Ch 42 ATG 8

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On the first day of the first month of the New Year, outside the entrance to the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley, early in the morning before the sun had even risen yet, servants were already busy organizing the grounds. Pavilion tents, tables, and chairs were being set up for each Guardian Family or Duke Palace. Only the scions of the Duke Palaces and Guardian Families, or those specifically gifted the opportunity by the Illusory Demon Royal Family, were qualified to enter the trial grounds.

On one side of the clearing grounds the Yun Family tent was being raised. It was a noteworthy event because for the past 100 years the Yun Family had been prohibited by the Illusory Demon Royal Family from participating in the Proving Trial. The punishment had seriously impacted the Yun Family's prestige, as well as taking away a prime opportunity for the scions of the Yun Family to get stronger. As a result, their young generations have been weaker than average for missing out on the opportunities inside the proving grounds, thus losing the Yun Family even more prestige.

Next to the Yun Family tent the Mu Family and Under Heaven Family were also setting up their tents. Their close ties through marriage or betrothal ensured that they would stand with the Yun Family, even if the Yun Family was not as prestigious as they used to be.

The sun finally climbed into the sky, and the various young cultivators participating in the trials in the proving grounds started trickling in. There was a boisterous atmosphere among the participants. Some were bragging to their friends about how well they would do. Some were simply there to play around. And others were deadly seriously. They felt that it was the best chance they would get to prove their worth to their family's elders and earn more resources and training.

Carl strode onto the grounds confidently. He was looking around at all the various colored tents of the families, as well as vendor stalls set up on the outskirts. It certainly looked lively.

He stepped into the crowd, pushing his way through the milling people. Following the directions he had, he soon found the Yun Family tent. Waving at the guards, who were told in advance that he would be part of their group, he entered the tent to settle down as he waited for the starting time.

Only a couple months ago Carl had a few breakthroughs. Thanks to his perks he never had bottlenecks when breaking through, so he had been advancing at a steady pace. He had finally reached the Tyrant Profound Realm.

Once a cultivator entered the Emperor Profound Realm, a domain was learned that was helpful in battle. When entering the Tyrant Profound Realm, a cultivator's lifespan was greatly increased to over eight hundred years. It was a direct result of the increased density and quantity of profound energy after the break through that extended their lifespan.

With Carl's age constantly being reset as he entered new worlds every ten years, he hadn't really had to worry about aging. And now with his new lifespan guaranteed by his profound level, he had even less to worry about concerning his lifespan.

When Carl and Rover had broken through, Carl had received another drop of Phoenix blood which increased his life force even more. By this point he now had 8 drops of Phoenix blood circulating his body, 6 drops of Golden Crow blood, and 6 drops of Dragon God blood. According to the information about his Dragon God bloodline, his marrow had been altered and he would be generating Dragon blood in the next few years, which would improve his physique even more.

Over the past several months Carl had mastered the fifth stage of the Golden Crow's Record of the Burning World: Golden Annihilation. And now he was working on mastering the sixth stage: Red Purgatory Lotus, which was back to being a single target attack.

Carl honestly felt that with his affinity for fire he could advance even faster through the stages of the Record of the Burning World, but certain ideas caused Carl to hold back and advance at a slower and steadier pace. He felt that it was important not to rush through the stages, but to spend time mastering each level and learning as much as he could from each stage. Letting his knowledge of each stage be the foundation for learning the next stage. He was already ripping through the levels as it was.

He wasn't positive he was doing it right since he had no mentor. But in the spars against Caiyi he had been proving just how skilled he was getting, and incidentally helping Caiyi improve too.

And since Carl wasn't going around slapping people in the faces and starting wars, he found that he wasn't being placed in improbable situations. The kind of situations that would make him gamble his life on a one in a million chance. Or utilize some risky life threatening technique that was the only way he could beat an enemy, but which would injure him and make him live a normal life for three years as a mortal before finally getting his cultivation back.

And since Carl wasn't doing all those story protagonist things, he found that his life was actually quite calm and tranquil. At most it was full of training. He could handle a bit of slice of life, it wasn't so bad. It would make for a nice montage.

