example wasn''t part of the previous timeline." he hummed while cupping his chin.


    Waving my hand in confirmation I continued "And that ape-bitch that we turned into a present for the Dark Guild wasn''t part of this one. Just the small changes I made were enough to add new unknown elements. But I digress. Let''s return to Glory City and plan out our next steps in peace."


    He nodded and disappeared from the space shortly thereafter. Willing myself to reality I woke up back in Kong Ming''s tomb, my hand still next to Nie Li''s on the casket''s lid just as the remaining wisps of light dispersed. It appears that no time had passed for all the duration we were in the shared soul space.


    I was brought out of my musings when the grave slid open to reveal no corpse present, but a necklace and a page from the Temporal Demon Spirit book, just as I expected. What I didn''t expect to find were three other objects inside. The first was a fist sized crystal orb that looked like it had a lightning storm contained within it. The second was an ordinary looking jade anklet, but what was surprising was that it had grass and moss growing around it. The last one was an obsidian black dodecahedron, with orange writing appearing and disappearing randomly on each face.


    "This is...!" Nie Li gasped in amazement as he picked up the page. Soon enough I could feel my soul force being restored at a more accelerated rate. That page had this effect on Nie Li''s realm and since our realms were now linked I could also benefit from this as well.


    Looking at him with a smile I nodded "En. I wonder what would happen if that book was completed." I told him offhandedly when I remembered he lost one in the novel by experimenting with it. The gain he received from it was pointless in the end though.


    Shrugging he put the page away but I could see the curiosity in his eyes. There were no emotions being transmitted though. Seems that advantage was only available in the shared soul space. Taking the other items into his hands he brought them to his analytical eyes "Oh, this is also good stuff!" Lifting the necklace to show the crystal dangling from it. It''s interior was nebulous and shifting. "This is an Abstruse Gemstone."


    "That would suit Ziyun quite well." I nodded. While I would''ve loved to gift it to Ning''er, I couldn''t be such a hypocrite to talk about changing too much and then make changes. In the novel Nie Li gave it to Ziyun.


    Nodding he then handed me the crystal sphere "And this matches Ning''er. It''s the Storm Spiritual Gem." Wind Lightning was the literal translation for Storm, hence the change.


    My mouth hit the floor "You mean, one of the rare spiritual gems?" This thing was much more valuable and rare than the abstruse necklace. From what I recalled from the novel, for any matching element it increased the cultivation speed and also amplified any attack that was focused through it.


    Nie Li nodded "One of nine to be more specific. To think it was in this tomb all this time." It wasn''t. Nothing other than the page and the necklace should have been found. Just what the hell is going on here?


    Looking down in the casket I picked up the anklet and the dodecahedron. "What''s this?" I asked while showing the anklet.


    "Oh, that''s a Yang Phoenix Anklet. It has very high life force stimulating properties. It can heal normal wounds instantly and can even bring someone wearing it back to life within the first five minutes of death, though doing so would consume the entire power of the anklet." he chirped "Unfortunately, it can only be equipped by someone with high Yin energy to offset the Yang imbalance, otherwise their meridians would self-combust."


    I raised an eyebrow "High Yin energy? Then would it be suitable for Lanruo?"


    His eyes widened but then relaxed and he nodded with a smile "You would be hard pressed to find a more suitable person."


    These items seemed to be matching for each one of our group here. Could the coffin be set up so that those who open it to find suitable items in it? If so then the dodecahedron should be meant for me "Then what about this thing?" I asked Nie Li while holding the obsidian item.


    He took a closer look at it and tried to prod it with his spirit force but it swallowed up it''s energies. He frowned in annoyance and turned to me "I have no idea. It''s definitely Void attribute but I can''t get any reading on it. Even the symbols on it are foreign to me."


    I mirrored his expression and brought the item close to my eyes. Once again the letters pulsed in existence like raindrops on the surface. Wait a minute! I recognize these words. Latin! "Pri...mo...crea...tus..." I spelled out loud, having studied Latin for a semester in primary school. However I never fancied it other than for a saying ''Amore more ore re, probantur amicitiae''. It had a nice rhythm... Anyway, I moved on to the next words "Dra..co... Ina-Inanis... Imperator."


    "You can read it?" Nie Li looked at me with amazement.


    My head bobbed from side to side "Surprisingly, the letters are from my old world but the language is a dead one which I never bothered to study enough. It reads as ''Primocreatus Draco Inanis Imperator'' and I can roughly guess that the first word means ''first created or prime creation''. The second one is either demon or dragon, I can''t remember which. As for the last word, it means emperor while I have no idea what the third one means.." If I had my smartphone I could google it in a second but what can you do...


    Nie Li tapped it with his finger and it gave off a glass-like sound "Try feeding it some of your energies." he hummed.


    Doing as he said I pumped a bit of my soul force inside. Instantly the object turned into a vacuum and started gobbling up my energies with the gusto of a dehydrated man in a desert. By the time I could get them back under control I was about half-way empty with a single edge of the object now permanently lit up in a pale orange light. "This thing''s ravenous. It left me with half of my reserves just now." I chuckled to Nie Li.


    He nodded and looked at it "Looks like you need to do that about 29 more times to light up all the edges. Seems this mystery will have to wait."


    With that I shifted the object in my interspatial ring and turned to my right. That''s when all my blood fell to my feet. Down below the stairs of the coffin lay the three girls, each one looking worse for wear. I couldn''t even find the will to shout out their names as both Nie Li and I jumped to their locations.


    Doing a once-over them the ginger huffed in relief "They''re safe... Seems that they got struck by the earlier energies. However Ziyun and Ning''er were protected by their armors so only big-sis Lanruo was somewhat hurt. However she is Silver rank so her wounds are not life threatening."


    I could see that both Ning''er and Ziyun''s clothes were tattered and that they had a few bruises here and there but were otherwise okay so I summoned two blankets from my ring and passed one to Nie Li. We covered our respective girl each before we set them to rest on an elevated table-like construction to keep them off the dirty and moist floor, with Nie Li slipping on the abstruse necklace on Ziyun''s body. Immediately afterwards I teleported to Lanruo''s side and my heart sank. She was covered in scr.a.p.es and cuts and her clothes were tattered and stained with dry blood. I took her beautiful leg in my hand and gently removed her shoe and sock before slipping on the anklet.


    Not a moment later her injuries lit up with nearly unperceivable lights and healed within a breath''s duration. Seeing this I moved her to rest together with the other girls and both Nie Li as well as myself took to cultivating near the coffin, our backs turned to them. By the time Nie Li broke through 3 star Bronze rank we felt a stir and saw that Ziyun and Lanruo were slowly returning from lala land.


    They moved to get off the table but I called out to them "Be mindful of your state of dress.". Hearing two soft ''eep''s and some ruffling I raised an eyebrow at Nie Li who was slowly turning around to peek. This caused a reaction in me, specifically it resulted in my palm stiffening and my arm twitching involuntarily to chop the hair off the crown of his head.


    BANG! Nie Li was left with a smoking bump "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!" he yelled at me.


    Cleaning the ringing out of my ear with my pinkie I didn''t even bother to look at him as I answered "Sorry, that was an allergic reaction."


    Still frowning and holding his head he turned to me fully "Allergic reactions?" he growled.


    Nodding I smiled back and whispered very softly "Yep. I''m allergic to numbskulls who try to peep on my girls by accident. Ziyun is not the only one there you know. Besides, have you taken leave of your senses and turned into Lu Piao?"


    Nie Li crossed his arms, he started grumbling out loudly "It''s not like I haven''t se..." BOOM! The next second his face was planted in the stone tiles, another bump smoking next to the previous one "Forgot to tell you I''m also allergic to stupid." before leaning in and whispering as quietly as possible "Didn''t I warn you not to stick your foot in your mouth? Sound easily carries here and it wouldn''t be hard for her to hear you. Just what kind of reaction do you think Ziyun would have at you seeing her n.a.k.e.d body without her knowing, hmm?"


    From frowning, his expression turned pale with fright before sticking his tongue out and rubbing the back of his head "Oops!" he chuckled innocently. I simply stuck out my hand and made a ''gimme'' motion with my fingers. He looked lost for a second before producing a ring and placing it in my hand. Using some soul force I examined it and it was indeed full of elixirs. From now on I''ll call this the ''dumbass tax''.


    "We''re done boys." chimed the voice of Lanruo "Sorry it took so long. We also helped lil'' sis Ning''er." As she said this Ning''er appeared from behind her wearing an outfit that looked like an evening dress, underneath which were leather biker shorts. Also there was a copy of her form fitting leather jacket covering her shoulders and mid section but leaving her cleavage visible. There was also some fur on the collar of the jacket.


    Lanruo was now wearing a pink sundress with white trims, a hair pin keeping her bangs out of her eyes. She had fingerless gloves on that reached up to her wrists and high boots that left about a palm width of her leg uncovered. I didn''t know if she had any protection under her dress'' skirt but knowing her it wouldn''t be too much to consider her going commando.


    Ziyun chose a modest battle dress, well modest in that it covered all important parts. She was still the daughter of the City Lord and a main Snow Wind family member. That dress probably cost more than a commoner family makes in five years.


    Nie Li launched at her to check if she was okay and to shower her with compliments before teasing her lightly. This got them started into a cute little married couple''s quarrel.


    My attention on the other hand was focused on the two other girls next to me. Giving them a once over I smiled kindly "You''re both very lovely. If angels are half as gorgeous and strong as you two then I wouldn''t be afraid to die." Of course, hearing my compliment both girls blushed. And of course Lanruo shot herself like a bullet and squished my cheek into her bosom, thankfully allowing me to breathe. It was then then I felt a tug on my hand and soft warmth filled it. When I could finally turn my gaze I saw how Ning''er had taken my hand into her own and held it to her c.h.e.s.t just above her ta tas, all the while resting her chin on it. Her face, and every ounce of visible skin was red as ripe cherries.


    Wiggling myself out of a disappointed Lanruo''s grasp I took out the Storm Spiritual Gem and presented it to Ning''er "This is for you. It should speed up your cultivation by several orders of magnitude and also amplify your attacking power."


    After recovering from her shock she tried to push it back saying "It''s too precious. I can''t accept that."


    Shrugging I countered her push with my own "This is the Storm Spiritual Gem. It can only be used by those with Storm attribute so if you don''t want it then it will go to waste since nobody else amongst us can use it."


    She nodded and took the gem while mouthing an ''Ok... and thank you!''.


    Seeing this Lanruo puffed her cheeks "What about me?" she mumbled and I pointed to her leg "What''s that?" she asked in surprise, lifting her leg in an unladylike posture to take a better look.


    Chuckling at the sight I answered "Yang Phoenix Anklet. Usable only by those with a soul force rich in Yin energy. Stimulates the life force so strongly that regular wounds disappear in moments and can even save your life once."


    Her mouth dropped "Then you should have it Long Wan. I''m Silver rank so you''re more likely to be hurt than I am." she said with care in her voice.


    I shook my head "You were hurt the most out of all the girls and I couldn''t stand to see you like that. Besides, anyone without a high Yin alingment would have their meridians burn out. Out of everyone I know only you can use it. As for your final statement..." igniting my soul force a silvery aura covered me from head to toe. "What was that about you being Silver rank?"


    Lanruo''s jaw hit the floor "A twelve year old Silver rank.." she mumbled.


    "Congratulations!" Ning''er gently praised still not letting go of my hand.


    Smiling back I firmed my grip on hers and used my other hand to take Lanruo''s before setting off at a slow pace, the girls following me without protest. Seeing this, both Nie Li and Ziyun were left speechless but they also followed us to the passageway opposite of the one we came in. A few minutes later however we reached a dead end.


    "What do we do now?" asked Lanruo with a little annoyance in her voice.


    Chuckling I stuck my hand in the air "There is a draft here which means that this wall is hollow." and to confirm that I started knocking on it with some strength until I finally could hear a reverberating sound. Leaning in I pushed on the wall and it started rotating slightly, the scraping of centuries old bearing echoing through the caverns. The walls moved enough for us to squeeze through and we did do.


    What was on the other side shocked us to the core. There were hills and mounds of gold, silver and precious treasure. While it didn''t tickle my fancy that much since I was now loaded from my soap deal I was still awestruck.


    "This must be the city treasury." Nie Li chimed.


    Looking up I saw some pillars in a circular pattern surrounding a tall center one. On top of that central one I saw a lamp glowing with ethereal light, wispy shadows sometimes grazing the edges. Summoning a void tendril I quickly fished that object and moved to Nie Li''s side.


    "I believe you were interested in this." I told him and made to give it to him but he just lifted his arms in a no thank you motion.


    Nie Li smiled "You keep it! It will grow stronger with you than with me. There is hardly a more dark aligned spirit than this assassin type Shadow Devil demon spirit."


    Shock overcame me as I stumbled sideways a little "But this ..." I stammered out.


    Nie Li cut me off "We share spirits remember? It would be a waste of talent for me to take it. I''ll find another demon spirit to merge with. Take it as my present for you becoming Silver rank." He didn''t let me say anything more and turned to the girls "You three should also pick some stuff you want."


    The girls nodded and rummaged through the piles a little before returning with their loot. Nie Li took a look at what they got. "All three of you got some Black Gold rank demon crystals. Ziyun got an anklet made from the bones of a Legend rank demon beast which increases spirit force. Let''s see, Ning''er got a Thunder Stone which can be used to disorientate Black Gold rank demon beasts and outright kill lesser ones by bursting their brains through vibrations. And big sis Lanruo got a Black Gold rank Star Opal dagger which can not only be used offensively but can also increase cultivation a little. All in all, these are very good items."


    Taking the spirit lamp into my hands I frowned a bit as a particular conundrum struck me. I moved and lifted the object on all sides as if looking for a flaw.


    "Is there something wrong?" Nie Li asked with concern echoing in his voice.


    "Umm¡­" I began while staring intently at this thing in my hands "Does this thing come with an instruction manual?" I asked turning to him with confusion. This made him trip while standing.


    "What do you mean?" he asked while getting his balance back but you could see the awkward sweat on his face.


    Sighing I pointed to the lamp "I never integrated with a demon spirit before, much less one in a goddamn lamp." Exasperation and embarrassment leaking from my heart. This got the girls giggling a bit.


    Huyan Lanruo came over with a sway of her h.i.p.s "Darling, to merge with a demon spirit is quite simple. All you have to do is use your soul force to pull them into your soul ocean and make them submit." she said while touching my shoulder and leaning forward, giving me a good peak at her valley "If you want, you can practice making things submit on me~." she cooed sensually. I smiled ''This chick...''


    Shaking my head to clear the perverted thoughts I focused my energies on the lamp and the spirit flew from it and entered my soul ocean. Inside we had a little tug of war but suddenly a one of the four protruding tendrils from my Black Dragon''s Maw stabbed into the Shadow Devil and it twitched as if hit by a taser before submitting quietly and allowing some changes to occur to it''s structure.


    Back in the real world, I transformed into a form that Nie Li described as the whites of my eyes turning black before suddenly disappearing from sight. The next second one of the pillars that were surrounding the spirit lamp central one fell, a clean cut showing at the section. I reappeared the next moment, a long segmented sickle protruding from my right arm and three smaller ones from in between my left knuckles Wolverine style. I also had a Ripley Alien like tail, complete with a sharp needle like point, came from the base of my tailbone dripping purple poison from the tip. Lastly I grew half a body taller¡­


    Nie Li whistled "Your dark alignment is indeed strong. I wasn''t expecting a mutation right after merger." he said whilst analyzing the extra features. He took some of the poison oozing from the tip and smelled it "This is a strong paralyzing agent. It can stop the heart of those less than you in cultivation while it can affect those at most a rank above. Since you''re 1 star Silver rank now, you should be able to handle at most a 1 star Gold rank. I can also tell it has an anti-clotting agent inside."


    So if it doesn''t kill them quickly they can become paralyzed and bleed out from the wound. What the hell my soul?! I know I have repressed issues but... Really now?


    "Mutation?" Asked Ziyun. She was always the curious one¡­


    Nodding I answered "In some cases a demon spirit undergoes a change that modifies it''s initial characteristics for the better. Some times it happens due to a demon spiritualist synchronizing with the demon spirit. Other times it happens by chance. In my case, my Void element completed it''s mutation as soon as it merged with my soul ocean."


    "Wow¡­" this time it was Ning''er who couldn''t help exclaim out.


    Letting go of the transformation I hummed while opening and closing my fists " I feel like there''s more¡­". Moving to another pillar I focused on the Shadow Devil in my soul realm. The next moment it popped out in normal (not mutated) form from my back like some kind of unholy tumor and it slashed forward as per my will, leaving a deep X-shaped gash.


    Nie Li came over and inspected the gashes and moved to touch the Shadow Devil''s scythe claws. They were indeed razor sharp as he cut himself while drawing his finger on the edge "A corporal demon spirit¡­" he said while rubbing the cut before turning to me "You''re just full of surprises."


    "Umm¡­" Ning''er appeared from behind Nie Li "I''m truly happy for Long Wan but, where is the exit?" she asked while surveying the area


    My friend shrugged "There is none." he said in a very relaxed tone "If there was then the people of Ancient Orchid city hiding in the tomb wouldn''t have died like they did."


    "Then what do we do?" asked a very worried Lanruo "Will we also meet the same fate?"


    "Don''t worry." I answered while shaking my head "Big bro Linjian will help us soon." And if he doesn''t find us then both Nie Li as well as myself can teleport out through the ceiling and get help. I still had enough food and water in my ring to keep all of us in very good shape for at least a month. Spherical is a shape afterall¡­


    I took to scavenging items from the treasury too and found some more Black Gold and even a Legend rank demon crystal in a small ornate casket while wondering when will Linjian find us.


    No sooner did I finish my thoughts that the sound of earth crumbling came filling the treasury, and this was in turn followed by footsteps on the nearby staircase.


    "It''s them." Nie Li hummed knowingly, and we moved to greet them as the sounds became louder. Soon enough the treasury was filled with the light from a dozen torches led by Linjian


    Seeing us waiting for him his face changed first to a surprised expression then to a relieved one "Ah, you were here. That''s a relief¡­" he simply stated, and let out a breath he probably held for a long time.


    "Holy! Young master there are so many valuables here that we''re going to be rich!" one lackey chimed happily.


    Chuckling a little I made my way to Linjian and rested a hand on his shoulder "RichER in your case." I said and he shared my amus.e.m.e.nt.


    He then turned to me and the rest of the group "You guys found it first so you get first pick." he said as his Silver rank guards nodded in agreement.


    Nie Li waved him off "We already chose a few things so all of this is yours."


    Chen Linjian smiled and nodded in agreement before ordering his men to fill their interspatial ring with the treasures.


    Seeing this, Chu Yuan walked to Linjian''s side and whispered, "Young Master Chen, isn''t that too generous? The lot of them surely have been here for long so they definitely took the best stuff! This must be why they don''t care about the rest."


    Nobody noticed as I appeared behind him by releasing the Shadow Devin camouflage "Actually, you''re wrong. But not completely correct either." I chimed as both Linjian and Yuan jumped in surprise.


    Linjian threw a glance of annoyance towards Chu Yuan before turning to me "What do you mean little bro?"


    I waved my hand over the mounds of treasure "Even if we wanted to collect everything we wouldn''t have enough space, neither in our rings nor pockets. As for Nie Li, myself and the girls¡­ we''re already pretty rich so treasure doesn''t attract us that much. We just got a handful of items to increase our strength and cultivation."


    Chen Linjian nodded "That is more than reasonable. I have no complaints." he hummed.


    "And neither do we!" came the voice of Luo Ming as he was returning to Chen Linjian and mine''s sides together with the rest of Linjian''s guards. As a Silver rank demon spiritualist, his senses should be much sharper than that of an average human. That is not mentioning how easily sounds carries around inside the treasury. He shot Chu Yuan a look that showed he often stepped on things with more worth than the young noble. He then turned to Linjian and bowed "Young master, we finished gathering everything. There is enough here to ensure a bounty of at least a couple hundred thousand, if not a few million demon spirit coins for each person here."


    "En." Linjian nodded in acceptance and turned to Chu Yuan "Leave us, and don''t even dream about using me to satisfy your personal agenda ever again!" he said, Silver aura surrounding him as he blasted Chu Yuan with a pulse of oppressive soul force. He then calmed down before looking towards the way to Emperor Kong Ming''s tomb.


    I raised my hand in front of him "That way leads to the tomb of the Sacred Empire''s emperor. However, it''s only a mass grave for the civilians of ancient Orchid city now. You won''t find much there besides sadness and sorrow."


    Nie Li then appeared before Linjian could acknowledge what I told him "We should quickly leave. Earlier Long Wan and I ran into some Dark Guild members that we managed to stall by luring in a 3 star Silver rank ape." he told the teen.


    Linjian nodded "So that''s why we found that fresh Silver rank Ape corpse."


    Chen Linjian nodded, faced the crowd and shouted, "Lets move out!"


    All of us made our way out and met up with the rest of Linjian''s group near the stone fort. There, the teen ordered the rest to pack up when one of his lookouts came down and said in a whisper "It''s the Dark Guild!" he said with urgency.


    I suppose it wasn''t meant for me to hear but I did. "I''ll stall them, you retreat discreetly." Linjian didn''t have time to protest as I merged with the Shadow Devil. The world turned black and white as tunnel vision struck me. However strangely enough, I could see much more detail now than I ever could and even distinguish them through solid objects. Combined with my void sense I could say I had one helluva wall hack. The problem was that while in this state I felt like I was moving through molasses. Thankfully I could still teleport, as I found out when I tried it in the treasury while sneaking up on Chu Yuan.


    Slowly but surely I got within range of the members and carefully scouted them out. Paying close attention I saw that one of them had more elaborate and ornate robes. That must be deacon Yun Hua. As the first true adversary in the novel his character was easy to remember, as well as the fact that he was 4 or 5 star Silver and had a tiger type demon spirit that was well suited for close combat. So I had only one chance. My hands trembled for a few seconds. Will I really have the guts to kill another human? My thoughts shifted to Ning''er. The Sacred Family was working with the Dark Guild to take control of Glory City. The things that Shen Fei would do to her if this plan succeeded filled me with much rage that swallowed all anxiety I had. Reincarnation is possible, I felt it first hand so death wasn''t the end.


    Shifting into the mutated form of my demon spirit I teleported right behind him and aimed my poisoned tail at the small of his back in a whipping motion. I hope you become a decent person in the next life asshole. Unfortunately there was a split-second delay between the teleportation and the actual attack. His instincts reacted and he managed to spin to the right whilst narrowly avoiding a fatal strike. However it did make contact with his flesh and I felt the gland in the tail autonomously contract spitting out venom in the wound.


    Yun Hua roared viciously and made a roundhouse kick that hit me square in the side. And, just like with the 5 star Silver ape I was protected by my armor but it was still enough to launch me flying.


    Skidding to a halt and coughing up some blood I grunted a bit but couldn''t help but smile when I saw Yun Hua stagger drunkenly before falling on a single arm and knee. Not what I hoped for but still better than nothing...


    My bloody teeth showed as I said "Victory! I got one. Shen Yue will be pleased!" Seeing half of the Dark Guild''s men rush me, I decided to experiment with something. Focusing on my link with Nie Li I sent my void energies to him and, while there was an initial barrier, he immediately accepted the transfer. My body shifted as the Guild lackeys managed to reach me but could only hit ethereal smoke.


    After using it for so long I understood a few important things about my teleportation ability. The most critical one was how it worked. It didn''t move me from one place to another but actually shifted my state of existence. The best way to put it is that it negated my existence for less than Planck time, (simply put) the smallest possible fraction of time that two events can be distinguished from one another. It then reversed that state but my ''existence was reinstated'' at a place of my choosing.


    The second thing is that I had to reappear within the range of an ''anchor''. The most obvious anchor was the last place my existence ended.


    However, just as you realized, by sending my energies through our link I managed to pop out Terminator style in front of Nie Li, minus the whole n.a.k.e.d thing. Thankfully I could apply this effect to my clothes or that would''ve been one awkward ability to use...


    "Long Wan!" the girls shouted and rushed to my side.


    "What happened?" Linjian asked and helped me stand as Ziyun used a moist cloth to wipe the blood from the corner of my mouth.


    Turning to him with a smile I answered "You should see the other guy." I always wanted to say that "Jokes aside, I managed to poison their leader. Don''t think it''s enough to kill him but right now they should be focusing on getting back to safety rather than chasing us." Seeing this Linjian summoned one of the bottles I gave him and took out a Nine Transformations Pill before handing it to me which I took with a thanks. The effect quickly washed over me and I could finally stand on my own.


    "Young master is as generous as he is handsome!" one girl kissed Linjian''s ars¡­ I mean praised big bro Linjian.


    You could tell the young Divine family member wanted to usher everyone to make use of the now extra time and reach Glory city. However, before he could do that I dragged him back by the sleeve of his shirt. Looking a bit around I asked in a whisper "Big bro, where''s Shen Yue?"


    Chen Linjian''s face turned somber "He got lost when the 5 star Silver Ape attacked. Depending on the situation I may need to pay reparations to the Sacred family." he said with an upset tone. Knowing Linjian, he was still upset for what happened to his men but hired hands can''t compare to actual noble family members. He would have to swallow this hard.


    Looking around us to make sure nobody who we didn''t trust was close enough to listen I moved close to his ear "While scouting out the Dark Guild members I heard the name of their leader, namely deacon Yun Hua. Also I recognized him as a guard at one of the Sacred Family''s restaurants." I said and Linjian''s expression turned cold as ice "It could be just a coincidence or he could be infiltrated from the Dark Guild. However, I doubt they wouldn''t do a background check on their men." Sowing distrust in the Sacred to Divine families relationsh.i.p.s would only strengthen the City Lord, and by extension our power bases.


    Linjian lowered his voice "Those are some very serious accusations¡­" he let it hang.


    I simply threw my hands up in surrender "I''m not saying anything other than stating the facts. Big bro Linjian, you''re smart enough to use this information the best possible way."


    He shook his head "I''ll keep my guard up and see what I can dig up. Meanwhile I, no WE all owe little bro a lot." Linjian said seriously.


    "Only one request. Please ask everyone to delay displaying the loot by a week. If it becomes evident that there could still be treasures then the effort to bury the people there would be made more difficult." I answered. Hearing this, Nie Li gave me a thumbs up with a serious look.


    "Just that is no problem at all." he smiled kindly before moving forward slightly to convey the request. Thankfully nobody had anything to argue against it and any sane person would expect that much since they would still get their rewards, just a week later.


    We arrived a few days later at the southern gate of Glory City where the guards greeted Chen Linjian.


    Moving closer before Linjian could walk away I asked the guard on duty "Did a noble looking kid come a little before us? Short of stature, dark hair, expensive clothes, c.o.c.ky attitude, stick the size of a Legend rank demon beast up his ass?"


    One of the guards slapped his hand over his mouth to prevent a laugh from escaping. The other guard cupped his chin in thought before memory suddenly returned to him "Ah are you perhaps referring to the Sacred Family youth?"


    I nodded and he replied with the same gesture "En. The young noble arrived a few hours before you did together with his entourage."


    Faking surprise I slightly tilted my head "Entourage? Was there a fairly tall man in his late twenties to early thirties one of them? Long hair, sour expression, Silver rank build?"


    The guards nodded and the one who nearly burst out laughing continued "En. He was walking next to the young lord. I remembered because he was pretty odd."


    "How so?" I pushed for answers.


    "Out of all of them he was the most visibly injured. He had a bandaged torso that was dripping blood from the back."


    Taking out two ten thousand demon spirit coin cards I gave one each and they accepted with both hands before bowing. Turning to Linjian I whispered to him as we walked "That was deacon Yun Hua. When I tried to kill him, I struck him in the back with a strong poison that prevents blood from clotting." I said in a worried tone.


    Linjian''s face darkened considerably. He hated traitors with a passion that was hard to come by "I will appeal to father to seek an audience with the City Lord."


    Turning to him I leaned in closer "I suggest you first see director Yang Xin of the Alchemists Association. If you have any issues getting an audience then just say that both Nie Li and I sent you."


    Nie Li who was on Linjian''s other side nodded, his face equally as dark as Linjian''s.


    One of Chen Linjian''s eyebrows rose however before he could ask anything I raised my hand "We suspected that they have been working together for a long time now and have been consolidating our power base. Big bro, you''re one of the people I trust the most in this life and that is why I''m letting you in on it. As to why the Alchemists Association? Well that''s because both Nie Li as well as myself are pretty high ranking members."


    Nie Li nodded "Actually I outrank you." He said with a cheeky grin.


    "I wonder if I should I tell Ziyun that a certain someone tried to peep on her in Emperor Kong Ming''s tomb..." I said to no one in particular watching Nie Li''s blood drain from his face. Lucky for him Ziyun was busy conversing with some girls who kept trying to butter up to her.


    He cupped his hands and bowed "Esteemed Grandmaster, this foolish young one was only jesting!" he cowered in his most humble and honest tone.


    Chuckling I waved him off "Relax, I don''t do anything that''s against the code of men."


    "Code of men?" Linjian asked, his brow still raised.


    Nodding I turned to him "Rule 34: If a friend does something stupid, you do your absolute best that none of the news reaches his wife."


    Chen Linjian''s lips made a not bad expression as he accepted the wisdom. As a man he could understand the pain of a wife himself. Soon, as the future patriarch, he will be set to marry so he has been taking lessons about married life "So what other rules are there?"


    Tilting my head I answered "The whole code can be summarized in one, no, two phrases: Don''t be an asshole to your friends! And don''t make good women cry out of malice!"


    Linjian chuckled wholeheartedly and asked "What about bad women?"


    I shrugged "Bitches* need to be disciplined when they bite the hands of that feed them, else they be put down." A homonym in English but in this case, the word used meant only female dog. And for some reason the face and figure of Shen Xiu popped up in my mind. Indeed, good and obedient bitches eventually get the bone.


    You may be wondering why the hell am I thinking about that noble nut-pouch when I have a hot girlfriend and a potential girl to play the part of big sister, big ~step~ sister if you catch my drift. Well the answer couldn''t be simpler: I have fetishes, lots of fetishes. Power fetish is one of them. The thought of treating a noble and pure woman as a dutch wife gave me such a raging hard on I could probably kill a Legend rank with it. That level of pain and humiliation is something I could never submit my lovers to.


    Chen Linjian''s group eventually split up leaving me only with Nie Li and the girls. Turning to Ning''er I smiled lovingly and said "I''d walk you home but I''m sure Shen Fei would find some reasons to complain to the Winged Dragon family, especially if his little brother tells him all about these days. Here, take this!" I said and gave her a ring. She took it gently and looked at me with love but also a little sadness and confusion "There are more pills there as well as the Black Gold and Legend rank crystals I found in the treasury. It should help draw in any elders to yours and your dad''s sides." she gazed in my eyes and I in hers, while ignoring Nie Li''s fawning over Ziyun. A hair thin tendril flew out of the scruff of my coat and traced an ''I love you.'' on the back of her hand. She immediately grabbed her hand and brought it close while nodding.


    Realizing that we would most likely stand there looking at each other all day I painfully but discretely shooed her away. She pouted a bit but complied, not before giving me a sweet wink.


    Seeing her friend leave Ziyun bid us fare well, and joined her much to Nie Li''s disappointment. I then turned to leave the spot, himself and Huyan Lanruo flanking me on my sides "I''ll go to the Demon Spiritualist and Fighters Associations building first then hit the baths."


    Nie Li shifted to follow me "I''ll join you." he said smiling but his words were somber.


    Lanruo didn''t say anything but kept next to me and occasionally bumped into me like a cat wanting to be petted.


    It didn''t take long for us to reach the associations building. Well, calling it a building is a little of an understatement. It was a courtyard that contained the mansions for both associations as well as a central administration one where mission requests could be submitted which we entered


    There was a receptionist there not unlike the Alchemists Association, however this one was older and more scruffy sour looking, like a student relationsh.i.p.s type. Guess working with battle hardened meatheads took a toll on you.


    "Good evening!" I greeted with a hand cup. The sun was beginning to set but there was still some daylight left.


    "Joining or requesting?" She grunted after giving us a once-over. That was quite rude but I can appreciate a straightforward person.


    Coughing I straightened up and smiled "Requesting. A couple of dozen Bronze rank fighters and some guards. The mission is to burry the remains of ancient orchid city. Most beasts in the area are Silver rank. The highest we ran into was 5 star Silver and was spiritual grade.


    It may have been the size of the request or the fact that she finally noticed Lanruo next to me but she instantly became sweeter and more professional "Ah, of course sir! How many days are we talking about?"


    I shrugged "There are a couple of thousand of remains there and there need to be graves dug for each of them."


    She hummed "So we''re looking at about a week''s worth of work for thirty bronze rank fighters as well as three 5 star Silver rank guards..."


    "Actually, I would like a guard for each 3 people as well as a demon spiritualist. At least 2 stars Gold. A Black Gold rank would be even more appreciated since we''re not looking to add more bodies to the area." I stated kindly.


    She frowned "Sir, are you aware of how much that would cost?" she asked with doubt of my financial capabilities. I made no move to answer and she sighed "Thirty Bronze rank fighters for a week would cost about four thousand coins, nine thousand five hundred for the Silver ranks and fifteen thousand for the Gold rank demon spiritualist. It would add another fifty thousand for a 1 star Black Gold rank!" she huffed.


    "So a total of sixty-three thousand five hundred for the team with a Black gold rank?" I stated with shock.


    She nodded with her nose proudly in the clouds "Indeed. Now how about a more reasonable make-up of the team?" she stated as she drew in a piece of paper in her hands


    My eyes widened "Ah, you misunderstand. I was expecting it to cost about a million coins. If it''s just that much then please triple the request." I said while lifting my hand to summon the cash out of my ring. However Nie Li grabbed it with his left and then used his ringed right to summon the huge stack of money on the receptionist desk


    "I got this one." he said with a smile.


    Letting my hand relax as he released it "You didn''t need to do that you know." I told him.


    He shrugged "I''m running out of space in my rings so I need to release some cash too." he said cheekily before turning to the receptionist "In the payment is included two hundred thousand for a hunting group of Gold ranks lead by a Black Gold one. Please clean up the area of the ancient city of as many demon beast that you can."


    The receptionist lifted a ring tied with a small chain and took all the money on her desk into it before sending some soul force making the ring glow "P-Payment received in f-full. Here are your contracts." she stuttered while looking at the large stack of ten thousand coins cards and handed Nie LI two pieces of parchment, one for the burial request and one for the hunt.


    We nodded and left the building. I bid Nie Li farewell and tried to move towards the baths but I was pulled back by my arm, nearly making me trip over.


    "Long Wan, I''ll come with you and wash your back!" Lanruo said without any care or thought. While mixed bathing wasn''t uncommon, it was reserved only for spouses or concubines.


    Sighing I gently took her hands in my own and looked directly in her eyes. Her cheeks became rosy and she swallowed hard, her earlier flamboyant attitude going with the wind "Lanruo¡­" I hummed kindly, leaving her family away not to seem distant "I admit that you''ve managed to wiggle your way into my heart these past few days. When my eyes fell upon you hurt in Emperor Kong Ming''s tomb I wanted to bring the bastard that set that coffin back to life just so that I could kill them slowly." No point in denying it. Be it male nature or Long Wan''s d.e.s.i.r.es, this little she-mink got me good. But¡­ "But¡­ I can''t make Ning''er sad, she is my first true love afterall. But¡­ " I may be a b.u.t.t man, still¡­ " I don''t want to hurt you either, so if Ning''er agrees then so will I, regardless of the headaches I would get."


    She smiled sweetly before her expression instantly changed to cloudy "Headaches? Hey! What do you mean by that? Are you saying I''d be trouble?" she growled at me. Damned if I do, damned if I don''t¡­


    To be honest, trying to understand how a woman thinks is like eating soup with chopsticks. However, I might as well put the noose around my own neck if I say that so I just gave her hand a peck and teleported away leaving ethereal smoke behind to take Lanruo''s frustrated howl "Long Wa~n!"


    I entered the bathing building with only a towel hiding my modesty. Not that I was a prude mind you, I just didn''t want to make the other guys jealous of my¡­ twelve year old¡­ barely hairin'' oh~¡­ I missed my old schlong and how I would have trouble finding pants that fit right and didn''t show the outline of my woolly mammoth.


    As I made my way to my reserved bath I ran into Nie Li, Lu Piao and Du Ze "Fancy meeting you guys here!" I greeted and Nie Li smiled. Apparently he ran into them along the way so they joined us at the baths.


    "It''s been a few days brother Wan." Du Ze smiled. Ever since I gave him that armor he''s been very close, like the little brother I never had. This was emphasized by the fact that his birthday was a month after mine in this world.


    Anyways I smiled and nodded "It has, and I have been dying for a bath." A few days without hot water and soap made my balls itch and my a.s.s sticky, both feelings which I quite disliked. Lucky I found out I could use the teleportation ability to remove the mess from my a.s.s every time I defecated since my soul couldn''t stand to use the standard damp washcloth and bucket this place used. I decided that toilet paper was top priority on my things to invent list. Maybe even a bidet too...


    Lu Piao flashed his goofy smile "So did you get some treasure or hot chicks this trip?" he rubbed the underside of his nose with perverted thoughts.


    I smirked "Both actually¡­" I said as I passed him.


    "Eh!?" he responded ''intelligently'', his mind clearly having trouble processing.


    Waving my hand with my back turned to him I answered "You would too if you actually put a little effort in at least appearing m.a.t.u.r.e." I chuckled.


    "Hey!" he responded with indignation, as if I had insulted his ancestors "I am m.a.t.u.r.e." he continued.


    "No. No you''re not." All three of us answered back at the same time with blank voices. I couldn''t see him but I could feel him sulking through my void sense.


    Anyways I removed the towel and stepped into the herb bath that Nie Li had prepared while I was talking with Du Ze and Lu Piao. Instantly I could feel it stimulate my body and soul ocean, as well as cleanse my body of impurities and fatigue. These herbs were something else. The bath was boiling hot but nothing I couldn''t deal with. Afterall I had taken many a shower with women in my previous life. Sometimes I wonder if women like water that boiling hot because it reminds them of the hell they spawned out of¡­


    A white light and a small gust of spirit energy wind broke me out of my musings as Nie Li was surrounded by the aura of a Silver rank. "Congratulations on reaching Silver rank." I said softly followed by Du Ze and Lu Piao parroting my praise.


    Nie Li smiled and turned to me "It''s all thanks to brother Wan that I could reach this far so fast. I couldn''t do it this fast with my own power alone." I didn''t need our connection to feel the honesty in his voice.


    "What do you mean?" Du Ze asked curiously.


    My eyes widened "Speaking of power, I remember brother Li that we discussed the Power of Law in Emperor Kong Ming''s tomb." Explaining what happened there would be a pain so let me gift Du Ze something as an apology for ignoring his question. If Du Ze gets how to cultivate the Power of Law, there is a chance he will be Gold Rank by the time the Youth Tournament comes, and so will I for that matter. Anyway, seeing Nie Li pay attention to me I hummed and thought about the best way to present this. "Simply put, this world has been sealed off by a supreme cultivator of unimaginable power. He transformed his soul force into a very pure form and structured it in very specific inscription patterns based on soul energy attributes. Any cultivator harnessing the power of law can expect incredible growth, so much so that even Legend ranks would benefit immensely from it. My belief is that one would find it easier and more beneficial to harmonize with a law as close as possible to their soul realm. For example in my case I have a top level affinity for the Law of Darkness but have quite a bit more insight on the nature of time and space. Du Ze should focus on either the Law of Fire or the Law of Lightning. Lu Piao is more suited for the Law of Primal Chaos, while Nie Li should focus on the Law of Light." I said and I could see that Nie Li and Du Ze were paying close attention, while Lu Piao had more steam coming out of his ears than from his bath.


