Chapter 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 ass 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 scrapes 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 naked 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 chest 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 hips "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 amusement.

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 naked 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 relationships 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, cocky 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 relationships 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 desires, 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 butt 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 ass sticky, both feelings which I quite disliked. Lucky I found out I could use the teleportation ability to remove the mess from my ass 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 mature." I chuckled.

"Hey!" he responded with indignation, as if I had insulted his ancestors "I am mature." 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 chest "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 documentaries 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.

"Touché." 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 ass. 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 fuck) 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 pleasure to know you." I'm not such a scumbag 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 ass 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 desire 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... fiancée." 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 ass. 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 ass 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 fucker 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 motherfucker 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 chest "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 chest 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 chest 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 chest. "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 desire. 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 chest 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 chest 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 desires...

"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.