Carl had been hoping to break through to the fifth stage of the Great Way of the Buddha before entering the proving grounds, but he was still just a hairs breadth away from the needed comprehension to make the breakthrough. He figured it would be another few days if he managed it in a short time, and another few months if he took a long time.

While waiting for the rest of his friends to arrive, Carl was pondering just why Rover had decided not to accompany him into the proving grounds. Was there something there Rover was afraid of? He couldn't get a straight answer from the damned bird. Even though Rover was as smart or smarter than any human by this point, he was also sometimes incredibly stubborn and independent. And Rover had been spending more and more time abroad, roaming around instead of hanging with Carl.

Carl figured that with the increasing intelligence Rover was exhibiting, it was very likely Rover would gain a human form when they reached the Sovereign Profound Realm. It would be interesting to see his buddy in human form. Maybe then he could finally get some answers from him as to what he had been up to lately.

"Brother Carl!"

Carl's thoughts interrupted, he turned to see Seventh Sister leading Yun Xiao into the tent. He gave the couple a smile in greeting.

"Hey, you two. Are you excited for this?" Carl asked his first two friends in the ATG world.

"Yes, we've got this!" Seventh Sister declared with an upraised fist of determination.

"As a member of the Yun Family, I can't let them down!" Yun Xiao played along with Seventh Sister's enthusiasm and also raised his fist of determination.

Carl chuckled for a moment and also raised a fist of determination. "To winning!" He cheered along with the other two. After a bit, they settled down as they chatted about various topics.

"Greetings." The soft but emotionally distant voice of Caiyi interrupted their conversation a short time later.

"Ahh, Sister Caiyi is joining us! This is great!" Seventh Sister cheered.

Carl and Yun Xiao greeted Caiyi in return. Carl looked over Caiyi, who looked like she was prepared to join them on the five day expedition to the proving grounds.

"Glad you could join us." Carl said while looking Caiyi in the eyes. "It wouldn't be the same without you."

Caiyi blushed slightly, pleased at what he was saying.

The group of four then settled down in their chairs while they chatted about how they were going to tackle the proving grounds for the next five days.

Eventually they heard the horn signifying that it was time to gather. The entrance would soon open. No one wanted to be late and miss their chance. The entrance would only be open for three hours today, and five days later at the same time would open for another three hours. If they missed their opportunity, they would be locked in for five years. To date no one had survived being locked inside for five years, so it was basically a death sentence if they didn't make it out in time.

They soon arrived at the gathering grounds and stood among the members of the Yun, Mu, and Under Heaven Families.

Carl soon found himself snickering at Seventh Sister's predicament. Since she was the only girl in her family, having six older brothers, she was treated as the treasure of the family. Which meant that her brothers were very protective. And all her brothers were late stage Tyrants or early stage Sovereigns. So it was somewhat funny to watch the play that always happened when her brothers saw her with Yun Xiao.

Each time her older brothers met Yun Xiao they would nearly growl at him, before going on to demanding that he be a man and swear to protect her. (Since they couldn't protect Seventh Sister from Yun Xiao due to the betrothal, they had resigned themselves to recruiting him to their cause.) And while Seventh Sister's brothers would go on and on about defending their poor innocent sister from everything, Seventh Sister would get more and more exasperated by them until she finally would stomp on their feet and drag Yun Xiao away from her crazy brothers.

This time, Carl was standing next to Caiyi while watching the Under Heaven Protective Brother act out their play. He didn't think she had seen Seventh Sister with her brothers yet. Carl nudged Caiyi's shoulder and indicated that she should enjoy the play.

As the brothers went through their usual spiel with Yun Xiao, Caiyi started giggling. She struggled to hide it, feeling that it was beneath her dignity. But it was hard to stop, seeing the over the top behavior of Seventh Sister's brothers.

Seventh Sister and Yun Xiao eventually rejoined Carl and Caiyi, with Seventh Sister pouting at Caiyi laughing at her, and Yun Xiao as usual being sheepish that he was, once again, caught up in the Under Heaven Brother's tempo.