    "Now then¡­" I began with a serious tone "While the laws are naturally attracted to Legend ranks who have peaked their souls, it is possible to force yourself to sense them without being at that level. In order to do so, you would need to empty your mind and imagine their purest form while remembering that they are, at their core, inscription patterns. For lightning, you should imagine the strongest lightning storm you can, only thousands of times stronger. For light, you should see the brightest and purest sun. As for Primal Chaos, it is the beginning existence that rose from Void so it is formless but it can exist, like a decent Sacred Family member. Now, you try it for yourselves. If you manage to decipher the inscription patterns then share it with the rest of us and we should all benefit." I said and then smirked and turned to them "Lu Piao should find this easy. You would make a fortune selling the vacant plot between his ears."


    The said boy puffed his c.h.e.s.t "Yep! I''m that talente ¡­ HEY!" he splashed his water towards me but it only managed to hit, and piss off, Du Ze who quickly grabbed a fistful of Lu Piao''s hair and submerged his head into the water.


    Shaking my head I relaxed in my bath and let my mind go. The trick to meditation was not to force thoughts away but to let them flow until your mind relaxed completely. Simply focusing on counting my breath I remembered a few things from my past life, the structure of space-time. It would be nearly impossible to quickly explain the tens of hours of doc.u.mentaries I watched, the hundreds of scientific articles and the years of high-level math studied in higher education. Einstein once said that if you can''t explain something simply, you don''t understand it enough, and I agree completely. I didn''t understand it nearly enough but I understood it more than probably anyone in this world. Same for Darkness, which is empty space with maximum entropy or perfect balance of energy, essentially meaning no photons are created or exchanged.


    As I focused on the above knowledge, a surreal darkness as if a black hole had swallowed me surrounded me and I had an out of body experience where I was watching not only myself, but the entirety of existence outside of any timeline. It was fascinating seeing time as a simultaneously occurring series of events, with infinitely stretching parallel streams wound together in a structure best described as a torus. It was as easy for me to see events of all pasts and futures happen as easily as I could look left or right. In one instance I became an immortal king of the world while in another I died young. One particularly intriguing timeline showed how I peaked to my maximum and ascended to a higher realm where I couldn''t see my future after ascension. Mind you, I saw the outcomes but not how to get there as all timelines were ever-shifting due to the underlying intrinsic uncertainty of reality.


    "Fascinating, isn''t it?" I was snapped out of my musings by a grandfatherly voice. Turning to my right I noticed a man in his thirties dressed in what looked like a robe made of space itself with stars and galaxies contained within, his hair and beard as dark as coal. He turned to me with a smile "You don''t have to worry, you''re perfectly safe. It''s been such a long time since I''ve had any company here."


    Smiling I turned back to the scene of time unfolding "Time is relative. Then again, you would know that best, right?" turned to him "...Space-Time Spirit Deity.". There was no other explanation for the amount of power and agelessness I felt from this man. Not to mention that I could see Law of Space-Time inscriptions, the so called runes of space-time floating like stars on his coat. As to how I knew what were those inscriptions, well.. It was some kind of feeling akin to intuition.


    The man chuckled "Not surprising that you know who I am considering that you can enter this... place?" he hesitated before calling out and I understood why. A place is defined by the location dimensions. This was outside of space-time so that wasn''t the case.


    "Let''s call it a domain." I mused and he nodded. I turned to him "Just so you know, I''m not interested in becoming a spiritual deity. I just want to increase my strength fast."


    He nodded "I know." He then continued since he probably saw my raised eyebrow "In all your near-infinite timelines, there isn''t a single one where you take my place. Pity..." he hummed "May I ask why?"


    Chucking I turned to him "You already did." came my answer following a cheeky smirk "Immortality is overrated. Seeing everyone you''d ever be even remotely attached to you die before you over and over again until you become numb to it all. The most unbearable curse of them all is loneliness.... I thought long about it, you would go insane before even insanity became irrelevant, getting to a level of mentality I can''t even imagine." ''Supersanity'' or the ability to see the world as if looking from an outside perspective. There are many fictional characters who are depicted as having such clarity of vision such as Doctor Manhattan or Professor Paradox. There is a running theory that even the Joker is actually based on this concept. However, here I was speaking with a being as close to that concept as one could be. Humming softly to clear my thoughts I turned to him "So at what stage are you?"


    The man''s eyes widened before they narrowed with kindness and a little mischief "I''m a little bit of everything. And you''re right, insanity does get boring after a while. I really wish I had your wisdom when I was your age before I ascended to become a Spirit Deity."


    I floated forward towards the torus "Not that I''m ungrateful mind you. Without you humanity in this universe would''ve ended a long time ago." came my reply as I gazed into the timeline where Ning''er and I had a little girl, with a fiery personality just like her mother''s. It wasn''t necessarily the future I was heading to but it was a nice refresher.


    He chuckled "Time is relative..." he parroted cheekily.


    "Touch¨¦." I laughed. He got me at my own game. "So what now?" I asked. As fascinating as this place is I had things to do.


    The spiritual deity stretched out his hand , palm up and runes flew towards me and entered my brain. Instantly, my Power of Law which had been just a trickle when I entered here became a raging river flowing into me "Consider that a gift from me." he said "You can also stay here for a while and cultivate the Law of Space-Time. You would hard pressed to find a richer source of Power of Law."


    Nodding, I sat down mid-air in a yoga lotus position and meditated on my old, as well as new knowledge, blending it in. How space-time is the toughest thing that exists and yet is still flexible enough to stretch and bend under the influence of gravity and other exotic materials. On the complex unidirectional vector nature of time in three dimensional space that falls apart once you enter higher dimensions. Three dimensional space is like a raft drifting on a river of time. Anything existing on the raft must float only where the current takes it regardless where it is on the raft. In order to escape the flow of time it must enter the river and swim in whatever direction it has the power to do so.


    Meditating on that knowledge caused the surrounding power of law to start being attracted to me like flies to a corpse and chanting the Heavenly Void Dragon God my soul realm began turning into a rotating spiral of endless hunger, greedily gobbling up the law energies causing me to jump to the edge of 1 star Silver. Just so it''s understood, cultivation ranks are exponential. That means that one level of Silver is equal to five of Bronze, Gold is five of Silver and so on. The fact that I was nearly breaking though to 2 star Silver not even a week after making it past 5 star Bronze meant that all the Law energies I absorbed just now were equal to weeks worth of cultivation with high-end pills, plus the force I stole... received from Chu Yuan and the casket of Kong Ming.


    Feeling the energies in the place thin out I threw my gaze at the man who just grinned "Are you still sure you don''t want my job?" he asked and expression turned to a sad frown seeing that I still wouldn''t budge. Sighing I cupped my hands and bowed slightly as I my thoughts turned to returning to physicality "You''re welcome back here anytime if you wish to hang out." he called out.


    Nodding I smiled at him "Thank you Space-Time Spirit Deity."


    "Qin Shihuang." he hummed out with mild annoyance.


    "Pardon?" I replied


    He chuckled "I probably forgot more than you''ll ever learn in your lifetime. But I still remember my name."


    "Then senior Qin, I''ll leave first." I replied. This old fart was pretty cool.


    "Just Shihuang. Calling me senior Qin makes me feel old." he growled in jest.


    I shrugged "You ~are~ old. Ancient to be more precise."


    A metaphorical storm cloud appeared above his head as he started drawing circles on the ground "You didn''t have to go that far..." he sniffled and cried.


    "My bad." I rubbed the back of my head. Senile or not, seeing him like this was just pathetic "Anyway... Shihuang, I can''t promise that I''ll be back soon but lets meet again sometime." I said as my hands began to grow transparent.


    "Adios!" he chimed, this world''s language version of it.


    I blinked and found myself back in the tub at the bathhouse, the water temperature which had remained just as boiling hot hitting me instantly but thanks to my Silver rank constitution I was able to endure just enough not to jump and make a fool of myself.


    Turning to my left I saw that the rest of the gang, even Lu Piao were still meditating, trying to sense the Power of Law. What felt like hours in that realm must''ve taken less than a minute in real life. Space-Time theory is complicated.


    Raising my hand I called out the most fundamental rune of Space-Time and it appeared in the palm of my hand "I did it..." I hummed but the light to my left died down as both Nie Li and Du Ze had apparently heard me. They turned to me but I didn''t give them time to ask I just showed them, specifically Nie Li my palm. I then let other runes fly out of it as a basic excerpt of the law of Space Time floated above us.


    Nie Li gasped "So this is the Power of Law..." I could feel power welling inside of him as he took in both the new knowledge as well as the energies shared between our soul realms "Space-Time..." he mumbled out while looking at the runes. He then stared at his own hand and I could feel a pull on my realm as he siphoned some Law energy "Then the Law of Light would be something like this." And with that many new runes appeared above my Space-Time ones and I could feel our shared realm becoming invaded by the Law of Light. Nie Li wasn''t finished however as he continued with another set of runes, as dark as Shen Fei''s heart.


    Looking at the new runes my soul realm began to shake violently as energies and comprehension began flowing into my head "The Law of Darkness..." I hummed as I held my head. It wasn''t painful, just dizzying. This Law was compatible with both of us so my strength as well as Nie Li''s soared exponentially. Our soul reams and their capabilities harmonized to a level that was beyond the sum of both leading to increased gains. I was teetering on the edge of 2 star Silver, and would only need an opportunity or some more cultivation to breakthrough.


    This progress was not unwelcome by any means. Soon enough, the Nether master''s disciple selection event would take place and I needed all the power I could get at that time. Meanwhile Nie Li deciphered the Laws for Lu Piao and Du Ze, specifically the Laws of Primal Chaos and Laws of Lightning and Fire for Du Ze. I then asked Nie Li to show me the inscription patterns for the Laws of Wind and Earth as well, stating it was for Ning''er and Linjian. Judging by her Yin affinity, Lanruo would fit the Law of Darkness.


    Following the bath, I got dressed in a spare set of my ''noble'' clothes, minus the thread in my a.s.s. The durable green camo set I had worn on the expedition to the ancient ruins were now washed and safely stored away within my ring, waiting to be hanged to dry. Maybe I should invent a washing machine and dryer in this world. So many modern conveniences I took for granted in my previous live, oh how I missed them...


    Making my way down a familiar rich street I made a beeline towards the Winged Dragon courtyard with the plan to share the Power of Law with Ning''er. On the way I noticed how many of the men were looking curiously at me, as if I was an unknown movie star while the ladies cheeks turned rosy and their mouths stopped mid-word at seeing my visage. It was a curious feeling, being gazed at like a fine jewel as well as a piece of wagyu beef at the same time but not that unpleasant. If I were to guess I would say I became quite handsome since before my departure to ancient Orchid city. No doubt it was mostly because of my cultivation which consisted of a top level cultivation technique, mystical energies of Emperor Kong Ming, high level spirit and body enhancing pills as well as the Power of Law. These had a cleansing effect on my organs, including my skin as well as my bones, allowing my features to become unblemished and more defined. Not to mention that I didn''t fail to train my body to a chiselled swimmer''s physique which was accentuated by my ''small house priced'' clothes. Speaking of training the body, I put in a special order with Nie Li which he was more than happy to provide but asked for three days to finish the goods.


    Finishing my musings, I noticed that I had reached my destination. The guards this time were different, specifically they were a man and a woman in their late twenties. ''Just like my parents in this world...'' I thought.


    Nodding to them and cupping my hands I greeted politely "Greetings! Could you please let Ning''er know that Long Wan has come to see her?"


    The two stiffened as I said my name before the young lady nodded "Young master Long Wan, we have been instructed to expect your visit at any moment." she said while bowing and cupping her hands. I took out two bottles containing three Soul Nurturing Pills each and handed one to each. They accepted with both hands once the aroma reached their nose. Each pill costs about three thousand coins but the artificial scarcity makes them worth nearly five thousand on resale. Not surprising that the duo looked shocked at receiving perhaps double their wage in pills.


    The young male looked worried a bit "Young master isn''t going to throw me in the carp pond is he?" he said with a shaking voice before being smacked hard in the back of the head by the woman.


    She then turned to me "Please forgive my blockhead of a husband young lord!"


    I broke out in a fit of warm laughter "It''s fine! It''s fine!" I said while wiping a tear from my eye "You have no idea how much I needed that."


    The young woman smiled "Shall I smack him again then?" she said gaining a sour look from the man.


    Shaking my head I smirked at her "Save that for your night activities."


    Both of them blushed hard and looked away from each other before the woman coughed "Umm, shall we get going young master."


    "Stop calling me young master. I am not a noble. Even if I was, I refuse to share the title with some of those stuck up spoilt brats. Honestly, I can count on one hand how many noble spawns I know that are actually human enough to give you the time of day. The rest of them have their ego stuck up their asses so deep not even a Legend Rank could pull it out." I growled. It was the truth since the only nobles that are humane enough are Ning''er, Lanruo, Nie Li, Ye Ziun, Chen Linjian and Lu Piao. Okay, my hand doesn''t have six fingers but you get the point...


    Both of them were turning blue from my rant by holding in their laughter. Regardless if it was the truth or not, they couldn''t afford to be seen agreeing with me. The woman recovered first and coughed "Anyway yo.. sir, please follow me." I nodded and she led me through the courtyard. While they were a declining family (emphasis on were) they still held and maintained a beautiful Chinese style garden with many Zen and Taoist elements decorating the area, such as ornate bronze jiao dragons or YinYang motifs.


    After a few minutes of walking (these courtyards were huge as f.u.c.k) we entered the main house. At least I though it was the main house since it was the largest in the entire courtyard. Anyway, I was taken to a big room with lavish decorations, a low table big enough to fit six people and some chairs in the shape of a rounded X or two U''s mirrored at the bend.


    When we got there the guard invited me in and asked me to sit "Please wait here whilst I go to summon the young miss."


    I nodded "Thank you and sorry for the trouble." I hummed politely.


    She smiled and waved her hands "It''s no trouble at all sir. It may take a while though so I will tell a servant to bring some tea. What kind would you prefer?" she asked.


    Cupping my chin and looking at the ceiling I thought deeply "Preferably fruit tea. Please have them bring some honey as well if it''s not too much to ask." Both in the other world as well as this one I had a voracious sweet tooth. Honey may be an expensive commodity here but I think I paid more than enough for my share.


    She bowed "Not at all! Would there be anything else?" she said kindly.


    This woman... was trustworthy was what my gut was telling me. And my instincts also told me that the man she married wasn''t any different "Your name, please let me know it." I stated kindly.


    Her hand flew to her mouth in surprise "Ah! Forgive my rudeness, I am called Xiao Biyu." she stated with a blush. Xiao as in the Wing Dragon family. So she was kin to Ning''er.


    "A lovely name for an even lovelier lady. Your husband is really lucky to have snagged such a gem. Once again, my name is Long Wan and it''s a p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e to know you." I''m not such a sc.u.mbag to snag the wife of another but a compliment once in a while goes a long way.


    She blushed hard and thanked me before scurrying off like a scared chipmunk. Seeing this I was now left alone in the room with two options. One would be to admire the decorations, which would be akin to watching paint dry, or cultivate, which I did. The Powers of Law for both Space-Time and Darkness began flowing towards me but it was too thin in the area so it was of very little addition to my normal cultivation. However, nearly five minutes later I was brought out of my meditation as another being entered my void sense range.


    This was immediately followed by the door opening and a cart filled with tea accessories was wheeled in by none other than Xiao Yunfeng. This shocked me for a moment as I was not expecting the patriarch himself to come bring the tea. I tilted my body to stand up but Yunfeng motioned for me to stop and continue sitting "Nephew Long Wan it''s good to see you!" he chimed as he picked up two cups and set one down in front of me "Luckily I was free when the servant told me that you''ve been received." he said as he set the other cup in front of him as he stood down and used his soul force to float the other tea accessories on the table.


    "Uncle Xiao Yunfeng, I appreciate the welcome but the patriarch shouldn''t serve a commoner like me tea." Since he called me nephew it would be rude to distance myself by not responding in kind. And I would only act this way in front of him, not because he was the patriarch of the Winged Dragon family (which I couldn''t give a rats a.s.s about these Ning''er selling snakes) but because he was Ning''er''s dad.


    He poured us each a cup before he took a small sip from his. Yunfeng then set the cup on the table, cupped his hands towards me and said grimly "To be completely honest, I still hold the position because of nephew''s gift. Before those elixirs the elders were planning to have me step down from the seat. However, thanks to you, I was able to raise the power of Winged Dragon family and consolidate my position as patriarch. Sincerely thank you!"


    While startled I reached out with some void tendrils and sat him upright "Uncle, please stop that! You are Ning''er''s father so it''s obvious that I would help you."


    In my surprise I failed to filter my words causing Yunfeng to frown "While I deeply appreciate nephew''s help, I can''t except your reasoning. One doesn''t simply give out hundreds of millions of demon spirit coins as gifts for a simple ''friend''. " he hummed. Damn this middle aged man was perceptive as hell "By no means do I intend to make light of your kindness but I need to ask: Just what does my daughter, Ning''er really mean to you?"


    My eyes widened at the question as my mind raced a million miles a minute. I even instinctively drew upon the Law of Space-Time to accelerate my train of thought. Should I lie? Should I bluff? Should I just come clean about everything? One thought surpassed all of them, one d.e.s.i.r.e above all. It calmed me down and brought me focus.


    I blinked once before leaning forward and smiled "Uncle, what do you mean? Ning''er is Shen Fei''s... fianc¨¦e." Puke welled up in my throat as I said that name and I swallowed before speaking the third. "I am just really generous towards the people that I''m close to." I fished out another ring with a couple hundred Soul Nurturing and Soul Concentration pills and threw it to him "Being suspected like this by uncle..." I sulked innocently but I could feel a devil''s tail sprouting from above my a.s.s. This was how Nie Li used to manhandle the elders of the Heavenly Marks family, and I never understood what was so fun about it until now.


    Yunfeng''s eyes widened after checking the ring while hearing my words. "Ah,ah,ah! My wrong! I shouldn''t have doubted nephew''s sincere intent. This old man apologizes."


    Seeing him bow low enough to almost forehead the table I waved my hand "There is nothing that a ''father'' needs to apologize for when looking out for ''his daughter''." I put thorny emphasis on those words. This polite tone was only because he was her biological dad but by no means did I respect this Ning''er selling good-for-nothing.


    "Nephew..." Yunfeng hummed but then the doors slid open and in rushed Ning''er. She was looking a bit disheveled and her long hair occasionally dripped of water. Her clothes were also something women in this world used post-bathing.


    "Long Wan!" She chirped when seeing me but her complexion immediately went pale seeing my tea companion "Father!?" she asked with widened eyes filled with a little terror.


    Yunfeng hummed "A meeting with one of our partners got rescheduled so I used my free time to entertain nephew here as our guest." His expression however turned disapprovingly sour as he took in her state of dress "What are you thinking coming here in this state?!" His voice boomed as he scolded her loudly.


    Ning''er reflexively took a step back and cowered a bit, her body trembling. It took all my willpower and consciousness not to shove a void tendril so deep up his a.s.s he would be able to taste it. I teleported behind her and wrapped a blanket from my ring around her head and back, hands soothingly tight on her shoulders which calmed her down. Still though... NO MUTT BARKS AT MY WOMAN!


    This spineless bastard sold his daughter out to that f.u.c.ker Shit Fei in order to increase his family''s prestige and then has the balls to do this crap in my presence. If it didn''t make Ning''er sad then I would''ve crushed the Winged Dragon household to pieces long before I touched the Sacred Family!


    A split second later I caught myself in a bronze ornament, the murderous gaze in my eyes shocking me back to normality "Uncle Yunfeng..." I began softly as I removed my hands from her shoulders. The man didn''t move and just kept staring at me "I''m sure Ning''er was just trying to be a good host to keep me from waiting too long. As a consequence she may have neglected some otherwise lengthy womanly preparations. I assure you I am quite honored so I ask for forgiveness on her behalf. If you can''t find it in your heart to be lenient then I can''t in good conscience call you uncle anymore..."


    That last line was a somewhat veiled threat. Translated it simply meant: Overlook this or kiss your free pill supply goodbye!


    Hearing this Yunfeng paled as his eyes went so wide I was afraid they would pop out of their sockets. He then let out an awkward laugh "Ah, of course. That must be it. Father apologizes, I was too quick to anger." he told Ning''er kindly.


    Clapping my hands together to dispel the awkward atmosphere I smiled warmly "A family in harmony will prosper so it''s nice when everyone gets along. There are enemies in every wall afterall." My voice became grave and low as I spoke the final sentence. The walls have ears motherf.u.c.ker so if you so much as dare to think of scaring Ning''er again I will~ find out! You''ve hurt her enough for two lifetimes.


    Yunfeng coughed "N-Nephew is very wise but unfortunately my duties permit me little time so I will leave first. Ning''er, please be a good host in my stead." he said as he left the room with noble grace, a little sweat dripping down the back of his neck.


    Ning''er blinked a few times while looking at her father''s back before she turned to me with a frown "You shouldn''t have done that." she growled cutely "He is my father."


    Closing my eyes I hummed "And that is why I didn''t start a fight with him. Had it been anyone else I would''ve crippled them or died trying for even looking at you that way, much less yell at you."


    Her expression softened as she walked forward and rested her head and wrists on my c.h.e.s.t "I missed you..." she whispered. Her ample bosom trembled on my abdomen, with the small bumps giving me a light tickle.


    "It''s only been half a day." I chuckled and she just tapped my c.h.e.s.t with her fist non-verbally telling me to shut up "Have you been well?" I hummed as I wrapped my arms around her. This sensation was bitter-sweet as I had to pay half of my attention to my void sense so that we wouldn''t be discovered. It was however somewhat thrilling sneaking around like this.


    She begrudgingly parted from my c.h.e.s.t and blushed when she saw me aerating my shirt to dry the patch of moisture from her soggy hair. Speaking of that "Why are you all wet?" (Not like that you pervs!) I asked with an amused tone.


    Ning''er''s blush deepened "I was bathing when Xiao Biyu came to tell me you were here and I... Umm... Didn''t want to make you wait too long..."


    I chuckled "So you were so exited to see me you didn''t properly dry your hair or even adjust your attire.". This earned me a kick in the shin but it was too playful to hurt. Cupping her chin and bringing her to look at me I said softly "Don''t get me wrong, I would love you even covered in mud and wearing a sack of rice."


    Her eyes widened and her blush deepened. The temperature of her head rose so much that I thought I could see steam coming out of her wet hair. She shook me of her chin and once again buried her face in my c.h.e.s.t. "Sho uld ai.." she hummed, coming out as a mumble through my shirt.


    My restrain was melting away as I contemplated taking her lips on the spot. ''A kiss won''t make her pregnant'' is what I kept telling myself over and over. I was snapped out of my musings when someone entered my range of sense, clearly heading this way by how their ''signal'' was getting stronger. There were two of them even.


    Pushing away Ning''er I made a shush sign and pointed to the door before showing her two fingers. She smiled and nodded with no words needing to be said, truly a bright girl. "Truthfully, I came here to teach you a trick in cultivating." I said and her expression picked up surprise. Using my fingers I drew upon my soul force and the Power of Law residing within it and began drawing the runes of lightning and wind, interweaving them just as Nie Li showed me. Ning''er looked at the writings, her eyes getting wider and wider and her aura leaking more and more electricity and gentle winds.


    "What is this?" she asked curiously. I could fell her energies rising with each rune I wrote.


    "This is what we talked about in Emperor Kong Ming''s tomb." I said cryptically. By now the two persons who had disturbed my senses were standing on the other side of the door, one to the left and the other to the right. Yunfeng must have sent some guards to make sure we didn''t do the dirty and soil the Winged Dragon name. My guess is that he also didn''t want to set off the Sacred Family. While I''m still somewhat pissed at him and his brothers in the family council of elders I lulled myself into thinking that sending the guards was to look out for Ning''er, which was something I would be more than happy to accept.


    "You mean?!" Her memory was quite good so of course she would remember about the Power of Law.


    Nodding I continued "Specifically, the inscription pattern at the top is for Lightning and the one on the bottom is for Wind. I used some of my own Law energies to write it so you should get a good feel for them."


    It was a couple of seconds later that winds picked up around her and lightning began emitting from her eyes. BOOM!


    "Young miss!" my inscription patterns dissolved into thin air as the two guards frantically entered the room to be greeted with the sight of the smirking me crossing my arms and a step away Ning''er enveloped in a silvery storm-like aura. The blanket that I had provided earlier was billowing due to the pressure of her soul force like a cape, adding to her powerful figure. The furniture had been blown away around her due to the extreme wind she was generating with lightning marks marring them in places.


    "Why are you disturbing us?" I asked, the smirk not vanishing from my face "We''re cultivating right now."


    The two guards cupped their hand "We apologize profusely! Patriarch Xiao Yunfeng sent us to ensure there are no issues. Congratulations to young miss for reaching Silver rank!"


    "Congratulations to young miss!" the other guard parroted as they exited and closed the door, no doubt one of them scurrying off to inform the patriarch.


    Ning''er came of her Law induced high before she blinked twice and jumped a bit at seeing the mild devastation with her as the epicenter.


    Chuckling I turned to her "Don''t worry. I have no doubt that they would even burn the furniture down to ashes and tear holes in their walls if it meant all the family''s twelve year olds would reach Silver rank." I calmed her down seeing her worry about the state of the room. Snaking my arms around her waist and pulling her close I looked her in the eyes with all my love and d.e.s.i.r.e. The door was once again locked and even though there was a guard outside I would sense him enter long before he could even touch the knob. "Congratulations on reaching Silver rank ''my love''!" That last part I mouthed silently.


    Ning''er''s face once again ripened but she simply rested her head on my c.h.e.s.t again for a few seconds before I had to separate us again.


    As a side note, I used to think that Ning''er''s soul form and attributes were powerful but overall ordinary in terms of special abilities. I mean Ziyun''s soul realm allowed her to cultivate an ability which would resurrect her up to nine times, Lu Piao allowed him to get stronger even while sleeping and don''t get me started on my own cheat of a realm. However, now I finally understood the power that this soul ocean granted Ning''er. Specifically, it prevented any bottlenecks and while it''s this amazing now, just imagine what levels she could reach when exceeding Legend rank or even Heavenly Realm cultivation. When all elixirs and artifacts would become too weak to have any effect she would continue to excel by her own sheer potential. Right now thanks to it and the Power of Law she jumped from the very beginning of 4 star Bronze to 1 star Silver.


    Metaphorical pain gripped my c.h.e.s.t as I slowly walked towards the door "I must go for now. You should rest and stabilize your cultivation. See you at the academy."


    She stood there in a daze as she looked at me like a wife sending her husband to war "Long Wan!" she called out and I turned towards her with a raised eyebrow "Thank you! This... I... Don''t know how I can ever repay you." she spoke, the words fighting with her mouth to come out.


    Shaking my head I turned away from her least I do something that I will both regret and will not. "You already know what I ask of you." I hummed and felt her shift her feet in a sort of annoyance, like an itch that won''t go away no matter how hard you scratch "It''s the most difficult thing anyone can do. Believe me, I know. But I also know that you''re strong enough to do it." To suppress your heart''s d.e.s.i.r.es...


    "Yes..." she hacked out, her throat dry from swallowing all her salty tears. "See you!" she continued in a much more perky voice. Truly the strongest girl out there...


    Exiting the room I bumped my face into a wall of muscle. Looking up while rubbing my nose I was greeted by the sight of a sweating and huffing Yunfeng. Seems he ran full speed to get here.


    "Nephew Long Wan..." he called out but couldn''t say more as he was still heaving from the run. Gold Rank or not, he should exercise more.


    Nodding in respect I turned to him "Uncle Xiao Yunfeng thank you for your hospitality but I will be leaving first. Ning''er broke through and needs to stabilize her cultivation."


    Recovering a bit he looked at me "It''s unfortunate you have to go. I''ll have someone see you off. But I have to ask, did Ning''er really broke through to Silver rank?"


    I simply pointed behind me "See for yourself." Moving slightly to pass him before halting in my steps as a thought crossed my mind. Getting in up close I whispered in his ear "With this, the old farts that managed to twist your arm into selling your own daughter to the Sacred family will turn around and do whatever it takes to keep her out of their hands. You now have a chance to be a father for a change, not just a patriarch. For her sake I pray you don''t mess things up again. Grow a pair and protect your little girl!"


    Saying what I needed to be said I teleported away, not bothering to hear his reply. Perhaps I went too far, perhaps not... One thing was certain though: Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but I will definitely punch him one day. My bones will be tossing and turning in my grave if I don''t knock him to the floor at least once for all the suffering he let happen to her.

 Chapter 8 - 5: Graduation

    The next day found me rushing down the hallway of the dorm. Something wild had happened to me overnight and I needed some help to sort things out and what better source than a certain someone with centuries of rare knowledge. After knocking on the door twice I was greeted by a familiar mop of orange hair


    "Long Wan?" Nie Li greeted with a smile but his expression changed to a surprised one when he saw the urgency in my posture "What''s wrong?"


    Looking around to make sure nobody was watching I whispered "Hello. May I come in?"


    Nie Li nodded and stepped aside to let me in. His room was boyishly tidy, as in there were a few things on the floor and a couple of books scattered around but overall clean. "Sorry for the mess. Have a seat wherever you like. I''m out of tea though..."


    Flashing my ring I took out a bottle of baiju and some cups before pouring both of us some. Underage drinking was dangerous as it could affect your growth... that is on Earth. In our case our powerful cultivation techniques and body enhancing elixirs removed most impurities and toxins from our internals meaning yay! no hangove... I mean, meaning that we could grow up unhindered.


    Anyways, we both took a sip and I moved my ringed hand once again to summon from it a jet black demon spirit with an orange eye circle in the center close to my palm which seemed to watch both of us. The spirit acted like a burning flame, rising upwards and wispy but flowed as if it was a viscous liquid.


    My friend''s eyes shot open as he came to take a closer look "This spirit..." he mumbled "It''s definitely God-level growth rate, and has a stronger dark alignment than the Shadow Devil demon spirit." When he tried to probe it with his soul force it sent an arc of spiritual black lightning back at his hand and shocked him. "This powerful intent that radiates even while dead means it''s of at least an ancient bloodline." He squinted his eyes as he looked deep into it "It''s also kept a bit of it''s consciousness. As for what kind of spirit it is, well¡­ it''s a wolf type demon spirit but I don''t recognize it." He turned to me "Where did you find it?"


    I put the spirit back in the ring as I began recanting what had happened the night before...


    After leaving the Winged Dragon residence I needed to blow some steam. Not punching Yunfeng yesterday left me itching to kill something which is why I was in the Holy Orchid Institute hunting ground. My plan was to find a horned sheep that dared to charge at me and mince it into a bloody pulp. Thinking back now I really have some issues...


    Regardless, I sped through the forest searching for a victi... target and did manage to find three of them but they ran away as soon as I got close. Thinking about it calmly I was probably leaking a lot of intent to kill and considering that they were all 1-star Bronze rank beasts I can suspect that their instincts told them to f.u.c.k off fast.


    By the time the fourth one ran away I had calmed down enough to just enjoy a stroll in the middle of the night. The moon shone brightly so it was easy to see where I was going. As I was jumping from tree to tree I heard a crash from nearby to my right followed by the sounds of beasts fighting. Foolishly I thought that there shouldn''t be any beasts higher than Bronze rank in this place since it was an academy training ground so I considered myself safe enough to investigate.


    Moving faster and stealthily I reached the canopy of a tall tree as thick as ten men and peeked through the bushes. Surprisingly I was able to see what was making the racket: A lion demon beast... a motherf.u.c.k.i.n.g LION demon beast the size of rhino had cornered a pair of bear-sized wolves. The lion was surrounded by a golden hued aura and it''s eyes had no pupils but looked like a starry night, with two sharp silver slits running down their middle while the wolves had fur so dark it looked like black smoke every time the hairs on their backs bristled. Their eyes were also a fascinatingly dark, with orange pupils and dark irises. It reminded me of the first picture the scientists back on Earth managed to take of a black hole.


    Judging by the aura they emitted the Lion was 1-star Gold rank while the wolves were 2, maybe 3-star Silver at best. One of the wolves was lying on the ground with a large gash on the side of it''s head and the other one was facing off the lion trying to protect it. This wasn''t a battle I should be involved in. That is what I thought until I heard a whimper and saw a small pup hiding behind the fallen wolf. Now one thing should be known about me is that I am a dog person. I love all kinds of pets but dogs are my favorites and seeing that pup, even a wolf pup in danger awoke something in me.


    My vision became tunnelled as I merged with the shadow devil and snuck up in range. The lion was getting ready to pounce on the wolf standing guard when I appeared above it, the sting of my tail sinking deeply into it''s shoulder blades. I aimed for the head but it moved just in time to avoid a fatal strike.


    The lion gave a pained howl and swiped it''s tail at me. Not this time! Yun Hua may have managed to strike this inexperienced me but this time I went in fully expecting a counterstrike. Placing a hand on it''s back and twisting my legs I managed to corkscrew above the tail of death before summoning the scythe from my right forearm and aiming for the lion''s spine.


    However before I could make contact a golden disk appeared underneath the lion swallowing it whole and closing, my scythe arm getting buried up to the middle in the ground. The lion had disappeared without a trace...


    Hearing a miserable whimper from my side I turned towards it to see the wolf pup snuggling to the fallen one''s snout while the guardian wolf was l.i.c.k.i.n.g the large gash. Taking a step in their direction the guardian turned and growled menacingly at me. Standing my ground I summoned some dried meat from my ring and threw it to them. The wolf guardian bristled at my actions but the pup smelled the meat and started eating with gusto, an action that was soon mirrored by it''s elder.


    The guardian wolf finished eating and took some of it to bring it to the fallen one but it wouldn''t eat it, only making soft sound as if it was talking to the one who brought it the jerky, and doing it quite painfully so. It''s eye also rotated to catch a glimpse of me and something weird happened. The injured wolf let out a soft, barely audible howl and a bit of my soul energy flew off and merged with it. The next second the painful rasps of the wolf became less pronounced and it looked content to die. Seeing the wolf in this state wet my eyes a little as I tried to think of some way to save it. The only answer that came to me was to take out a fistful of Nine Transformation Pills and gently rolled them in their direction.


    Hearing this the guardian wolf turned towards me and looked surprised but not alarmed. It then noticed the pills on the ground and gave one a sniff. In an instant it''s eyes went wide and it gently picked up the pill and took it to it''s companion''s maw.


    It was too late...


    The companion drew it''s last breath before the wolf could set the pill down and the guardian just stood there in shock while the little pup was pawing at the fallen wolf''s head. The pill hit the floor as whimpers came from both survivors followed by a pained howl that shook the night awake. The guardian then curled up protectively around the other wolf''s body with the pup sandwiched in between their necks.


    Sighing I took so sitting on a nearby rock, not wanting to let any nearby beasts ruin their moment. Unlike most of them, these wolves showed so much emotion it was hard to leave them alone. Inclining I supported my upper body on my hands and looked up to see a surreal starry sky. Even with the moon out there were so many stars visible and it was something I could never get used to, nor did I want to for it was just so beautiful. My thoughts flashed to my life back on Earth. Have I really died there? Or was my soul cloned here? If I died, did anyone weep for me like the guardian wolf did for it''s pack member?


    I don''t know how long I had been standing there stargazing when I felt something tickle my arm. Looking down I saw the little wolf, who was the size of a black bear cub l.i.c.k.i.n.g my hand softly. Flexing my other arm I summoned a bit more of jerky and handed it to the poor thing. It ate happily and then hopped in my l.a.p, tail wagging energetically. The corner of my eye picked up the curious and protective stare of the guardian wolf but it didn''t look too concerned as it had not yet risen from next to it''s fallen friend.


    By reflex I started petting the pup and it yipped happily before curling up into a fluffy disk in my l.a.p. The jet black fur was so mesmerizing. When you looked at the curled up ball of warmth in my l.a.p you could swear it was two dimensional. The fur seemed to trap all light going into it leaving no reflections nor outline. It was then that I felt a tap from my back and I froze before turning around slowly to see the guardian wolf using it''s nose to lift my arm and then sneak in underneath it before resting next to me. It was now that I saw exactly how huge this canine was as even laying down next to me it''s shoulders could still reach my stomach. Mind you I was on a pretty high rock, easily one, maybe one and a half meters tall.


    Gently moving my hand back and forth I did my best to console this mountain of dark fur that kept sniffling and whimpering softly. Soon enough I lifted the little fur ball out off my legs and set her down besides me using the opportunity to discover that it was a little she-wolf. She noticed me looking and growled a little before turning away from me, tail between it''s legs.


    I paid little attention to that as I got up and moved a little bit away before using my soul force to blow a perfectly rectangular hole in the ground. Moving softly as not to alarm my new canine companions I approached the fallen wolf and gave it a few respectful pets before I gently picked it up, using void tendrils to make sure that the body five times my size didn''t slip out. It was this time I also noticed it was male. The other wolf joined my side together with the pup who looked a bit sad but also pouty.


    It was a few steps later that I reached the edge of the hole, no¡­ the edge of the grave I had dug as I let the wolf down using void tendrils, setting him up with his head on his front paws as if he was sleeping. Taking a glance at it''s comrade it nudged my back softly as if wanting to reassure me it understood. Nobody wanted their bodies to become demon beast stool. My tendrils then moved to a nearby rock and carved it up into a rectangular lid. It took a bit of energy to do so but since I was Silver rank now I still had enough to spare. I then wanted to will the tendrils to drag the lid closed.


    At that moment both wolves were surrounded by jet black smoke before it dispersed away leaving behind something that unhinged my jaw. In the place of the guardian wolf was now an incredibly beautiful dark skinned woman with the same jet-black hair. The only differences between her and a regular human, besides the beauty, were the wolf ears on her head, sharp claw-like nails and more animalistic features like sharp protruding incisors and heavier bangs framing the sides of her face. Her attire was something that could be described as being worn by someone from the Jade Palace, the mythical realm of Chinese deities. Her eyes however were still the same as when she was in wolf form. Near her leg was also a little girl that could be mistaken for a younger clone, except that if you looked closer you would see that the smaller one had a more pronounced jaw. Seemed she was a bit more inexperienced at transforming than her elder as her face was still stuck between a pup''s and a girl''s.


    The woman smiled at me warmly before ungracefully jumping in the grave and put a hand on the fallen wolf''s head. Out of the wound a strange jet black flame flowed out like liquid and gathered in her palm. She gave the fallen a light brush with her other hand as a few teardrops fell from her eyes before she wiped them away and jumped back up. Moving gently at me she took one of my arms in her hands and placed the black flame-liquid in my hand and I finally understood it was the fallen''s demon spirit.


    "I can''t take this¡­" I hummed and moved to give it back. The cogs in my mind rotated at a thousand rpm. By all accounts that should be her mate and she was just handing me a portion of him even though we just met.


    "Rrruuu¡­" she let out a kind high-pitch growl or gurgle and pushed my hand back towards me. Her expression told me she understood what I wanted but she couldn''t or wouldn''t speak human language. Well I''m not one to insist. If you want to refuse a gift once but the other still says it''s ok then you should respect their d.e.s.i.r.es.


    I took the spirit in my ringless palm and nodded to her "Thank you. I will never part with him." Demon spirits were the condensed intent and soul force of the demon beasts. It wasn''t their souls but a part of it, kind of like a will of sorts.


