11 Unravelling Truth

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/NMmtDbwHVQ

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(Jing's POV > Three days later)

[Date: 8/1/1024] - Found in the wiki that the Demon Beast Riots began roughly 1000 years ago, so will use that as the beginning of the calendar. You don't really need to pay the date any mind, it's mainly there for me to have a better understanding of how much time has passed, and I guess it can help you guys know that as well.

"And that's it. What do you guys think about my master's cultivation techniques?" I asked my parents and Lin after I gave them the chants for their new techniques.

They weren't as powerful as mine, Ning'ers, or Ziyun's - they just didn't have the talent, nor soul form/soul attributes for that level of techniques - but they were on par, if not slightly greater than the ones Nie Lie gave to his friends.

"It feels powerful, too powerful. I'm sure with this I can break through to Legend-rank in due time," Dad laughed, as he hugged me. Even though my Dad's cultivation was progressing steadily it was still far slower than it could have been– with a technique that suited his soul attribute his cultivation speed would no doubt skyrocket, and within a few months he should be able to hit 5 star Black-Gold.

"Honey, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to us." Mom continued hugging me as well.

Lin, not wanting to miss out, hugged me as well but not before smiling deviously muttering something about Shen Fei, and beating him up. Of course, I'll just ignore what I heard; if he wants to act on his young master impulses then who was I to stop him?

"It's fine, but remember not to tell anyone. And also, make sure you find a good demon spirit that matches your attributes." I reminded them as they nodded in acceptance.

(Scene Change > A few hours later)

'Hmm, looks like the city didn't get too fucked over too badly,' I mused to myself as I walked around Glory City, observing the state of the place. Much of the city had already been rebuilt, but there were still some damaged areas though their repairs would be finished soon as well.

I felt confident walking around the city, not because of my own - admittedly measly - power, but rather because I had gotten - been forced by my mom to get - a new set of armor that could be instantly equipped.

As I continued my stroll through the city, I sensed a fluctuation of power behind me, and the aura that was given off was familiar. Though the person was trying to hide, it was to no avail, and because of that, I could tell it was one of the Black-Gold-ranked elders in the clan, one star to be exact.

After the attack, my Mom freaked out once she found I was being targeted, so they increased the protection around me.

'But it seems like the ones who have it the worst are the commoners.' Not a shocking thought in retrospect, because even though Ye Zong had reimbursed them with funds to pay for destroyed property, that didn't change the fact that the ones who had died were primarily them.

Seeing all the hurt that the people suffered, all I could think of was why the Dark Guild attacked. From what Nie Lie's memories told me, they were a methodical group that wouldn't attack unless it had a clear benefit for them, but this time there was no such thing.

Sure they killed a few thousand, but the city's population was in the millions, so for the Dark Guild, this mission was nothing but suicide. 'Just what was their purpose,' I wondered, walking by a park where I heard some kids excitedly chattering.

"Hey, did you hear how Lord Hong managed to force two Black-Gold experts to run away from him?"

'What? That fraud?'

"Hey," I waved as the two returned the action with a weary gaze. "Do you mind repeating what you just said?"

"Huh, you didn't know? Lord Hong beat two five-star Black-Gold experts and forced them to run away from the city. I think he's the strongest in the city after Lord Yo Mo."

He responded much to my shock. I had been stuck inside the estate after the attack had happened, so I wasn't quite sure of everything that was happening in the outside world, and because of that it was my first time hearing about anything of the sort.

"Thanks– this is for your trouble," I said, handing them a little bit of change for snacks.

As I walked away from the two all I could think about was the Sacred Family and Dark Guild's connection. 'Considering how the two are connected it wouldn't be anything crazy for them to sacrifice a couple of their members to restore their allies' rep,' I sighed, deep in thought.

I knew my evaluation was most likely right because Hong wasn't powerful enough to push back two five-star Black-Gold experts like the rumors said.

'Seems like the old geezer really outsmarted me; he's got me in checkmate.' With this, no matter what anyone said the Sacred Family would be viewed as righteous and upstanding, no one would dare to slander their name, and even if they did it would only be the previous generations.

'Now what to do? There's no point in freaking out, so I suppose I should just use Nie Lie's experiences to see what he would do in each situation and try and mimic something of the sort. Seems like there really isn't any more time for me to fool around.'

'Shen Hong, Dark Guild, if that's how you want to play, bring it.' I thought as I subconsciously released some of my soul force.

(Scene Change > 3rd Person POV)

"Zong, what's the matter? You don't typically call in such a secretive place," Zhenlong asked as he arrived in a secret room in the City Lord's estate, a room very few in the city knew about. Ye Zong was sitting in front of a round table, looking like he had aged a few years.

"Sorry, but after you left I asked Ye Shuo to look into the Sacred Family, and let's just the things we found don't give us the greatest reassurance about the Sacred Family and their loyalty," Zong explained, as he forced his eyes to stay open. It was clear he was exhausted, but Zhenlong didn't pay any mind to that, used to his friend's need to overwork himself.

Instead, he took the papers from Zong's hand and quickly scanned through the information. His brows furrowed as he read the troubling contents. The room they were in was dimly lit, and the atmosphere was tense.

"You're kidding, right? Illegal trades, heavily connected to the Black Market, land grabbing, and displacements of multiple families. They even tried taking over the entire business of a lower noble family! Zong, what are you going to do about this?" Zhenlong asked as he took his seat.

"All those are common crimes of Noble families. The most we could do is announce their activities to the city and hope their reputation takes a hit, but this isn't damning evidence. We could arrest the elders but Shen Hong would just deny any involvement; that's not mentioning the Sacred Family's current status within the city– at this point, I doubt the citizens would even care, they would most likely just blame the previous heads," Zong replied rubbing his face tiredly.

"For now, we'll keep investigating the Sacred Family and gather more evidence, but we can't be sure about the Dark Guild and the Scared family having a connection yet. However, all these crimes were found out in a few days, and to be frank, I think they're using them as a cover-up of their other more illegal activities," Zong continued, sighing in frustration at what his city had become.

"As the three great noble families, we have standards of what we have to live up to, even if the Dark Guild and the Sacred family aren't connected, this is enough grounds to arrest some of their members. At least try and hide it if you're going to commit crimes dammit!"

"I'll try to put pressure on the Scared family without them realizing it, I want you to do the same."

"Sure," Zhenlong replied, a stern look on his face. 'I have to reach Legend rank before all this goes down. If the Dark Guild is targeting my family, that means there's a potential that the Sacred Family is too.'

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Hey guys hope you enjoyed the chapter. 1.6k chapter, I know all the chapters have been short, but to be fair, with work ending really late I only start the chapter late so it usually takes me until 2 in the morning to finish those 2k word chapters. This doesn't mean all chapters will be this short, but just the ones that don't have anything too important within them.

Btw, with all the recent comments, I'm leaning toward going with the original timeline - the one where Nie Lie lives his life normally not the one where he goes back in time - let me know if you're fine with that or if you would prefer to see the canon timeline. Thanks.

Anyway, I hope you have a great day/night. Also, please drop your powerstones lmao.