Carl always enjoyed the unrestrained attitude of the Under Heaven Family. It just suited a family whose surname was 'Under Heaven', whose patriarch was named Greatest Ambition Under Heaven, and who named his children Number One, Number Two, Number Three, etc. to be such a lively and rowdy bunch. How in the world Seventh Sister got to be so kind Carl couldn't fathom. He would expect her to be a lot more forceful, if only so she could protect herself from her brother's shenanigans.

The crowd quieted down when the officials at the front gave the signal, and Carl and his group paid attention to the stage set up in front. Duke Gu stood on the stage, getting everyone's attention.

"Once every five years our Illusory Demon Empire's youth are given the opportunity to test their skills and fortune in the proving grounds of the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley." He intoned through an array that projected his voice across the entire crowd of thousands of youth and their servants and guards.

"There is opportunity in this five day long trial. But there is also danger. Be aware that your safety and lives are in your own hands. Only through struggle can we be strong. As the future of the Empire, it is your duty to be strong. The rules for this trial has already been made known to you, so I'll just say these final words. Act in a manner befitting your station and dignity. Good luck."

The entryway then changed colors, indicating it was open. The crowd surged forward, Carl and his group following along.

As the mass of cultivators poured in the valley and spread out, Carl got his first glimpse of the Valley. It was enormous. The sheer size of the valley rocked Carl's mind. 'If the Grand Canyon from back home were to be compared to this valley, then the Grand Canyon would possibly be considered a little ravine.'

The entrance they were at was at a high point, allowing them an overview of the Valley. Far in the distance, there was an actual freaking Sea of Fire at the end of the Valley. There was a large river made of fire and lightning that ran through the valley and poured into the Sea of Fire.

There were plenty of forest and grasslands through the valley, but everything had a red or purple-whitish tinge to it, indicating that even the plant life had a fire or lightning nature to it.

Looking over the extreme fire and lightning nature of the valley, Carl realized that there had to be some pocket dimension shenanigans going on to make the whole valley possible. Especially because all this wasn't visible from the outside.

As Carl's group made their way into the valley, he watched as some of the cultivator groups immediately took to the air to get more distance from each other as they spread out. Other's stayed on the ground to not make a target of themselves while in the air.

Soon enough Carl's group of four plus the twelve "guards" assigned by the Yun Family and Under Heaven Family to follow them were away from the other groups of cultivators. They slowed down their speed of movement. It wouldn't do to rush into an ambush set by other cultivators or accidentally stumble on a beast's lair.

Now that they weren't rushing at speed, Carl looked around him at all the fire and lighting element plant life. It was interesting, that even plants could gain a fire nature in the valley. So Carl began gathering samples of the different plants to add to his farms later.

"What are you doing, Brother Carl?" Seventh Sister asked.

Even though he was gathering samples, he hadn't slowed the group down. He had used his combined magic and profound energy to dig up the plants and stow them away for later.

"Oh, I find it fascinating that even the plant life here has gained a fire attribute. I mean, usually fire is the enemy element of plants. But here, they are imbued with it. I want to experiment with it later, to see if I can find anything useful to do with it." Carl replied as he continued gathering samples.

"Oh. Well, should we help you gather samples then?" Seventh Sister asked.

"Seventh Sister, we should stay on the lookout for ambush." Caiyi intoned. "Carl can handle his sample gathering himself. We'll make sure we all stay safe."

Seventh Sister nodded energetically. "What Sister Caiyi said makes sense. Brother Carl, you continue your sample gathering, we'll keep you safe." She promised.

Carl chuckled. "Thank you, Seventh Sister." He then winked at Caiyi for her efforts to keep Seventh Sister occupied and was rewarded with a shy smile from Caiyi.

Seventh Sister's vigilance was rewarded a short quarter hour later as she was the first to spot the attack by the group of 8 foot tall lizards that were sneaking up on them from a rock formation.