    The guardian then moved closer and smiled even warmer as she c.a.r.e.s.sed my cheek before stepping back and looked at the little one who pouted and looked away angrily. I knelt down on one knee and caught her eyes in my own "Sorry for peeking without permission." I apologized while stretching forward a big piece of dried meat.


    Her ears picked up instantly and a little drool came from the side of her mouth. Faster than my teleportation she had the piece of meat in her hands and was nibbling on it peacefully. This insane amount of cuteness meant that I couldn''t contain my laughter so I closed my eyes and let out a small laugh. That is, until I felt something soft and wet graze my cheek. I opened my eyes seeing the little pup l.i.c.k.i.n.g my cheek¡­ in human form. Guess she didn''t know about the taboos of human society.


    I rose to my feet after petting her head and she returned to her elder''s side. Both of them smiled at me before returning to wolf form and summoning a portal. After one last glance and tail wag at me they jumped in and I also sprinted away, not before covering the grave and using my tendrils to carve the three wolves'' images on the rock.


    ¡­


    Back in the present day Nie Li blinked twice in surprise "You say that they took on human forms?" he asked with half-shock.


    Seeing me nod he then took another glance at the demon spirit in my hand and cupped his chin "Yes, it makes sense now." he hummed. Tilting my head I motioned for him to explain. He pointed to the spirit "Going by all of this, not only were those wolf demons of ancient bloodline but they were also Emperor-grade demon beasts."


    I frowned and raked my memories from the novel. Initially, I thought he was referring to the Emperor level, as in the Sage Emperor but the wolves were definitely only Silver rank. But if I remember correctly there were three grades of demon beasts: ordinary, which didn''t form demon spirits. Spiritual, which were in the process of forming the demon spirit or had one already formed. Then there was Emperor grade¡­ "The stronger version of the Spiritual grade demon beast. They are able to take on human form." I said out loud.


    "Precisely." he smiled.


    "But many demon beasts are able to take on human form, are they not?" I remembered particularly two Legend rank demon beasts that had no spirit but were able to humanize.


    His head swayed from side to side "Only when they reach Legend rank are beast able to take the form. By your recounts the wolves were Silver rank. While there are humanification techniques, they are not available in the Tiny World. This leaves only the possibility of them being Emperor grade. Besides¡­" he paused and pointed at the spirit again "Emperor demon beasts have a liquid-like demon spirit¡­"


    The spirit in my palm was definitely like that as it seemed to flow upwards and ripple. It wad definitely a lot denser than the Blue Armed ape and the Horned Sheep spirits.


    Nie Li released a long sigh "Looking at your luck up to now must mean that you have the heavens on your side. That demon spirit is unimaginably rare. Only something like a primordial origin or one of a incredibly pure draconic bloodline could possibly overtake it. You would have better chance of turning the Sacred Family into honest people than to get something like that..."


    Humming I started merging with it. I promised the female wolf that it would be with me all my life and I will keep my word. This spirit did not fight my attempts and let itself be guided to the tendril opposite to the Shadow Devil. The said tendril also invaded this one but it was a much gentler process as it simply melded with the dark fur of the wolf.


    Something even more fantastic happened next as I swayed in my place. Seeing this Nie Li moved forward to support me "What happened?" asked the geriatric ginger.


    "Memories¡­" I hissed out, rubbing the headache away. Consciousness merging was never easy¡­ "I got part of the demon wolf''s last thoughts. Seems he was extremely grateful that I saved his mate and pup, and that I also tried to prevent his death. He also used my soul force and his own to imprint his demon spirit onto me." I said and Nie Li froze in his place.


    The time traveler picked up his jaw off the ground and coughed "Its normal that spiritual beasts of ancient bloodlines imprint their spirits on the ones that hatches them after many years but for a fully grown one to do so is unheard of¡­ I feel like my heart is going to burst if I get anymore surprises from you." he chuckled awkwardly.


    Smiling I got up and stretched a bit "There is a saying where I come from: don''t look a gift horse in the teeth. The wolf''s selflessness will be in our advantage." I said and Nie Li nodded at my words. "Now¡­ I think I should take this new spirit for a test run..."


    Nie Li moved to my side "I''ll join you." he said cheerfully.


    We went to the hunting grounds again and jumped from tree to tree until we were at a clearing. There I summoned the spirit of the wolf and merged with it. My body grew to over three meters in height, with my overall appearance converting into that of a werewolf as my upper body became very muscular while my feet became clawed paws. My arms became equally muscular to my torso and were also covered in jet black fur with my hands now sporting large claws. The head of the wolf replaced my own as my clothes turned into a male version of the guardian wolf''s.


    A few steps behind me Nie Li whistled "That is really a powerful spirit." He chimed.


    I stared at my right hand and flexed it a few times. There were no mutations from my Black Dragons Maw this time which would mean either one of two things: that it didn''t work for all spirits or it was already mutated from the start. Regardless of that I threw a casual punch at a nearby tree and blew the bark off of it as well leaving a deep indent. It was certainly physically strong but I could feel that it wasn''t specialized in brute strength. Tightening the muscles in my legs, I burst forward with a speed that nearly tunneled my vision. However, a step later I shifted my center of mass and did a sharp turn left, my body effectively moving as if inertia had absolutely no effect on me. Newton would be rolling in his grave if he knew of this, and I would be shitting myself from laughing. Serves the f.u.c.ker right for making my physics classes in school harder than morning wood.


    This was repeated a few more times until I got the hang of this body. As you might have figured it out it was an agility specialized spirit, meaning that although strong in other aspects it was nigh-unbeatable when it comes to speed and three dimensional movement. However, it seemed that the apple-headed asshole cursed me since, as I stepped sideways on a thinner branch, it gave out and it sent me crashing into a tree as thick as me. It didn''t hurt though as the thick hide and fur absorbed most of the impact acting like a natural armor. It was definitely combat orientated...


    There was still something else that I could feel...


    Focusing void energy to my hand I clawed the air in front of me leaving four pure black lines that whipped forward before dissipating about a soccer field''s length away. The most astonishing thing was that the air rippled as the claw marks passed it and whatever was in their paths was cut cleanly without even a crumble.


    "What was that?" Nie Li asked with both amus.e.m.e.nt and curiosity.


    Once again flexing my hand but mixing pure soul force directly from my soul ocean I cut the space in front of me. However, this time the cut didn''t fly away but remained stationary in front of me before shimmering out of existence as space repaired itself. Humming deeply in an animalistic tone I answered "Mixing void force with the spiritual wolf''s own abilities granted the claws the power to cut through space itself. All that was in the path of these claw mark just followed the said space and was also cut apart. However, if I use pure soul force from my soul ocean rather than my Black Dragon''s Maw soul form the cut remains locked in place until the cut space heals." Once merged, demon spirit moves became almost second nature, like walking. You don''t know how to do it, you just do it. Due to this I knew that had I not used void element in that attack then it wouldn''t have turned into a ranged attack. In short, if I don''t use void energies then it becomes just a regular claw attack, albeit one that is able to cut the fabric of space-time. "I''ll call it Dark Claw." I had no intention of yelling out my attacks like some kind of shonen anime knucklehead main character but having a name made it easier to both explain and remember.


    "A ranged attack of that caliber will be useful but be careful with it. The claw marks move pretty slow so any combatant worth their rice will be able to avoid." He said sagely and I nodded.


    I wasn''t done with that as there was still more in this spirit. Drawing upon our merged soul force and channeling it into my c.h.e.s.t I inhaled strongly until I looked like a pigeon in mating season. The air then exploded out of my mouth as I let out a piercing howl. At the same time out of my mouth launched a barely perceptible grey mist that enveloped the area in front of me in a cone. The devastation it left out in its wake was something to behold. Everything that touched the mist remained in position but rotted away. Trees, grass, rocks, even the ground looked aged by at least a thousand years. "Time forwarding..." I hummed "Forward Howl..." Simple name, yet it did the job.


    The last ability itched at the back of my head and without sparing a glance at Nie Li I activated it. First, it seemed as if someone hit the slowmo play button on the world but eventually stopped everything within my sight in it''s tracks. Finally the leaves started falling upwards and the birds flew backwards. I had lost all control of my body and was reliving the last few seconds in reverse, even my Forward Howl reappeared and was forcefully s.u.c.k.e.d back into my mouth with the landscape returning to what it had been before my howl.


    Eventually the technique wore off and I received control of my body again.


    "A ranged attack of that caliber will be useful but be careful with it. The claw marks move pretty slow so any combatant worth their rice will be able to avoid." I heard Nie Li say again in perfect replay.


    Frowning I turned to him "You already said that before."


    "Umm... No, I didn''t." Nie Li answered with a confused expression. Well, he was both right and wrong.


    I chuckled, which sounded more like a growl due to my new beastly vocal cords "I have found out that this spirit has two more abilities. One is the ability to howl out a grey mist that ages everything it touches, which I call ''Forward Howl''. The second one is much more frightening: the ability to turn back time."


    My friend''s jaw hit the ground. It seems that there can be events that are shocking even for a centuries old teenager "Such a terrifying power. To rewrite history as you see fit is something that many would kill their families to possess." Nie Li spoke, his voice shaking with either excitement or fear, or perhaps a little of both.


    Turning fully towards him I shook my head "It''s not so limitless. Currently, the maximum I can return time seems to be around a tanzhi. After that it won''t work regardless of how hard I force it. Even now I''ve activated the technique but it simply just drains my soul force without doing anything. It''s like the world itself is resisting the recall..." Recall, hmm... Reminds me of an ability belonging to a certain online game character who''s a.s.s sparked an online controversy. Well, they do say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery...


    The ginger nodded "These things usually come with inherent limitations. Still, a tanzhi is usually well over nineteen nian more than you would get in a true life and death struggle." Tanzhi and nian were equivalent to almost seven seconds and a little over a third of a second respectively, give or take. In a battle between high level cultivators, having ''a split second'' to react was to be taken quite literally.


    I nodded in agreement having nothing else to add "Let''s call this move ''Recall''." I said to him and he nodded back with a ''not bad'' expression on his face.


    The next second Nie Li''s expression hardened "Long Wan..." he began while pausing making me ''hmm?'' at him "I think I know what kind of spirit this is."


    "I know." I answered back. Realization hit me by the time I let out the Forward Howl "The demon spirit of a space-time spiritual beast." I said in a low growling voice. One of the most rare if not THE rarest creature types in the known worlds. It existed not only in multiple locations but in multiple times as well. "Then the lion I fought to save the wolves must''ve also been a space-time beast." There were few other reasons why it could escape my strike


    My friend nodded "It would explain why it was able to corner the wolves. They must''ve either had a territory or pray dispute. I also believe that the dead wolf wanted to protect you out of gratitude for saving it''s family. Without this demon spirit the space-time lion would''ve gone to an earlier time to end you out of spite. Now, with the wolf''s spirit your time is locked, meaning that it can''t be altered against your will." he explained with wisdom beyond his outward appearance.


    To explain it in short, I am no longer at risk of paradoxes so the lion can''t go back in time BEFORE it met me to kill me "I think I''ll call this spirit ''Nighttime Direwolf''"


    "A space-time wolf with fur as dark as a moonless night. I like it!" Nie Li smiled while crossing his arms and giving me a once over.


    Finally, it seemed that Nie Li got bored and got up from the rock he was perched on walking to me without saying a word. When he got two steps in front of me I saw his soul force aura spike as his eyes darkened completely. He grew half a body taller and his arms got a sickle and claws respectively. Finally a bone-like black scorpion tail grew from above his a.s.s. "So this is how the mutated form of the Shadow Devil feels like..." he hummed while inspecting himself "Not bad. Though, since I don''t have a dark alignment attribute I can only bring out four fifths of it''s true strength, it should be more than enough for it''s uses."


    I raised my eyebrow at his antics. He wasn''t thinking what I thought he was thinking was he?


    He flashed a toothy grin at me "Let''s spar a bit." and with that he vanished without a trace.


    Well... Shit...


    Teleporting to a nearby treetop I reigned in my void sense as much as I could. Reducing the radius of detection meant increasing its sensitivity. Even so, the cloaking ability of the Shadow Devil was one where it became intangible, meaning even soul force could pass through it up to a certain density. Think of it like a mesh screen: little water could easily pass through it but a sudden gush could tear it open. However, to gush out soul force like that would be a waste when you consider Nie Li''s prowess. The only thing I could count on was the split-second delay when transitioning between intangible and physical.


    I stood as still as possible. Moving would distract me too much and thus open me up. The Shadow Devil was slow but Nie Li was too experienced. Running away would also serve no purpose in this spar. Regardless that I will be the one most hurt this time as well, it was still a good learning opportunity. Better suffer some cuts and bruises now than death later.


    My mind and body tensed as I was expecting the attack to come at any moment. Suddenly I felt a disturbance behind me and threw a claw it. The poor squirrel became minced meat before it could even realize it was dead. Wait! Considering how tensed I was even the bugs feared to approach me. So why was there a squ... FUUUUUUCCCCKKKKKK!!!


    Dodging at the last moment I felt a few of the hairs on the top of my head being trimmed off by the Shadow Barber from hell. Rolling away I used the insane agility of the Nighttime Direwolf to spring back and deliver another slash attack using both hands, this time with void energy. The resulting attack went out in a wide net formation.


    Nie Li suddenly appeared and jumped away to avoid the attack. The Shadow Devil was normally intangible but this attack cut through space itself. Even if something was made of diamond, it would be cut just as easily as if it was made out of smoke. It was the ultimate ''sword''. At the same time the Shadow Devil was slow and Nie Li couldn''t use my abilities without my consent and there is no way I would give that cheating f.u.c.ker access to my teleportation so he could use it against me.


    All in all, it meant that Nie Li had only one option remaining: release the intangibility and jump away. What that meant though was that I teleported next to him and threw a strong kick at his c.h.e.s.t. Since he was in mid-air he could only brace for impact. A resounding gong broke the silence and I felt my foot protesting in pain. Seems Nie Li didn''t neglect to wear his armor today. It didn''t save him from being buried in a crater two meters wide and half a meter deep. He wasn''t out for the count though as he quickly whipped his legs and got up Bruce Lee style, before wiping off a little blood that trickled from the corner of his mouth.


    "First blood!" I called out with a smirk, my canine-ish voice sounding like the narrator from a certain video game series back on Earth.


    Nie Li frowned before smirking darkly. His bloody teeth were the last remaining body parts showing before he completely dissolved into thin air.


    Oh~. Shit. Was all I could think of before a world of hurt welcomed me...


    An hour later both Nie Li and I were limping to the dorm supporting ourselves on each other''s shoulder. Though if you looked closely, you could see that it was I who was covered in more blood and bruising while he had maybe three or four good ones. Still I couldn''t help but smile. The fact that I was able to land some solid hits meant that my training and all the pain that came with it paid off. I was no longer a rank amateur that Nie Li could manhandle without breaking a sweat. Still though, I realized that if Nie Li was at any point serious he could''ve killed me with less effort than it would take him to clear constipation. That was the difference of over two hundred years of experience in combat.


    We reached the dorm where we each took a Nine Transformation Pill, instantly healing our wounds. You may ask why we didn''t do that at the Hunting Grounds and instead chose to limp in pain. Beats me! Perhaps we took one too many to the good ol'' noggin''. Anyways, I moved a bit to release the workout soreness in my joints.


    "Ah, Long Wan I have what you requested. I had free time yesterday so I chose to do it early." he said while producing two armguards. They were made of some extremely strong material, most likely some type of Gold or Black Gold beast ivory. However, what interested me was underneath the cloth that rested between the guards and the forearm. Pulling the cloth to the side revealed an inscription pattern that, from what I could see was a mixture of War Prime and some other unknown inscription pattern type.


    I put them on after thanking Nie Li. From my humble studies as well as my memories as Long Wan I could discern that they would function automatically as soon as they are activated until they receive the stop command. The signal for either start of stop was quite simple, just send a pulse of soul force to them. Pulsing my soul force once I instantly felt the slight drain of soul force which was more than counterbalanced by my Void Sense''s autonomous energy intake. Not feeling any different I tried to move my arm but struggled quite a bit as it felt as if I was moving through molten tar. It took quite a bit of effort to move normally. At first I thought about asking for some modifiable weights for physical strength training but I thought those would be detrimental for joint development. This was the most optimal solution: a motion restricting field, one that made you feel as if you were constantly moving against the current.


    Nie Li chuckled "As you requested, this produces a force field that bends just slightly above your physical capabilities." I could guess that my awkward movements were producing quite a show for him. "I made one for myself as well and will eventually give the rest of our friends one. Though I''m still surprised that you could imagine something like this." I read enough fanfics and have many ideas. In fact, what is limiting me is knowing how far I can abuse your knowledge.


    I ordered my jaw to open as I wanted to respond but my words came out muffled. Even breathing was a tiring task. The field acted like a rubber suit constricting from all possible angles. Thankfully it seemed that he avoided setting the field in any s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e spots though.


    "It does take a little getting used to¡­" Nie Li said, his goofy smile getting wider.


    With this, my physical body should be able to keep up with my cultivation. I thanked Nie Li once more and waddled to my room. There I formed a training plan which was something like the following. During school days I would wake up early morning, have breakfast, work out physically, skip class to cultivate in the library, have lunch, spend two incense sticks reading to improve my dead language skills and my inscription pattern knowledge, work out or study martial arts with Nie Li, have dinner, cultivate some more, take a bath, sleep. Rinse and repeat. On days when school was off, so was I and I would either spend time with Ning''er and/or Lanruo or work on other projects.


    Speaking of projects, I had decided on my next one. Target: the demon beast invasion. And thanks to a certain white mineral that looked very similar to salt I would be sure to make a killing, literally. I had discovered by chance that it (along with several other highly useful elements) existed in this world on my last visit to the alchemist guild and I made sure to set up a new deal with Alchemist Association for a steady supply of it in a mixture with some other pieces. Who knew my passion for chemistry in high school would be this useful in a fantasy-esque land.


    However, before this there was one more thing I had to do...


    I went to the institute during a period of time when I knew that Shen Xiu would not be there and waited in the hallways. The wait wasn''t long though as I soon met with today''s first target. "Chao Xing." I called out and the girl turned towards me and caught the card I threw at her "As promised: Payment and a little interest." Looking at her hand her eyes nearly exploded when she saw the fifty thousand coin card in her hand.


    "Long Wan." she said seriously while pushing the card back to me "I know I don''t have the best reputation but this is too much. I can''t take this." Her hands shook while her angel and demon portions of her conscious fought for either keeping the cash or returning it. At this point however, the angel was winning by a wide margin.


    Chuckling I flashed my ring and a handful of bills of equal value appeared in it "Keep it! Like I said, it''s interest. Plus, not to brag or anything but I''ve got a lot more where that came from." Her hands dropped and so did her jaw when she saw the big fan made of pure money. "Please follow me." I said and started walking to one of the study rooms that I knew would be empty during this period. Most students would be having physical practice during this time or inscription pattern classes. Thus the study area was pretty much deserted. I did have to have her skip class but I guess she considered it worthwhile, about forty thousand coins'' worth to be exact. Finally leaning against the wall opposite to her I opened my mouth. "I actually have another proposition for you." I said switching to serious mode.


    She frowned a bit in contemplation after hearing my word "Well, it''s my dream to marry a rich man..." she threw out and caught me by surprise. Unluckily for her I had plenty of surprises in both my lives so I could recover control of my emotions quite quickly.


    Shaking my head I responded "I wish you all the luck in finding one." I laughed "Alas, that wasn''t what I was thinking about." Sorry Xing but I already have a sister figure as a girlfriend.


    "Then?" came her sole worded response.


    I closed the gap between us until we were arms length apart "How would you like to become stronger than lord Ye Mo?"


    Once again her mouth hit the floor. Shaking her head to clear her surprise she put her hands on her h.i.p.s and leaned towards me "Listen you! I may be a sucker for money but that doesn''t mean I''m a sucker in life. Take your jokes elsewhere!" she hmph''ed at me and was getting ready to leave when I flashed my Silver rank aura at her stopping her dead in her tracks.


    "You''re a yellow soul realm right?" I smirked as I let the aura die down and saw her nod "And you know that I''m an orange one, am I correct?" Shen Xiu made sure to let the entire class know what were what color soul realm I was. This was once again made evident by her nod "Well, if I can go from 11 soul force to 1-star Silver in a few weeks, what makes you think I can''t bring you to the level beyond Legend?" I said looking her dead in the eyes.


    Realization struck her as her eyes widened in shock. Soon enough though she recovered and seemed to be seriously contemplating my offer "What''s the catch?" she asked directly. "Nothing is free in the world." the view of a true materialist. I knew I chose correctly.


    Leaving her side I went to a nearby window "Me and my friends will soon leave Glory City on a training trip and won''t be back for many years. Meanwhile, I''m assembling a force of people I can trust to protect the city until we return. And I want you to lead them." I said while gazing at the distant mountain ranges "The ''catch'' is that you would put your life on the line for the city. No inscription patterns specialization for you and no husband to take care of you. You fight on the frontlines and win or you fight and you die."


    She didn''t respond and I didn''t bother turning to her as I wanted to give her some modic.u.m of privacy to contemplate my words. "Why me?" she finally asked.


    I spun around on the window frame and leaned my a.s.s on it "Because, you''re the most down to earth person I can trust. Everyone else... Well their hearts are in the right place but I can''t say the same about their heads. I need someone who will fight tooth and nail to secure a better life from the shit one they''ve always known¡­"


    Her face visibly filled with surprise but you can tell she was seriously considering my words. Just like in Long Wan''s memories she was the big sister of the orphanage, even though she was younger than some of them. When the little ones didn''t have enough food, she would go through thick and thin to get it. When they were wearing rags she would get them new clothes. When asked how she would always give cryptic answers. Over time, jealous mouths started farting out unflattering rumors and even young Long Wan believed it.


    But I realized the truth. She hadn''t become a p.r.o.s.t.i.t.u.t.e. She didn''t have that overall feel¡­ of cynical indifference. I''ve visited my share of working women back on Earth and, even though most of them seemed used to it, you could tell that it wasn''t the life they wanted. It was all: let''s get this over with.


    Finally, she looked at me with a calculating gaze "And what if I take your offer but go back on my word and dissert Glory City?" She wanted to cover her bases. Never taking a step forward without knowing the bridge won''t crumble under her feet. Heavens knows what she had to go through to be so suspicious of any olive branch, but that was also what made me choose her.


    A grin replaced my mouth and excitement filled me as I was now sure I made the right choice "You wont." I answered simply and she tilted her head with a smile, curious as to why I chose those words "I figured you out. The reason you won''t say how you get funds for your little brothers and sisters, it''s not because you do shameful things but because you''ve become disgusted at how avaricious you''ve become. You want the little ones to grow up unstained by the world." I said tilting my head back through the window and gazing at the sky.


    Soft sobs and hicks filled the area. Turning back to her I saw her stiff as a board, her head sunk low in her shirt as tears fell down her cheeks. Her fist were also clenched so hard they were trembling "I¡­I¡­ don''t want them to¡­ grow up like me." Xing let out between her cries. "They shouldn''t admire me¡­. To live only for riches¡­ is not living at all!" She all but yelled out that last part "Long Wan! I agree! I will do it! Please¡­ let me become a hero!" she called out while bowing low.


    My heart shook as I saw the poor girl but for her future and the future of the entire city I steeled myself and became stone cold "Before I accept your pledge though know this. When I return from my trip I will have a power that makes Legend ranks seem like new born worms, so mark my words." I teleported next to her, grabbed her throat and slammed her against the wall, not hard mind you but with enough force to make a very good point and snap her out of her wailing. Since I was Silver rank and she wasn''t even Bronze yet there was no chance of her resisting. Before she could even scream I let the Shadow Devil take over me, catching the darkening of the whites of my eyes in a nearby polished metal ornament.


    Xing went from crying to terrified in an instant, trembling like a leaf in the wind within my grasp "If you even dream of betraying me or Glory City, whether you go to the highest heavens or lowest hells, I will find you and I will kill you!" To make my point I pinned her head between two claws while slowly extending the middle one until it almost touched her nose.


    Letting her go, I saw her crumple to the floor in fright. Releasing the transformation and squatting down I looked at her after letting her catch her breath "On the other hand you will be free to do as you please, just so long as you protect the City, it''s freedom and it''s people. If you do I will have no complaints. Do you still want to."


    All the time I was speaking Xing held a hand on her neck, as if not believing my hand was on there a few moments ago. Fear had passed from her look. Right now there was only a mesmerized shocked expression on it "Such strength¡­" she mumbled out before looking at me "Will I become as strong as you are?" she asked in a whispered tone.


    "As I am?" I tilted my head in amus.e.m.e.nt "If it''s the me now, then no¡­" I chuckled seeing her wet puppy response "You will become much stronger. You will become an existence that even Ye Mo will bow down to."


    Her eyes once again widened before she frowned in resolve "Then I still accept!" she said, her full confidence showing.


    Laughing fully I took her hands and raised her to the ground. It was the first time we held hands since the orphanage. Letting her dust herself off I fished out a ring from my own "Sorry about being so rough earlier. Let me make it up to you. In here there is about five million demon spirit coins as well as quite a few high level pills, including Soul Temper Pills and Scarlet Body Enhancing Pill, don''t use them all at once."


    The ring was on her hand with much more speed than even my Nighttime Direwolf could muster "Apology accepted!" She chimed while admiring her new accessory.


    Shaking my head and sighing I moved a bit closer to her "I will also pass on a cultivation technique, so pay attention." Seeing her attentive look I began reciting the Yin-Yang Revolving technique I got weeks ago from Nie Li during class. It was a universal one that worked with nearly all attributes but the downside to that was the cultivation limit, specifically the highest one could cultivate with this technique would be 5-Heavenly Axis. Pretty pathetic when you think about the levels in the Draconic Ruins Realm but unfathomable in the Tiny World.


    I felt her power surge as she quietly recited the technique. She opened her eyes wide in surprise "This technique... Is incredible!" Xing said as she looked at her own hands with disbelief.


    Moving towards the door I replied back to her "When you reach Silver rank come find me and I will teach you a trick to speed up your cultivation." It was too soon for her to learn about the Power of Law. Right now she needed to build her own foundation slowly. Unlike with my brothers, lovers and Ziyun, I had no intention of bringing her to the disciple selection tournament in the Nether realm so she had no need to rush. The fate she agreed to was to become a protector of Glory City or die by my hands. At least, that''s what I hope she understood. I had absolutely no intention to dirty my hands with her blood if she ever defected. As much as I enjoyed hunting, killing humans was something I would do only if strictly necessary.


    As for the rest of the protectors, I had three more people in mind but they would have to wait, first for me to increase my prestige, and second for their leader to grow stronger. It wouldn''t do if Xing didn''t have the power to back up her authority.


    The days passed quickly as I kept to my schedule. There was no TV or internet in this world which meant that all distractions that kept me so unproductive in my old world didn''t play interference here. This resulted in me having no other things to do all day than train, study or cultivate. I had also moved forward with my project, commissioning several iron workshops to produce some specific items that were part of the overall master plan. Meanwhile, my cultivation grew to 3 star Silver thanks to a combination my own talents, the Power of Law and an overall limitless quantity of high end pills.


    My physical strength however took a big leap as Nie Li told me I was easily 5-star Silver and would take a little more to reach Gold. In fact, he was ''only'' 4-star Silver as he at first used the breathing method of the Heavenly God technique and actual physical training separately. When I told him I got used to using them together he nearly broke a tree in half hitting his head on it repeatedly, every hit being accentuated with a ''Stupid, stupid, stupid¡­''. Since then he used them together as well. He also told me that he''s jealous on how easily I adapt what''s available to me to make it more useful. But to me it sounded a little like he was farting out of his mouth since it took me nearly a week to be able to use the breathing technique while training and he just started doing it immediately after learning about it.


    The free days were spent with either one or both girls. Visiting shops and restaurants with Lanruo, small spars in the Hunting Grounds with Ning''er. All three of us even held a picnic in the same area. During this time Lanruo reached 5 star Silver rank and Ning''er kept up with me, being 3-star Silver as well. Also, the girls grew closer, becoming sisters in all but blood. Still, Ning''er couldn''t come to terms with sharing me. Since she was still bound to Shen Fei and the fate of her family, her heart just wouldn''t accept me having some other girl officially before her. Thankfully Lanruo understood and accepted waiting for her. This was her lil'' sis Ning''er and whatever made her happy was worth it in Lanruo''s eyes, or so I''ve been told by her. However Lanruo''s competitive nature wouldn''t let that slide and so she said she wanted to be the first to give me an heir, and nearly killed me when she declared it as at that moment I was enjoying some of Ning''er''s delicious home made picnic food. It took Lanruo doing a Hindlick maneuver to save me. Did I say it right?


    Finally I woke up one day and stretched. I used a bowl made from demon beast ivory and inscribed with the Scarlet Sunburst pattern to heat some water and washed my face with it. Nie Li wasn''t kidding when he said this ''creation'' of the Sacred family could be used to boil water. It was simple to learn yet it provided such convenience in life. If the Sacred family had been decent people they could''ve had so many opportunities for fortune. Shame¡­


    Taking out some breakfast I had bought the night before I sat down and ate it, always rejoicing that time in the ring moved so much slower. Boiling food left in the ring in the night was still very hot when taking it out the next morning. Due to my schedule I resorted to paying the institute eating hall head to prepare separate meals for me for pick-up after my last physical training which they thankfully agreed to. The fact that I offered them their five times their yearly salary up front might have tipped their disposition in my favor. I loved being stinking rich.


    Speaking about richness, I had to buy more rings as I received a large part of my dues from the Alchemy Association. Looking at my funds I now had well over one billion four hundred million demon spirit coins in my ring right now, not counting the virtually limitless quantity of expensive pills. Technically, I was richer than most noble houses but still beneath the major families. Well, for one person''s fortune I can''t complain. During the free days I also asked Yang Xin to build a relationship with the Heavenly Marks family. The Sacred Family had started making moves towards suppression and already managed to attract an important ally of the Heavenly Marks family away from them. However, as soon as the Association appeared and offered a trade deal all others who were swaying away quickly turned chicken and ignored the Sacred Family. Well, it was in Yang Xin''s plan to secure a good standing with Nie Li''s family anyway. Me asking her served more of a reminder.


    Strictly speaking, the Association was now the most powerful political entity, since Linjian managed to ally his house with the Association due to both Nie Li''s support as well as my own. The City Lord and the Snow Wind family was still in control but only because of that legendary old fart Ye Mo. Speaking of that walking fossil, Ziyun never brought up my distaste for him as she told me she would in Kong Ming''s tomb. Girls really are fickle creatures¡­ She did reach 2-star Silver after Nie Li taught her about the Law of Snow-Wind. Her cheeks puffed out and were cute like a chipmunk''s when she learned that Ning''er was 3-star.


    After eating I went to the Hunting Grounds to do my rounds. At this point I had gotten used to the forcefield so much I didn''t even feel it anymore. In fact it felt funny each time I had to take it off in one of the rare all-out spars with Nie Li, evident by the many imprints my face left on the ground and tree bark as my mind readjusted to my body''s speed.


    That wouldn''t do for tomorrow''s test. I had no intention of making an a.s.s of myself so I deactivated the field intending to keep it off until after graduation. The feeling was funny but not unwelcome as I did my rounds, and a short while later my body once again moved as my mind wanted it to.


    Finishing my routine earlier due to the increased abilities I had once the field was off I went to a nearby rock intending to test myself. The rock was as big as a regular sedan and I threw a casual punch. The rock shattered at the point of contact and it split in two down the middle. Well, f.u.c.k. Not that I''m unhappy with this but the test tomorrow implied hitting a big rock and leaving a dent. The teachers then measure the dent and determine the physical strength. If a casual punch exploded it, then I''ll need to hold back even more otherwise there will be shrapnel flying everywhere.


    Such is the life of the superhumans...


    The next day found me at the Holy Orchid institute testing grounds together with the gang. Since we were all staying at the dorms we got up at the same time and decided to walk together there.


    "Nervous?" I asked Du Ze with a smirk.


    He shook his head "Thanks to you and Nie Li I''ve reached Silver rank a week ago and your help lessened most of the burden on my family. Which reminds me, my sisters returned with their husbands and children to the family lands and asked me to invite you over as soon as I see you." he smiled at me.


    "It''s an honor. I''m mostly free during this vacation period so how about I join you when you return home?" I replied.


    He lightly cupped his hands at me in acceptance "Certainly!"


    Maybe I''ll visit all of them this summer. Since everyone is returning home it would be much too lonely otherwise.


    "Long Wan, you should come visit my home as well! Mother makes the best kung-pao chicken in the City." Wei Nan extended his invitation and I nodded both to accept and thank him.


    The rest of the gang were chatting between themselves so they weren''t paying attention. Knowing them, had they heard our conversation they would be offering their own invitations as well. Good brothers!


    Suddenly two heavenly voices called out to us "Long Wan!/Nie Li!" and we both turned to see Ning''er and Ziyun walking briskly towards us.


    "And how are the lovely ladies today?" I asked as I stared in Ning''er''s eyes. Damn do those lips look extra tasty today.


    Ning''er smiled affectionately and brushed a hair over her ear "The day is much better now that I see you." she whispered in a hushed tone.


    Nodding, I smiled wider as I replied "Truly the same."


    My little storm dove turned a bit to my right "Nie Li, I heard from my father that the Sacred Family has been putting pressure on the Heavenly Marks family''s finances." she said with worry.


    This got me chuckling "It''s been taken care of." I said and she turned to me with surprise which greatly softened once she remembered just who she was dealing with "I had a chat with big sis Yang Xin and had her secure relations with the family."


    Even Nie Li was surprised as he whipped his head at me "When did you manage to do that?"


    I shrugged "Around the time you were teaching Ziyun the Law of Blizzard. It''s not hard to anticipate the Sacred Family. They can''t go directly at us so they try to starve us indirectly. Honestly, they''re pathetic." I replied chuckling.


    "There are only two people crazy enough call a major family ''pathetic'' and they''re currently standing next to me." Zhang Ming said to no-one in particular causing Lu Piao and the girls to chuckle.


    Ziyun was then called over by some girls. Seeing this, Ning''er took a step in her direction wanting to join her when suddenly the hair on the back of my neck stood up and a disgusting feeling came to me from my void sense. If I were to compare it I would say it was about ten times worse than someone wiping u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r that hasn''t been washed in over a month on your face, and I knew exactly who this was...


    Reaching out with lightning fast speed I grabbed Ning''er''s hand "Please don''t leave yet. I haven''t spoken to uncle Yunfeng in a while. How is he doing?" I said with a mischievous smile.


    Ning''er looked at me with curiosity. That curiosity soon turned to terror as blood drained from her face when she heard that satanic voice...


    "Long Wan, let go!" mister unwashed u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r Shen Fei called out from a few paces away before he launched himself intending to bury his fist in my face, soul force radiating outward.


    To me however, he might as well be standing still. By my estimates he was currently 3-star Silver rank, which was the same as me. However the density of our soul force was vastly different. As my technique had some roots in the Heavenly God technique, it meant that I could pack much more power in the same amount of space in my soul ocean, which in turn resulted in my 3-star Silver to be equivalent to at least 1-star Gold. This was in the spiritual side.


    In the physical side however, I doubt that this candytuft was even 1-star Silver while I was bordering Gold rank. As a result I just slapped his right handed punch towards his left as I sidestepped to the other side. This ended up being something as unexpected as it was funny. His punch was sent rotating in the air until it landed on his own cheek and that sent him tumbling on the ground.


    Shen Fei then landed face up spread eagle on the ground. He stood there surrounded by complete silence as nobody understood what was going on. When he went rolling you could hear everyone''s collective assholes being s.u.c.k.e.d in due to shock. Even I blinked in stunned wonder at the incredibly stupid situation he managed to get himself into. My mouth fell open but I could feel my cheeks straining from the shit eating smile that forced itself on me. I have been waiting for this moment for weeks.


    Well to be honest, I had indeed planned to sidestep and trip him, giving his face a grade one encounter with the dirt. Unfortunately I underestimated my strength (or overestimated his) and ended up causing him to punch himself with his own hand. Though I couldn''t argue that this result was so. much. more. satisfying!


    The first student began giggling, a girl by the sound of it, immediately followed by the next. Another one after that and so on. In no more than three seconds nearly the entire schoolyard was laughing in one way or another. Shen Fei must''ve finally realized that he was the clown and I guess he got upset. I could swear I saw the dirt smoking next to him. If I''m not mistaken, his demon spirit is a 1 star Black Gold flame type tiger. Though considering his level and overall lackadaisical attitude I doubt he could bring out more than a quarter of it''s power.


    Still, transforming and attacking someone outside of a duel or self defense was a serious crime in Glory City and I could see him struggling between his emotions and his logic. His cronies however helped calm him down. Raising a finger at me he yelled out "You! Long Wan! You dare attack me, Shen Fei?!"


    I really, really, REALLY wanted to rip that finger from his hand and shove it where the sun don''t shine but I calmed down. Not yet¡­When we fight I will shove my shoe so far up your a.s.s you''ll have toes for teeth "HAAA?!" I grunted out, like some kind of Japanese biker gang banch¨® "Did that fall hit you so hard that you''re having hallucinations?


    Whispers started filling the air.


    "Long Wan is correct."


    "Yeah, he only sidestepped. Shen Fei hit himself then tripped."


    "Accusing others of your own doing¡­ Despicable!"


    "First Shen Yue now Shen Fei, does the Sacred family know no shame?"


    "How does he still have face?" (dignity)


    The murmurs continued with Shen Fei becoming redder and redder, his mouth wide open from the turn of events.


    Nie Li began talking while transmitting his voice so that only I could hear him "You were too fast for most students here. Other than our group, nobody could see you slap his hand into his face." he chuckled.


    So that was it! I only wanted to piss him off but this was a most fortunate happening.


    "Shen Fei!" Ning''er called out "You attacked Long Wan first so how dare you point fingers!?" Even her boiling point must''ve hit critical values. No doubt she wanted to put him in his place a long time ago.


    He grit his teeth so hard they made an audible screeching sound "Ning''er you''ve grown bold to speak to me, your fianc¨¦ like that. Don''t forget that my Sacred family still holds the fate of the Winged Dragon family in their hands." he growled out, a smirk showing just how much pride he had in his clan name.


    Ning''er''s eyes went wide and her body posture became slightly defensive. Oh no you f.u.c.k.i.n.g don''t! Stepping in-between them I stared him down "You attack me, throw false accusations and now you chose to threaten a girl? Is this the true face of the Sacred family?!" my voice was neither gentle nor soft. I boomed out word after word, daring him to attack.


    Unfortunately for me it looked like he still hadn''t brothel''d his last neuron. He flashed that annoying smirk of his and my foot itched for me to kick his teeth "Long Wan, how about this? My family is organizing this year''s young talent tournament. Do you dare face me there?"


    Hell yea motherf.u.c.ker! I felt like I got old while waiting for you to invite me "Yes. I will be there." I answered, voice so flat you could use it as an airstrip. The reason why I spoke so monotone was because I couldn''t trust myself not to jump out in excitement. Nie Li was too soft on you in the novel. I will bait that family of yours and leave you poorer than you''ve been in a very long time. "Though I do have a condition." I said as I pointed at Nie Li "He gets invited as well."


    Shen Fei frowned and looked at Nie Li before he once again smirked and nodded "That''s fine. I heard how the both of you had damaged my Sacred family''s reputation recently. Let''s settle all grudges there." he spoke and then did the air a favor and f.u.c.k.e.d off.


    I let out a breath I didn''t know I was holding.


    "Nervous?" smirked Lu Piao while tapping me in the c.h.e.s.t.