Seventh Sister and Yun Xiao engaged one each, while their guards kept four of them occupied. Carl almost casually unsheathed his blade and enhanced it with wind cutting power, cutting the head off one of the lizards, before he used a powerful stun enhanced with his fist to knock out another lizard. He swiftly threw the live one into a prison containment unit that he had built.

The spatial storage rings were amazing for keeping all one's wealth with them, but live animals and people couldn't be put in them. So Carl had designed and built some prison cells built into a box with Wizarding expansion charms built in and utilizing profound energy to move the unconscious lizard into it.

Looking over the lizards that attacked, Carl was immensely glad that using a scent blocker cut down on 99% of the problems he had with his drawback that made him seem delicious to animals. If he didn't have that bracelet and several backups with him, he would never have dared enter the valley. He would have gotten mobbed to death.

As it was, he was still taking a bit of a chance that something could go catastrophically wrong. But the ability to simply hide in his Warehouse for the remainder of his time gave him the needed survival option to brave the dangers.

After killing and disabling two lizards, Carl let the rest of his group deal with their attackers. Caiyi had killed four just as fast as Carl took care of his two. Yun Xiao and Seventh Sister struggled a bit with their opponents. They were about the same profound level, and Yun Xiao and Seventh Sister weren't used to fighting beasts, so they took some time to get their rhythm down. But once they regained their equilibrium, they managed to kill their opponents just fine.

The group of guards meanwhile had ganged up on the four that attacked them and managed to kill them. Carl frowned at the thought that the guards were not especially powerful or skilled, but he figured their numbers made up in part for their lack of ability. At the very least, if they were ever in an untenable position, the guards would delay the attacker while their charges escaped. At least that was the Family's logic in assigning the guards.

While Carl didn't particularly like the idea of throwing away lives, he was forced to realize that the guards knew what they were signing up for, and that it was part of the cultivator society. That's just how things were. If he didn't like it, then he had to get strong enough to do something about it instead of just whinging and moaning about it being unfair.

Carl pushed away his idle thoughts to congratulate his group on their adroit handling of the threat. After the guards dismantled the lizards and retrieved the profound cores, they soon continued on their way, looking for anything interesting they could profit over.

"We should head more in that direction." Caiyi stated, pointing them towards a certain direction.

"You know of something good over there, Sister Caiyi?" Seventh Sister eagerly asked.

Caiyi nodded and then shook her head. "There's a place I need to go to while we are here."

"That's fine, then. Lead the way, we'll follow you wherever." Carl offered, and Yun Xiao and Seventh Sister nodded in agreement. They then followed along as Caiyi guided them to whatever the mysterious spot was that she needed to visit.

Carl found that he was quite interested in what there was in the Valley that would cause the Little Demon Empress to miss the big Traitor Mop Up Operation. That obviously wasn't the official name for the operation, but that's what it was.

While they were in the trial grounds, the families loyal to Caiyi were cleaning up the traitors right now. Usually Caiyi was completely serious about taking her duty seriously and would not leave the operation to be carried out without her. So whatever was here in the Valley must be really important to her. Which meant it was important to the Illusory Demon Royal Family, and to her Empire.

After only a few hours of travel, and several more encounters with beasts that were easily slain, they arrived at the destination that Caiyi had sought out.

Looking around, the only thing that Carl saw of interest was a cave that had a profound array and a fiery barrier in front of it. Carl extended his senses to the array to get a sense of it, and found that it was incredibly complicated. It was far more powerful and complicated than anything he could craft currently.

Shocked at the surprise of finding something so far beyond him in this place, Carl pulled back his profound energy probe, but not before it was snatched by a force. While Carl struggled to pull back, two enormous red eyes appeared in the air in front of the barrier. They exuded a sense of immense pride and disdain for everything else in the world.

The pair of eyes ignored Seventh Sister, Yun Xiao, and the guards. They glared at Carl for a moment, before moving to focus on Caiyi.

Caiyi didn't spare a moment and bowed down. "Great Golden Crow Ancestor, I am Huan Caiyi, the Little Demon Empress. I beseech your help for our Royal Lineage." She almost begged.

Yun Xiao and Seventh Sister stared with mouths agape. They were shocked beyond belief that the Sister Caiyi that they had been interacting with for the past year and a half was their ruler. And to see the Golden Crow in front of them, which was the progenitor of the Royal Family was almost too much. They too bowed down, along with the guards.

Carl couldn't move though. Not only was his profound energy probe caught, but his body was frozen too. He couldn't even utilize his magic, let alone his profound energy, so heavy was the suppression on him. This Golden Crow was so far above him that it could destroy him in a moment. Sweat sprung out on his brow at that realization.

[Where did you get the bloodline of the Golden Crow.] A loud female voice echoed in his head.

'The Golden Crow was female? All this time with the Yang heavy profound energy, I thought The Golden Crow was male!' The thought popped up in Carl's mind almost involuntarily. Sensing that the Golden Crow in front of him was displeased that he didn't answer immediately, Carl hastily made a decision.

[Have you ever heard of a Jump Chain, Honorable Golden Crow?] Carl respectfully sent back at her.

Carl had immediately realized that in front of this powerful entity, he could do nothing but be obedient. She could snuff him out in a moment. He had no idea what kind of information could be pleasing or angering to the entity. And lying in their mind to mind conversation would be useless. So he could only answer truthfully and hope that he came out of the encounter alive.

And if he did survive, he would never again go within a thousand miles of this location voluntarily. Carl briefly wondered if Rover had popped in to see what was what in the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley and seen that he should stay the hell away from this place. Why didn't the little shit warn him?

[Are you saying that you are a little world jumper? Kind of scrawny for one of those entities.] She disdainfully scoffed. [How many worlds have you been to, little world jumper?]

Carl could see out of the corner of his eye that Caiyi, Yun Xiao, and Seventh Sister were still kneeling, waiting for the judgment of the Golden Crow.

[This is my eighth world, Honorable Golden Crow.] Carl answered plainly.

[Humph. So young and weak.] The eyes floating in the air scrutinized him for a moment. [But with some amount of potential, after all.] The eyes of the Golden Crow then turned to Caiyi and paused for a moment.

"Speak, little girl. What is it you seek here from me, without the Demon Emperor's Seal that is the symbol of the bargain between your family and me."

"Traitors to the Empire have conspired against the Royal Family. They killed my father and brother, leaving me the last of the Royal Family. As we speak, my troops are rounding up the traitors and imprisoning them until I return and pass judgment. I came to beseech your help and advice, Great Golden Crow Ancestor. Due to the actions of the traitors, the Demon Emperor Seal has been lost for over 100 years."

"I found that the man here, Carl, had the Golden Crow Bloodline, and I wished your blessing to bring him into the Illusory Demon Royal Family to continue your legacy. I hoped to attain your blessing and renew the bargain between my family and the Great Golden Crow Ancestor." Caiyi finished up and waited with bowed head.

"Get up, girl. I don't like to see any of my blood bow so subserviently, even to me. Do it again, and I'll destroy you." The Golden Crow chastised Caiyi.

Caiyi shot to her feet, and stood tall and proud once more. "Yes, Ancestor." Caiyi affirmed that she understood.

The rest of the group didn't rise to their feet, since they did not have leave to. They continued to kneel where they were. Carl was still held tight, unable to move.

The eyes of the Golden Crow looked over the two standing individuals for some minutes, as if weighing the pros and cons of her decision.

Eventually she came to a decision. "You two will stay here for some time." The Golden Crow decided. The fiery barrier in front of the cave disappeared, and both Caiyi and Carl were floated inside. Once the two were inside, the barrier rose once more.

The eyes then turned to Yun Xiao and Seventh Sister. "You will go back to your families and tell your leaders that their Little Demon Empress is receiving my guidance for some time. They will ensure that the traitors are imprisoned, that the Empire is running smoothly, and they shall wait for her return."

"Yes, Great Golden Crow." Yun Xiao and Seventh Sister acknowledged the order.