    I shook my head "Neah, it''s just that I can finally breathe through my nose again now that the stinking corpse is gone." Came my reply while waving my hand in front of my nose.


    Du Ze sighed "Though I agree with you that the air is now better, I need to point out that Shen Fei didn''t smell like a corpse."


    The idea of what I would do to him in the tournament made my mouth once again strain my cheeks "He doesn''t. Not yet at least¡­" I hummed darkly.


    I felt everyone except Nie Li shiver at my words with the said ginger only mimicking my smile. "Why did you insist he invite me as well?" he asked, though you can tell he did it just to avoid the silence. You could tell from his eyes that he already had a good idea why I did so.


    I nodded and smiled at him "Reasons." I answered cheerily and cryptically. "One of which being that if you show some of what you can do in the tournament you will receive protection from the City Lord. This also means getting closer to Ziyun." I saw his eyes metaphorically sparkle. Kind of cute and gross at the same time.


    Ning''er chuckled a bit at his antics before she too was called over by some girls so I reluctantly waved her off.


    The rest of our conversations were then cut short as the teachers arrived and we moved closer to the testing area. Vice principal Ye Sheng and his lackey Lu Ye took their seats on the balcony overlooking the testing grounds. Meanwhile, from a nearby entrance came the queen bitch Shen Xiu herself with little Shit Yue at her side. Seeing us, or better said seeing me she came forward until her t.i.t.s were shading me.


    "Are you ready you little brat?" she provoked me, her t.i.t.s bouncing up and down as she puffed her c.h.e.s.t out proudly.


    A devious smirk overtook me "Do you remember our bet?" I''m not particularly interested in you quitting teaching but that uncontestable favor would be critical to my plans to get a piece of that a.s.s.


    She lifted a hand to her face and pretended to laugh daintily but only managed to bark out a gargle "Of course. If you fail to reach Silver rank, you become my slave." she snarled with a smile.


    Raising an eyebrow I looked at her in silence for a second "And the second part?"


    Shen Xiu hmphed and waved her hand "And if the impossible happens and you managed to reach Silver rank then I will leave the institute and owe you a favor that I can''t deny regardless of what is asked...". Her tone was bored, treating it as a waste of her precious breath. Too bad she viewed it as such since she should treasure what time she has speaking like that. Soon enough that mouth will only be used to scream, m.o.a.n and suck my d.i.c.k. And maybe a few other creative ideas I would have, hehe.


    Nodding I smiled at her "I, Long Wan, will always do everything I can to keep my word and hope that teacher Shen Xiu honors her side of the deal."


    "Yes, yes¡­" she waved me off and then moved away.


    Du Ze looked at me curiously. He knew I was already 3-star Silver so he had no reason to worry Shen Xiu will win "What do you want her to do after you win?" he asked.


    Putting a finger on my chin and summoning the most innocent expression I could muster I turned to him "I just want to know if she has a real stick up her ass¡­" I said and Du Ze turned three shades of red at my words. The rest of the gang of brothers just laughed. What I said was true though as a stick would hurt my peepee.


    "Alright! Who''s first?" the boulder supervising teacher called out. However, nobody felt the need to break the ice.


    That is until little Shit Yue stepped forward and rolled his shoulders "I''ll do it!" he said proudly before stepping forward at the rock and taking a stance. "HA!" he yelled out and punched the stone, a resounding bang flowing through the courtyard.


    The teacher bent forward to examine the dent. From my position I could tell that it was pathetic. I could leave a bigger dent by farting, true story. Only the last week I went through two beds and four straw mattresses. To pass a.s.s gas was a morning p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e I would never give up on. Never! "Shen Yue, strength 182. 1-star Bronze!" the teacher called out.


    Whispers starting forming already calling Shit Yue a genius. Pfff¡­.


    The little bastard took aim again and punched the obelisk in a lower spot. "Second attempt, strength 202. 2-star Bronze!"


    Well that was unexpected. In my memories he never went past 1-star Bronze. Did he see me manhandle his men and pushed himself more than in the novel? How adorable! It''s still pathetic though¡­


    Finally he dug his heels in the ground and launched himself forward entirely "Final attempt, strength 208. 2-star Bronze!"


    Impressive. Even though I hated the little f.u.c.ker I had to admit that he was tenacious. He had a proud smirk on his face as he moved to the soul force testing area. I don''t know what he was proud about though. That was my level when I made him piss his pants and it took him so long to get to it. Even Lu Piao could do better in his sleep. Shit Yue finally reached the large primary crystal and put his hand on it.


    The supervising teacher number two straightened his glasses as he read the glow "194¡­ 199¡­ 217. Shen Yue, soul force 217. 2-star Bronze rank!" And with that the whispered praises got louder and more numerous. Even I threw a thumbs up at him with a ''not bad'' expression, though I did so mockingly. He glared at me before doing a Shen Xiu and hmph-ing away.


    "Who''s next?" the strength teacher called out. Lu Piao wanted to go first but the Zhang Ming and Zhu Xiangjun also wanted a piece so they started arguing.


    Sighing I turned to them "Wei Nan should go first." My voice came out in a grumble. I really had forgotten how annoying kids could be, though I was one now too so I shouldn''t diss myself¡­


    "Why?" complained all three troublemakers.


    Summoning my inner a.d.u.l.t I looked at them with a look that promised pure pain "Because I said so. Do you three disagree?" my smile was sickeningly sweet, so much so that they gulped and shook their heads at the same time. "Good. Wei Nan, you''re up!"


    He followed my instructions and went up to the rock and threw a half-hearted punch. BOOM! "Wei Nan, strength 321. 3-star B-Bronze!" the teacher stuttered out.


    "And he looked like he wasn''t even trying¡­" one whisper came from the crowd followed by more comments of surprise.


    Meanwhile, my brother aimed another punch this time dropping into a horse stance "S-second attempt, strength 4-409. 4-star Bronze!". As the teacher called out I saw Ye Sheng and Lu Ye jump out of their seats. Unfortunately their whispers got muffled by the crowd going wild with discussions.


    Finally, Wei Nan tensed his back and threw his last punch "Final a-attempt, strength 467. 4-star Bronze!"


    Everyone gave him plenty of space as he moved to the crystal and placed his hand on it "397¡­445¡­ 466. Wei Nan, soul force 466. 4-star Bronze rank!"


    By the time he took his hand off the whispers had all but died down and everyone moved away in silent shock as he made to return to us. Seems that the addition of training weights and Power of Law pushed passed his record in the novel.


    "W-who''s next?" the teacher once again called.


    This time it was Lu Piao who went forward and flicked his wrist at the stone. KA-BOOM! "Lu Piao, s-s-strength 521. 5-star Bronze!"


    I heard a loud ''WHAT?!" in Shen Xiu''s voice and my smile went through the roof.


    A second explosion filled the area "Second attempt, strength 590. 5-Star Bronze!" Hopefully that teacher didn''t faint before I got my chance.


    Lu Piao meanwhile cracked his neck and threw his strike "Lu Piao final attempt, strength 602. 1-star Silver Rank!"


    It wasn''t the teacher but some nobles did faint seeing this. Lu Piao set the bar way too high for them but the lovable knucklehead ignored all of it and went to place his hand on the crystal. A purple blobby mass with red outlines filled the crystal as the teacher started reading "400, 500, 600¡­" finally ''BOOM!!!''


    Though I diss him often, I don''t mean it and he knows it. Truthfully, since revealing that the Sacred Family has been collaborating with the Dark Guild he has been working relatively hard, by his standards anyway. But that can only go so far with his goldfish attention span. However, his shortcomings are more than covered by his big heart as well as his cultivation talent. Frankly speaking regarding the later, he was the most gifted between us when it came to cultivation speed. Du Ze probably put at least twice more effort than him but they were pretty much evenly matched.


    Still though, the lazy bastard actually did it. He exploded the crystal. He just stood there looking proud as he can be and blowing kisses to some girls. He was soon forced to leave the stage however, with the promise that some elders would test his force later. They also brought in a spare crystal. It was smaller, about the size of a cheap microwave oven but still bigger than the portable ones.


    Soon enough the rest of the inseparable trio went forward with Zhang Ming scoring 429 physically and 457 spiritually, and Zhu Xiangjun getting a 452 strength and 417 soul force.


    They both rejoiced until Du Ze stepped forward "I''ll be next." he said calmly and Lu Piao g.r.o.a.n.e.d. Can''t see the reason why he did so but I guess there is that playful rivalry they have. Anyways, Du Ze stepped forward until he reached the testing stone. He took a low stance and launched his knuckle tipped missile at the rock face...


    Even I was slightly stunned as he not only managed to lodge his hand up to his wrist but actually managed to split the five meter thick, three ton slab of what looked like granite it in half.


    "Du Ze, strength indeterminable, at least 1-star Silver..." the teacher mumbled out, not really managing to speak as if all water had evaporated from his throat. Once again, the testing was deferred to the seniors of the institute.


    "Could the rock have been faulty?" asked one student in a whisper.


    "Nonsense! My uncle told me that all testing equipment is checked by at least three teachers in advance. They don''t toy with the students'' futures."


    I ignored the rest as Du Ze went on to explode the crystal, though he had the decency to use his own and leave the academy one intact.


    Turning to Nie Li I asked "Can you go first?"


    "Hmm?" he responded, his expression telling me he was wondering why he should.


    Grinning murderously I replied "Let Shen Xiu boil a little more on the inside."


    He laughed and stepped forward to test himself. They decided that, even though the stone was split almost cleanly in the middle, the two sides were still eligible for strikes. Nie Li just stood there without taking a stance and threw what looked like a lackl.u.s.ter punch. That was what I suspect the crowd would think anyway. For me, the one who sparred with him regularly I knew the sheer force that simple strike could carry. The way his back muscles moved and tensed channeled immense power to the arm.


    The next moment Nie Li''s arm was buried up to his elbow in the stone and when he removed it you could see light from the other side. Unlike Du Ze who''s strike split the rock, Nie Li''s pierced it, a perfect penetrating strike that didn''t waste any energy.


    "Nie Li, strength indeterminable. At least 1-star Silver..." the teacher tiredly g.r.o.a.n.e.d out. And just like that Nie Li moved to the soul force testing area and fished out his own crystal. "100... 200... 387. Nie Li, soul force 387. 3-star Bronze rank!"


    The crowd let out a disappointed holler. Compared the rest of the gang he hanged out with this was quite weak. Even I was surprised. Was he still hiding his power? Straining my eyes at him I nearly burst out laughing when I realize what had happened.


    "Eh? What''s going on? Nie Li was Silver rank weeks ago. Why is he now Bronze?" Lu Piao asked in shock.


    My laugh escaped the confines of my lungs "Because that teacher is either blind or a dumbass..." I hummed.


    In the testing area Nie Li brought his crystal forward and said "Teacher, that''s wrong, please look again!"


    The bespectacled teacher fixed his glasses and looked at the shining center again "Hmmm... No, it''s 387."


    "Look closer." Nie Li said as he pushed even more towards the teacher''s face.


    The teacher squinted his eyes before they went up in shock "It''s... It''s an Intermediary Soul Crystal!" he shouted out before looking at Nie Li who flashed his million watt grin "You''re 3-star Silver!" Intermediary soul crystals worked just like primary ones only the points represented the equivalent of six points in a primary one. That means that Nie Li''s actual soul force was 2322. It was a stupid mistake but an understandable one.


    Up on the balcony Ye Sheng began coughing up a storm. I can''t blame him. From what I understood this was both record breaking and record setting. According to the history books even Ye Mo was only 3-star bronze when he was a student. 3-star Silver was unheard of ever since Glory City was founded.


    Finally it was my turn to go and give them subjects to write legends of, not before throwing one eye to Shen Xiu who was sweating up bullets but still putting on a brave front. I lifted my hand and flicked my pinkie at the rock half that was still intact. The shockwave reverberated in the stone and left a ten centimeter dent at the point of impact.


    "Long Wan, s-strength 378. 3-star Bronze!" the teacher called out before turning to me "Y-you have two more attempts. Please take this seriously." he admonished but you could see him struggling for words.


    I took aim again, this time using my index finger. Another resounding explosion filled the area as I left an even bigger indent "Second attempt, strength 431. 4-Star Bronze!"


    For my last and final attempt I simply put the back of my fist next to the stone and flipped it the bird. "Third attempt, strength 605. 1-star Silver!" the supervisor called out before frowning at me and whispering "Why didn''t you show your true strength?"


    My grin widened "I didn''t feel like damaging the institute property¡­" Had I punched the thing to smithereens, there would be pieces of rock embedded in the walls behind it.


    With that done and over I moved to the testing crystal, taking my sweet time debating if I should use my own or just do it with theirs.


    "Long Wan, stop stalling and get to it!" Shen Xiu called out impatiently in a way that just ticked me off immensely. Fine, if that''s how you want to play it¡­


    Reaching the spare crystal I put my hand on it and it began to glow softly orange. During the training period I had figured out how to limit my soul force as Nie Li did in the novel. It was the same process that was used to merge with demon spirits, specifically locking your soul realm. Normally you would either have to be Silver rank in order to have the necessary soul realm stability or have a very m.a.t.u.r.e soul. Thankfully I had both.


    "200¡­274¡­287. Long Wan! Soul force 287. 2-star Bronze!" the supervisor called out, a little disappointment in his voice. He had taken cover seeing me come in, perhaps due to the recent experience of high level fighters also shattering crystals.


    Shen Xiu started laughing loudly, accompanied by that little hell spawn of a nephew of hers "Long Wan, with this you are not only to leave the institute but become the Sacred family''s property!"


    My hand stayed glued to the crystal though and it continued to emit the dull shine "Student, the test is over. You can leave!" the supervisor called out in mild annoyance but I ignored him and turned to the laughing redhead, teeth showing in a murderous grin.


    "Don''t count your chickens before their hatched ''bitch''!" I called out halting her annoying barks, though that last word was only in my mind, releasing the floodgates on my soul realm just as she took a step forward and was about to come over to try and punish me for talking back to my new ''master''.


    The crystal began shining brighter and brighter as the supervisor clutched his glasses "400¡­500¡­600" he called out before the mass of formless blobs that lit the inside of the crystal condensed into one tentacled abomination of pure darkness that reformed then into a black dragons head. With a soul shattering roar the crystal became nothing in a violent explosion of void energy. Immediately after exploding the void mist consumed every little piece of demon quartz so not even scraps remained.


    Shen Xiu stood there petrified as I walked closer and closer, tendrils wiggling on my back like the dark archangel. Throwing a glance at Ning''er I saw that she had a look on her face that reminded me of that one nympho that I dated for a while and eventually cheated on me because she wanted to sample more d.i.c.ks. Not saying that Ning''er would do that though. What I''m calling out is that ''come over my parents aren''t home'' look. The look that girls give you when they would rather burn your clothes off and ride you from dusk to dawn. Even girls get horny, they''re just better at hiding their boners.


    The tendrils retracted as I walled past the stunned Shen Xiu, smirking all the way. "I''ll call that favor later. Meanwhile, you have a resignation to discuss with the principal." I hummed out as I passed her, not bothering with her reactions.

 Chapter 9 - 6: The master and the beast

    I didn''t realize it at that time but it was quite fortunate that I chose to use the school crystal. When I exploded it my Black Dragon''s Maw consumed it and any remaining energies inside it. It wasn''t much but there were still years worth of soul force lingering inside it from testing. It were those energies that clouded the crystals when more people used the same one.


    As a result I felt my soul realm pulse and crack, ready to shed the shell of 3-star Silver and advance to 4-star. A little more cultivation tonight and I will be one step closer to pulverizing Shen Fei and f.u.c.k.i.n.g Shen Xiu. Speaking of that last part, I need to make preparations since you can''t exactly sneak in living toys in the institute dorms. This calls for some real estate shopping with some ''Nie Li''-ing on the side. But I will have time for that later. Hmm, maybe I''ll also ask director Yang to help me get some good property near the Winged Dragon courtyard. Though this will be for when I return from the Du household I''m visiting tomorrow with Du Ze.


    The next day I was at the library with Nie Li, reading our acceptance letter to the Genius Class. What''s more both of us, as well as Du Ze and Lu Piao were to receive special privileges beyond this, the most important of which was that we would get a high calibre personal master of at least Black Gold rank. Even Ye Mo would be offered the opportunity to train us. Hmph, more like one of us would teach him. I bet he would he would cutoff a finger to grasp how to cultivate the Power of Law. Ning''er and Ziyun declined a master though as they both had plenty of resources to help them progress, and two excellent teachers on the side (Nie Li and yours truly).


    It didn''t take long for the rest of the crew to come join us, each one brandishing their own letters. Smiling to them, I put mine in my ring.


    "Will you two also get private tutors?" Du Ze asked softly, more of a conversation opener than an actual question since it was written in all our letters who will be receiving one.


    Nie Li and I nodded before I continued "It was to be expected. To be honest, I''m not looking forward to it. The master is sure to be nosy about the secret of our group and I wouldn''t trust them so easily. With the exception of Ye Mo, the City Lord and his entourage, there is no way to know for sure who is in the Sacred Family''s sleeve." Ancient Chinese garments had wide sleeves with pockets inside.


    Du Ze nodded "Regardless, I doubt anyone can teach anything even half as useful as you and Nie Li did."


    I felt my cheeks heat up at the praise but I waved it off "Then again, borrowing some of the master''s influence would be beneficial, especially that geezer Ye Mo''s."


    "Long Wan!" Ziyun struck her foot down with enough force to cause the floor to creak "You''ve done this before! What is it that you have against my grandfather?" She huffed, arms crossing in front of her budding mammaries.


    My eyebrow rose in curious defiance. To be completely honest, most of my disrespect came from the fact that he was the leading authority in Glory City, and I hated authority that wasn''t my own. Tough there were also other reasons ..


    "Where is he now?" I asked. Best way to face off against accusations is with questions. Never fully expose your own thoughts but try to make your opponent question theirs.


    Her eyes widened in surprise "He''s outside the City walls, killing demon beasts that could threaten us."


    False. By now he should be exploring the relatively safe Nether Realm "So you''ve seen him bring back materials from the dead beasts each time? I mean, the bones, hair and skin of beasts strong enough to need his intervention are very valuable so he must have a wealth of them each time. Those could be used to make a lot of armor for the city''s demon spiritualists, helping to save lives."


    She looked at me with surprise but kept her mouth shut. My guess is that he either never brought back any materials or the Snow Wind family hoarded them instead of equipping the warriors.


    "Let me change the question: Why is he, the only Legend rank expert this city has, not in the city protecting it? Or why isn''t he training an apprentice?" In Nie Li''s passed life the city was swarmed by a hundred million demon beast hoard led by Legend rank beasts. Ye Mo took little to no steps to ensure that the future generations would protect the city, only enjoying his retirement by exploring outside the city and leaving Ziyun''s father, Ye Zzong (pronounced as the ''zz'' in pizza) as City Lord. He could''ve at least taken note of a few talented individuals like Ning''er, Lanruo or Linjian and, with his knowledge and finances, could''ve easily had them raise their strength even faster.


    Ziyun started stuttering a bit "G-grandfather''s activities outside of the city are too dangerous. An apprentice w-would be too much at risk." Doubt filled her voice as my words probably bit into her harder than she expected. A.d.u.l.ts are complicated and not fun at all Ziyun, you really need to learn how to stick by your convictions more fervently if you wish to grow up.


    My hand motioned to her, palm up "You just made my point. The city''s only Legend rank should stay close to it at all times, at least until another Legend rank is born. If I''m not mistaken, he gained the position of City Lord when he was already 1-star Legend. Don''t you think he''s gone a little too far by leaving your father to care not only for guarding the city but also for the administration? When would Ye Zzong find time to properly cultivate?"


    ''He''s a hypocrite.'' Is what I wanted to say the most. What I hated him the most for was that he left Ziyun alone in a big house while knowing how lonely it would be.


    Ziyun leaned forward towards me "That''s lord father''s duty! He took on the responsibilities willingly."


    I tilted my head "This discussion wasn''t about the City Lord, but about your esteemed grandfather."


    "You!" she huffed, cheeks getting flush from anger and her eyes wetting a little.


    Raising my hands in surrender I sighed "Fine. Perhaps I don''t know the entire story so I am in the wrong!"


    "You are?" both Lu Piao as well as Wei Nan said in surprised unison.


    Shrugging I pointed to my left where a smiling Nie Li had crushed a pen in his hand. Pretty much the same reaction I would have if he''d done the same to Ning''er...


    The City Lord''s little girl growled cutely at him "Nie Li, you stay out of this!"


    The redhead mirrored my actions and raised his hands in surrender while looking away and pouting.


    Ziyun huffed twice to gain control of her emotions "Long Wan, I know my grandfather isn''t perfect but he is doing a lot of good for Glory City!" she said, her tone much more m.a.t.u.r.e now


    I nodded "I''m not denying that. Nor am I saying he doesn''t deserve your love and trust. All that I''m saying is that he''s yet to do something that actually earns my respect. Putting their life on the line for the helpless is something that every demon spiritualist worth their own good name will eventually go through and he has yet to make any significant contribution to Glory City. Even the hunting grounds was originally the institute principal''s idea. Being Legend rank is special for this city but it''s not enough to gain respect, maybe only admiration. His own true legacy is yet to be seen..."


    Even Ziyun reluctantly nodded. Seems she wasn''t as stubborn as I thought. What really annoyed her I suspect was my delinquent tone when talking about her grandfather. Now that it was shown that there was no hatred behind it she seems to have warmed up to my reasoning.


    "While I deeply admire lord Ye Mo, I can''t fault Long Wan''s thoughts..." Came a supporting voice from Du Ze "Truthfully, I too have yet to hear of any of his accomplishments other than his breaking through to Legend rank. Though that doesn''t imply respect directly, I do recognize his authority."


    Ziyun just hummed in acknowledgement before turning to me "I had the impression that you hated my grandfather. Glad to see that it isn''t the case. I do agree that respecting someone just for their inborn talent isn''t something anyone should do." Hmm, where did this come from? I''m thinking it has something to do with her adopted older brother...


    We couldn''t continue our discussions as Lu Ye appeared from behind a bookshelf. "Ah, there you are. Long Wan and Du Ze. Please follow me, your new teachers are waiting for you." He said and made a gesture to follow him with his hand. "Nie Li and Lu Piao, your teachers are on errands outside the city and will send for you when they return."


    They both nodded and we bid our farewells, after which Du Ze and I followed the teacher.


    "Um, teacher, may I ask who our honorable masters will be?" Du Ze asked politely and even I raised a curious eyebrow.


    Lu Ye smiled "Your master will be Sir Gong Liangshu. As for Long Wan''s, apologies but I''m not at a liberty to tell." he said, a little amus.e.m.e.nt seeping through his teeth.


    My curiosity was peaked and so was my annoyance. I hated people making plans about me without involving me and I hated secrets involving me. But there was little I could do about it now, though I will complain to big sis Yang Xin later. Considering what I planned for the future of Glory City, that expert better be good otherwise there will be hell to pay¡­ Also, I turned to Du Ze "I heard about him. He is one of the top ten experts in the city. A 3-star Black Gold spiritualist that integrated with a Blood Crocodile." I told him and his jaw fell open. He was not expecting a top level expert as a personal teacher.


    "Blood Alligator." Lu Ye corrected.


    I shrugged. From my memories, compared to a Dragon Bloodline from the Draconic Ruins realm, it would be like the difference between a handbag and a dump truck. Not really important enough to care¡­


    We passed through the hallway and moved through the combat area. When we were walking through the middle part of the arena Lu Ye stopped and turned towards me "Your teacher will arrive shortly. Please wait for him here." he said and motioned to Du Ze to follow, who did so after nodding fair well to me.


    Wait for him here?! What the hell was I supposed to do, count the ants? Oh well, I could do with some cultivation. My soul force broke through 4-star Silver last night and should stabilize my soul realm. The Void God part of my Heavenly Void Dragon God technique allowed me increased willpower, which translated to a more innate stability to my realm but some fine tuning was still due.


    I sat down in a seiza as opposed to a lotus position, Long Wan''s natural flexibility allowing me to get away with it. Had I had my legs from Earth, I would be having cramps on top of cramps. However, this position allowed me to respond to any attack much faster than from any other sitting position. At least that''s what I read in a manga (HSDK).


    Chanting the first verse of the Heavenly Void Dragon God technique my soul realm started rotating and the turbulent nature of a fresh breakthrough started calming down, all the time absorbing the surrounding soul force and Power of Law like an insatiable vacuum.


    It didn''t take long for me to feel a disturbance at the edge of my void sense. Suddenly that disturbance shot off like a lightning bolt heading straight towards me. I ducked and rolled a split second before it made contact and threw a knife I had summoned from ring.


    The intruder caught it and pushed me to the ground with the knife pressed against the s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e skin of my throat.


    "You''re dead." The figure said with a blank voice.


    I smirked as the knife edge was instantly eaten away courtesy of my void mass, making the attacker flinch for a bit. This was an opening I needed as I wrapped some tendrils around his legs and pulled him towards me. Before he could fall on me I teleported behind him and buried my knee into his spine while pulling him by the hair with my left arm. Meanwhile my right had formed into a sharp and deadly void spiral not unlike the one I made Shen Yue piss himself with. I pressed this at the base of his skull and drew a little blood.


    Being Nie Li''s punching bag for all this time taught me a few tricks. Comparatively, this guy might as well had written his plan on the walls.


    The man was silent for a while before chuckling "Nice moves. You pass!" He said before exploding his soul force outwards and blowing me away. I rolled in the air and landed on my feet like a cat. Did I mention how nice it is to have a body that moves how your mind wants it to?


    The man got up and dusted himself before turning to me. That''s when I finally got a good look at him and my jaw hit the ground "Sir Ye Shuo?!" I said with surprise "Wait! You were testing me?"


    "You catch on fast." He said with a grandfatherly smile. Well f.u.c.k.i.n.g duh! Even Nie Li wouldn''t be left alive if Ye Shuo went for the kill, much less me. Maybe if I was Gold rank I would stand a chance but 3-star Silver may just as well be 3-star Shitver.


    "So, I guess sir Ye Shuo is the one I was waiting for." I said, surprise washing away my annoyance.


    "Mhmm..." He smiled, though there was something deep hidden behind it. "I am happy to not have wasted time explaining things."


    I shrugged. This was pretty normal in this world and I had lived though crazier shit than this. Still though, to have the top spymaster of Glory City as my personal teacher is something I didn''t quite expect.


    "Good, good." he hummed "The less time I have to waste explaining, the more time you will have to learn what I teach."


    That was a point I couldn''t argue with. Then again, it did bring some curiosity to my mind "What will you be teaching me?"


    "What would you like to learn?" he asked, his eyebrow raised as if analyzing me.


    I cupped my chin in thought. He couldn''t teach me anything regarding cultivation that I didn''t already know and he sure as hell couldn''t match up to Nie Li in the martial arts domain. "Well, some fencing and swordplay would be nice." I wanted to learn some sword moves. While a spear would''ve been advantageous, a sword was more of a symbol in this world and knowing how to carry one often meant the difference between a fighter and an amateur.


    He nodded "That can be arranged. What else?" Ye Shuo hummed, a little amused at my answers.


    Let''s see, what should be this guy''s field of expertise? Of course! "It would be most useful to me to learn some evasion and intelligence gathering." Basically some GTFO tactics and spying.


    Ye Shuo showed a surprised expression "Wouldn''t you rather learn some advanced cultivation techniques or some other martial arts?" he said, once again amus.e.m.e.nt escaping his otherwise monotone voice.


    Shaking my head I responded seriously "With all due respect, I don''t believe there is anything you can teach in that regard that can surpass what I already can do."


    He frowned "Such arrogance. Confidence is admirable but letting it get to your head will get you killed." he said, a little soul force escaping outwards. It seems he took it as an insult. Well, to be fair, whenever people say ''with all due respect'' it usually means ''kiss my ass''.


    Sighing, I raised my hands to placate him "As you know I am already Silver rank so that means my cultivation is already at it''s peak. Not only that, I have also begun harnessing the Power of Law."


    Even for the top spy of the city, this was too much to take as his carefully guarded expression dropped momentarily as his jaw hit became unhinged "Y-you know about the Power of Law?!" As a high level expert under Ye Mo and Ye Zzong, as well as the chief intelligence officer, there was no way he didn''t know about the Power of Law. "Which Law?"


    "Darkness and Space-Time. But I also have knowledge about the Laws of Light, Fire, Primal Chaos and Lightning." I admitted, listing off Laws by raising a finger for each.


    Ye Shuo shook his head slowly, muttering something along the lines of ''This brat is incredible¡­''. He then went over to a nearby wall and rested his back on it "How many people know this?" he said, his face turning to what will be known from now on as business mode.


    I sat down lotus style on the ground "Not very many, and all of them are people I''d trust with my life." My gaze rose up to meet his "And that includes you now too shifu!"


    He looked at me with surprise in his eyes before bursting out in a hearty laugh. When he calmed down he looked at me and smirked "You''re quick to trust. That''s quite dangerous." he chided.


    I shook my head "On the contrary. If I didn''t know you, I wouldn''t trust you as far as I could throw you. But you are the person the City Lord as well as Lord Ye Mo trusts with the most dangerous knowledge of Glory City. At the same time you protected me and my friends from the Sacred Family all this time." it was the only explanation in the novel as well as this timeline as to why the Sacred Family didn''t act and eliminate Nie Li and I during our sleep. The answer was that this expert was observing their every move with his men in order to guard us. Since all Gold and Black-Gold ranks in the city were well known, it meant that the Sacred Family were limited to using only their Silver ranks, otherwise they would attract the attention of the Snow-Wind family.


    Once again, Ye Shuo broke into a healthy laugh "You''re good! How do you know all that?" he asked, his tone sounding friendly enough but he was analyzing my every breath.


    I shrugged "I have my ways. It wouldn''t be much fun if I told you outright, would it? Besides, if you thought I was a threat we wouldn''t be having this friendly conversation right now."


    Ye Shuo knowingly laughed "Yep, right on both accounts!" he answered with a smirk.


    "Gee, thanks shifu!" I replied with my own sarcastic tone.


    The man turned serious once again "Still, I must ask. What are your motivations?" His tone was grave and his body, although still leaning on the wall, had tensed and was ready to kill. It all hinged on my answer.


    "To protect my family and friends, together with their families. Then have a dozen or more grandkids to give me gray hairs and outlive Lord Ye Mo in age."


    He looked at me with cold eyes for a few agonizing seconds. Soon enough though they softened to a grandfatherly gaze and he nodded "Mhm¡­ That''s quite a goal. I''ll do all I can to help you succeed."


    Now I was the one surprised "Wait! You believe me?!". That was so corny I had a hard time believing myself even though I knew it was the truth. Well, the most important part of it anyway.


    Ye Shuo smirked "I wouldn''t be much of an intelligence officer if I couldn''t tell truth and lie from some brat that still stinks of his mother''s milk."


    You old fart. Just you wait another few months! I''ll turn those words back at you then!


    He stretched "It''s getting late and I have to get back to my duties. We''ll meet here in two weeks, so you better be ready. Oh and go buy yourself a decent sword. I know you can afford it." he crossed his arms in front of his c.h.e.s.t.


    I cupped my hands and bowed "Yes shifu!" When I rose he was gone like some kind of ninja. Maybe this whole student-apprentice thing won''t be too bad afterall. Hmm.. A decent sword. Well, there was the Thunder God''s Meteorite Sword but that was Nie Li''s to be. Besides, in two years that sword will merge with Nie Li''s soul realm and since we share one now I guess that sword will be mine as well eventually. There were also the Soul Katars from the Heavenly Marks treasury but I didn''t fancy raiding my friend''s family vault.


    That left only two places in mind. One would be my favorite shopkeeper but a good sword would take at least a month judging from my previous transactions. The other one would be the auction house, but I didn''t know if there would be an auction in the next two weeks. Though from Long Wan''s memories I knew that there was one every month as he always saw lots of nobles buzzing around the house at least that many times.


    Regardless of the way I would get the sword, I could then ask Nie Li to inscribe some powerful inscription patterns on it.


    Well, there were two people who can tell me if there would be any auction taking place anytime soon and I still had the itch to punch one of them. That left only one other and I teleported away intent on meeting that person.


    After jumping from rooftop to rooftop I arrived at the Alchemist Association gate. The single guard at the gate stiffened a bit as it was evening and as such it was past their business hours. "Who''s there?!" the guard ordered and I stepped forward.


    "My name is Long Wan. I''m here to see big sis Yang Xin." I greeted with a friendly tone.


    Hearing my name the guard bowed low "Ah, please forgive my tone young master Long Wan. Do go ahead!" he pushed the gate open and invited me in.


    I slipped him a thousand coin card as I walked by "Thank you for your hard work. After work, go and enjoy some good drinks on my expense. If your wife complains tell her it was an order from me, haha."


    "Thank you sir!" he cupped his hands and I continued past him to the inner buildings. I had visited Xin a few times to discuss both business as well as build a familial relation with her so I knew exactly where her accommodations were.


    The night was quiet as I walked the path, though there were the occasional apprentice that greeted me as I made my way to Xin''s courtyard. The sun had just shown the last ray of light as I stepped on the porch of her house when I heard water gently splash on the other side. I knocked twice.


    "Who!?" I heard her call out accompanied by some more splashing.


    "It''s me big sis, Long Wan!" I answered kindly.


    There was once again some sounds of water stirring "Ah, little brother Long Wan! Is it just you?"


    "Yes." I answered.


    "Okay, you can come in!" she called out warmly.


    The door slid open and I entered before closing it back. "Big sis Yang Xin?" I called out as I couldn''t see her anywhere in the hallway.


    "In the back." she replied "Come here."


    Not bothering to say anything I entered what I knew to be her private chambers. When I got there I was greeted by some steam floating in the air. As it cleared I could see a bathing area hidden by some semi-transparent curtains and the top of Yang Xin''s alluring figure outlined in shadow behind it.


    "Ah you should''ve told me you were bathing." I said as I turned around.


    She giggled a bit "It''s fine, it''s fine." she said as she gently dragged some water over her slender arms. "Anyway little brother, to what do I owe the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of your visit? Business or pleasantries?"


    I sat down on her couch overlooking her bath "A little of both. I''ve realized I''ve been a bit busy lately and haven''t visited much. Since I also need some information I thought I would kill two birds with one stone and come see you. Do you happen to know when the next auction will be?"


    A dainty hand rose from the water. From what the shadows showed she touched her chin with a finger and looked up "I remember one being four days from now. Why do you ask?"


    Leaning back I enjoyed the shadow p.o.r.n a little bit more relaxed as I answered "Glory City has assigned sir Ye Shuo as my shifu and I will start learning swordplay from him. As such I was hoping I could find a good sword at the auction." There was no guarantee that one would be for sale but I decided to push my luck. It was the only option anyway other than stealing one of course. Waiting for one would take too long.


    She clapped her hands together and splashed some bathwater "Ah, in that case let''s go together. I will make the arrangements."


    "I would love your company big sis. That is if I''m not imposing too much." I answered with gratitude.


    Xin waved me off "I invited you so there is no issue of imposing." she said before rising up from the water, and though I couldn''t see her, her hourglass figure was now in clear view as outlined by the candlelight. For a woman in her mid twenties she looked like her shape could give a wasp competition. Also, the damp skin combined with the cooling night temperature caused her n.i.p.p.l.es to harden right before my curtain obstructed eyes. I had to admit, she wasn''t the only thing that was rising. "Little brother Long Wan, do me a favor and hand me my gown from the couch."


    It was now that I noticed the fabric resting next to me. I picked it up and moved to deliver it when I saw the outline of my hand on the other side of it. This damn thing was semi see-through. Ah to hell with it!


    I walked to Yang Xin''s bath and parted the curtains just enough to slip the robe inside.


    A few rustles and Xing stepped out wearing it while wiping her damp hair dry. What was even more unbearable was that she was going commando, and together with how the robe was clinging to her skin, it was giving me a clear understanding that she''s the type that doesn''t shave.


    She struggled a bit with her long hair as she jostled back and forth, her t.i.t.s dancing like there was no tomorrow in front of my eyes. Dammit, I felt like I was ripping myself a new pocket in my pants. Due to my training schedule and all that had happened I didn''t even have the energy to rub one out since I woke up as Long Wan. My balls were so blue that they were ready to grant me three wishes.


    Sighing contently after removing what moisture she could from her long black locks she turnes to me, absolutely oblivious to what she had done to me so far "Sorry about that little bro, you came all this way to see me and I didn''t welcome you, though I am happy that you visited." Finally she got a good look at me and her mouth flashed an ''O'' before her eyes trailed down to see my sword ready to tear my trousers a new one. A mischievous smile appeared on her face "It seems I''m not the only one thay''s happy here. Does little brother like what he sees?" She moved her hands behind her back and bounced a little, giving her balcony a small earthquake.


    All blood drained from my top head and went to my lower as I nodded dumbly "Gorgeous¡­" I muttered like I was drunk.


    Her cheeks became rosy and she took a few seductive steps, her h.i.p.s swaying like a bell during a storm. Her shapely moist fabric covered a.s.s was hypnotically drawing me in. Much too soon for my tastes though she reached her silk-lined bed and sat down on the edge. She tapped the side next to her with her palm "Come here and let''s talk a bit little bro."


    I followed those directions on autopilot and didn''t even know when I found myself next to her. Yang Xin bent a little towards me "Little bro, since you like what you see, would you like a little touch?"


    "Yang Xin.." I said a little dumbly, not trusting my words to come out. Damn hormones were making me drunk though I couldn''t process this fact at this moment.


    She took my hand in hers and placed it directly on her b.a.r.e b.r.e.a.s.t inside her gown "A-ah little touch won''t make it fall OHff." she m.o.a.n.e.d a little as she placed my hand on it.


    It was so warm and nice. Once again my body moved on it''s own, bringing in the muscle memory I had from my experiences back on Earth into play as I did my best to cup her b.r.e.a.s.t, wrapping my fingers around it''s fullness and squeezing softly. I then began massaging her tit, slowly rotating my hands around it''s entire surface, starting off gently and modifying my grip based on her m.o.a.ns and shakes. Finally not neglecting to trap the little nub in between my fingers.


    Yang Xin m.o.a.n.e.d loudly and shook violently, falling limply on me with ragged breath "Ah, L-Long Wan¡­ work has been so f-frustrating these days. Won''t you help big sis relax?" she cooed into my ear, her herby bath scent and warm breath hitting my every sense.


    Ah f.u.c.k it! I pushed her down on her bed, her b.r.e.a.s.ts becoming uncovered as I gazed into her eyes for a bit before sinking down and locking her lips in mine. That night neither of us had any sleep¡­


    I woke up later that morning having fallen asleep a little after sunrise. Being a Silver rank demon spiritualist I didn''t need much sleep anyway. As I opened my eyes I took in Yang Xin''s peaceful visage and I gently stood up and rested my left elbow on my knee while raking my other hand through my hair.


    ''What the hell have I done!'' I thought to myself, more rhetorically than questioning. Damn, I swore to myself that I wouldn''t regret anything in this world. Yet, here I was, not even a year in and I had already betrayed the girl I loved with another woman.


    "Good morning. What''s wrong?" Yang Xin called out to me. She probably saw my sorry state just now.


    She was innocent and didn''t deserve feeling like shit after loosing her first time to a sc.u.mbag like me. So I faked a smile and answered "Nothing, just... a bad dream... Go back to sleep." I said, as softly as I could manage.


    Yang Xin looked at me for a moment and frowned before getting up from the bed, my own essence leaking a bit from her insides. "Get out!" She growled.


    "Xin..." I called out in surprise, my mind shutting down in guilt.