The eyes of the Golden Crow disappeared.

Yun Xiao immediately turned to the guards. "You will not speak of this to anyone. You will not even speak of this with each other on the chance that someone might overhear. Our Guardian Families that are loyal to the Little Demon Empress will decide if and when this information is passed. Any who break this order will be a traitor and will condemn not only themselves, but their family too. Am I clear?" He sternly ordered the guards.

"Yes, sir! All clear!" All twelve guards immediately shouted. No way were they going to endanger their families for a little gossip.

Yun Xiao then turned to Seventh Sister. "Come Seventh Sister, let's head back to the Valley Entrance so we will be there when it opens once more."

Seventh Sister nodded seriously. No way were they taking any chances in getting delayed or ambushed and missing their exit. Especially now that their two strongest fighters, Carl and Sister – no, the Little Demon Empress, were no longer with them.

Yun Xiao took one last look over his shoulder before leaving. 'I hope you're alright bro. And how did you get the Golden Crow bloodline? And Sister Caiyi was the Little Demon Empress all this time? Too crazy! No wonder you were always so strong.' Yun Xiao shook his head before decisively turning around and departing the are.

Carl found himself floated into a large cavern room alongside Caiyi. Surprisingly, the room was furnished like a normal house for the world he was in. He was set down sitting on the couch next to Caiyi, but he was still bound.

'And I thought I was getting pretty strong so no one could push me around in this world.' Carl thought ruefully. 'Guess there is always a bigger mountain after all. I thought I would have to explain the Jump Chain, but she already knew about it. How did she know? Has she run into jumpers before? Or did she meet Jump Chans before? Too many questions, not enough answers.'

The eyes appeared in the air in front of Carl, causing him to startle a bit.

"So, a world jumper that was given my bloodline. What should I do with you, little jumper?" The Golden Crow mused.

"Let him go his own way with a warning?" Carl offered, surprised that he could speak again.

Laughter bubbled up as the eyes squinted in humor as they looked at Carl.

"No, I think not, little jumper. I think I'll have you connected to my bloodline. Then I'll have a descendant who is a future G̷̺̋̈o̵̩̳͒ḑ̸̢͑̀s̶̗͗p̶͍͝͠a̵̦̱͛͌r̸͙̆̊k̴̡̠̏́ ̴̟̫̅̈́H̵̨̜͂ò̵͕l̸̬̎d̴̝̥̆ë̷̮ͅȓ̵͎̯".

Carl and Caiyi felt pain in their heads when she said that phrase. Carl did note that it caused a lot less pain then when Spere 037 had said something to him. So either he was getting stronger, or the words from the Golden Crow was less damaging to hear.

After some time, the pain subsided from Carl's head.

"Hmm. You have plenty more to grow, if you can't bear to hear that phrase without pain." The Golden Crow mused. "I'll tell you what, I will help you and little Caiyi. Right now I will help you two get stronger, in exchange for one favor in the future. When you gain enough power and can accomplish the task I will ask of you, I will let you know what that favor is. How about it, little jumper? Is it a deal?"

Carl thought about the offer before making a decision. He was under her power and was vulnerable. Would she destroy him if he rejected her? He didn't get the sense that she was a bad sort. Very prideful and arrogant, yes, but not bad.

And she was promising payment up front by making him and Caiyi stronger. He realized that his expectation that he was among the strongest in the world was rather naïve of him. He needed to gain strength. So why hesitate? He felt that she was being honest, and he didn't think it was too onerous to expect a favor from him in return in the future.

Besides, with Caiyi gazing at him like that, almost demanding / pleading with him to accept the deal, then how could he reject her?

"I'd say it sounds like we have a deal then." Carl answered. What else could he say but yes?

"Good." The Golden Crow almost purred in satisfaction. "Now, before we get to the part where I help you and boost your strength, I think it is story time, little jumper. Little Caiyi still doesn't know what you are, so you will tell us all about the Jump Chain and what you have been doing. What worlds have you visited, and what powers have you chosen. This will also serve to help me choose how to assist you."