    "I said GET OUT!" she yelled again, this time using soul force to blast me back. "If you''re going to regret last night then do it on your own since I''m not good enough for you!"


    The hell?! "No, that''s not it!" I answered in a panic, not understanding why she would think that way.


    "Then tell me what it is!" She yelled back, before sitting back on the bed a little ways from me "Please, just tell me..." Tears began spilling from her eyes and I jumped forward to embrace her. Thankfully she didn''t fight me off and sank into my c.h.e.s.t.


    I sighed "Last night was electric. It was the best night of all my lifetimes so far and I would give my soul away to experience that magic again." I began, the right words eluding me at this moment.


    She sniffled a bit before looking into my eyes, her own widening at what she saw "It''s true..." She gasped "Then why do you regret it?"


    I shook my head "That''s just it. I don''t. It''s just that..." Pausing to gather my words I let everything out "You don''t know this but... I already have two lovers besides you."


    Her eyes widened but then she smiled warmly "Is that it? You got me worried just for that?!" She all but screamed in my face but the relief on her face was beaming "Strong men will naturally attract more women. If they''re willing to share with each other they can learn to live with me as well." she stated matter-of-factly. I really needed to get it into my skull that I transmigrated to this kind of a society. My monogamous upbringing from back on Earth is really an alien concept here. If you can afford it you can have as many wives as you wanted. Some were known to have over ten.


    Chuckling, I also shook my head to clear my thoughts "The first one has a little fear of abandonment but is slowly growing into this whole idea. The other one wouldn''t have a problem even if I had a hundred wives."


    She giggled a bit "Then there''s no problem, is there?"


    The guilty feeling washed over me yet again and I felt myself stiffen "There is¡­ I promised them some things, and giving my word means the world to me. To the first one I promised that she will be my first wife." I stated, voice trembling with disgust at myself.


    Yang Xin''s mouth dropped into an ''O'' sign before she giggled "If that''s all then she can still be your first wife. I waited over ten years for marriage, waiting a couple more wouldn''t matter. "


    I felt my soul break apart "You don''t deserve this¡­" I began.


    Yang Xin shrugged "Eh, I want my husband to be taller than me so you better grow up a little more." she waved me off while making a measuring gesture with her hand.


    My eye twitched in annoyance. This little minx, she shouldn''t have rubbed it in. My height is a s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e subject. I shook my head again, I''m getting off track here¡­ "The other issue is that I promised the other one that she would b.a.r.e my first heir¡­" I said, once again pushing my problems onto her.


    Yang Xin shrugged "I don''t see the problem here either." she stated with a finger on her chin and a cute expression, as if she didn''t understand my frustration.


    "But¡­" I swallowed while looking at her womanhood. She followed my look and we both saw how my man-juice was slowly leaking out.


    "Ah! My sheets!" she jumped up and off of it. She then yanked the covers off and saw the red-brown stain in the middle, the dried blood from the loss of her maidenhood. Anime tears flowed from her eyes "These were demon spirit moth silk¡­"


    It would''ve been hilarious if my situation wasn''t so serious "But¡­" again came my clucked response. I was starting to sound like a hen looking for a roost.


    "Oh well.." Xin shrugged "Still worth it." She then looked at me and her expression softened. Turning around and walked to a nearby cupboard, all the time her a.s.s swayed e.r.o.t.i.cally with each step. As she bent down and gave me a full view of her puckered hole and leaking s.e.x I felt my pole go so stiff firemen could use it. She rummaged through it for a bit "Aha!" she called out before getting up and bringing a pill bottle with her. She took out two and swallowed them "There! Problem fixed."


    "Wha?" came my very intelligent and refined response.


    Yang Xin broke out into a warm laugh. She then pulled a chair and sat down on it in reverse while facing me, her legs spread open for me to see my white mix with her black. "There aren''t many women alchemists in Glory City. In the entire association there are only about twenty apprentice females and all of them are from noble families. Most commoner women get harassed by Senior Apprentices or Masters so they quit before they get ahead. Anyways, since I''m the only Master level female alchemist I get asked by ladies to make certain pills that they normally wouldn''t dare ask for from the men alchemists. As such I always have quite the cache stored away."


    The rusty cogs inside my brain started creaking as my jaw dropped "Pregnancy prevention elixirs."


    She smiled "Among others. Cures for illnesses concerning their lady parts, v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y simulators and pregnancy tonics are among other favorites. You can guess why they don''t ask the men in this Association."


    I facepalmed "Bunch of judgmental fogeys¡­" Crusty old farts that had no better thing to do with their lives then to judge how other women lived theirs.


    Being so deep in thought I failed to notice Yang Xin get close to me until she touched my hand and woke me up from my musings "So everything okay now litt.. Dear?" she asked, catching herself at that last word.


    A smile, a natural one overtook my face and I nodded "I still need to lay this out to Ning''er but yes everything is okay now. And thank you, love." Yang Xin''s cheeks flushed red and she dove in for a kiss. A tug of war between our tongues later and we broke apart, a bridge of saliva still connecting us. We gazed in each other''s eyes before she felt something stir the air and looked down to see mini-me standing up for attention. She then unceremoniously grabbed it, making a small hum escape my throat. "Love, please, I have to go. My friend will be waiting for me."


    Xin put a finger to my lips "Hush, it won''t take long. There''s something I''ve always wanted to try¡­". She then knelt in front of me and took her t.i.t.s in her hands. You can imagine what happened next. If not, well¡­ check the auxiliary volumes.


    Ten minutes later I was ready to leave. I gave Xin one final peck on the lips and teleported away, leaving my ethereal shadow still winking at her. A few more minutes later I arrived at the academy and choose a place next to the carriages to wait for Du Ze.


    What I wasn''t expecting even though I should was for a feminine voice to call out to me "Long Wan!" she called out and I turned to see Ning''er walking briskly towards me. Even though my worries had been mostly washed away I still carried the guilt of last night''s happenings. Ning''er however seemed to be lost in her own thoughts as she smiled at me before she presented something to me, a red jade. The symbol of a girl''s love¡­


    Tears fell down my cheek as I clutched the piece of jade, her voice sounding muffled in my ears. Panic overtook me and I turned before teleporting away, Ning''er calling my name once more being the last thing I had heard. The following minutes found me in the Hunting Grounds at the grave of the fallen Nighttime Direwolf, my breath ragged as I leaned on the very rock where I befriended the two living wolves.


    "Gods-f.u.c.k.i.n.g-dammit!" I yelled and smashed my fist into the boulder, instantly turning part of it into gravel "I have power! I have money! I have looks!" I kept pounding more rock into sand. I had everything that I used in the past as an excuse for my lack of self confidence. "Then why?! Why am I such a f.u.c.k.i.n.g pathetic wretch!?"


    I continued smashing everything around, the red jade still in my hand and cutting into it making blood splatter everywhere. Finally, a tree as thick as me was cut down by my knuckles when I felt a hand on my back. Spinning on my heel, I grabbed the one who dared sneak up on me by the throat and prepared to feed them their own teeth when my heart stopped beating. It was Ning''er!


    My fingers instantly recoiled from her neck, though I could still see the imprint my blood left on it. The world went mute and I couldn''t breathe anymore. Tensing instinctively I prepared to teleport away again when she grabbed on my wrist with all her strength "Long Wan, please! Don''t run away from me! Tell me what''s wrong!" she called out, tears running down her cheeks.


    With my escape neutralized it was as if the bones in my legs melted and I collapsed like a deck of cards, my mind in absolute shock. I then drove forward, slamming my head into her upper c.h.e.s.t. Not hard mind you, just fast. I kept on muttering "I''m sorry! I''m so sorry!" over and over again.


    I felt her stiffen a bit in surprise before she wrapped me in a protective embrace and let my mind reboot. It took a good ten eternities (though most people in a normal state of mind would call them minutes) for me to recover. With the tears dried up I just stood there feeling miserable as Ning''er took hold of my hand into hers.


    "Long Wan, please. You''re worrying me! Tell me what happened!" She asked lovingly, but it only stabbed my heart even more. Each time I gazed at her I could only see my face reflected in her eyes and it made me sick. She didn''t deserve what I did.


    No. She didn''t. What she deserves is the truth. So I swallowed hard, feeling the sting of a dry throat being wet by saliva. That raking feeling like wet ground cracking under a hot sun. Still, it wouldn''t stop me from telling her. And it was the truth that I told. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The entire wonderful experience with Yang Xin and the absolute trash I was.


    Ning''er stood there listening quietly as her face went through a rainbow of emotions, finally stopping on what looked like to be anger. She let go of my hands as I finished my story and just stared at the ground for a couple of long agonizing moments.


    Finally she let a palm fly in the air and smacked me in the face so hard I fell over. I didn''t say anything since I more than deserved that as I got back to my kneeling position with a pathetic expression mirroring what I was feeling in my heart. Another slap sent me falling the other way. Still deserving. Hell, she could kill me right now and I would still feel it was justified.


    She then grabbed my collar and raised her fist in the air making me close my eyes in reflex and wait for the pain. But it never came. Instead I felt something warm and soft on my lips. It tasted like cherries.


    Shocked awake I opened my eyes to see Ning''er''s face, millimeters away from my own and lips glued to mine. She kept the kiss in place as the tension drained from my body. My hands moved up and embraced her all on their own while her arms sn.a.k.e.d their way around my head.


    Ning''er kept kissing me for a minute more before breaking apart, anger etched on her face "The first slap was for running away from me!" she growled, face red as a lobster''s. This shocked me again but she continued "The second was for thinking so poorly of me. Did you think that I would leave the man I love just for something like this?". Finally the anger washed away to be replaced by a loving gaze "And the kiss was for loving me so much that it caused you this much pain." she cooed as she raised my bleeding hand, red jade still embedded halfway in my palm.


    She gently took it out of the wound with me grimacing a bit from the sting, my senses now slowly returning to me. "Baby." she teased before producing a bandage from her ring and gently wrapping it around my hand.


    "Ning''er¡­ you¡­" I began, voice hoarse from the earlier trip to feelsland.


    She shook her head "Hush." she chided "There!" she hummed as she finished wrapping my hand before looking at me "I honestly don''t understand you sometimes. Then again, there aren''t many people crazy enough to challenge the Sacred Family for my sake." her voice was somewhere between amused and loving. She then smiled "There''s something I haven''t told you either." She began and my heart sank. It couldn''t be that she''s been with a man before, could she? Naw¡­ it couldn''t be¡­


    "You see, it''s regarding the day we first talked about you having other wives than me. I had a talk with mother that evening." Her mother? There was no mention of her in the novel so I always guessed she was dead. Well that blows that out of the water. "She told me exactly what director Yang Xin told you. Specifically that strong men are bound to attract more women than just one. And that if a man like that still loves you then you know that love is truly worth it precisely because he has more to choose from. So, while I don''t specifically like to share, I will accept as many wives as you want so long as you promise to keep loving me as you do now. Besides, having a big sis like Lanruo turned out to be wonderful so I''m starting to wonder what having director Yang Xin as one will be like."


    By this time my brain had rebooted and I felt like crying again, though this time of joy. But it wouldn''t do to sniffle a response now so I swallowed my tears and dried my eyes "Ning''er, I can''t promise to love you like I do now." I told her and she got a dejected wet puppy look. I chuckled "Keeping my word is the way I want to live. And since my love grows for you every day, I would break that word if I promised to keep loving you like I do now. Which is why I promise to keep on loving you more and more as time passes, to beyond the end of all our lifetimes and even past the end of the world."


    "Long Wan!" Ning''er cried, tears spilling down her smiling face. She lunged forward and kissed me again, this time dropping fully into the kiss. We let our mouths explore each other before we reluctantly broke apart.


    I sighed "Ning''er, I truly don''t deserve you. Please, for my heart to find peace, tell me you''ll forgive me." That was an itch on my soul I needed her to scratch.


    She shook her head "There is nothing to forgive so I can''t lie and say I forgive you. My word is law." This cute little parrot. Though not exactly the words I -wanted- to hear, they were what I -needed- to hear and relief finally washed over me as I felt my soul realm pulse. Seems all this stress pushed me halfway to 5-star Silver.


    Something did bother me though. "I do have to ask, how did you find me?"


    Ning''er smiled and pointed towards the forest. "This place, it''s near the place where we met so I just followed my heart. After that it wasn''t hard to locate you by the sounds of absolute destruction you were making." She then pointed to the general area and it was now that I saw the war-zone I left behind. It was like a hurricane had passed by with trees being either uprooted or blasted into splinters, shattered rocks and deep craters. Ehehehe oops!


    My lovely girl grabbed my cheeks and pecked my lips again "Kissing is so nice..." she hummed dreamily before locking eyes with me, her hands still having a firm hold on my head "You told me once to trust you and I did. My love and my life, I placed them all in your hands. Now, I ask you to never lose faith in me again."


    "I give you my word that I will never stray down that path again." I replied, every fibre of my being agreeing with my words.


    She nodded and kissed me again before smiling "You better or I will knock some sense into you again!" she continued and we shared a good laugh afterwards.


    We parted with great difficulty , with her heading home and myself going to meet Du Ze. When I arrived at the school gate I saw him leaning against the wall. Greeting him with a raised hand I approached "Hi, did you wait long?"


    He shook his head "Not really. I got here just half a dian ago." About twelve minutes ago, give or take. Du Ze was estimating here. "Shall we go?" he asked and I nodded. He then started walking towards the east.


    "Du Ze, the carriages are the other way." I said while pointing a thumb behind me.


    He stopped and turned around with a smile "Long Wan, you''ve helped my family more that anyone ever did. But we''re still in a somewhat painful situation. I don''t want my cousins to feel that I''m someone who stands higher than them." he answered with a slightly embarrassed expression.


    Placing my palms on my h.i.p.s I raised an eyebrow at his statements "You don''t have to hide who you are from others just because they will feel bad. Besides, you, myself, Nie Li and the rest of our brothers and sisters are destined for unimaginable heights. Prolonging the inevitable will just stir more resentment." We will become something akin to demigods in this world. What''s spending a little money compared to that? "Come. We''ll ride a carriage. My treat."


    He didn''t have time to neither agree nor protest as I dragged him by the arm and we boarded a horse-drawn cart. "Du Ze, what is your home like?" I asked to dispel the silence.


    My brother hummed "It''s nothing impressive. We are a small village of about three hundred souls living there. There is little farmland available and the soil is poor so my family subsisted by hunting in the forest and reusing what we could. However, due to brother Wan''s help we managed to set up a few workshops in the area and now we are slowly recovering by trading crafts for food with the neighboring areas." he answered.


    I nodded in understanding "You''re close to 2-star Silver now aren''t you? Soon enough you will be eligible for aristocracy and as such your family will become nobility. There is absolutely nothing to be ashamed about." With small exceptions, I would rather deepthroat a cactus than participate in socializing with nobility. Most of them were closed minded braggards and as such were boring as f.u.c.k.


    Du Ze thanked me with new found confidence and we continued our journey in silence, occasionally snacking on a few things from our rings. Meanwhile, I took the opportunity to process just what the f.u.c.k actually happened these last couple of days. First of all I lost my, uhh Long Wan''s v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y to a woman who was thirteen years his senior. I gained said woman as a third concubine and potential wife. Not to mention I had a meltdown in front of my original love. Finally and most importantly Ning''er accepted her so easily.


    Raking my hair I released a long sigh. I really needed to get used to how this world functioned. Some morals from Earth would only be a source of stress for me. This wasn''t my old world but the Divine Continent. Here talking beasts as smart as men were dominant and, more importantly, it still functioned on values that would be considered ancient and somewhat barbaric on Earth.


    This was the very definition of might makes right. Here it was normal for a twelve year old kid to bang a twenty-five year old and take her as his wife. It was also okay to have multiple lovers. Still though, I hoped this nagging guilt would diminish over time...


    "Anything wrong?" Asked Du Ze with concern.


    I turned to him and raised an eyebrow before turning back to the window "Love trouble. Nothing that I can''t handle but still annoying in the end. Brother Ze, heed my advice and be careful with women." I continued and he chuckled a bit. You think I''m kidding? You''ll see...


    The journey continued with silence as our guest. To make it easier Du Ze chose to cultivate and I could feel the Law of Lightning starting to swirl around him. Meanwhile I took in the changing scenery, as this was all too new for me. Even in my previous life I never traveled much. This pristine world would be a treasure to visit if it were not for the high level beasts that hunted humans. Specifically those five left in by the beast sects of the Draconic Ruins realm and the beast spirit deities. The one that comes most to mind was the spirit god of ice, which also had the surname Long but also a forgettable given name. Hopefully I can convince Nie Li to give Ming Fei, the Nether spirit god the complete Myriad Dragonroars cultivation technique. Right now Ming Fei had just a part of it which would severely diminish his combat score. With this he should get the power to keep his promise and help protect the city.


    It took two more hours but we finally reached the Du family lands and we unloaded ourselves off the bench. I really should invent some suspensions. My a.s.s would''ve been full of blisters from the bumpy ride had I not had a Silver rank constitution.


    Looking around I saw nothing but a desolate area with some people occasionally walking by. The houses were in a sorry state and most of the residents having clothes made of patchwork, not unlike the ones I used to wear before introducing soap to Glory City. Now I felt really out of place wearing clothes worth their entire clan''s food for a month. Oh well not my fault they''re poor and I did help them so I shouldn''t feel too guilty...


    "Brother Wan, this way!" Du Ze waved and I followed, walking briskly along the dirt path until we reached a rather well maintained house. Du Ze pointed towards it "This is where the patriarch, Du Rong lives. I''ll go pay my respects to him later."


    We tried to move on towards his house when an elderly, almost sickly voice called out "Du Ze?"


    Turning towards the sound I saw a hunched aged man supporting himself on a cane. He was wearing a simple worn down robe adorned with quite a lot patchwork. Next to him was a taller man somewhere in his forties. Both Du Ze and I walked towards them and they responded in kind.


    "Father! Patriarch!" my brother greeted while cupping his hands. I just positioned myself half a step back as Du Ze was embraced by who I now knew was his father.


    The man broke the hug and just kept his hands on Du Ze''s shoulders "My boy, when did you return?" he greeted with a smile.


    "Just now. I was on the way to our house when lord patriarch called out to me." my friend answered respectfully.


    The elderly man slowly walked forward, with every one of his step being a seemingly great effort on his part. It was though to be respected that he had reached this age in this land. Not many in his situation would survive for such a long time. "Hello my dear boy." he stretched out his hand and ruffled Du Ze''s hair.


    Du Ze smiled and cupped his hands "Greetings to the patriarch! Is your health well?" More of a courteous greeting than actual concern.


    The patriarch nodded "Mhm. It''s been much easier on my heart since you''ve lessened our family''s burden." the man chuckled and coughed a bit.


    It was then that Du Ze pointed towards me "It''s all due to brother Wan''s help and kindness." he said with a smile. It was then that the duo noticed my presence.


    Cupping my hands and bowing lightly to them I responded "This young one pays respect to his elders." Yech! This kind of talking left me feeling nauseous.


    Both of them looked shocked at me being here but they immediately recovered. The younger of the two, Du Ze''s father cupped his hands and bowed respectfully while the patriarch placed both palms on his walking stick and tilted his head forward before responding to my brother "Du Ze, you should''ve told us young master Long Wan is coming with you!" he wheezed out "We would''ve prepared a more fitting welcome."


    Raising my arms in surrender I attempted to placate them "Me joining Du Ze on this trip was unplanned so there was no way to announce in due time. Besides, I''m not very fond of showy receptions. I may look like this now but I made my fortunes very recently. Past two months ago I was just a no-name orphan with nothing but the rags on my back to my name so this feels more natural to me."


    The patriarch smiled "Very well. Still, it would be rude to at least not invite you over to serve a cup of wine. Our land is nearly useless for crops but is excellent for growing some of the best baiju herbs."


    Did he say baiju? Booze!? Count me in! "I''ll gladly accept If I''m not imposing." F.u.c.k that! I''ll impose as much as I want if it means good liquor.


    "Nonsense!" laughed Du Ze''s father. "You''ve helped both my son as well as his family so much we would be hurt if you didn''t make yourself at home here."


    The patriarch nodded "Du Meng is correct. On behalf of the family, I, Du Rong welcome you on our lands. May they be open to you in perpetuity." he declared.


    My eyes widened. To welcome me in perpetuity essentially meant they were unofficially adopting me. Even if the current patriarch died they couldn''t deny me without going against their ancestors, which was a big no-no in this culture. I cupped my hands and bowed "My humblest thanks."


    Du Rong placed a bony hand on my shoulders "It is we who must humbly thank you. Come to my house anytime and see what good hosts we of the Guardian family can be." Du can be roughly translated as ''to keep out'', or guardian in this case.


    I shook my head "Du Ze is my good little brother. How could I be idle when the family of my family is suffering?" In the future Du Ze will be staking his life for me and Nie Li so what I felt that this was too little for me to repay him.


    The aged man laughed "In that case then you should call me grandpa as well." he said while ruffling my long hair "But I''ve kept you young''uns busy for too long so I''ll leave you to your devices. Though before I go, I am curious to know as to how your studies are going." he hummed inquisitively.


    Du Ze and I shared a look and a simultaneous nod before he began "I broke through 1-star Silver demon spiritualist a week ago and making fast progress towards 2-star. Long Wan is also Silver rank. Following the testing we were both accepted into the Genius Class in the Holy Orchid Institute."


    Du Rong started coughing due to the sheer surprise. "Patriarch!" The father and son duo yelled at the same time and rushed to the elder''s aid.


    Me? I simply strode forward and waited for the man to finish coughing before summoning a Scarlet Body Enhancing pill and gently placing it in the elder''s hands together with a flask of water.


    "What''s this?" Asked Du Rong, voice hoarse from the earlier fit.


    Pushing his hand towards him I insisted he take it and the man complied. Instantly his complexion improved as his posture straightened a bit. "This!" He hummed, voice more powerful than ever before "I feel ten years younger. What is this?!" He asked in surprise, cautiously letting his cane fall to the ground as he stood up unsupported.


    "That was a Scarlet Body Enhancing pill. Normally taken by fighters to increase their ranks, it has the effect of energizing the body and solidifying the bones." I answered, the man becoming even more shocked.


    "How could...T-that pill was priceless!" Du Rong nearly screamed out.


    Waving him off with a smile I produced a bottle filled with them "Not really priceless, just expensive. If grandpa is feeling guilty about consuming one then please have some more." I presented with both hands.


    He stared at the bottle longingly before shaking his head "I can''t. I''ve already benefited too much from your generosity." he continued and tried to move away but I was too fast for him as I placed the bottle in his hand.


    Sharing a look with Du Ze, a prankster smile appeared mirrored on both our faces. Flashing our rings we each produced as many bottles of the pills as we could hold, courtesy of Nie Li of course "It''s fine." I began.


    "We have enough to share." Du Ze finished in sync with me. Seems a little of my personality was rubbing off on him.


    Du Meng lovingly slapped Du Ze on the back of his head. Since his son was Silver ranked it probably felt like slapping cast iron so it most likely hurt him a lot more than it did Du Ze "You little brat, are you trying to kill patriarch with so much good news, haha?" he joked.


    Du Rong also chuckled and turned to him "Du Meng, if the rest of the family kids turn out even a tenth as fine as your son I will be smiling even in my sleep." He then returned to us, or more specifically to Du Ze "You should go visit your mother now. It''s not fair for only us men to see you." He finally looked at me "Will I be expecting you tomorrow?"


    Raising an eyebrow I answered "Will I be expecting your best baiju grandpa?" I answered and he laughed before nodding. "Then I will come by just after sundown."


    Du Rong nodded and we left after saying our greetings. We walked some more on the dirt path until we got to a modest looking home. Compared to the patriarch residence this one looked smaller and at the same time better. The walls look freshly painted and the roof looked new. Seems Du Meng spent some of my money sprucing up the place.


    "Mother?" Du Ze called out "Are you home?" He said while pushing in the gate without hesitation. Halfway through the creaking I sensed something through my void sense and teleported to the other side of the gate just in time to pull a little girl of one, maybe two years old away from the high speed metal gate.


    She happily chirped a little as I rolled away with her safely tucked in my c.h.e.s.t. "Du Ze be more attentive of your surroundings. You nearly hit this kid as you made your entrance."


    Before Du Ze could answer we heard a womanly voice call out in our directions "Xiao Qi? Where are you, you little... Du Ze?!" The perplexed woman looked shocked at seeing my friend at the door.


    "I''m home mother." Du Ze greeted kindly.


    Her hands flew to her mouth as tears of joy wet her eyes "My son. My baby boy..." She hummed as she stepped forward with urgency in her step and grabbed his arms. "You''re back! Oh my, you''ve changed so much. You seem so manly now." She dusted and kissed his cheeks.


    "A lot of things happened these few months. But I''ve returned and have all the time to shed memories. Though, I hope you don''t mind that I''ve invited a good friend of mine." Du Ze responded while gesturing to me.


    While he was greeting his mother I just stayed still and tickle cuddled the little angel in my arms. On the other hand the hazel eyed sprite had found it entertaining to play with one of my long bangs. "Greetings my lady! I would''ve been more courteous in my actions but I seem to have my hands full at the moment."


    It was then that she noticed the toddler in my arms "Xiao Qi, there you were! Oh, this little grandchild of mine is such a troublemaker. Let me take her off your hands!"


    As soon as she was lifted from my arms Xiao Qi broke out into a painful wail. Du Ze''s mother had tried to calm her down but she just wouldn''t stop. "Oh poor thing. Let me try."


    I took her from the exhausted grandmother''s hands and started rocking her while meowing like a cat. Imitating animals and entertaining kids were some of the few useless talents I had inherited from my life on Earth.


    Xiao Qi stopped crying and started sniffling while looking at me with curiosity. That curiosity turned into cheerful laughter as I switched to neighing like a horse and bouncing her around like she was the main actress in a western flick.


    "Oh my..." Du Ze''s mother chimed "And she usually doesn''t like strangers." She thought out loud more to herself.


    I tickled Qi''s round baby belly and turned to the woman "Well, maybe she knows in her heart that I''m Du Ze''s sworn brother. In a way, that makes me her uncle, haha. Oh but where are my manners? I forgot to present myself. I am Long Wan." I said while bowing my head lightly. Xiao Qi saw this as an invite to grab my hair again, an action which I did not fight.


    Du Ze''s mother instantly went wide-eyed. "You''re lord Long Wan?!" She said before turning sharply to Du Ze "Why didn''t you tell us you will be bringing young master Long Wan with you?"


    Yu-f.u.c.k.i.n.g-ck woman. Every time someone calls me lord or young master I get a slimy feeling and start seeing myself as a certain self-entitled major family major asshole. "It''s fine, it''s fine!" I tried placating quickly but it was difficult to gesticulate with the little kitten keeping my hands occupied. "Like I''ve informed grandpa Du Rong and uncle Du Ming, I come from humble origins. As a result I''m much more satisfied with a home cooked meal filled with love and a bottle of baiju than a feast and a parade."


    Her eyes widened before they considerably softened "In that case come in, both of you. I''ll feed you until you two can''t walk anymore." She laughed and we joined her inside and sat down at the table.


    "You shouldn''t underestimate us auntie. We have some serious appetites." I scolded in jest. Meanwhile I was using my finger as a cat tail to tease Qi as she giggled while trying to grab it.


    Meanwhile, auntie brought some cups and a bottle of the best looking booze I saw in a while. Remembering something from Long Wan''s memories I summoned an ornate c.h.e.s.t the size of a bread basket from my ring and presented it forward to auntie "A gift for the kind host.". She took it from my hands and opened it to see it full of bills of the highest denomination. There were about one hundred fifty thousand demon spirit coins in there. The box was initially empty but I willed the cash from my ring inside it as I held it before handing it over "Do forgive the lack of imagination. I only knew about the trip since yesterday so I had no time to shop."


    Auntie slammed the box shut and pushed it back to me "It''s too much! Thank you but we couldn''t possibly accept it!" she stammered in shock.


    I refused to even look at the box as I smiled "A gift once given cannot be returned. I would be honored for you to accept it. If you feel bad, then consider it repayment for the hospitality." I said warmly "But enough of that. Let''s see what brother Ze''s village famous liquor tastes like!" I continued changing the subject as auntie reluctantly put the mini c.h.e.s.t away.


    "Apologies brother Wan but I won''t join you in drinking." Du Ze said with a good amount of hesitation. He didn''t really like alcohol so I couldn''t force him.


    "In that case why don''t you entertain your little niece here?" I said and slowly passed Xiao Qi to him. The little girl shot us a couple of surprised looks before she cooed and snuggled in Du Ze''s arms. "Seems you have the magic touch as well brother."


    Auntie Du poured me a cup and then helped herself to one "The stew is heating up now and will be ready in half a dian. Meanwhile son, please tell me how your studies are going." She ordered as she sipped some of her drink.


    Du Ze nodded while cooing at his little niece "We had some trouble with a teacher from the Sacred family that kept insulting nobles. Luckily, circ.u.mstances made her quit after this year''s exams."


    Her expression soured "Du Ze, I hope you didn''t get into trouble with the Sacred family..." A mother''s job is to worry.


    I sipped some baiju. Damn it was good booze "Du Ze is safe. It was another friend of ours, Nie Li as well as myself who drew their ire. Brother Ze has been left alone to his studies."


    Auntie turned to me with a similar expression she showed her son. Before she could say anything I lifted a hand "It''s alright. They can''t touch me since I have the backing of both the Alchemists Association as well as the Divine Family. If that wasn''t enough, one of our sworn sisters is the City Lord''s own little girl."


    "Oh my..." She hummed "Then I guess it''s fine..." She admitted but her tone betrayed her concerns.


    I chuckled "But enough with the bad memories. Du Ze, don''t you have some good news for your mother?


    Du Ze nodded again as auntie took some tentative sips, her hand still lightly shaking from the earlier information. "Yes. You see, myself as well as our close friends have been accepted into the institute Genius Class. What''s more both of us here are Silver ranked demon spiritualists."


    "Pfttttt!!!" A splash of distilled alcohol hit my face as auntie spit out the earlier sips of liquor.


    We all blinked a few times comically while our minds rebooted. "Aaahh!!!" Auntie screamed realizing what she had done and frantically began searching for something. Finally she grabbed a nearby shirt and moved next to me and started wiping me off "I''m so sorry!" She admitted, urgency and fear evident in her shaky tone.


    I exploded in laughter "It''s fine, it''s fine!" I consoled yet again before grabbing her hands and lightly pushing her away. "Shame for the alcohol tough."


    This time auntie blinked a few times in shock before bursting out laughing. Even Qi started giggling loudly.


    We continued making merry until a smell of burnt vegetables started ravaging our noses "My stew!" Auntie yelled and rushed to the kitchen.


    "Does this happen often?" I asked Du Ze and he nodded with an embarrassed expression.


    "Like any child I love and respect my parents but my mother is what my father likes to call a ''natural airhead''." He answered with a little hesitation.


    "Oh." I nodded and sipped some more baiju. Damn good booze!


    Auntie then came wheeling in a cart "The stew was saved. Lucky! Hope you''re hungry boys."


    She poured me a bowl and I waited for everyone to be served. As a side note, Qi didn''t get a portion but had some fruit porridge. The meal tasted like garden vegetables mixed with venison. The unmistakably savory natural grown plants mixed well with the tough but flavored meat. It really was lucky that the food was overcooked since it gave more time for the meat to boil and thus become more tender. I remember from the novel that Du Ze''s family often hunted in the woods for meat. You could really tell this from their choice in menu.


    Xiao Qi stretched out her hands from her improvised baby seat on Du Ze''s l.a.p indicating that she wanted to try some so I scooped up some juice and blew air on it to cool it down. The spoon then pretended to be an airplane as it landed into her waiting airport mouth. She smacked her lips a few times before shaking her head and returning to her porridge, all the time looking at my bowl like it had some malicious intent. Looks like she wasn''t ready for a.d.u.l.t food yet.


    Memories from Earth hit me again as a cloudy visage of a woman who I presume was my mother filled my mind. I remembered how she never truly forbid me from trying anything once and would often share it with me herself so I don''t get tempted from other places. One time when I was young I noticed the little cup she was so happily enjoying sipping from and naturally I wanted some. And naturally she gave me a sip. It was coffee. No cream, black, concentrated, kettle brewed coffee. I never touched the stuff again until I was in university. On another point she did the same thing with beer and even now I don''t fancy it that much, all bitter and bubbly. I''m more of a wine and spirits guy.


    "You really know how to handle kids don''t you." Auntie praised.


    I took another sip of alcohol and shrugged. As a side note I was starting to feel tipsy and as such I should remember to cultivate a bit after finishing. It would purge my system of any bad substances meaning I would be up fresh as a daisy the next day. "The biggest mistake a.d.u.l.ts make when dealing with kids is to think that they don''t understand how the world works. The truth is kids see it much better without the filter of our biased perceptions. They may not have all our knowledge but then again nobody knows everything. So the key is to never underestimate them."


    We finished our meal and continued exchanging stories until the sun completely set. I then retreated to the yard and chose a more intimate retreat near a peach tree. Sitting down I took a soul concentration pill and began chanting the Heavenly Void Dragon God technique under a beautiful starry sky.


    My cultivation continued until the very asscrack of dawn, my mind now clear of any impurities, including alcohol. However, in order for said nasties to leave my body they had to do it through my sweat glands. As such, I began feeling the sticky sensation of moist clothes meeting unwashed skin. Taking a look around I noticed that there weren''t any real private areas I could use as a makeshift bathroom.


    This called for a trip to the local creek so lifting my a.s.s from the root that was my cultivation chair, I stretched before heading off towards the area where I saw running water when I arrived here with Du Ze, making sure to take in as much of the local scenery as I could.


    The land of the Guardian family was rocky and poor, with steep hills and thick forests surrounding it at the edges. Even so, it still had that picturesque and quaint look, like a lost village in the mountains that was hidden from time.


    Strolling though it was quiet and relaxing. The clear mountain air was refreshing every cell in my lung, though the state was seldom broken by the occasional livestock fart that the wind happened to blow in my direction at just the right time. It was making me feel quite at home since I spent a good portion of my summers and winters of my childhood back on Earth on my grandparents'' farm. There was something magical about growing up in that clean and natural environment.


    Soon though, the sounds of birds was accompanied by the tone of slow flowing water and, after rounding a small outcrop I finally got to the creek I saw yesterday.


    Unfortunately I also happen to run into a group of seven kids about the same age as the current me which were gathered in a small circle. Inside the circle lay another boy as the group kept kicking him and throwing dirt in his face. He stood there in fetal position as blow after blow rained on him.


    One of the attackers quickly noticed me "Hey! Get lost!" he yelled and I raised an eyebrow at his antics. Looking at him and thinking about my current level I reached the conclusion that I could knock him out with a lugie.


    "Yeah, piss off! You didn''t see anything here!" another brat backed him up.


    I put my hands in my pockets and strode forward "But I do see something. I see seven cowards ganging up on someone."


    "You!" The brat closest to me lunged forward, fist c.o.c.ked and ready to strike. Unfortunately for him I quickly lifted my foot so the only thing he hit was the sole of my shoe with his face.


    "Bastard!" they yelled and got ready to attack.


    Smirking, I exploded my soul force outwards and merged with the Nighttime Direwolf, growing half a body taller than them while a shadow of one hundred and fifty kilos of pure muscle glared down on them. "Correction." I hummed, my voice vibrating with a beastly baritone "I see seven dead brats."


    Three of them instantly wet themselves, another three started crying while frozen in place while one actually fainted. "Karma is a bitch. One time you''re the predator and the next time you''re the prey." I grabbed the one that tried to hit me by the face and lifted his struggling form off the ground. "This is what feels like to be mistreated by someone or something stronger than you. Remember it well and stop being such p.u.s.s.y cowards."


    Letting him go he crumbled to the floor before crawling away from me "As for the rest of you, scram!"


    They bolted in every direction like rats on a sinking ship, taking their fainted with them. Relaxing and letting go of the transformation my body reverted back to it''s natural state. Walking forward I approached the kicked boy who had taken to a sitting position. His hair was bowl cut and shaggy, and his clothes were a simple tattered robe that had numerous holes in different locations.


    He then looked up at me, well at least I think he did, couldn''t really tell as his bangs hid his eyes. "I didn''t need help." he spoke, his voice pretty deep for a kid who just hit puberty but still boyish in it''s essence. It was also very monotone, as if there was absolutely no emotion behind it.


    Though his attitude ticked me off I wasn''t really upset. He had his pride and I could accept that. Shrugging I simply replied "Never offered it. They attacked me and I defended myself."


    "Bullshit." he called me out while grumbling.


    Smiling, I replied "Would you prefer ''I saved you from having your bitch a.s.s handed to you in a handbasket''?"


    The young teen stayed silent for a few seconds before turning his head away "Attacking others... Those bastards."


    I burst into laughter hearing him and offered my hand "Name''s Long Wan."


    After looking at it with doubt for a few moments, he nodded and grabbed hold allowing me to pull him up. It was then I noticed that he was a good head taller than me, as well as scrawny as a stick due to malnourishment "Du Laohu." he presented himself . Hmm, Laohu meant Tiger. So the dragon saves the tiger, how corny. "Wait. Long Wan? As in ''the'' Long Wan?"


    I shrugged.


    Laohu sighed "No wonder you could chase those bastards away." He looked at the ground in frustration.


    "What was up with them anyway?" No point in pushing him further. Still though, it made me curious as to why they would gang up on him.


    His fists balled and I could see the tremors overtaking him. Still though, his answer came in the same monotonous voice "The one who fainted, his mother was oiling her husband''s green hat with my father." Ohhhh... Basically they were having an affair. "One night they met in secret at the edge of the village under a rock face. It had rained heavily the day before and a boulder slipped killing them both."


    Tch, imm.a.t.u.r.e brats. "So he blames your family for the infidelities of his mother. I don''t know what that counts as being: idiotic, cowardly or pathetic." Heart pain can make the best of us do foolish things but when we vent our pain onto the innocent all excuses fly out the window. "Have you told anyone else about this?"


    He nodded. " I did but he is patriarch Du Rong''s immediate kin so it only resulted in harder beatings." He looked away while holding his bruised arm.


    Summoning a Nine Transformation Pill I tossed it in his mouth. As surprised as he was he swallowed it without hesitation, his wounds vanishing in moments. "What was that?" Laohu asked. If he was surprised, he definitely didn''t show it.


    My voice became grave and serious "A sample."


    "Sample? Of what?" Again, his sounds were a perfect octave of simplicity.


    "Power. Wealth. Fame. Take your pick." I smirked at him. He knew pain on a first name basis so I could work with him. Mold him, sharpen him and refine him into a perfect weapon. "I can teach you. Give you all of that. How would you like to step on those brats like they did to you? Or you could even leave this place for a better life and never return."


    Laohu didn''t make any sounds nor did his face betray his emotions. But his hands clenched so hard that you could hear his knuckles cracking under the pressure


    "There is a catch though." I continued and got his attention. "You have to swear yourself to a life of protecting Glory City and it''s values. That means it''s safety, it''s people and it''s freedoms. Besides that, anything you do is up to you, so long as no innocent is hurt." I smiled "And if you break your oath, I''ll kill you." I teleported away and reappeared behind him in the mutated Shadow Devil form. Tracing my poisonous needle on his cheek I hummed in an almost s.e.xy tone " And trust me, anything that happened to you until now will feel like a relaxing massage."


    Ethereal smoke was left behind as I once again teleported in front of him in my normal state, arms crossed and waiting for an answer. He stood in silence for a good few seconds before stepping forward, an almost malefic smile plastered on his face. "By your terms¡­ I swear on."