Carl sighed. This would take a while. "Okay. But how about I grab some refreshments and a magical device called a pensieve. I think even one such as you will appreciate the Root Beer I have, and the Pensieve will allow me to show you memories of the worlds I have been to. It will help me tell the tale."

Carl then opened his warehouse portal. Caiyi followed him inside, looking around at all the things he had his warehouse stocked with. The computers looked strange to her eyes, but didn't cause her to marvel in ignorance. Caiyi was an Empress in a society that had tools that used profound energy for various almost magical effects. So seeing a strange tool was at most a little diversion.

After fetching his Root Beer Keg and the pensieve, as well as food for them to snack on, Carl settled down and started his tale.

"First of all, you need to realize that I didn't have anyone around to explain exactly what I had been recruited for. I first realized what was happening when I found myself in a black void…"

"…and looking at the evidence, I realized that the disasters befalling the Illusory Demon Royal Family and the Yun Family were probably the work of enemy action. Traitors that wanted to supplant the Illusory Demon Royal Family. Since I hate traitors, I decided to work against them. It just so happened that I coincidently met Yun Xiao and Seventh Sister in the market and made friends with them, which allowed me to ally myself with the Yun Family. And that led us to this day."

Carl finished his story for Caiyi and the immensely powerful Golden Crow that could destroy him if she was displeased with evasiveness or lies. But he got the sense that as long as he acted properly, then she wouldn't act against his interests. Her power and threat were always there, though, in the back of Carl's mind.

Caiyi sat back, looking thoughtful at all he had told and shown her. There were many worlds out there, far different than her Empire. And Carl, whose presence she had grown to enjoy, would be leaving this world behind in another six years. She wasn't sure what to feel about that fact.

"A decent tale." The Golden Crow finally pronounced. "You made quite a few mistakes, but you were still learning." The Golden Crow paused. "Oh, you think you didn't make mistakes?" She asked when she saw that Carl didn't fully accept her words.

Her voice was amused, causing Carl to feel relieved that she wasn't angry at him, but confused about what mistakes he made. He had struggled and worked as hard as he could. He may not have been perfect, but how could he have done any better?

"You are now carrying my bloodline. It is the most noble bloodline there is, and as such I expect certain standards of behavior from you." The Golden Crow sniffed.

"Let's take your first world and your decision to take the one known as Buffy to your bed. First off, I don't care if you have several or several dozen consorts. It is the nature of powerful men to collect beauties, that is just natural. No, your mistake was that once you secured Buffy into your bed, you should not have let her go. At that point, she was yours, not anyone elses. A Royal Personage does not share their toys with just anyone. Let alone releasing her to join such a low ambition male as that Angel character. It's an insult. The only reason I'm not angrier with you is that you didn't have Royal Blood at the time, so you weren't to know the standards you should be acting by."

Carl gaped at the Golden Crow. That wasn't what he expected her to say. Not by a long shot.

"If you decide to add pets to your bed, they become yours, no one else has claim to them." The Golden Crow continued to lecture Carl on what was now expected of him. "In your second world, you did well to amass a decent army of Pokemon. But you didn't do anything with them. You languished in obscurity, instead of carving out your kingdom. I expect better of you from now on. You are of Royal Blood. Your ambitions need to be bigger!"

Carl looked over to Caiyi to see what she thought of the lecture, and found no help. Caiyi was nodding along with the Golden Crow, fully of one accord with her. It looked like Carl was caught in the grips of dominant and ambition filled women, and he would have to shape up in the future to meet there expectation.

'Or,' and Carl thought this is the deepest recesses of his mind, obscured and hiding from the women in front of him, 'or I need to get strong enough I am the one to dictate to them what is proper behavior.' Carl worked hard to make sure that thought didn't see the light of day while he was in front of the Golden Crow.

"Now, in your third world, you barely passed. With the resources and abilities you had available to you, you did a decent job, but here's what you did wrong…"

Carl sighed inside. It was going to be a long night of lectures, it seemed.