    For the first time I could see his eyes under his bangs. One of them had a gray pupil with a long scar running down the middle of his forehead to just under the lower eyelid. That scar also had crisscrossing marks making it look like it''d been sutured with barbed wire.


    "Then pay attention, this is your first lesson." I began to share with him the Yin-Yang Revolving technique, going slow and repeating it a few times before he managed to memorize it. He hadn''t trained his soul force yet so his memory was quite average. I also flashed a ring and placed it in his hands "You have a couple dozen high level pills in there that you should use to build up your body and your cultivation. The ones that smell the strongest are the most powerful so leave those for after you''ve finished the weaker ones. There are also a few hundred thousand demon spirit coins in there so put some meat on those bones or you won''t be of use to anyone. Keep all of this hidden until you''ve reached Silver rank so they won''t try and steal them from you."


    I then turned on my heel and began walking towards the creek while transporting all but my u.n.d.e.r.w.e.a.r in my own ring. "Wait." Laohu called out and I lazily turned my head towards him "Thank you." he called out in his monotonous voice while bowing deeply.


    Waving him off I turned back and prepared to jump in the water "If you want to thank me then honor your vows and get stronger."


    "Yes''sir." as I heard a rustle behind me. My void sense had gotten more s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e as time passed and I could ''feel see'' with my minds eye now how he stuffed the ring in his pocket. He then also took off his clothes and hid them in some nearby tall grass and joined me on the creekbank.


    I smirked at him and he looked at me with his wooden expression. Inhaling deeply and tensing our legs, we took a leap and landed in the water with a loud splash just as the sun finally showed the full of it''s disk past the horizon.

 Chapter 10 - 7: The father of my brother

    With my bathing done I said my farewell to Laohu with the promise that I will soon call for him so he better not slack off. I got back to Du Ze''s home just in time to see them crawl out of their rooms, with auntie holding little Xi. As soon as the little rascal saw me she stretched out her hands in my direction and so I had no choice but to be her hostage again.


    "Good morning." Du Ze yawned "Did you sleep well?" he asked politely. He had stayed up a bit after I went to cultivate to speak with his father who had returned later that night.


    Shaking my head I answered "It was such a nice night that I cultivated throughout the entirety of it."


    Unfortunately auntie heard me and her face took on a worried look "Oh dear, you must be exhausted." she tried to take Xi out of my hands but I gently moved her out of the way.


    Du Ze intervened "It''s all right mother. Silver rank demon spiritualists can even go for a week without sleep and not feel any ill effects. Even then, Long Wan has been cultivating. When we cultivate we actually strengthen our bodies and freshen our minds. You could say that cultivating is in some ways even better than sleeping."


    Seeing the doubtful expression I continued "In short I feel fine. It means a lot for me that you show this much concern but you don''t have to worry. Besides, I can always go to bed whenever my body tells me to. I think both Du Ze and I have earned that right this vacation considering how well our studies have gone."


    Auntie''s eyes softened and she gently stroked Du Ze''s hair "You''re right. Son, you should take it easy as Long Wan said. You''re our family''s pride as well as it''s hope so let us spoil you a bit." My brother nodded and thanked us before auntie rolled up her sleeves to prepare us a nice home-cooked breakfast.


    After eating, Du Ze and I took to doing some light exercises so as for our bodies not to loose pace to our cultivation. By light exercising we meant running l.a.p.s around the village at a speed that made us seem like blurs to the untrained eye followed by throwing a boulder half the size of a grown man and nearly five times the weight between us like a beach ball. Finally we concluded with a spar.


    Well, to be more precise it was mostly me manhandling Du Ze. While I was 5-star Silver in strength and he was 4-star that didn''t make up the difference. No, the difference was that Du Ze chose to spend more time on cultivation rather than practicing martial arts with Nie Li and I. It showed as, compared to the demonic ginger from the seventh hell, Du Ze was too honest in his strikes. Together with my void sense and overall slightly greater experience than him resulted in me kicking his feet to the side while locking his hands and legs in my arms, followed by quite literally me using him like a broom to sweep the ground. He spent five minutes picking leaves out of his hair afterwards, all the time giving me the stink eye.


    I laughed "You''re too direct in your strikes. Every battle must be fought like a game of Go. Anticipate at least three steps ahead and strike without leaving your defenses open." it was a lesson painfully engraved in my body by Nie Li. Unfortunately, he always explained very little. ''You''re overextending.'' or ''You retreat and I will attack instead.'' He picked at my openings until I closed them and then made sure I wouldn''t show them again. His strikes wrote in bruises on my body exactly why you never go into battle thinking only of the first move. I learned to be cunning and unconventional in fights, using basic moves to their fullest. Du Ze still had a lot to learn. On the other hand, I finally understood why Nie Li never skipped a session with me unless it was important. Fighting a scrub was fun!


    Du Ze dusted himself "Brother Long is too viscous. Your way of fighting is not honorable." he hummed. This kid was pure like that. Unfortunately that could get him killed or taken advantage of. It was something he could do without.


    "Imagine this next scenario. An evil man comes to **** or kill your mother and to save her I kick his balls in from behind. Would you think of me as being a coward for using such underhanded methods or a hero for saving your loved ones?" I asked him while shaking my head.


    Du Ze''s eyes widened in realization before he too chucked "Leaving behind such an absurd and absolutely horrifying idea, I understand what you mean."


    "Fight with honor when the situation permits you to do so but do not be stubborn enough to die for it. For the victor writes the history." I continued, making sure to engrave this notion into his heart.


    He nodded "Initiate an honorable battle but do not be afraid of a flexible mind. That is a philosophy I can respect."


    I hummed in acceptance "Another point you need to correct is the honesty in your strikes. Learn to use faints and blind spots more often. Otherwise, you leave yourself open for counterattacks."


    Du Ze smirked "Like you often did when sparing with Nie Li." His amus.e.m.e.nt suddenly turned into slight terror, probably due to the expression of absolute solace I had right now. "Do I at least get a head start?"


    "You have a tanzhi and a half." I answered, same deadpan expression on my face.


    "That''s not a lot..."


    "A tanzhi and a quarter... A tanzhi and a tenth..." I began counting down and Du Ze bolted away.


    Xiao Qi and Du Meng laughed like maniacs as auntie kept on pulling leaves and branches out of her son''s hair. Even with the speed of a Silver rank, he couldn''t get far. So, a few teleports later and he was once again a struggling broom in my hands. "I still can''t believe you got used as a broom, haha. The yard''s never been cleaner pfff..." Auntie laughed as she kept cleaning his hair as his cheeks kept getting redder and redder.


    We enjoyed some more conversations before evening finally came. Noticing this Du Ze and I parted with them before heading towards Du Rong''s place. The sun began to set as we finally reached our destination and knocked on the large but decrepit gate. A young lady in her teens opened the door with a sort of indifferent expression on her face, expression which soon soothed to a more welcoming one "Du Ze!" she cheered before turning to me "And you must be young master Long Wan. Grandpa Du Rong told us to expect you. Please, come in!" she invited and stood to the side allowing my brother and I to enter. Seems Du Ze was a little familiar with the place as he took to walking in the middle between me and the young lady, while striking up a pleasant conversation. Listening in was rude but they didn''t seem to value privacy while next to me, so it was from their exchange that I found out that her name was Du Fan and she knew Du Ze since his father always cared for her grandfather Du Rong.


    After passing through the clean but rundown courtyard we found ourselves face to face with an old wooden and paper door about twice the size of a grown man. Thanks to my void sense I could tell that Du Rong was waiting for us on the other side together with another person, although smaller in size. If you''re wondering how I could tell well... In the movie ''The Matrix'' there is a time when the person monitoring a screen filled with cascading code says he doesn''t even see the code anymore, just images of what they represent. For me it was something like that as well. Focusing on it overlaid a translucent fuzzy image of the sensed area on my vision, kind of like shapes in static on a television screen. If I just let it run on auto then I would just feel pressure on my skin depending on what I had sensed.


    Still though, you didn''t need any supernatural sense to tell that the other person was a kid. No, not with all the high pitched sniveling he was giving off. "Grampa Du Rong, you''ve got to do something!"


    That sniveling sounded so familiar...


    "Du Mi, I thought I told you but a ''young boy turning into some kind of wolf demon and threatening to kill you'' isn''t enough to go by on." Answered the voice of the elder man "Besides, you were on cleaning duty yesterday but you pretended to be smoke and vanished. By all accounts you should be punished right now so don''t think my generosity is abundant like grass." Translation: you skipped on chores so don''t take my leniency for granted.


    The young Du Fan seemed oblivious to the exchange (or she ignored it like a pro) as she called out to Du Rong "Grampa, Du Ze and young master Long Wan are here!"


    "Ah, of course. Please welcome them in!" Du Rong answered with a bit more joy in his voice.


    The door slid open and we stepped in "Grampa Du Rong, it''s nice to see you again!" I greeted the chuckling old man.


    Unfortunately my boozin... I mean, my reunion with my unofficial adopted drink... uh, adopted grandfather was cut short by an accusatory "Ah! It''s you, you bastard!"


    It was now obvious that the earlier voice definitely belonged to a kid, specifically a boy of the same age as Du Ze and my current body. He had a mop of hair spikey enough to make you think he was used as a c.o.n.d.o.m by a lightning type demon beast taking part in an orgy "Yes. I''m me. I''ve been me since I was born." Came my bored reply. Calling me a bastard didn''t phase me at all. I''ve been called worse...


    The aged patriarch''s squinted eyes shot open in surprise at the kid''s words. Turning to him with a raised eyebrow I greeted "Grampa Du Rong, if this is a bad moment I can return at a later time."


    The man didn''t get to reply as the younger kid got in close, taking up quite a bit of my personal space "Don''t refer to my grandfather so casually you bastard!" Ok, this little goblin was starting to get both annoying, as well as slightly familiar. I could swear I knew him from somewhere, but where?


    A growl escaped my throat. Even the great Buddha forgives only once. "Listen ''Du-mmy''! Disregarding the fact that your grandfather, the patriarch of the clan, extended to me perpetual family gratitude, the only one in the entire village who could prevent me from outright strangling you right now would be Du Ze. So even if your grandfather tried to stop me, it still wouldn''t mean more than a warm fart during a freezing morning. So stick your top lip to your lower one, then make like a bitch and flea!" I spoke while my aura flared. Well, what I said at the end was ''be like a sneeze in a storm'' but this was a much better translation, what with all the bitching he did.


    Also, most of what I said is true. At worse I would get a heavy fine and a few strikes with a cane for retaliating against non-cultivators but even that was unlikely since I''m someone under the care of the Alchemy Association and the Divine Family, as well as sir Ye Shuo''s disciple and one of the most promising geniuses of my generation. Under these circ.u.mstances I could easily pass off Dummy''s actions as inciteful and in Glory City power was law so those actions can be answered with retaliation. It was the main reason why commoners feared nobles. While revenge was forbidden, responding to provocation was not.


    Of course, this was valid if I truly intended to lay my hands on the kid, which I didn''t. It was only a scare tactic to get him to back off and I was in no mood to injure or kill a kid who barely has any hair growing on his d.i.c.k, regardless of how much of a dumbass he is.


    To his credit Dummy finally understood that a whelp like him was barking at a Silver rank demon spiritualist and took a few cautious steps backwards while looking at Du Ze hopefully. Unfortunately for him, my brother just crossed his hands and closed his eyes as if to say he will not intervene. He did throw a knowing smirk at me which only I seemed to catch. He truly did know me pretty well.


    "Grandson Long Wan please wait!" Du Rong intervened in a panic "Du Mi is just a child that doesn''t know any better. I will have him caned later as penance so please be lenient!" The man continued before breaking into a coughing fit.


    "L-Long Wan?!" Dummy called out in a panic. "You''re young master Long Wan?! Why would someone like you defend that trash Du Laohu?" His hands flew in the air to clamp his own mouth as color drained from his face.


    His earlier words did not escape Du Fan as she questioned out in surprise "Du Laohu? What does he have to do with this?". She stepped forward and grabbed him by the ear before bringing him in close while waiting for an answer.


    "Oh!" I slammed my fist into my palm "Now I remember you! You were part of the gang that was beating that mushroom kid last night by the creek." I explained, though it was more to myself than to the audience. You know when you remember something that was itching the back of your brain and you just blurt it out, well that happened to me now.


    "Mushroom kid?" Du Fan and Du Rong asked at the same time.


    I shrugged "Tall, pale and skinny with a bowl shaped hair that covers his eyes. Doesn''t talk much either." Du Laohu''s appearance was that of a mushroom, hence ''mushroom kid''.


    Du Fan let go of her little brother''s ear and grabbed a handful of his shirt bringing him in closer to her face, his heels lifting off the ground in the process. She began whispering in an aggressive growling tone "Dad told you to make peace with Du Laohu! Do you really want to go to prison? Grampa barely managed to prevent that after you injured Du Laohu''s eye last time." Thanks to having a Silver rank constitution I could hear a fly fart on the other side of the room if I focused hard enough. This conversation was basically spoken in my ear. Du Fei wasn''t done yet as she shouted "Idiot!" while burring her fist on the crown of his head sending him crashing down face first into the old wood floor. Grabbing him by the scuff of his shirt she started dragging him out of the room with an annoyed and angry expression.


    Turning to Du Rong with a raised eyebrow "Is he going to be alright?" I asked while pointing towards Du Mi.


    "Ah!" the aged patriarch reset and bowed his head "You needn''t be worried. I will personally make sure he is seriously punished for his transgressions." he said with urgency.


    Waving in front of me like I just smelled something funny I swayed my head while saying "I wasn''t asking about that. Truthfully, I just didn''t like his arrogant attitude and planned to scare him a little. It''s not like I was going to injure one of brother Du Ze''s family members." I chuckled.


    Du Rong''s complexion lightened a little after hearing my words "Ah, thank you for your leniency. It is truthful that I''ve been spoiling him rotten ever since my daughter-in-law died. But now I fear I may have been mistaken in raising him up to be like that. I will need to see to it." the aged man hummed.


    "Don''t beat him." I answered causing the man to hum at me once again, this time in doubt "Beating a kid won''t make them understand what they did wrong, only that they need to hide better. There will come a time when he will no longer fear the rod and then you will lose control of them." Fearing a spanking isn''t the same as growing up to be a decent human.


    The man rubbed his stubble "Then what do you propose?" I could hear the doubt in his voice. It''s hard to teach an old geezer new tricks. Beating kids was how this culture raised them afterall so changing their ways wasn''t going to be straightforward.


    Producing a ten thousand coin card from my ring I handed it to him "Send him off to learn a trade. Something like blacksmith or cook. That money should be enough to cover his apprenticeship. Du Mi should mellow down once he realizes how tough the world really is."


    Du Rong nodded but pushed back the card "It''s because of me that he has become like that so I can''t burden grandson Long Wan. My responsibilities are my own." he chuckled.


    I had none of it and set the card f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y in his hand "You accepted me as your grandson so let me care for my family. Also, if my little ''cousin'' complains just let me know and see how I''ll handle him."


    We all laughed as Du Rong nodded and put the card in his sleeve. "So be it. But I think we have had enough of this negativity for one night. I remember that I called you for a celebration. Du Fei!" he called out and the bubbly girl entered a split second later. How did she do that?


    "Yes grampa!" she hummed in a happy tone "Sorry about leaving. I had to take out the trash." yeesh, what an elder sister¡­


    "Escort our guests to the dining hall and then bring out the aged baiju from the cellar!" Du Rong chuckled.


    Just as we were about to leave I felt the two spirits inside began to stir while metaphysical energy links shot from my soul realm and into Nie Li''s. Turning to Du Ze I spoke in a tone that denoted seriousness and urgency "Nie Li is in trouble! I''m sorry but I must go! Tell your mother she''s been kind and save me some of grampa''s alcohol for when we see each other again!".


    Du Ze''s eyes widened "How do you...?" he started asking but I raised my hand.


    Shaking my head I interrupted him before he could finish "Nie Li and I share a special bond since our trip to ancient Orchid city. Sorry, there''s no time to explain more.


    He nodded with a frown, fist clenching into trembling balls, most likely feeling useless right now. Sorry brother, if I could take you with me I would but this ability doesn''t work like that. Little did I realize that my own feelings were echoing in my soul realm, which took note of my limitations and began working on correcting them once more.


    Closing my eyes I once again found myself floating in the shared space linking my soul realm with Nie Li''s. Speaking of the redhead, he appeared not one split second later in his spirit''s a.d.u.l.t form. No sooner did that happen did I feel a great amount of anxiety and excitement mirrored in my heart. "This isn''t a good time." he frowned and closed his eyes to leave.


    "Wait!" I called out, quite forcefully if I might add. Nie Li impatiently opened one eye to glance at me. The earlier feelings were starting to be replaced with mild annoyance "Did you already forget that no time passes while we converse in here?" I chuckled and he relaxed, both visibly as well as in his heart. "You needn''t answer that. Anyway, I know that the Dark Guild has sent some henchmen to target your family. I''m coming to help you."


    He waved me off dismissively but his feelings told me he was touched by my willingness to help "I can handle them without much effort."


    I nodded "I know you can, however it''s me that needs the experience. Anyway, this isn''t up for debate. Either let me through or I''m telling Ziyun you tried to peep on her in Kong Ming''s tomb."


    He shook his head in an amused yet defeated fashion and disappeared.


    Back in the real world, I focused on my link with the reincarnated redhead and sent forth a request to accept my soul force. There were two seconds of delay before the request was accepted and I saw the familiar stretching of space as the scene shifted. A moment later I was standing next to Nie Li and the corpse of a Silver rank fighter dressed in the Dark Guild''s robes.


    Nie Li nodded with a grim smile "Hi." he greeted curtly.


    "Hnn." I moved my head in a swift reply before turning to the body "Yun Hua will smell the blood and be here any moment." I said as I stored the body in my ring.


    "There are four more of them with the highest being a 5-star Silver spiritualist, most likely it''s him." Nie Li confirmed before we both jumped away, Nie Li''s form melding into the night. Four more? In the novel there were only three in total. Damn, another annoying ripple in the continuity.


    I took to hiding in the canopy of a large tree and extended my void sense. Finding the four I began to assess their capabilities. Judging by the way the surrounding soul force was reacting I could assume two were Silver ranked spiritualists, one 4-stars and one 5-star. The 5-star one was probably Yun Hua. The other two were 2-star Silver fighter scrubs that were easy pickings. Still though, ambush was the best tactic in the forest of the Heavenly Marks family. At this moment Nie Li using the Shadow Devil was for the best as his stealth capabilities were vastly superior to mine. Still though, I sure do wish I could use it too¡­


    A split second later I felt a stir in my soul force and my form shifted to the mutated Shadow Devil. Upon a closer introspection, I noticed that the link between it and Nie Li was still going so that means that we were both using the same spirit. I didn''t know we could do that!


    ''Well, f.u.c.k me sideways with a spiked pole if I don''t French kiss the a.s.s of Lady Luck if I ever meet her!'' Is what I thought as I teleported behind a scrub that had strayed a step behind the group and sank my venom tipped tail a bit into his neck. He jumped and tried to roundhouse me but I simply blocked his strike. I then grabbed him and threw him at the 4-star spiritualist to halt his charge.


    The spiritualist knocked the flying fighter away and moved to strike me but I teleported away to behind a tree and melded into the ethereal form and sneaked away, being careful not to step on anything that would give me away. The ethereal form of the Shadow Devil was special in that it somehow phased you out of reality. What I couldn''t figure out is why you didn''t just pass through the ground. I like to think that it just shifted you to a different dimension. However, that means that when you stepped, you didn''t float but actually pushed back on the earth. Objects that existed in all dimensions like the rocks beneath your feet could give your location away. I found this out the hard way when sparing with Nie Li.


    Also, the spectrum that I normally saw as a human shifted, my eyes losing the ability to determine color but the level of detail was greatly enhanced. So much so even that I could actually see others that were using the void form, specifically Nie Li. By the way he turned towards me I could tell that he could see me too.


    Once safely hidden behind a rock some distance away we both exited the ethereal form, Nie Li greeting me with a shocked expression. "We can use the same spirit at once?" he asked in a raspy whisper, shock evident in his voice.


    I nodded "Can''t blame you for being shocked, I just found out about this as well. Wonder why we never tried it though."


    "Only one person can merge with a particular spirit and that spirit can''t be transferred is a foundation notion of demon spiritualists. That thinking must''ve kept us from thinking of trying it." Nie Li answered sagely with me nodding in acceptance. Cognitive bias was a bitch. "I can distract the spiritualists. Do you think you can take out the remaining fighter?" my friend asked me as I sensed the three Dark Guild members approaching.


    All feeling sank from my body. Sneak attacks with intent to disable were off the table. Now that I''ve paralyzed the previous scrub, my only option was to hide or kill. Could I really do it? Bile rose up to my throat as I remembered the smell of human blood from the time I crippled that Silver ranked fighter of the Sacred Family. That sound of squelching flesh was something I didn''t fancy hearing the rest of my life.


    Everything was suppressed in an instant when I glanced at Nie Li who looked back at me almost grandfatherly. I remembered that he now had a father and a mother, and even a little cousin who looked up to him like a brother. ''The family of my brother is my family!'' is what I kept telling myself since I started my new life. These shitheads came to f.u.c.k with them? Over my f.u.c.k.i.n.g corpse!


    Anxiety was replaced with serenity, my cultivation''s effects finally taking over. The Void God part of the Heavenly Void Dragon God technique was really mysterious, to depths which I had yet to fully grasp. But it''s main attribute was that it granted me a supernatural clarity of mind and peace of heart. It had limits, evident by me losing my lunch the first time I drew blood but it still granted me superb mental adaptability. Void energies began rippling through the air as I glanced at Nie Li and gave a short nod, to which he responded in kind, face steeled and ready for war.


    Both of us melded to the ether and snuck up on the trio who were now back to back, guarding whatever side they could. Suddenly, they all jumped high to avoid a sickle to their mid regions, courtesy of Nie Li. My friend attacked closest the side of the spiritualists and from such an angle that it forced the fighter to jump away and separate from the other two.


    At that moment I chose to strike, shifting from the Shadow Devil to the Nighttime Direwolf in less then a second and teleporting above the mid air fighter. Rotating in the air I sent an axe kick to his head which he guarded by crossing his arms. Unfortunately for him, I was now much heavier and stronger. A little lesson in physics: As per the laws of motion, when a more massive object collides with a lighter one, the heavier object will impart some of it''s momentum unless acted upon by an outside force.


    Well, I took the scrub to school with this, performing a painful demonstration on his body. The strike launched him in the ground, burying him a few palms deep in it. Knowing that I couldn''t stop there, I angled my fall so that I would drop knee first onto his t.h.i.g.hs.


    A sickening crunch was heard and the scrub yelled out in pain before finally succ.u.mbing to the shock and passing out. Raising a void tendril in the air, I thrust it at his head with the intent to lobotomize him. The sharp piece of void mass embed itself deep, no resistance felt whatsoever.


    The tendril lodged itself into the ground besides the fighter''s head. I couldn''t do it. I just couldn''t, regardless how much I wanted to. The necessity of extinguishing human life, that was something that my mind had come to accept but it seems my heart failed to follow. Regardless, this guy was passed out and his legs were broken. So I summoned some rope from my ring which I used to quickly bind him to a nearby tree.


    Not having the luxury to admire my work I turned towards the remaining Dark Guilders who were engaged in battle with Nie Li. It seems my brother had taken the form of the Nighttime Direwolf and was using it incredibly well, with much more finesse and precision against the opponent''s Black Star Tiger and, what looked like a spider demon beast.


    The agility of the Direwolf combined with Nie Li''s experience meant that these two were pushed against the ropes, with deacon Yun Hua stumbling backwards while holding a stump that used to be his left forearm. Guess he tried to block the Direwolf''s Dark Claw attack and ended up losing everything just slightly below his elbow. That attack is unstoppable unless you can manipulate the very fabric of space-time. It''s the ultimate sword.


    Regardless, I saw the spider demon spiritualist shoot out silk from his four wrists and, judging by how they smelled, they were laced with poison. Sensing this, Nie Li quickly changed to the Shadow Devil and dissolved into thin air before it could hit him.


    This was no time to be a spectator. Preparing a Dark Claw, I steadied my nerves and focused on one thing: kill. I needed to temper my heart and steel my resolve. Energies vibrated within the tips of my fingers and I teleported behind the 4-star Silver spiritualist prepared to cleave him in half.


    By the sheer will of Lady Luck and of my own subconscious hesitation, the bastard jumped away a nanosecond before I made my move, the attack cleaving away his four lower limbs out of his total eight. He screamed bloody murder as the shock and pain probably threw him out of the transformed state. The bastard was now a just a legless torso that was writhing on the ground.


    With those injuries he would probably bleed to death in agony. Shaking my head I prepared to finish him off. My heart was pounding harder than I did Yang Xin and my legs nearly gave out but still, I needed to put this wretch out of its misery.


    Just as I finally strode close enough to deliver the final blow, I was distracted by the bruised and bloody body of Yun Hua flying backwards a hair''s breadth away from my nose. The Dark Guild deacon''s body hit a nearby tree, splintering the bark and slowly sliding down. He then rolled away to avoid a quick strike from Nie Li and jumped in the canopy before disappearing into the forest.


    "Che!" Nie Li clicked his teeth "He got away..." He was clearly dissatisfied with this outcome.


    "Should we give chase?" I asked, ready to teleport after Yun Hua.


    Nie Li shook his head "No need. The Dark Guild will not forgive his failure and he is too crippled to pose any real threat in the future." He sighed before letting the transformation dissolve, leaving him in human form.


    I nodded and did the same. Taking out a dagger I returned to my original task of finishing off thee 4-star Silver spiritualist. "Wait!" Nie Li called out "Let him live, he may have useful intel."


    Shrugging I pointed towards the man "He won''t live much longer with how much blood he is losing." Even a Silver rank needs blood to survive.


    Nie Li nodded and quickly made his way towards the man. The redhead activated the Daoyin technique and pressed the acupuncture points in the man''s t.h.i.g.hs. Instantly the pulsing torrents of blood began turning into light trickles, no more than a shallow cut''s worth. So the Daoyin could be used like that as well. Good to know...


    Just then I sensed three figures enter my void sense range and a moment later they landed next to us with urgency. They were a sturdy built middle aged man and two younger ones in their late teens to early twenties. They looked at Nie Li and I for a moment before getting in a fighting pose. One of the younger men launched at me while the other yelled to him "Wait, Xiaori!"


    Xiaori? I remember him. Hell I always thought his name was Nie Ri and his brother always called him Xiao Ri out of closeness. No time to contemplate that as he launched at me with a jump kick, dynamic entry style. I simply spun on my heel out of the way and placed my elbow in the path of his solar plexus. The impact knocked most of the air out of his lungs and left him gasping on the ground, saliva rushing down the edge of his mouth.


    A jump kick was a perfect move from an ambush position but otherwise idiotic. It left you with little options to defend from your position in the air. What''s more, anyone with half a brain and literally mere months of experience fighting could find ways to counter. I could''ve ducked under him and jabbed his balls or even knocked the leading leg down bringing his face in to meet my knuckles. Had I been particularly bloodthirsty I could''ve used all those moves but with void tendrils, ending his life or crippling him.


    Once more spinning on my heel, I connected a roundhouse to his face and sent him in his brother''s arms.


    "You!" the long haired young man growled at me seeing his close relative had passed out.


    His aura flared. He was a Silver rank demon spiritualist, to be more specific 1 or 2 star , I don''t remember which. Before he could though, the elder put his hand in front of him signalling for the young man to hold his position. However, the old man didn''t take his eyes off me for a bit.


    "Nie Li, what''s going on here?" the elder asked, using the corner of his eye to peek at my friend. If my guess was right, that old man must be Nie En. He''s a 1-star Gold rank Fighter. If push comes to shove and he attacks me I can use my demon spirits to match him. And if they team up I can always use my abilities to get the f.u.c.k out fast.


    Nie Li cupped his hands "Good evening elder Nie En. Some Dark Guild members came looking for trouble but my friend and I managed to chase them off." he admitted, pointing to me. In the novel he hid the fact that he was the one to beat the invaders but this time he no longer needed to hide his rank nor his abilities.


    "Friend?" Nie En asked with a raised eyebrow.


    I cupped my hands and made a slight bow "Good evening elder Nie En. My name is Long Wan. I am Nie Li''s classmate and sworn brother."


    Nie En nodded but his suspicion was evident on his face "I haven''t heard of anyone from outside the family coming to visit. Why are you here?" He was the elder in charge of security. If anyone knows who comes and goes, it''s him.


    "Brother Li and I share a bond that is difficult to explain. But we can sense each other''s state of being. So I came rushing to his aid." I admitted. Half truths are better than lies.


    "Our family grounds are not small. Even for us who live here, it took a while to get to this place. How did you manage to outpace us?" Nie En continued his interrogation.


    This was a tricky question. I was never one to brag to anyone other than myself. "I''m afraid I''m not at a liberty to tell. Please ask my shifu, sir Ye Shuo of the Blizard Family for details."


    The moment he heard that name, Nie En''s body twitched a bit. While he may not know of Shuo directly, he most certainly should know of the Ye family name. The Blizzard family is the ruling one afterall. What''s more, Nie En was smart. It shouldn''t take him long to put two and two together, realize that only a high ranking member could and would take on a student.


    His mannerisms and atmosphere changed instantly "Ah! No need. No need." He waved me off with a smile "Everyone has their secrets."


    By this time Nie Xiaori had woken up and, upon seeing En act like this, a growl escaped his throat "Elder! You can''t be serious! He hit me."


    His brother slapped him upside the head and whispered "You attacked first without thought even though I told you to stop. Besides, didn''t you hear that he has a personal teacher from the Blizzard family?" Having a shifu meant that you carried the personal honor and prestige. Anyone having beef against you was indirectly attacking said teacher. In short: you attack me, you attack Ye Shuo of the Blizzard family (a.k.a You''re f.u.c.k.e.d!).


    Xiaori grit his teeth "Nevermind..." he pouted and looked away.


    Sighing I pointed at the passed out body of the 4-star Silver spiritualist "Someone should take care of that. We managed to stop the bleeding but there is no telling how long he will last. Also, you should keep him in isolation, with only the most trusted people around. The Dark Guild may have methods to take him out from afar."


    "What do you mean?" Asked the long haired youth whose name I didn''t remember (the elder brother).


    l looked towards the place where we had lost sight of Yun Hua "Don''t you find it strange that, for such an infamous organization, Glory City rarely gets any useful information about them? Most captives from this organization usually don''t last the night."


    Nie En nodded and then motioned to the two brothers to pick up the two captives, namely the spider demon spiritualist and the two Silver rank fighter that I crippled and poisoned at the start of the showdown.


    "Also, there is body in my ring. Would you like to have it as well?" I asked Nie En.


    The man shook his head "No need. I ask you to join us at the family hall. Please keep it until then." His tone had changed to a more neutral and respectful one. Nie En was still my elder but he couldn''t afford to insult a master of the Blizzard family.


    It was then that the elder brother gasped. He was crouching near the demon spiritualist. "Nie Xiaofeng, what''s wrong?" asked Nie En


    Nie En and the elder of the brothers nodded. The middle aged man then pointed to the downed spiritualist. "He''s a 4-star Spiritualist. Did you two really beat someone like this?" He accused. It wasn''t that strange for him to say that considering our bodies were only around eleven or twelve years old.


    Sharing a look with Nie Li, we both nodded at the same time, with him smirking mischievously. Our 3-star Silver auras flared illuminating the forest night.


    The newcomers'' jaws fell unhinged. Xiaofeng should be around 1-star Silver in his early twenties. Then again my former memory s.u.c.k.e.d a.s.s. Still though, that''s besides the point. We were barely teens yet already had surpassed him. I wonder what he would think if we revealed our physical level.


    "Y-you two. You''re Silver rank?" Nie En stammered, a shaky finger pointing at us. Nie Li let his aura calm down and nodded. "Haha! This is great! Patriarch Nie Hai will surely take you under his wing."


    The lovable redhead just chuckled awkwardly while scratching the back of his head "Actually, I also have been approached by a master of the Blizzard family."


    Hearing this I retreated to the shared space and invited him. Immediately he appeared in his a.d.u.l.t form and took to floating in the air in lotus position. "What''s up now?"


    I chuckled with an embarrassed tone "Sorry, force of habit from my old life."


    His raised eyebrow signaled me to go on.


    "I tended to forget questions if I didn''t ask them on the spot. My memory was used as an example in the dictionary for the expression ''Scatter brained''." Came my half-assed excuse earning a friendly chuckle from Nie Li.


    "So, what did you want to ask?" His tone was soft and his feelings changed from curious to warm, like a teacher towards an endeared student.


    Nodding I continued "Your shifu, who is it?". Considering he scored the highest during testing, it could be either Ye Mo or Ye Zzong.


    He shrugged "I''ve barely talked to him. His name''s Ye Xiu and he''s the right hand man of the City Lord."


    I felt his amus.e.m.e.nt at my surprise "To be honest, I was expecting Ye Mo to volunteer." Came my reply.


    He chuckled "They couldn''t find him so Ye Xiu took up the role."


    "Ye Xiu is a good man. He is one of the few that can handle Ziyun''s father." Amus.e.m.e.nt filled me as I remembered how he was the one to usually placate things between Nie Li and Ye Zzong.


    Nie Li tilted his head in a confused gesture but still nodded at my words before fading out of the shared space.


    I didn''t linger any longer myself and returned to reality, back in the courtyard of the Heavenly Marks family.


    Nie En requested that we follow him to see the patriarch to sort out this mess as the two brothers carried the prisoners. Any dead bodies were stored in my ring. One thing I forgot to mention was why this was possible. You see all living beings have soul force in this world, regardless of how small that is. Rings use soul force to open a dimensional pocket within the inscription pattern etched on it. The addition of another soul force source would instantly destabilize the matrix causing the pocket dimension window to collapse and this was why it wouldn''t work. It took me the better part of two months to understand that. Cadavers on the other hand had no soul force other than some negligible scraps and thus could be stored away like any piece of meat.


    While I was musing on that I failed to take in that we had already reached the main building, only taking notice once we stepped through the courtyard and entered the main hall where the patriarch and the elders were in session.


    "Nie En what''s going on?" The patriarch, Nie Hai asked. The anime and manga left me an impression that he was a pushover with a greedy yet crazy uncle persona. However, the man standing in the center seat let none of that show. Instead, in front of me was a seasoned Gold rank spiritualist. He didn''t radiate nearly as much pressure as Xiao Yunfeng indicating that his cultivation was lower. However, there was something familiar about his aura. It reminded me of grampa Rong, something that old guys have in this world where life expectancy isn''t that high.


    Nie En cupped his hands "Patriarch, a group of individuals from the Dark Guild attacked. There were five men with two Silver rank spiritualists and three Silver rank fighters. We have a spiritualist and two fighters alive and in custody while one is dead and another one escaped."


    The chambers lit up with whispers and discussions related to the Dark Guild.


    Soon enough Nie Hai lifted his hand and the murmurs died down "Ho? You''ve managed to capture them alive? That is great news. Glory City has so few prisoners from their side. Nie En, good job!" he cheered, the outcome leaving him visibly worried yet satisfied.


    Nie En shook his head "Patriarch, it wasn''t me that captured them."


    This was not the answer that Nie Hai was expecting, if the way he leaned back in his chair was any indication "Then it must be Nie Xiaori and Nie Xiaofeng. To think that your cultivations would reach such a high level at your age, impressive!"


    The two brothers shared a look before they cupped their hands with Xiaofeng answering "Lord Patriarch, it wasn''t us."


    Nie Hai tilted his head in surprise "Then who?"


    Nie En and the duo moved to the side revealing Nie Li and I for them to finally take notice.


    "Elder Nie En, is this some kind of joke?" An old man, seemingly older than Nie Hai barked from the right side of the patriarch.


    "Grand Elder Nie Wei, I assure you it is no joke. These two were the only ones standing when I arrived." Nie En said while respectfully pointing at us.


    Nie Hai squinted his eyes to take a better look at us "Nie...Li, is that you?"


    Nie Li cupped his hands and bowed "Nie Li salutes the Patriarch."


    The old man waved him off kindly "I received news about how during school testing you''ve broken through to 3-star Silver demon spiritualist and been accepted into the Genius class. Now this?! You are amazing!" He laughed wholeheartedly while the rest of the family were picking up their jaws from the floor. Never underestimate the information network of a seasoned veteran. "Anyway Nie En, take these three to the holding cells and send someone to inform the City Lord. Nie Li, this must''ve been exhausting. Go home and rest. Come see me tomorrow and we will discuss things properly." Nie Hai offered gently.


    My brother cupped his hands and then turned towards me.


    "Hold it!" Nie Wei barked "Nie Li, do you admit your wrongs?" His voice boomed through the hallway. Now I remember this ancient asshole!


    Nie Li cupped his hands towards the elder "Grand Elder, please clarify what wrongs are you referring to."


    After retreating a few steps, I focused my soul force in my throat and whispered in his direction "Be careful. Not only is this old prune out to get you for being from a different branch, he also has his lips thoroughly stuck to Shen Hong''s a.s.s."


    My friend''s eyes widened for a second before his expression became so serious I actually felt a little sorry for Nie Wei. Speaking of that wrinkled wretch...


    "You haven''t been focusing on your studies and provoked the Sacred Family causing distress to the family. Do you admit to this?" The elder growled and pointed his fan accusingly.


    Nie Li nodded "It is true that I have clashed with the Sacred Family but did our family suffer any hardsh.i.p.s?" He shot back causing the elder to blink in surprise.


    Nie Wei was not one to back down "You insolent brat! How dare you talk back to your elders! Our family didn''t suffer because of our good fortune. You on the other hand only brought trouble. You need punishment! Three hundred strikes with the cane!"


    This fossil was planning to cripple Nie Li. If one hundred cane strikes would leave a Bronze rank bedridden, what would three hundred do to a Silver rank? Even though I knew something like this would happen, seeing it in front of me made my temper boil.


    "Nie Li!" A man''s voice boomed from the entrance way. Soon enough that voice was followed by a middle aged man with ginger hair, although a bit more sunburnt. The man kowtowed in front of Nie Wei so fast that he almost slid on the polished wooden floor. "Elder, Nie Li is but an unknowing child. Let me have the punishment in his stead."


    "Father..." For once I saw Nie Li''s steady and sure expression he always wore fall apart. Regardless of one''s mental age, they will always be their father''s child.


    "Nie Li, what are you doing? This isn''t how I''ve raised you!" Nie Li''s father scolded. Those words had so much disappointment dripping from them that even I felt ashamed. So I didn''t need an emphatic link to realize the kind of damage they must be doing to Nie Li.


    "That''s enough!" I said softly but firmly as I slowly made my way towards the father -son duo while also swallowing the anger that threatened to make me bust Nie Wei''s lip.


    "What? Who are you?!" Nie Hai asked as he finally took notice of me. Two guards stepped forward but Nie En put a muscled hand in front of them and shook his head silently telling them to stand down.


    Ignoring him, I gently grabbed the father''s arm and slowly lifted him up. There was no resistance to my actions as he stared at me with a dumbfounded expression. Seeing the man on his feet again, I turned towards Nie Wei and imagined ripping his balls off before feeding them to him. I guess some intent leaked out as his legs started trembling uncontrollably.


    Exhaling to clear my thoughts I returned to Nie Li''s father and cupped my hands and bowed "Greetings uncle. I am Nie Li''s sworn brother Long Wan."


    "Wha?" Was the most intelligent reply he could muster.


    My attention then shifted to Nie Hai "When I asked my dear Yang Xin to take the Heavenly Marks family under the Association''s wing, I did so under the impression that you all are just people. What I see now is just a bunch of cowards who will throw their own family to the wolves to appease the Sacred Family."


    Hearing some scrunching sounds to my left I turned my head to see Nie Wei gritting his teeth so hard that it was audible "How dare you! You think anyone will believe that a brat that stinks of his mother''s milk has that kind of influence? Guards! Teach this insolent child a lesson!"


    From the corner of my eyes I could see that the guards looked towards Nie Hai for permission. However the patriarch stood still with many questions etched on his face, neither approving nor rejecting Nie Wei''s order.


    Scoffing, I turned to the elder "Why don''t we ask her then?" I replied while pointing at the door.


    A second later a young man entered the room and bowed to Nie Hai "Lord Patriarch, Director Yang Xin and Young Master Chen Linjian have arrived!"


    "What?!" This news got Hai to jump out of his seat "Don''t just stand there. Invite them in!" He ordered and the audience parted, leaving just me on the red carpet. Nie Li had been discretely pulled to the side by his father.


    Two breaths later the guests entered. Upon seeing me Yang Xin''s eyes lit up in surprise and happiness. Her step became livelier as I made way forward and took her hands in mine.


    "Nice of you to join us love." I said with a smile which made her blush and flirtatiously brush a strand of her hair behind an ear.


    She giggled "I couldn''t let you have all the fun my dear future husband."


    "Well this is new." Chen Linjian coughed while visibly trying to suppress a blush "It''s good to see you little brother."


    I nodded to him but refused to let go of Xin''s hands "Likewise big bro Linjian. But what brings you here?"


    Chen Linjian crossed his arms in front of his c.h.e.s.t "My family''s markets have been opened to the Heavenly Marks for some time now. Coupled with the fact that we got news that the Dark Guild had attacked, I thought it would be wise to come check things out personally." His breathing was pretty heavy implying that he ran here full speed.


    I tilted my head in confusion "You opened your markets to the Heavenly Marks?"


    Yang Xin giggled angelically "Little bro Linjian often comes to discuss business. One day I let it slip that you requested we lend a hand to the Heavenly Marks and he took action on his own."


    Linjian shrugged "Any loss of the Sacred Family is a win for my Divine Family."


    The Divine Family getting involved was a surprise but I guess it was because Linjian often came to discuss business with my beloved Xin. "Come, I''m sure the patriarch Nie Hai will welcome you two warmly."


    "Of course! Director Yang Xin and Young Master Chen Linjian are always welcome here!" Nie Hai nearly coughed as he spoke these words, even stuttering a couple of times.


    Putting on fake sadness I looked away "Then I guess I''m not." My tone was pouty and imm.a.t.u.r.e for comedic effect but it had an unintended effect of my brother and lover glaring at the patriarch.


    "Nonono!" He raised his hands in a placating gesture "Of course Young Master is just as welcome. We even prepared a seat for you as well!"


    Can''t deny the facts that there were now three extra seats to the left of him, although one was out of alignment indicating it had been prepared in much more haste. No matter is what I thought as I led Xin by the hand to her seat while Linjian shadowed my other side. We took our seats, with me in the middle, though I couldn''t help but throw a ''you were saying?'' look at Nie Wei. The elder was now sweating bullets but still managed to hide most of it behind a wall of dignity.


    Yang Xin smiled "Patriarch Nie Hai, is it true that that the Dark Guild attacked your family tonight?" she asked as a conversation starter.


    Nie Hai nodded with tense muscles while keeping his eyes glued on me. Both Linjian as well as Xin had more than enough financial power to utterly crush the Heavenly Marks family, and their favors depended a lot on both Nie Li''s mood, as well as my own. Knowing how politics worked in Glory City, he would swallow crushed glass to be able to take back what happened earlier. "The elder in charge of this evening''s security, Nie En, has reported it so. We even have three in custody as we speak." He answered.


    "Glory City doesn''t get many such chances. Respect to elder Nie En." Linjian praised.


    Nie En bowed and cupped his hands "This one is grateful for the praise but it is unwarranted. When I arrived they were already beaten by young Nie Li and young master Long Wan. We only had to take them to the holding cells."


    Nodding Linjian took a glance at Nie Li "Little brothers, once again you prove yourselves invaluable to Glory City."


    Nie Li couldn''t help but blush and rub the back of his hair but was quickly pushed into a bow by his father, earning a chuckle from all three of us who were sitting.


    My bile rose to my throat while catching a glimpse at Nie Wei''s conflicted expression. Turning to Nie Hai my tone became sharp enough to cut flesh "And yet, this night not only was brother Li not commended for his valiant efforts by his family, but he was actually threatened with punishment."


    Nie Wei jumped at that statement "Young Master Long Wan, that was a completely different subject. It wasn''t..."


    I cut him off "Elder Nie Wei, I am addressing the patriarch, so why are you interrupting? Have you no shame?" Turning to Yang Xin I let out an exasperated sigh. "It seems I made a grave mistake love. The Heavenly Marks family isn''t as upright as I had hoped."


    Nie Hai coughed loudly to get our attention "Young Master Long Wan, that was just a trivial matter. Grandson Nie Li has not, and will not be punished, by my decision as the patriarch." He tried to save the situation. If these two powerhouses were to leave the Heavenly Marks family then the Sacred Family would pounce on them like starving wolves. Xin and Linjian were my, pardon the expression, steel balls in this case.


    Speaking of the two, they were visibly itching to verbally smash Nie Hai, but were staying silent since I was most likely saying what they wanted to say and more. Linjian''s personality made him think he owed a great debt to Nie Li and Yang Xin had her Association''s success linked to him. These two would¡­ How did that expression go? Ah yes ''climb the blade mountains and swim in the sea of flames'' for him.


    Anger boiled inside me "You call proposing that my brother be sentenced to three hundred lashes with the cane ''trivial''?" My soul force aura erupted around me as the wooden floor cracked underneath my seat. "Not only that, elder Nie Wei called me a liar and directly insulted me. How can I trust your family with him in a managerial position?"


    Nie Hai stood up and stretched out his hand "As of this moment, elder Nie Wei shall no longer have power of decision within the Heavenly Marks. The roles of Grand Elder and Enforcement Elder shall be taken up by Nie En. Not only that, the roles of Head of Internal Affairs and Head of Agriculture shall be awarded to Nie Ming and Nie Kai!" His voice boomed within the halls. Such a decision was usually highly debated. However, at this moment everyone was silent. One wrong word could set me off and apparently no one here was suicidal enough to do so.


    Nie Li''s father, as well as a man with similar features as him ran out of the crowd and kowtowed in front of Nie Hai "Many thanks to the patriarch."


    Nie Hai saw the looks of absolute disapproval both Nie Li and I shot him and replied without missing a beat "Both of you quickly stand up. You needn''t bow to me any longer, now and forever."


    What a royal kissass... Well, I got what I wanted so I can''t really argue here.


    Linjian stood up "I need to return to my family. Do you mind if I took the prisoners with me? They will be more secure in my family''s holding cells."


    Nie Hai nodded "It would be of great help if Young Master Chen would do so."


    Yang Xin squeezed my hand with a reluctant expression "There is some important business that needs my attention as well so I must also take my leave. But if the Heavenly Marks is willing to accept then I can leave some Gold rank spiritualists and fighters to guard you in case the Dark Guild returns."


    Linjian nodded "Excellent idea big sis. Would patriarch Nie Hai also be willing to accept two Black Gold fighters from my ranks as well?"


    Nie Hai cupped his hands, an action mirrored by Nie En "We most humbly accept your kind generosity."


    "Do you need me to escort you home love?" I asked Xin who blushed deeply.


    She shook her head "It would be wonderful of you, but you can''t. I left some alchemy running as I hurried here. If I merge with my Wind Condor demon spirit I might have just enough time to go back. You''re still a Silver rank, so I doubt you can keep up." Her tone leaked no insult. She was just a woman who spoke her mind without mincing words. Also, she must''ve forgotten that I could literally teleport. Then again, this suits me just fine as well as I''m no helicopter fianc¨¦e. Besides, I had promised to visit as many of my brothers and their families as I could this vacation period. And since I''m already here¡­ Yang Xin placed a gentle hand on my left cheek and kissed my other one "See you tomorrow?"


    I raised my eyebrow in confusion but then realization hit me. The auction! "Of course. At what time?" I asked while returning the kiss but on her hand.


    "The auction starts at noon so we will meet there at around that time." she answered and waved before jumping away followed by her personal guards of Gold and Black Gold fighters and demon spiritualists.


    My eyes were glued to her ever shrinking form until she disappeared from my line of sight. "Brother Wan." Nie Li greeted once more as he approached from the rear followed closely by his father and uncle. I then felt a pull on my soul force and let my consciousness fade into the shared space to be greeted by Nie Li''s alternate form.


    "Hmm¡­ so this is how it feels to be summoned here." I observed out loud. It wasn''t that bad of a feeling so I could see why Nie Li didn''t refuse a summons. It was like you knew instinctively that someone ''needed you'' for something and was quite hard to quantify in words.


    Nie Li raised an eyebrow "You know I could''ve handled that situation myself, don''t you?" he said, annoyance and thankfulness being transmitted at once.


    I nodded in response "Yep. " To be honest, I probably know more about you than you yourself do. For example, there is a chance that Nie Li is directly descended from the creator of the Tiny World, but that is something he needn''t know yet. It serves no purpose other than a distraction. "But if I had let you handle it, then there would''ve been a chance that some people there would figure out your link to the Alchemist Association. For your loved ones'' sake, that link must never escape least they be targeted by the higher ups of the Dark Guild. Just so you know, if the top executive and the leader of the Dark Guild team up then even Ye Mo would probably not survive and they wouldn''t miss the chance to get the recipes for those pills. Tonight''s raid was just retaliation from the Sacred Family for their lost face. Since I have no people close to me that are easy to target they probably decided to go after you as the next best thing."


    He cupped his chin and nodded "The Alchemy Association are fiercely loyal to Glory City has means to ensure that their secrets remain hidden but it''s a different story if they get my father and mother. While it would prove to be wasted effort to go after Director Yang Xin or president Gu Yan, my parents would be easier targets than newborn animals."


    Nodding I continued: "Yes." my expression turned cheeky as a giant toothy smirk sneaked it''s way on my face "Besides, I''d be lying if I said Nie Wei wasn''t royally pissing me off."


    My words took him by surprise as he broke into a hearty laugh "I''ve been waiting for over two centuries to see that smug face of his come crashing down. Had it not been for father I would''ve been rolling on the floor laughing seeing his wet panda look when he lost his position."


    The world shifted as I willed to leave our shared space. As soon as I returned to reality I noticed Nie Li''s red cheeks and toothy grin with a tear forming in the corner of his eye. Seems he kept on laughing so hard in the shared space that it actually reflected in the real world. Considering how time doesn''t flow there, he could''ve been laughing for hours for all I know and it would''ve lasted less than a moment in the real world.


    Nie Li''s noticed that my attention had turned to them and bowed while cupping his hands. "Uncle, don''t bow to me." He stood up again, more confused than before. It was my turn to show respect as I leaned forward at the waist with my hands showing respect "I owe brother Li more than I could ever repay. But forgive my rudeness, I am Long Wan."


    "Ah!" He started rubbing the back of his head. Like father like son. "My name is Nie Ming of the Heavenly Marks family and father of Nie Li." he replied courtly.


    Turning to the elders in the main family hall I let my voice carry out "Hear me! The father of my brother is my father as well. Treat Nie Ming as if you would be dealing with me."


    Nie Hai and Nie En nodded briefly in unison while the other elders stayed silent and still. If they didn''t object then you could consider it a silent agreement so that outcome was fine.


    Nie Ming laughed awkwardly "Young Master Long Wan didn''t need to do that."


    I waved him off "Uncle, why are you treating your son''s brother so distantly?" Each time they said Young Master, Shen Yue''s face would come to mind and haunt me. While it was nice to be treated like you''re a priceless urn filled with nitroglycerine, it wasn''t something that I could get used to.


    Nie Ming nodded "Then¡­ is it alright to call you nephew Long Wan?" He was still talking like he was dealing with a VIP.


    I nodded. This was enough and there was no sense to pushing him too far. "Oh man." I sighed "Damn Dark Guild, I was this close to drinking some Guardian family baiju."


    And booze was something I could really enjoy right now.


    "The Guardian family?" Asked a confused Nie Ming "Isn''t that at least a day''s carriage ride away from here?"


    It wasn''t that strange for him to be confused "As a demon spiritualist, I have ways. However, I can''t return the same way." That was something I needed to fix and hopefully I could ripoff a certain anime character to make it work.


    Nie Ming extended a hand "In that case, perhaps nephew would want to come stay with us?"


    Nodding I smiled "If I''m not imposing."


    The man laughed "Nonsense! Both my brother and I owe you our promotion and more. Besides, didn''t you say you are my son''s brother? How could family impose on family?"


    Touch¨¦. "Very well..." I replied and we began walking towards their residence.


    "Is Nie Yu safe?" I asked, both to break the silence as well as out of general concern. Back on Earth I had a little niece that she reminded me of. In the original story, Nie Yu would''ve returned to the scene of the crime after elder Nie En chased away Yun Hua.


    Nie Li shot a concerned look to his uncle. Nie Kai nodded with a smile "She is back home with her mother and aunt. Nie Yu was the one to let us know what was happening in the first place. Big bro rushed out the door before she could even finish." He laughed.


    "I...Why you..." Nie Ming stammered with a red face.


    Placing a hand on his shoulder I silently sent a message to him that everything was fine "There is nothing shameful about a father wanting to protect his child."


    Nie Ming stayed silent and nodded but you could see that he had visibly calmed down.


    Well, even if he still had some lingering embarrassment, he would have to shed it in his own home for we had arrived at their courtyard.


    Nie Li''s close family courtyard was gorgeous and well maintained, similar to Du Ze''s, and it carried the same feeling of warmth and closeness.


    Nie Ming and Nie Kai politely invited me to step inside the yard, an action made easier by the fact that there was only a privacy wall surrounding the area, but no gate.


    Just as I stepped inside, a twin-tailed missile hit me square in the abdomen. "Big brother Nie Li, you''re safe!" A little girl''s muffled sob resounded from my jacket.


    All of us were taken aback by the sudden action. However, my mind was the quickest to reset, mostly thanks to my cultivation. Resting a comforting hand on the crown of her head, I spoke in the most soothing and kind voice I could muster "Yes. He is safe."


    Her sobbing stopped instantly and she finally peeled her face off my jacket to take a red-eyed look at my face. Her cheeks became cherry red as she realized her mistake, and she stood there, mouth agape with words refusing to leave her mouth.


    Summoning a piece of silk fabric, I took to one knee and gently began wiping the tears from her cheeks "My name is Long Wan and I am Nie Li''s good friend. You must be little Nie Yu." My toothy smile could light up a moonless night. Xiao Yu just nodded, a dumbfound expression plastered on her face. The silk fabric while guided by my hand found its way to her little nose "Blow please!" I said and she obeyed as if on reflex.


    The now wet cloth found its way back in my ring as I stood up, smile never leaving my face. Nie Yu really did remind me of my beloved niece so my soul was feeling incredibly satisfied "There, all better!" I exclaimed while adjusting the collar of her shirt.


    "Hehe. Did Nie Yu already replace her big brother?" Nie Li teased while coming out from behind me.


    "Big brother Nie Li!" the little missile shot again, this time striking true.


    The lovable redhair chuckled as he continued his verbal assault "Eh, you confused me for someone else. Do I really matter so little to Nie Y-owowowowow!!!"


    His teasing turned to hissing as I pulled his ear up "Stop that you big bully! Pick on someone your own size."


    He s.u.c.k.e.d in air as he tried to remove my hand "Stop! I wasn''t picking on her!"


    Dragging his flailing form in a figure eight I continued "Do you expect me to believe that? Apologize to your little cousin or I''ll have a word with Ziyun about this."


    "Fine fine! I was in the wrong. Nowletgoofmyear!" he flailed and I let go. He threw me the stink eye as he was holding the offended lobe but said nothing. What could he say. I had him by the proverbial Ziyun.


    Nie Yu blinked twice at me manhandling her beloved cousin before bursting into a cute giggle. Nie Kai then scooped up his daughter and we all went inside to sit at the table, with Yu sitting right of Nie Li and myself taking the left.


    "Honey, brother-in-law, you should''ve told me we were expecting guests. The spare rooms are all so dusty." a woman, whom I assume was Nie Li''s mother admonished the two men while the one who should be his aunt nodded from a little ways behind her.


    Thinking fast I summoned some sweets I bought during one of my dates with the girls. Thanks to the temporal effects of the ring, they were basically as fresh as the day they were bought years ago. Besides them, there were also some more select soap samples that I got for approval from the Alchemy Association. Seems some members got creative and started infusing various elixirs and herbs in the base recipe.


    I smiled and handed them the hastily prepared gifts "It''s alright auntie, you needn''t concern yourself with me. In fact it should be me who should thank you for the accommodations. Also, in spite my clothes I''m actually a first generation so modest conditions suit me more." A first generation meant a self-made rich person, opposite to a second-generation who was basically set to inherit their position.


    Nie Li''s mother nodded and respectfully received her share. His aunt however was a bit more brash and actually looked inside the silk wrappings "These!" She stammered "They''re Golden Tiger pastries! Even the higher noble families have to reserve them in advance."


    Really? I just went in and made an order so I thought it was just a run of the mill patisserie. It was strange that the shopkeeper knew me by name though.


    The mother also got curious and took out a piece of soap. A strong floral fresh scent filled the room as soon as she undid the paper wrapping. Nie Li sniffed twice before he slammed his palms on the table and stood up "That smell is from a Moonshard Lotus concentrate!" He exclaimed in surprise.


    "What?" I asked. It was something I wasn''t familiar with as there was no mention about it in the novel.


    Nie Li sat back down and turned towards me "Moonshard Lotus is a special flower that grows in incredibly poisonous stagnant water. However it is actually one of the purest plants out there. Because of its origin it has the power to neutralize even the most foul of toxins. Even a petal has the ability to remove poison from a Black Gold Demon Beast. It is a priceless flower that is not easily found. What''s more, a scent this strong can only be due to it being a concentrated extract from ten to fifteen entire flowers. If you use that to wash your skin then it would have the same detox effect as a high level cultivation technique." He explained, putting emphasis on the word priceless.


    "We can''t accept these!" Both women said in unison and tried to return them but I simply crossed my arms.


    "They would just go to waste with me. I alone couldn''t possibly finish the stock that I have." It was true. Every week I would be hounded by some senior apprentice seeking approval to change something in my recipe. I told them that as long as I get the standard deal agreed with Yang Xin they could do what they wanted and as such they kept showering me with so many variations of soap that I had to buy another ring only for that.


    Nie Kai turned to me "How did nephew managed to get them?" Seems he was a bit more relaxed than his older brother.


    "Oh, I actually own the copyright to the entire of the Alchemists Association''s production of soap." I said while sipping my tea.


    Unfortunately, this caused the women to choke on theirs. They then turned to me after clearing their airways "That''s... Soap is currently the most wanted thing in every household after salt. Since it can be used for anything related to cleaning every woman wants it." Nie Li''s mother began.


    "Since it came out on the market our workload was basically cut in half. We don''t have to spend hours scraping away at bowls or even more on washing the dirt off of our clothes." His aunt continued.


    "You''re every housewife and working woman''s hero!" They said in unison making me feel like my face was about to boil off. It was so f.u.c.k.i.n.g embarrassing I could just dig a hole for myself and crawl in it. It didn''t help that Nie Li was basically turning blue from holding in his laughter, though his trembling shoulders easily gave him away.


    Little Nie Yu peeked her head from behind her cousin. "Eh? Sir Long Wan is amazing." She spoke with sparkles in her eyes like she was meeting a movie superstar.


    I took a hold of Nie Li''s shoulder "How rude of you." I told him before yanking it back making him fall with it. Turning back to Nie Yu I smiled "Thank you Nie Yu. But you can call me big bro Wan. Calling me ''sir'' makes me feel old."


    Nie Li had meanwhile recovered and shot up while pointing a finger at me "Hey! What was that for?!" He yelled out.


    Waving him off I answered "Xiao Yu was talking to me and you were in between."


    He calmed down after hearing this and peeking at his cousin from the corner of his eye "You could''ve just ask." He sulked.


    "Yes. But my way was more fun." I chuckled which caused Nie Yu to giggle. This had a cascade effect where everyone else joined in and we continued having a good time until later in the evening.

 Chapter 11 - 8: Méiyǒu

    The next morning found Nie Li and I doing some after breakfast activities. Specifically, we were practicing martial arts and I have to say that it was a humbling experience dealing with him again after dancing with Du Ze.


    Now, I wasn''t as bad as when we first started because after so many weeks practicing together with my new senses and super memory I could actually hold my own. Not to mention that this was just a light exercise and not an all-out spar since I had to join my dear Xin later on. I couldn''t just show up all black and blue.


    "That''s enough." Spoke Nie Li, halting my next move "I''m impressed. It wasn''t that long that you weren''t so creative in your strikes." He praised while wiping the moisture from his brow. "You still need some work on finding someone''s weak spots, but overall, I''d say there aren''t many fighters of the same level that could go hand to hand with you in the future."


    I exhaled loudly following a drink of water. Damn if it didn''t taste amazing in this world. There was a distinct lack of plasticity in it, something I never noticed until I thought about it. Even spring water on Earth tasted like pollution if kept in a plastic bottle for more than half an hour. No such problem here. "The past few days have been spent with Du Ze. Exchanging pointers with him made me realize the honesty in some of my own moves. My methods may not be honorable, but at least they keep me alive."


    The geriatric ginger nodded "The true test of honor isn''t how you die, but how you live. There is no point in meeting an honorable but useless demise." He was basically saying that the victor writes the history, so it''s better to win than to die. Words I can stand behind.


    "Anyway, I need to prepare to leave shortly since I''m meeting Yang Xin at noon." Came my reply as I stretched to get more blood in my limbs.


    "Going on a date?" His smirk was playful but a bit annoying, like a lecherous old geezer. Well, he was centuries old at heart but still...


    I chuckled "Something like that. Ye Shuo is teaching me swordplay so I asked her to secure me entry to today''s auction. Would you like to join us?" No reason he couldn''t participate as well. It''s not like I''m taking Xin to a candlelit dinner for two.


    "That would be interesting but last night I promised mother and Xiao Yu that I would spend the day with them." Replied Nie Li, with a somewhat apologetic gaze in his eyes.


    Shrugging I made my way towards a wash basin while storing my shirt in my ring. Honestly I would need a new ring soon. The one I was using now was a good one of about five cubic meters but even it was getting full. Worse case scenario I would just get one for my other hand. Even worse case I could go full Mandarin from Iron Man with one on each finger. The ring in ring glitch only worked if you store the objects you wanted in the ring and then store that ring in the ring. My head was already ringing from that¡­


    Cold water cooled me off after the workout and rinsed away the dust that had collected on my skin. It was only a quick splash than an actual shower since the Heavenly Void Dragon God technique purified my body so much that no unpleasant smell came from my body even after running a marathon. Still, nothing beats a good bath to end a hard day.


    The carriage ride to the auction house left me there one hour early so I decided to grab some hot tea from a nearby vendor, black tea to be more specific. I really missed coffee. There were some alchemical herbs that would give you a buzz like pure caffeine on steroids but there was something soothing about that bitter yet aromatic liquid of a.d.u.l.t life.


    After paying I made my way to a nearby city garden with my tea in hand. As soon as I got there I stopped under the shade of a tree looking for a good spot to enjoy some alone time. A few seconds later I felt an impact on my right side causing me to lose grip on the beverage and it fell to the ground shattering on impact. It wasn''t cheap either. There were no plastic or waterproof paper cups in the city so the vendor could only use relatively inexpensive fired clay ones, devoid of any decoration. However, it still cost fifteen demon spirit coins, with the promise of getting ten back if you returned the cup. Not that I had any intention of doing that since I was kinda sorta maybe filthy rich. Plus, I was a bit at fault since I let my guard down and didn''t pay attention to my void sense.


    "My shoes!" I heard my ''assailant'' scream out loud so my eyes turned towards the reason of his grief. Seems some drops of tea hit the top of his footwear. Most shoes in Glory City were made of a hard leather bottom with a fabric top. What''s more they were white so the pigments in the liquid sunk deep in them, the tannins in the tea making sure it would stain. "You!" He yelled out while pointing at me and I gave him a silent once-over.


    In front of me was the very definition of ambiguity if I have ever seen one, and being an internet kid I considered myself pretty versed in all these things. He was no doubt male, his physique and voice being coarse and rough. Even the way he spoke showed that though his use of male-specific words and pronouns.


    It was hard to replicate that in English where most of the dictionary is gender neutral. Here, the ''my'' in ''my shoes'' he used was definitely male formatted. There was a different word that ladies used when talking about what was theirs.


    Yet.. He wore bright pink lipstick and there was a pink strand in his shoulder length wavy blond hair. On his body were frilly and tight clothes, fit for a queen... sized bed. This fatass was humongous. I doubt I could circle him in my old car back on Earth on a full tank of gas.


    "Umm, me?" I answered, my mind racing to understand just what the f.u.c.k was going on.


    The... thing just moved his fingers towards his feet "Do you have any idea how much these cost? How dare you spill that filth on them! I demand compensation!" Oh Buddhas, that voice was like a horny cat scratching on a blackboard, multiplied by ten.


    No doubt steam was coming out of my ears by now "First of all, you bumped into me. If anything I should ask you pay for my tea. Second of all, point your finger at me again and it''s going up your a.s.s." Not having my fix of caffeine made me a bit cranky.


    He took a few weary steps back, clearly not expecting my response. Unfortunately his shock quickly turned to anger and he aimed his digit towards me again "How dare you! Do you have any idea who I am?!"


    Nope, and as long as you weren''t part of either the Sacred or Blizzard families I wouldn''t give a shit. "As far as I''m concerned, you''re someone who will have one helluva shitty finger in a few seconds." I replied cracking my knuckles and neck as I took a step forward. Can''t be said I didn''t warn him...


    "You!" He started backpedaling but otherwise kept glaring at me.


    A shit eating grin crept up my face as I slowly strolled towards him. You reeeeeaaalllyy have no f.u.c.k.i.n.g clue who you''re f.u.c.k.i.n.g with here marshmallow man. Right now I was contemplating how to break the news to him that his a.s.s was basically mine.


    "You vulgar creature! I demand your name at once! We''ll see that impertinent tongue of yours be cut out!" He yelled out, spittle flying out like the disgusting creature he was.


    "I~" It was trailed out with a deep inflection to signify my possession of it "... Don''t have to give you jack shit Porky." Came my reply, the boredom in my voice stunning him. "''I~'' am busy right now so get the f.u.c.k out of my way. It''s almost noon and I have somewhere I need to be."


    Judging time by the shadows was a skill I was forced to learn in this cellphoneless place. Still though, it was an imperfect art so even if it was still early I shouldn''t risk it.


    "Y-You!" He stammered, his previous momentum crumbling like a deck of cards in front of a rhino fart. "Wait, noon?! Damn, she''s going to kill me! Consider yourself lucky, filth!" Rainbow grunted and rotated on his heel before walking away.


    At that moment another noble looking man chose to make his entrance from the shadow of a nearby tree "Apologies on behalf of my cousin. He seems to think the world revolves around him for whatever reason. I hope you can overlook this. The man you had the disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of meeting earlier, my cousin, his name is Shi Ziao. He is a junior apprentice of the Alchemists Association and friends with the daughter of the Divine Family''s Internal Affairs Elder. Because of his influence he ended up rather spoilt." His words were mellow but the threat was there. Having strong influence was a determining factor in Glory City more often than not.


    The daughter of the Divine Family''s Internal Affairs Elder? One of Long Wan''s memories came rushing forward. Her name was Chen Zijin, and Long Wan and her used to shadow Chen Linjian when they were younger. Talk about a small Tiny World.


    I nodded with a composed expression and jumped away. A few teleports later brought me at the auction house gate just in time to see my s.e.xy Xin escape the confines of her palanquin "Found you love!" I called out and she waved back with a smile. Moments later we were holding hands while gazing in each other''s eyes "Sorry you had to take time to accompany this selfish me."


    She pecked my cheek and giggled "The selfish one is me darling since I remember inviting myself to join you. But let''s not delay. I reserved a private balcony for us."


    Nodding, I offered her my elbow and she gracefully took it. Thankfully, there wasn''t that much difference in height between us, otherwise this would have been both comical as well as awkward.


    However, I didn''t manage to make it two steps before the back of my neck was enveloped in a warm and unmistakable softness, while at the same time my left ear began to hear a rhythmic thump. "Hello~! Fancy meeting you here honey!"


    Ah, that lovely voice could belong to only one dove. Turning around on my heel I came face to c.h.e.s.t with my lovely Lanruo "Hello angel!" I chirped as my neck and chin took in the warmth of her bosom. Ah, she smelled like cherry trees in full bloom.


    A megawatt blush filled her face but she didn''t really let me go "Weren''t you visiting your friends right now? You should''ve let me know if you were coming here." The tone she used betrayed her happiness, regardless of how much she wanted to admonish me.


    "The visits were cut short since shifu Ye Shuo wanted me to buy a good sword. Figured the auction was the best place to find one, so I''ve asked your future sister-wife to join me." I admitted, and it was only now that she realized who was accompanying me.


    Lanruo peeked to her right to see Xin standing there with an amused expression, mouth covered by her wide sleeve. My void sense was telling me that there was a wide smile hidden behind the cloth. "Ah! Director Xin, it''s... Umm.." Rare were the events where the boisterous Lanruo''s words would fail her so I strained my memory to remember each one and file them under embarrassing stories to tell the kids.


    Xin shoulders started trembling with hidden laughter but she recovered quickly, years of management experience helping her in this regard. Keeping a gentle face she stepped once to close the gap between us and flicked the girl''s forehead, an act which made Lanruo cover the spot with both hands. "I believe our future husband told you we''re going to be sisters, so no need to be so cold and respectful. And my, my, aren''t you a beautiful one." Xin praised before turning to me "So is she the one who wanted to marry first? Actually let''s talk more inside. The auction is just about to start." Indeed the servants of the auction house were at work ushering people inside.


    As soon as one of them saw Xin she immediately took us in on a separate route, most likely through a VIP entrance, judging by the scarcity of other visitors near it.


    It didn''t take long to reach our private balcony, and private wasn''t just a figure of speech. It was very close to the stage and angled so that people would have no difficulty seeing any items on display. However it was also dimly lit by a single lamp that had a smoke stained cover, giving the lighting a gray undertone. At the same time there was a thin see-though black silk veil obscuring anyone from identifying the people in the balcony, while also capable of being easily parted to give the occupants a better look at what was being auctioned.


    We took our seats, Lanruo choosing the one to my left and Xin taking the right one. Not a moment later the announcer started welcoming guests. She was a gorgeous lady with alluring curves and dressed in a tight silk cheongsam that amplified her s.e.x appeal while at the same time granting her a gentle appearance. However, my attention was not drawn to her. Instead, my eyes moved towards the first and second seating areas.


    You see, the auction house clients were segregated in three sections. The first was the VIP one which was also closest to the stage and to the exit. Following that was the guest area, where Nie Li was seated during the novel. Directly above it was the place where the rest of the participants. This was where the commoners and people without invitations were left to stand. The private balcony seemed to be a rare exception as only one other existed, directly opposite to our own. However, it seemed to be vacant right now.


    My eyes were drawn to the second section where two familiar faces stood, specifically Nie En and Nie Hai. This raised my suspicion a little. It couldn''t be ''that'' auction, could it? No, if it was then Nie Li would also be here.


    "Let''s start the day with the first item." The perky hostess announced drawing my attention. "This piece of broken jade was brought by an expert from a nearby ruin. Although broken, it''s aura is still strong enough to be sensed. The bid will start at three hundred coins."


    Broken jade? That was the first piece that was auctioned in the novel. I don''t remember what it was but I felt a stir in my soul realm from it. The bid had reached two thousand coins so it wasn''t overly pricey.


    "Three thousand!" I called out, my voice echoing more raspy than I intended. Seems that there were some identity concealing inscriptions in the wood of the balcony.


    The auctioneer turned to the crows "Three thousand going once. Going twice! Sold to our anonymous guest!"


    Lanruo turned to me "Isn''t that a little much for some broken jade?" She asked, seemingly out of nothing but pure curiosity.


    "That jade caused a reaction in my soul realm. If it helps advance my cultivation then that is considered cheap." I explained and she tilted her head.


    At my words Xin let out a small chuckle "Even if it wasn''t, it''s not like you''re suffering from poverty." She teased.


    Leaning back I turned to her, mild annoyance scratching the back of my mind "Love, don''t forget that I''m a first generation coming from an orphan background. The value of money is much more evident to me." My words were chastising but also playful. Smiling I turned to look back at the stage "But you''re correct, as usual. If anything, I''m suffering from wealth."


    Lanruo gently tapped my upper arm "How could you suffer from wealth?"


    Shrugging I lifted my hand which had three rings on it "There are so many coins in my rings that I''m running out of fingers."


    "Oh." Lanruo replied intelligently. And speaking of rings...


    "The next item in our auction is a mysterious storage ring recovered from the Ning Yu ancient ruins. Besides its flawless and noble appearance it also has a never before heard of dimensional space of four tenths of a li in diameter." The jewelry was called out in an enthusiastic voice by the hostess. "The entry bid is..."


    "One hundred thousand coins!" I called out, not waiting for her answer. That ring was so rare in this world that you could literally, pardon the pun, count them on the fingers of one hand. The only completing ones are the Fire Spiritual Deity, Yu Yan''s long lost ring and the ones from the ancient Legend rank corpses that lie at the bottom of the Black Spring.


    In my previous life this type of bid was an intimidation act. Playing small sums usually led to lengthy battles of the wallet. Highballing from the start warded off those who are tight of purse. The only problem is that I had no idea how much that thing was worth and just farted out a number that sounded good.


    "We have an impatient bidder tonight. One hundred thousand going once. Going twice. Sold, once again to our mystery guest." The announcer cheered happily. Tonight''s commission would be big for her.


    Lanruo and Xin sighed in unison "That ring wasn''t worth half as much" Xin said in an exhausted tone that made me chuckle. The next item was a set of Gold rank armor. It looked a bit sturdier than what I already had but not enough to draw my interest.


    Taking Xin''s hand in my own I smiled in her direction and said "Let''s make a deal."


    "Deal?" She asked with a cutesy confused expression.


    Nodding I continued "Yes. When we''re married I''ll give you nine out of ten of anything I earn, on the condition that our family will never be lacking."


    Xin put a finger on her chin and looked up as if considering. It didn''t take long for her to return with a sour expression, somewhere in the likes of one at the end of a three day constipation "You just want to ditch housekeeping to me, don''t you?" She complained and I lifted my hands in surrender.


    Lanruo to burst into giggles "She got you!" She poked, like a kid seeing their sibling in trouble.


    Once again I shrugged "Would you prefer leaving it to me?" The innocent smile on my face threatened to split my face in two.


    The elder of the two sighed "Fine." She muttered while rubbing her temples.


    Seeing this I sneaked in and pecked her cheek causing her to jump slightly in surprise "Thank you love!"


    A little redness spread across her face. However her eyes widened, her hand moving to point behind me. Looking in that direction I saw that Lanruo had began staring at the floor, cheeks puffed and arms crossed.


    Gently placing a hand on her forearm, I drew in closer. This seemed to surprise her but she still would look at me. "What''s wrong baby?" I cooed but she only turned away from me.


    Xin drew in covertly and whispered something in my ear. My eyes nearly fell out of their socket. Damn, I was denser than lead. "Hey, look at me." I called out to my little mink but she didn''t respond "Come on, don''t be like that." Again, no response. I sighed in a defeated tone "Well then, I guess you don''t want this afterall. Pity it will go to waste now."


    This got her attention as she turned to me, curiosity filling her expression and asked a short "What?"


    "This!" Filling my hands with her cheeks I brought her in and took her lips in my own. She mumbled a bit before relaxing. Soon she started responding back, her arms rounding my back and her mouth becoming more aggressive and a bit too enthusiastic.


    She was a lousy kisser but nobody is perfect at the start. That is one area I would be more than happy to help her perfect. It took a few more moments before she realized it was better to follow my lead and a couple more before we parted with a small wet pop. "I''m sorry." My eyes took in her surprised wet puppy look making me feel like a heel "Should have realized you were feeling left out. I''m a horrible fianc¨¦."


    Lanruo looked away, but her gentle smile had returned "Little sis Ning''er told me about Dir.. Umm, big sis Xin. She also told me how you two kissed in the training forest. My heart felt that you left me out but I had enough time to understand you would take it at your own pace. But seeing you so close to big sis right now made me feel so..."


    "Wronged. I know, and I''m really sorry." I nodded in acceptance "Promise I''ll make it up to you." Never make a good woman feel bad or you fail as a man.


    Touching her lips with her free hand she smiled at me "You already did."


    I sensed Xin get up and make her way behind Lanruo''s seat. She then bent down and took in the younger girl in her arms in a gentle embrace "Little sis, things like this will happen in a large family. You need to learn to be more assertive with what you want. Don''t bottle it up inside you because we''re here for you." She sounded so motherly it almost melted my heart.


    Should I go punch a wall and eat some demon beast barbecue to feel manly again? "More assertive? Her?! Oh no!" Came my reply, my mind realizing too late what my mouth had just released.


    A vein appeared on Lanruo''s forehead "Why... You!" She growled while grabbing my collar.


    Sweating profusely I started thinking that I had a relatively good second life. "Do I at least get time to write my will?" Well, at least I won''t die a v.i.r.g.i.n.


    "No." Lanruo barked out before pulling me in for a long deep kiss. A French kiss to be more exact. Pulling back for air we both stared at each other in silence.


    A grin sneaked its way on my lips "I was terribly wrong. Please be assertive like this in the future!" I admitted, with a hand rubbing the back of my head to remove the awkward, but not unpleasant tingle.


    Thankfully for her, it was just then that the armor auction had ended with it going for about one million one hundred thousand coins. "Next up we have a last minute entry. These nine rings were found in a newly discovered temple ruins near the Ancient Orchid City and are made of some mysterious material that gives off a rainbow sheen. No special properties have been identified. The bidding starts at two hundred coins."


    Once again there was a tremor in my soul realm. Then again the announcer said that they didn''t have anything unusual. Could it be that they were like my cultivation technique, something specific to a select few? Actually it doesn''t matter. I''ll just buy them then ask Nie Li. "Fifty thousand coins." I called out.


    "Fifty thousand from our generous guest going once. Going twice. Sold!" Call it a gut feeling but I knew those rings weren''t simple, I just had to find out why. Lucky I was friends with a walking library. "Following this we have something sent by the Alchemist Association to be auctioned . They are Soul Nurturing Pills and the Soul Concentrating Pills!" The host said smiling. "This time, there are a total of a thousand Soul Nurturing Pills and a hundred Soul Concentrating Pills . I remind everyone that there are few chances to get so many pills."


    The crowd didn''t wait for the announcer to state the starting bid and began throwing in the bids in the millions. "Should I bid?" My question came in the form of a joke, playfulness evident throughout each word.


    "Honey, if you need any pill just tell me about it." Xin replied, her tone more serious than my jest demanded.


    Squeezing her hand lightly I shook my head "Nie Li has already seen to that. Speaking of Nie..." My gaze fell onto the distraught look on patriarch Nie Hai''s face. There are abandoned puppies with more life in them. Sighing I summoned two rings, a piece of paper and a makeshift coal pencil (quill pens were quite bothersome), plus a thousand coin card. Proceeding to write something I then sealed the paper with my soul force such that anyone below my level wouldn''t be able to read it. This was repeated with the rings though, this one was superficial and would expire within five minutes. "Steward!" The man who led us in earlier entered at my call. His presence never left my void sense so I knew he had been at the door since he led us in. "Take these two rings and the letter to the Heavenly Marks family in the guest sections. One ring is for Nie En while the rest are for the patriarch. Tell them you know not the source and don''t linger anymore than necessarily. The card is yours for the trouble."


    "Sir!" The man saluted before quickly leaving to complete the task, shamelessly accepting his generous tip.


    "What was that?" Asked the ever curious Lanruo.


    Chuckling I retook her hand in my own and explained "That, my princess, was me fixing some of Nie Li''s problems."


    "Problems?" She tilted her head in confusion. It was so cute.


    Nodding I continued "The Heavenly Marks family''s economical situation is pretty abysmal for an aristocratic family, with an income of only six hundred thousand a year. Nie Li has been too busy with his cultivation to improve their situation, nor has he shared any pill with them."


    Yang Xin peeked from behind me "He hasn''t?" She should be sharing tens of thousands of pills with Nie Li, so this is news for her.


    I shook my head "While they are all good people, their household is divided into eight branches. Nie Li is interested into bringing them all together while raising his parent''s and uncle''s prestige. There wouldn''t be any recognition had he given them directly to Nie Hai. Thus those rings I sent each contain five thousand Soul Nurturing pills, five hundred Soul Concentrating pills, fifty Soul Tempering pills, fifty Body Tempering Pills and twenty Nine Transformation Pills, with the letter stating that it is a courtesy of Nie Li and I. They are also filled with fifteen million demon spirit coins. Nie En is the elder of Nie Li''s branch. If he receives equal value as Nie Hai does then his power should increase thus cementing Li''s parents positions even more."


    "Then wouldn''t it have been better to give elder Nie En all of them?" Asked Lanruo.


    Once again I shook my head "If given to Nie En then he would''ve been strong armed into donating them to the family. Giving each exactly half would make Nie Hai seem greedy if he asked for more. However, that old man has gotten shameless with age so I worded that letter to specify that they are a gift from me." Politics is one thing I will never stop loathing, always beating around the bush, making allies and enemies, and so on. In contrast, socking someone in the jaw is much less of a hassle.


    Lanruo looked unconvinced "So? What if they are a gift. Wouldn''t those pills be elder Nie En''s?"


    Xin chuckled "Future husband is so sneaky. What is truly valuable in that gift is not the pills but the intent behind it. Should Nie En surrender them to the patriarch it would signify that he cares little for it. This would be very insulting to the person gift giver, namely Long Wan."


    My little teen lover''s fist hit her other hand "I get it now!" Women had different political tactics than men in Glory City. Women were generally more subtle, working behind the scenes to curry favor and then take advantage of said favor. On the other hand men traded these intents, as well as official and unofficial alliances. This was probably why Lanruo didn''t see the advantage of my actions at first.


    "Attention please!" Once again the auctioneer called for our gaze to shift "Next to auction is a bone obsidian tablet with a strange inscription on it recovered from the far away Tiendao island caves. The language has not been identified as the owner returned earlier this morning but there are remnants of a mysterious energy on it that causes plants in a three chi radius to m.a.t.u.r.e rapidly as well as let out a feeling of frostbite warmth." Another expression lost in translation. Here frostbite warmth was referring to that feeling when you''re so cold you feel like your warming up. So it can help grow weeds and flowers in a one meter range area, as well as cool down your drinks. Oh how I do miss vodka on the rocks. Maybe I should invent a fridge too "Auction starts at one thousand coins."


    "Two thousand!"


    "Four thousand"


    The pledges kept coming. As for me. Well¡­ it wasn''t something I was particularly interested in. This wasn''t something that was presented in the novel but I remember that there was also a section where it said that Nie Li bought more stuff than was actually explained, especially after the bids for the pills came and gone. And like I said before, I was suffering due to money. How I would love to have a space like that scroll, what was it called? Mountains, rivers something-something?


    It was a special cheat item Nie Li got in a later part of the novel. There was a nigh-limitless amount of high level energy inside it which helped him in various ways. But that wasn''t the most important part. No, what attracted me was the fact that it could be used as a pocket dimension linked to the soul realm. You could basically store whatever jack shit you wanted inside it since it and it would be accessible even if you became butt-n.a.k.e.d or you died and reformed your body. Few people could sense it and even fewer could access it against your will. It was the ultimate item vault.


    Instantly I felt a pit in my soul force, and a thought overtook my mind regardless of what I was contemplating at that moment. It was a similar feeling to having a revelation, though not quite the same. In response to that idea I squeezed my right fist lightly and two rings disappeared in a shadowy smoke. Panic welled up from my heart thinking I lost a great deal of stuff I had collected up to now. There was not a moment''s delay from when I wished them back that they appeared there, my two lovers being none the wiser.


    Testing it again, I wished for a single ring to vanish and it did. It was a ring filled just with money so no big loss if it disappeared. Though Nie Hai would probably have a heart attack thinking that making two billion coins go up in spiritual smoke as not something serious. Then again, he would probably come back to life when he saw that I could return it to my finger, which I did. This was something to investigate in detail later. Now there was an auction that was begging me to buy it out. "Fifty thousand!" I spoke out at the second going, just before someone could buy the tablet for nine hundred seventy five coins.


    "Damn!" A woman called out. Probably the same one who was just about to get it.


    Needless to say, nobody bet higher. Without knowing what it was, that was a simple trinket to grow flowers in a pot. Unless you ran a flower shop, that thing was useless. Maybe it could be put to work as air conditioning. At least at first glance. If I learned anything from Nie Li it was that some things aren''t what they seem.


    Following this was an assortment of different trinkets put out for auction, including an elixir bottle made from warm jade which Xin bought for herself. Still though, there were no weapons put up, much less swords which got me a little annoyed but, eh, what can you do?


    The only other thing that caught my attention were four broaches with a rose motif. Each one was made of different gems so there was a ruby one, an emerald one, another one made of amethysts and finally the last one was made of sapphires. They looked shattered but it was actually part of the design, as the cracks had been filled with gold. I remember a similar technique from Earth, or more specifically Japan. It used gold to repair shattered pottery.


    Those roses were beautiful, a perfect match for my three princesses. I could just sell or keep the last one as a spare. Naturally, I outbid the competition.


    "Thank you all for participating!" The announcer called out happily. "This concludes the bidding round for common items. We will have a short break so that our VIPs can be seated properly." Just then, the main doors opened and in came the top dogs of Glory City''s nobility, minus the Blizzard Family. Among the group I recognized Linjian, Yunfeng and At the request of the stewards they all took their appointed seats near the stage. "Esteemed guests, thank you for joining us today! We have a special item prepared for you today." A pedestal was rolled on the stage, all the while covered by a red and ornate cloth.


    Pulling the cloth away revealed a black jade cauldron the size of a small household pot. It looked like it was made of cast iron, but also sparkling and translucent with an almost gem-like shine. There was also an inscription at the bottom of it in a language I couldn''t recognize, signifying how ancient it was. "No f.u.c.k.i.n.g way!" I called out, completely forgetting I was in the company of ladies.


    "According to our patriarch, the aura of this pot can strengthen demon spirits should a spiritualist cultivate near it. As a result you can be guaranteed that this is an unrivalled treasure. Bid starts at eight million coins." The cute announcer declared with a bounce in her movement.


    Yang Xin turned to me "Do you know what that item is?"


    My excitement fell and I looked towards the floor in deep contemplation. If I tell her what it is then she might report it to the City Lord. If that guy knows about this then he might claim it for the good of the people, not realizing the damage he would do in the future. I have already made steps in securing the security of the city, so this treasure would be wasted here.


    On the other hand, it is my beloved Xin we''re talking about. Someone I would burn my soul to give a minute of happiness to. Lying was absolutely against my principles when talking to my loved ones. If you don''t trust your soul mates then you don''t deserve them.


    Making up my mind I turned to her with solemnity in my heart and nodded "There was information regarding that pot in a story I read sometime ago. If it is what I think it is then, for your safety and the safety of Glory City, I can''t tell you more about it. At least not yet. If you trust me then, please, don''t ask me about it." Turning to the other side my eyes caught Lanruo''s "Please. Also, don''t tell anyone about it."


    The girl''s shocked expression didn''t tell me if she will honor my request or not. Hesitantly, she took my hand into hers and nodded "Okay, I''ll trust you."


    Xin took my shoulders in her palms and drew her head over them "As will I. If you say it''s that important to you I won''t pry. But I do hope you will let me know in the future." She said before quickly touching my right cheek with her lips.


    There was a pang in my heart as I thought of all the secrets I kept from them. These girls as well as Ning''er will be my wives in the future, someone who will link their fates with mine. A marriage built on secrets and deceit wouldn''t last. But it was much too soon to let them know. "Give me a year at most and I will tell you all about me. Every dark and inconvenient truth, I promise to lay it b.a.r.e." I sighed. It would potentially shatter everything but so be it. There were few things that would make me step over my principles and this wasn''t one of them.


    You might think that a lot of time had passed and the auction would''ve ended. In reality only a few seconds had gone while I explained the situation to my girls so the bidding was still in full swing. Unfortunately for them, I already knew the limits that one audience member from the Dark Guild could go to. "One hundred and twenty million!" My distorted voice came out from behind the privacy inscriptions earning many shocked gasps. It was a ten times markup from the previous bid so no-one decided to push further.


    Lanruo gasped "Isn''t that a bit much?" Beads of sweat had formed on her brow. True, nobody would expect the item to go over a third of that but if they knew about it they would understand that even five hundred million would be cheap.


    Her hand was enveloped by my own in a reassuring gesture but I didn''t say anything. She nodded in understanding as she was quite a clever girl. And she did promise to give me a year. When we go to the Draconic Ruins Realm I will reveal everything to her as well as her future sisters. The path we are walking will lead us to battle the Sage Emperor. I always felt that it was unfair of Nie Li to rope our brothers and sisters into battle without telling them the future he has in store for them but I figured that it wasn''t my place to tell them. But these are the women I love. It was my burden to b.a.r.e.


    I felt someone from the crowd in the commoner area shuffling towards the item receiving area through my void sense and it knocked me out of my musings. Seems this f.u.c.ker was the Dark Guild member, most likely someone pretty far up the food chain, and he trying to find out who we were. In the novel, it was my darling Xin who won out the bid in the name of the main character and was later attacked inside her home by a Gold Rank spiritualist. This time, they had no idea who we were and this was something I could definitely use to my advantage.


    "Steward!" I called out and the man entered and bowed. Fishing out a spare storage ring before handing it to him I ordered the following "I will personally collect the items we bid for today. Go first to prepare them and wait for me there."


    The man cupped his hands and left but not before giving a curt "Yes''sir!"


    Sensing him leaving I turned to my girls and whispered "Seems someone from the Dark Guild also eyed that item. I will go pick them up alone. Try to sneak out unnoticed and wait for me in the nearby green area."


    "What!?" both of them spoke in unison before getting in my face. Being that they were taller than me I was now in a face-to-b.o.o.b.s conversation.


    Lanruo bent down and took my eyes into her own with a stern expression "It''s too dangerous! Let me call my dad for help!" She spoke, her hands on her h.i.p.s in a big-sister style.


    "I can call a few Black Gold ranks to assist as well." Xin responded, her words a bit more gentle but still filled with worry.


    Shaking my head I turned towards her "Those resources would be best spent tailing that guy." Taking them both in a three way hug I whispered comfortingly in their ears "It would be unreasonable of me to ask you not to worry so I''ll just request that you to trust me. Besides..." Letting them go, albeit hesitantly, I called forth the Shadow Devil and started vanishing into thin air "I have my ways."


    The words echoed as I teleported away to the far side of the auction house where I repeated the process, this time aiming for the room where I sensed the steward was.


    "There." The man called as the last of the items were placed in the ring.


    The lady auctioneer placed her hands on her h.i.p.s "And when will we be expecting our mysterious shopper to appear. He owes us quite a bit. Not to mention that if they skip out on it and we''ll have to reset these for auction we will lose quite a bit of face."


    What she didn''t know was that I was less than three steps behind her so I dispelled the Shadow Devil which caused my camouflage to become undone as well. "It''s not nice to badmouth guests behind their backs." I answered


    "Eep!" she jumped away in fright, landing princess style in the hands of the attendant. "Who are you?!" She pointed out to me in an annoyed fashion.


    "Miss. He is the private buyer." The steward answered for me while still holding onto her. She was quite attractive so my guess is that you couldn''t claim it was against his will.


    She finally wiggled out of his grip and did me a once-over "Him!?" She asked before turning to me "You.. Aren''t you a little young to be here?" Her tone was quite rude to be honest but it was no skin off my d.i.c.k. Actually it would hurt the numbers of the tip I would be leaving so she was actually digging in her own wallet.


    Shrugging I called forth the money from my ring. Total cost for the pot and other items was about one hundred and thirty seven million, rounded up to include her tip. I would''ve rounded it up to the hundred forty million if she hadn''t been so rude. "Age has little to do with ability. Here is the money and you can keep the change."


    Her eyes nearly jumped out of their sockets. She walked over and took the man-sized pile of bills into her own ring before confirming it with soul force "P-payment received in full. Thank ¡­ you for your patronage." The snappy tone had turned mono after seeing the cash but it wasn''t my place to care. I quickly snatched up the ring with my things from the equally stupefied steward and walked briskly towards the darker part of the room. There I merged with the Shadow Devil and cloaked before teleporting away, all of which took no more than a few moments, and less than it took for them to shake off their shock.


    I found the two lovely ladies in the park where I had previously encountered lord Lard from the universe ruled by fries and medium drinks. We enjoyed each other''s company a bit more before we had to depart to our separate business. Personally, I couldn''t keep my mind on the present because the situation I was currently in. While having the Nightmare Demon Pot in my possession was an incredible asset, the fact that a good sword eluded me was not in my advantage. Looks like I will have to bother Nie Li to help me with equipment yet again. Well, I''ll just call it fair trade for the Pot. Talk about being a pot dealer...


    However, before I could appeal to that time traveling troublemaker, I had to make a quick detour, and the store in front of me was my stop. Specifically, it was the top demon beast spirit store in the city. No sooner did I enter did the chimes from which the entrance curtains hang from ring. "Ah! Welcome! Buying or selling?" Asked the middle-aged shopkeeper. Is he related to the Fighters and Spiritualist Association clerk?


    "That depends." I stated cryptically "What is your policy on customer privacy?" Anymore attention after this auction could prove fatal. I was already neck deep in hot shit with the Pot in my possession, and if the Dark Guild finds out that I have it then let''s just say a four-twenty charge is not what''s in-store for me.


    The man smiled "Any legal trade is protected by the laws of Glory City. Our lips are sealed." Pride echoed in his voice as he stated that and I nodded.


    "Then, I would like to buy." My ring flashed with anticipation of lightening its load.


    Clapping his hands together the man jumped enthusiastically "Wonderful! What kind of spirit are you looking for? We have a wide assortment of Bronze and Silver rank spirits. If you can afford it we even have some good Gold and Black Gold ones." He waved his hands over the display crystals holding some sample spirits.


    Shaking my head I approached him and leaned over the counter "Is it too impolite to ask you to open a private room for us? My order will be a bit larger than that."


    The shopkeeper blinked a few times before smiling "Oh, buying in bulk I see. Very well, please follow me..." With those words he started leading me down a corridor behind the counter.


    Heh, ''buying in bulk'' he says. This will be amusing...


    We entered a sparsely decorated room with only two couches and a low table in the center of it. Seems this place was only used for transactions and nothing more. "Now then dear customer..." He began all business-like "What would you like to order? For three spirits we have a discount of two percent. For five it''s four percent and for over ten it is nine percent." He looked so proud of his business model it was almost cute.


    Coughing in my sleeve I dispelled the laugh that was welling in my throat "Let''s see... Do you have any fighter, blizzard, storm, wind, flame, lightning, earth and chaos type spirits?" I asked as if ordering tea.


    Speaking of tea, his took a detour down deepthroat lane. Finishing a bout of coughing he nodded and confirmed that all were available except flame and chaos types. The former because they were pretty rare in the cold environment of the surrounding mountain range and he had no idea what a chaos type demon spirit was. Nodding I accepted his words and leaned down over the table, which wad indeed pretty low "Then, I''ll be buying your entire stock."


    The shopkeeper nearly fell over, but before he could protest I continued "I have over a billion spirit coins in my budget so that is of no concern, though I do hope for a fair price." There is a limit on how much I was willing to spend and that was close to three hundred mills. The rest were a backup for buying Ning''er out of the Sacred Family. Considering them, they wouldn''t pass the chance of earning one or three billion coins for one measly fianc¨¦, especially once you viewed Shit Fei''s flower (v.i.r.g.i.n.i.t.y) count. With that much money he could buy himself a harem of beautiful and talented ladies and still have still cash to spare. Not that I didn''t have better options but I''m a hen that hates laying all eggs in one basket.


    Perking up, the man instantly shot up to a standing position and bowed courtly "Of course young lord. At once." I didn''t even have time to correct him on his choice of asskiss before he bolted out the door leaving me to enjoy some of their cheap dilute tea, the very definition of hot leaf juice. Oh well, it was indeed a demon spirit shop and not a tea terrace, though their hospitality could do with some improvement.


    It was the type that I wanted Shit Fei to experience, though if I have my way then I''ll really put the hospital in hospitality when we meet again. Knowing him, he should be dancing around 3-star Silver. Compared to my 5-star level, supercharged by my denser soul force then he would be a stain on the wall faster than he can cry to his daddy.


    An order of that size would take a while to collect though so I chose to meditate and raise my soul force. Surprisingly, the area here seemed to contain a higher concentration of soul force and Law energy than nearly anywhere else in Glory City. Trust me, I looked. Maybe it was because of being in close proximity to so many demon spirits. Well, I''m not one to waste a good opportunity when it reveals itself.


    It didn''t take long for me to enter anatta state, where you lose the link with your ego and become one with the world. It was relatively easy for me due to the mental fortification the Heavenly Void Dragon God technique granted me. Soon the world faded out of my senses as I awoke in the now familiar domain.


    "Glad you could visit." The gruff yet kind voice of old man Qin greeted me as I slowly turned towards him, mind still rebooting from the surreal peace anatta granted me.


    "Rrruuu!" A cheerful and chirpy growl echoed in the space before a small dark blur barreled into me at high speed. Luckily my armor didn''t transfer to my astral body otherwise it would''ve been pretty painful for my assailant. Last time I had sensed Nie Yu and jumped back at the last instance out of instinct which negated most of her momentum but my void sense had no effect in this place. Specifically, astral bodies had no substance so they wouldn''t obstruct the flow of energy making it impossible to sense them. Add to that the grogginess that meditation left me and there was no way I would be able to dodge this impact.


    Speaking of impact, I knew that little purr as well as the owner of that voice. Looking down towards my l.a.p I saw the little wolf cub I had saved in the training grounds snuggling up to my stomach in humanoid form. Instinctively my hand moved to pet her to which he let out a lower humm and moved her head to match my ministrations.


    "Well this is unexpected." Qin interjected, his voice joyful as he hummed "Xun''er doesn''t even like sitting on my knee. I''m a little jealous." He laughed as I picked up the little pup with one hand and turned towards the spiritual deity. This time he stood in a lavish armchair made of wood with gold trimmings. What was surprising was that he wasn''t alone this time as the guardian wolf and mother of the little she-pup in my arm was resting coiled around the piece of furniture. "Have you two met already?" The ancient man asked with genuine curiosity.


    I nodded in a silent answer before tilting my head "How come you didn''t know that?" Everything within the Tiny World was his to know and influence, so how come he wasn''t aware of this?


    He didn''t reply, choosing instead to point towards the timeline torus. My gaze followed his finger and I squinted in an attempt to understand what he was trying to let me know. "See anything different?" He asked with mild amus.e.m.e.nt as well as slight annoyance.


    "What is it that I should be seeing?" Came my reply. Nothing seemed to change. I still saw Ning''er, Lanruo, Xin, Nie Li as well as the others just fine.


    Qin then appeared to my right and joined me at staring at the torus. "It''s more about what you''re not seeing." He answered sagely.


    Frowning, I focused hard on the shifting and warping timelines before the answer hit me and my eyes widened "Me! I''m not there anymore!" My presence vanished from the time stream. You could still infer it through many interactions, such as seeing my lovers having kids with features very similar to Long Wan''s but my direct existence was nowhere to be found. Turning my head towards Qin so fast that you could hear my neck crack I let out a single question "How?!".


    The spirit deity shrugged "Beats me!" He replied "I''ve never seen anything like this in the millennia I''ve functioned as the Time Space deity. Have you done something different lately or experienced anything unusual?" Asked Qin with genuine curiosity, as if I was a rare species for him to study.


    This question made me roll my eyes. Are you kidding me? Ever since I woke up in a place I used to think was a f.u.c.k.i.n.g web novel everything has been unusual. Where should I start?


    "Mrro?" A curious growl awoke me from my musings as the she-cub, Xun''er was her name I guess, stirred in my arms while analyzing my expression with curious eyes. As soon as my own gaze met hers realization hit me. The Nighttime Direwolf!


    How lame of a brain can I have? "The best thing that I could think of was merging with... Xun''er''s father demon spirit." While my brain can be slow, my senses are not and I had caught the name of the little wolf that took to clinging onto me so fondly.


    "Ah..." His tone became saddened "So Wan''er spirit is with you." It was strange hearing the crazy and cheerful man mellow down to that of someone who lost his best friend. So the wolf''s name was also Wan, called Wan''er in a show of affection. Well, they don''t call it the ''Tiny'' World for nothing. Remember, wan also meant night which was more fitting for the wolf than it was for Long Wan.


    "Were you two close?" It was obvious that they were, no doubt about it. However that didn''t tell me exactly how close or how I should respond. My personality was more of the loner type than anything so I had some difficulty consoling people.


    Qin nodded and inhaled deeply before letting it all out "Wan''er was my spirit partner." Taking a moment to recollect himself he then turned to me "How did he die?". That was a question I was not expecting so I shifted my eyes towards the grown wolf watching us from her position by the throne. Qin shook his head "Cai''er has just mastered her transformations. She is a long way from being able to speak. Wan''er would usually convey her wants to me, but now..."


    I sighed and ran a hand through my hair "When I met them, Qin Wan was severely wounded by a Gold Rank space-time lion demon beast with Wan''er next in line to fall. I managed to chase away the lion before it could hurt them." My words came out with great sorrow as I nodded towards the little one in my arms as well as her mother. "Qin Wan''s spirit was laced with his remaining will. It told me that he was ambushed by that beast while enjoying the night with his family."


    Elder Qin growled deeper than Cai had ever managed to lay out. "When I get my hands on that overgrown cat, I''ll f.u.c.k.i.n.g skin it alive! I will decorate my throne with it''s fur!" He whispered, soul force radiating outwards laced with killer intent. It froze me in place, my mind shutting down. I couldn''t even f.u.c.k.i.n.g breathe, the pressure constricting my lungs. It was like I was an insect under the shadow of a very heavy boot. This was a Heavenly Fate realm expert.


    The sensation vanished just as quickly as it came and I collapsed on one knee, the last vestiges of my willpower going solely to protect little Xun''er in my arms. Sensing my distress she jumped out of my arm, so I allowed myself to relax, awaiting the cold embrace of the white astral floor. It never came as Shihuang managed to catch me and let me rest on his arm "My apologies." he murmured, genuinely sorry for the stress he had indirectly caused me.


    Sweet spiritual oxygen filled my lungs. Even if this space was a projection of his spiritual divinity, and I was here with my mind''s body, it was still important to breathe. Anything that transpired here would be transmitted to my real body so if I died of suffocation here then I would cease to live in the physical plane.


    "F.u.c.k me, that was intense." I gasped out after several deep breaths "Who in the hell called you the weakest Spiritual Deity?" In terms of combat at least. His abilities were more strategy orientated than frontline so while he couldn''t nuke the battlefield, he could most certainly influence it in many ways. This was to be expected when you could travel through the temporal dimension as easily as you could in any direction.


    He coughed in his sleeve "Language young man. Who the f.u.c.k taught you to swear like that?" His voice was monotone, with slight hints of amus.e.m.e.nt, well at least the hints that his grieving allowed him.


    "It''s an acquired talent¡­" I responded more to myself as my hands moved to dust my astral clothes of spiritual dust. He really should hire a spirit maid or something, sheesh. You could catch some kind of soul allergies here. Shihuang snorted a suppressed laugh as I turned towards him.


    "Fuk?" Echoed a tiny voice. Oh no.... Both Shihuang and I turnes towards Xun''er who was looking quite pleased with herself at imitating us. "Fuk." She said again and gave a puppy yip in celebration.


    The old man turnes towards me, something which I mirrored. We both had a silent conversation with our eyes, stoic expressions on our faces. Finally we simultaneously nodded in acceptance of our taciturn agreement to never swear in front of innocent kids. Ever.


    Now we needed a diversion, one I was happy to provide "On a side note, I realized that I''m missing from the torus because my friend told me that my timeline was now sealed. What does that mean anyway?" As the spiritual deity overseeing spacetime in the Tiny World he should have some insight into this.


    The old man closed his eyes and sighed "Don''t ask questions to which you already know the answer. But since you''re so eager to hear your thoughts in my voice... Some creatures such as spacetime spirit beasts and demon beasts are exempt from the confines of the current of time and the boundaries of space. This is innate and is present in all of them regardless of what kind of combat abilities they have. What I''m doing as a Spirit Deity is more of a parody of that dimensional immunity, since my authority only applies in this Tiny World, whilst theirs stretches beyond the confines of even higher domains. This means that your fate is beyond the eyes or influence of even the most powerful entities residing in them. Except if your physical path should intersect with them, only then would they be able to alter it."


    As I suspected. It meant that my time coordinates had been shifted to a higher plane. Instead of my existence being largely four dimensional, as in left-right, front-back, up-down, plus time, it was now at hyperdimensional levels above four. Einstein would''ve had a raging physics boner had he experienced this. In overly simplified and gross layman''s terms: if my positions in space and time were on shelves, then they would now be right at the top with the cookie jar, outside the reach of even the top know powers in the TDG universe, or even other spacetime entities. Only an existence that was on an even higher plane would be able to affect them.


    Sadly, it also meant that Shihuang could do nothing to alter Qin Wan''s death since that was also beyond what the old man could now do. Even if he entered the flow of time to return to the past and change it, the what the old man could now do. Even if he entered the flow of time to return to the past, the outcome would remain the same. It was chaos theory 101.


    Shihuang coughed once again "Enough of that. While unexpected, it should prove very useful to you if you still d.e.s.i.r.e to walk the same path as before." He nodded to nobody in particular, as if he was just confirming his own words to himself.


    At this point I felt a tug on my sleeve and saw little Xun looking at me with concern etched in her gaze. To quell her worries I placed a gentle hand on her head, the warmth apparently soothing her as she snuggled her face in my t.h.i.g.h, ears bent like a happy puppy.


    The old man chuckled drawing my attention "Though it pains me deeply that Wan''er is gone, I can''t help but feel he never left us. His spirit now lives in you, in more ways than one. And personally, I can''t think of anyone else I''d like more to carry out his legacy, other than you. Pehaps¡­ it was no coincidence you shared the same name." A single tear fell down his cheek before he wiped it with his sleeve.


    Cupping my hands I bowed towards him "I didn''t want his spirit.." I explained earning a hostile eyebrow raise promising me pain if I didn''t continue "It was something I didn''t feel worthy of, and that it should be with his family. But now that it is with me, I will make sure his feelings and his will be respected to the utmost. So thank you senior Qin! And on behalf of all memories left behind I ask you not to cry for Wan''er''s death, but to cherish the memories of his life. It was what both of us Wans would want."


    The scornful gaze was replaced with a tearful smile "Cherish the memories¡­ Yes¡­ That''s so much like Wan''er. So much like him¡­" A pained laugh escaped yet again. "Very well, I will try. But I''ve kept you here long enough. You should return back to your reality."


    As he mentioned that my eyes widened as I remembered something "Before I go, you wouldn''t know where I can find a good sword, would you?" It was a long shot but if anyone could tell me it was probably him.


    "A sword?" He parroted before cupping his chin "Actually, I may be able to help you." He stated and turned to his right, and my left as he had been face to face. With a wave of his arm the space in front of him shifted to an endless desert plain filled with thousands upon thousands of swords, some ornate, some plane, big ones, small ones, all stuck in the ground, like murderous stalks of grass. "My collection has gotten a bit exaggerated over time. If I had a missus she would probably be on my a.s.s right now to clear up some space. So¡­ Take your pick. You can have more than one if you want."


    Holy mother of death! What the hell was this, a killingscape?! Well, as I found myself repeating more often than not, I''m not one to look a gift sword in the blade.


    I began strolling through the field. A good looking but ornate blade would serve me no purpose. It should have no gold, silver or any bullshit like that. There weren''t a lot of things that I remember from my previous identity, but I did remember I was a mechanical engineer before this, so I had some notion about material science and metallurgy. The best weapon was made of steel. There was no replacement for that as no other metal or composite could hold an edge better. Even titanium, as praised as it was, chipped easily. It''s prowess was in tensile strength afterall, not granular structure. It would take a hit and not break but it would certainly dent. Steel on the other hand would generally bounce back from all but the hardest hits. And regardless what Minecraft would have you believe, diamond would chip and break as hardness doesn''t necessarily mean toughness. In compression it would be great but hit it at just the off angle and pop goes your blade, along with your life.


    On this notion, I''ll say it again gold was one of the worst things you could make an edge weapon out of. Disregarding the cost you might as well make a sword out of lead. Actually a lead sword would have the same resistance but would actually weigh less as it was about half the density of gold.


    Stumbling across one that looked like it had potential I picked it out of the ground to inspect it. It had a shape reminiscent of a tai chi sword, with a mirror steel double sided blade, wooden grip and a barely ornate bronze guard. Taking a few trial swings I found it had a pleasant grip that was not tiring, nor did it fight my control. In fact, I felt vague happiness once I picked this thing up, and a tingly sensation through my arm. Seeing that it was pretty good, I then decided to see how compatible it was with my soul realm so I focused some Void energy through my arm and inside the blade.


    Instantly the comfortable feeling disappeared and the blade started to violently vibrate in my hand. Black Void flames engulfed it as it rocked even harder and I had no choice but to let it go. It fell tip first into the ground below before sinking further beyond the hilt until I couldn''t even see it anymore. The f.u.c.k!? My heart skipped a beat as I turned to senior Qin. Did I just f.u.c.k up his sword. However, he seemed amused at this turn of events and even waved off my concerns.


    While flabbergasted, I simply shrugged and returned to see if I can find another blade. However, a strange thing started happening. As I moved through the field of swords, they began sinking in the ground as soon as I was within three meters radius of them. Regardless of what direction I took, they all began to disappear from me. "They''re afraid of you." Shihuang said as he appeared floating above me.


    "Afraid of me?" my question came along with a raised eyebrow.


    He chuckled "Specifically, they''re afraid of your soul force. It''s too overwhelming. Your soul ocean is like a black inescapable pit. These swords are special as they have gained sentience through absorbing the spirits of the slain. But the energy your spirit gives out is enough to gobble even that constructed will. Even I never met one like you before. I think you should give up. I''m truly sorry, but there isn''t a sword here who would follow you anymore." He said in a disappointed tone. Not at me mind you, but disappointed with the outcome.


    Taking a look at him to consider what he said I finally made up my mind to keep going. Hasn''t anyone told him that I don''t give up so easily? My momma may have raised a fool, but she didn''t raise no quitter. As I continued making my way through the plain of blades I noticed something out of the corner of my eye. Specifically a patch of emptiness that wasn''t made by me. Moving towards it I finally reached the edge and saw it was an empty disc of earth. Well, it was empty if you didn''t count what was in the middle of it.


    Standing dead center were two Chinese jians. Well, almost. It looked like the swords were half of a whole split down the middle, with one side being as jet-black as my soul realm, while the other was peppered with shifting dots of red, blue and white, like stars in the sky. This caught my attention and I moved closer. To my delight these two didn''t sink as soon as I got in range. "Careful boy!" the elder Qin''s voice resounded over me. "These two are the wild horses in my collection. It took all I had just to be able to contain them here. As you can see, even the other swords don''t particularly like their company." the old man warned with a stern voice.


    Armed with this new knowledge I moved closer, this time taking it a bit slower. Just as I moved to grab the black one it instantly shifted upwards so that it''s edge past my thumb, nicking it in the process. There was no helping the yelp that escaped my throat. Not from the pain, tis but a scratch and it healed faster than it should be possible without a pill. However the surprise still got me. "Told you." Qin chuckled a bit.


    As the surprise died out a tremor invaded my arm and I could feel unimaginable sadness, loneliness, and guilt, beyond what even Nie Li''s soul transmitted at the time of our merger. Clenching my fist I suppressed the feeling and looked at the two swords before turning to the edge of the perimeter created by those cowardly cutting instruments.


    My eyes fell onto the twin edges once more. "You''re all alone¡­" I cooed, my heart reaching out to them. That itch of not belonging where you are, I know it all too well. It''s not every day that you wake up in a different world, hell, even a different body than your own. "You don''t have to be.". My hands reached for both of them but this time I didn''t flinch as they both rose and I grabbed them by the razor sharp edges. It stung like a bitch but it wouldn''t kill me. My peak Silver rank constitution could more than handle the palms of my arms being slashed and any transmitted injuries would be healed by top quality pills and herbs. But the emotional pain they leeched in through the cuts was dozens of times worse. If one small nick could give centuries of grief, what could two deep slashes?


    The dark emotions began overtaking me. ''Worthless!'' I kept thinking. ''We''re no good!'' echoed through my mind. ''We can''t protect anyone!'' ''They will all die!'' ''We will let them die!'' Voices reverberated inside my soulspace and I began losing consciousness. Vaguely, I could hear elder Qin telling me something but I couldn''t follow him. The words were too strong and made be consider what the f.u.c.k I thought I was doing, playing hero like some kind of cheap comic book main character? This was real life, where people die for real. Cold darkness filled my vision. My friends, my family, I will eventually lose them all¡­


    ¡­


    ''¡­'' A distant voice called out, too faint to tell who it was or what it said.


    ''¡­ an.'' It spoke again, this time much more pronounced, unmistakably feminine and drowning out the negatives.


    "Long Wan." It was loud and clear¡­ And it was Ning''er. She appeared in arms reach in front of me, her vision surrounded by a blue glow as bright as a lightning bolt in pitch black darkness. I stretched out a bleeding hand and she took it in her own and brought it to her cheek "I believe in you." She said softly.


    At that same moment, I felt a welcomed warmth engulf my back. "You''re our man. There''s no way you''d lose." Lanruo spoke as pink shining arms sn.a.k.e.d their way around my waist and laid her head on my shoulder.


    Another presence made itself felt with two very loving hands resting on my knee. "Don''t lose faith in yourself." Xin appeared, green as radiating Ning''er''s blue and Lanruo''s pink.


    "Don''t give up!" a male this time called out "Ain''t no way we''re gonna lose to anyone!" Lu Piao boomed from a step away, arms crossed and body radiating crimson red.


    "You''re our brother. Even if you were to go to hell I would fight king Yama to be allowed follow you." Du Ze, calm yet affirmative words echoed from next to Lu Piao, flame like lightning thinly covering him.


    "You? Lose? We won''t allow it!" The trio spoke in unison as they appeared, each radiating as much as Du Ze and the others.


    Finally, directly opposite me appeared Nie Li in his a.d.u.l.t spirit visage, bright golden orange dissolving the darkness away. "Our spirits and destinies are linked. If you fall, I will pull you up! If I call for help then you will answer! We''re not alone anymore." It was the Nie Li I held in my heart, all of them were as how I felt about them. "We both lived once with too many regrets. Will you let this life end the same?" he boomed and all of them slowly vanished as my senses returned.


    The endless bladed field returned, with my hands still clutching the swords. "No." I growled, and the swords started to vibrate "No more regrets." Steam came out from behind my teeth as my tears dried out. The two blades began to violently tremble, cutting deeper into my hands but I refused to let them go.


    Fixing my eyes on them, my grips tightened "Just what are you so scared of? Thar pitch black despair of losing your everything¡­ And that horror of abandonment¡­ Paranoia, mistrust and danger to those who you''re supposed to protect¡­ All of those.. I know them all too well!" I yelled out with a force I didn''t even know I had as both object began to shake even more uncontrollably than before, desperately trying to run away from me and my words. "But beyond all that, that all consuming regret that fills you up¡­ Stop running away from it!" The last order came out even more forceful than before.


    My void tendrils sneaked out from the cuffs of my sleeves and began wrapping around the struggling swords. "I said it once before and I''ll say it again. Regardless if it is a god or a Buddha, if it stands in my way I will feed it to the Void." Slowly but surely the void imbued soul force began to steadily cover them in a blanket of ''nothingness''. When I woke up in this world I swore to myself that I won''t allow regret to stop me from forging my path with my own prowess. So if you won''t stop running away from your painful past¡­ Then let me have it!" I yelled, anger rising as I saw myself in them. "I am Long Wan! You hear me?" My anger was boiling over. These two f.u.c.kers think they can overcome me?! Not a snowball''s f.u.c.k.i.n.g chance in a volcano.


    "I will turn it all to ''nothing''!" With one final throaty holler the two blades became still and I felt them finally submit to me as the darkness of my soul force covered every last bit of them and they went up in shadowless smoke to become one with my soul realm.


    Breathing out a sigh of relief I let myself fall as my a.s.s hit the hard desert ground. This has been one crazy a.s.s day. I still can''t believe I actually wrestled two pieces of ¡­ whatever the f.u.c.k metal they''re made of, by their hair splitting edge no less. Speaking of which, I better fix those¡­ cuts? My hands looked pristine, as if they were never injured. I know I heal fast but not that fast. And it wasn''t that I was in this astral realm either. Was it the swords? Hmmm, I would need to look into this.


    "Well pull my p.a.n.t.i.e.s and color me impressed." Qin laughed from above me. On that note I didn''t know you could speak ancient Chinese with a Texan accent. The more you know¡­ "While not quite soul weapons, those twin blades bonded with your soul. Quite peculiar. What are their names?" He asked, his voice brimming with curiosity.


    Looking at him while tilting my head I continued asking "Their?" Being bonded with my soul made the blades part of me. It was like asking if my left and right feet were separate from my being. They weren''t. "Those twin blades are actually one sword with separate purposes. A single being manifested in a duality." Kind of like the Christian God where a Trinity was one being. An abstract concept beyond Newtonian understanding.


    Qin smirked "Still, what will you call them?" He would not pander to my reasoning.


    Cupping my chin I went deep on thought. Initially I was tempted to name them by my dragon theme but I went against that. "M¨¦iy¨¯u" It meant ''non-existing'', a synonym for ''void'' and I will not, repeat, will not transcribe that with diacritics ever again. "Dark will be the name of the black blade and Astra will be the dotted side''s." They were spoken in clear English, my proficiency in it was something I took pride in in previous life.


    Suddenly, my vision became cloudy as my body started going transparent "Seems your time here is up." Shihuang mumbled "See you next time you stinkin'' brat!" He sent me off with a wave. "Hope you don''t collapse like a sissy from two love cuts next time." This old fart, why was he so endearing?


    Flashing a toothy grin at him I flipped him off "Bye you crazy geezer! Thanks for the sword!" My words resounded as I disappeared, leaving a smiling deity to curse up a storm, a censored one that is...