The day is bright!

-Five months later-

'Practicing became a lot easier after reaching the Elementary profound realm' Xiao Che thought as he was running around the city.

So much so that he couldn't even see benefits from this anymore, no matter how hard he practiced; how long he ran, he just couldn't seem to improve, maybe this is what they called hitting a bottleneck.

His body has hit its physical limits, or he had achieved the peak of what could be possible in Elementary profound realm physically.

So instead of focusing on building strength, he began to practice various other things like stretching, it hurt like hell in the beginning but now it's fine, he had to do it for martial arts anyway.

-1st person pov-

Right now I am in the peak of Elementary profound realm, and to tell you the truth my talent in cultivation is mediocre if I am not using my brain of course.

Now you would be wondering then how did I reach the peak of this realm in just five months?

The answer to that is Purple veined divine crystals.

As soon as I remembered about them I left the clan for one month in the pretense of gaining some outdoor experience.

Before leaving I asked grandpa for a storage ring, which he gladly gave, this is the most convenient thing in the cultivation world.

After spending two weeks digging the mountain near floating cloud city, where it most likely was, I didn't even find a single trace of it.

Fortunately, as I kept on searching I was able to find it inside an abandoned mine, after digging them out which took three whole weeks, thanks to my physique for that as well, I was able to get fifty kilos of it.

As it was mentioned in clan records, these crystals are extracted from Purple veined 'heaven' crystals, not only that, it is also said that a single-story house-sized purple veined 'heaven' crystal can only provide purple veined 'divine' crystal about the size of a small fingernail.

I wonder how the hell they came there, moreover already refined.

[AN: purple veined DIVINE crystal is extracted from purple veined HEAVEN crystal]

From this it is easy to estimate its value right, as a matter of fact, I only used a hundred grams of it to advance my cultivation to the peak of Element profound realm, I could use more but it is not feasible in any way, I had to leave some for Jasmine as well.

While I am sure I could gain it again somewhere in the future, I have already marked half of it as an 'emergency' fund, not like I am using it randomly in abundance either.

For a cultivation maniac, this is heaven sent but for me, this is just a slight addition to the arsenal, but I would welcome it with open arms any day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-Xiao Che's room-

*Sigh*

Releasing a melancholic sigh I moved my gaze around my room, it's been nine months since I transmigrated as Xiao Che.

I never thought that I would come here in this fictional world randomly, I was really scared in the beginning, though it lessened as I began to accept my new identity, fortunately, I didn't have an identity crisis otherwise it would lead to unnecessary drama and trouble.

Looking at my rugged hands I began reminiscing about all the training I did after I came here, even though in the past I sometimes thought about what would life be like where I would be training like hell every day.

Lifting heavy rocks instead of weights, running down mountains instead of treadmills, punching trees with bare hands instead of a punching bag with boxing gloves, it was impossible for me back home, but I don't hate it even a little bit.

I believed that some cheats or golden fingers are necessary to enjoy a new life, but I was wrong, gaining something on our own gives us more satisfaction and most importantly a goal... a reason to move forward, so that even if life came to an end someday we would have a past to remember, a path to look back to, memories important than any other thing.

Oh! almost forgot, one day when I was running around the city, as I was trying to remember some old songs, the scene of Rayleigh teaching Luffy about haki popped into my mind out of nowhere, it was when I recalled that all three haki are a type of practical powers, armament haki specifically.

So, I worked extra hard day and night to achieve it, armament haki is coating spiritual energy on the body after all, and what is spiritual energy if not ki? or at least that's what I thought.

However, the method to use it was unlike what I thought, in the beginning, I was trying to concentrate ki on my hand which even though increased the strength but was not haki.

After doing it daily for one month was when I started to get a hang of it.

Instead of focusing ki on my hand, I began to move it rapidly over it in quick succession, clashing ki in several different directions on a same point, such that it begin to condense and form a stiff layer.

I finally succeeded but unfortunately, this process still takes some time to cover a body part with it, and time is something that I am going to lack in a real battle, also it is not red or black but transparent or rather translucent white.

This gave me confidence that I am indeed going somewhere, as for the other types of haki I would tell you about them some other time.

Getting up from the corner of the bed, I walked up to the full body mirror in my room, as I stood in front of it, came in view a handsome raven head with a stern expression, dressed in luxurious red robes, standing at 5'8 in height.

He had a sharp and domineering aura of a seasoned warrior around him.

Why was he dressed like that? because today is his marriage with Xia Qingyue.

Also, today is his birthday, he finally turned 16, feel free to wish and send some power stones as gifts.

*********************************

-Xiao Che's room-

-8:30 am-

*Click*

Hearing the turning of the doorknob, Xiao Che turned his head back to see Lingxi entering the room, as she opened the door gently while holding something covered in a white cloth in her left hand.

"Woah... you look handsome little Che! hump, that girl should thank the heavens that she gets to marry you" Lingxi said as she saw Xiao Che, unlike the fragile boy she knew, now he was a bonafide ladykiller, this was the result of his grinding, for nine whole months he did not give in to mortal temptations.

"hehe, thanks, little aunt, by the way, what is that in your hand" no matter what, Xiao Che just can't maintain his cold cultivator persona in front of his lovely little aunt.

"this? this is porridge, Clan's head gave me, he said you should eat it since you didn't have breakfast today and you won't be able to find anything on the way to Xia manor either" she said with pure intentions.

"Oh! is that so? then I would gladly accept it, and please relay my thanks to the Clan head if you see him" he took the bowl from her hand after she removed the cloth covering it.

She headed to the exit after telling him to be ready to leave for the Xia manor.

[AN: Poor Lingxi, didn't even get a proper interaction till now, maybe even Xiao Lie has more screen time than her, unfortunately, things might stay this way in the future as well.]

He looked at the retreating back of Xiao Lingxi, before his gaze went back to the bowl of porridge in his hand, like father like son as they say.

Originally Xiao Yunlong was supposed to give this poisoned porridge to Xiao Che which would result in the birth of Yun Che, but this time it was his father, I could be wrong though since Yunlong woke up a few weeks ago.

I expected him to go mad when he see me but he maintained his friendly smile throughout our time together, I did not apologize though, why should I, I just sent him into a coma for seven months, broke all of his teeth, squished his face, crushed his honor by beating him as a cripple and took his position as the greatest genius of Xiao Clan, nothing much.

Wait... Isn't this something like a protagonist's background, will he go for a grind and become strong in the future to regain his honor back maybe?

Honestly considering his character I don't think so, he would rather lick a young master's ass than go for a serious grind.

As I was moving towards the backyard to dispose of it, I felt a weird itch on my hand, weirdly enough it went as soon as it came, cultivators don't feel an itch, hiccups, or the like, they just cough blood.

These are very minor things that people often ignore but they are convenient if I do say so myself.

"Che'er what are you doing here?" I stopped to turn my head towards the source of this voice, it was 'young' grandpa.

"Nothing grandpa, I just wanted to ask if the horse was ready"

"Yes, it is, and you should hurry, you don't want to be late for your wedding, do you? also, what is that in your hand" he said with a laugh, while his hands folded behind his back.

"This is porridge, Clan head gave it to me"

"I see, go out quickly after finishing it ok?" his expression switched to a serious one after hearing that it was given by the Clan head, which is rare, impossibly so, but soon went to his joyal one, Clan head would not try to outright kill him right? even if suppose he did then did he not think of the consequences of his extreme actions, which would result in extreme retaliation.

"By the way, grandpa, do we have an extra horse?"

"Yes, there are some but I think the Clan head prepared one for you, it should be arriving soon, why?"

"I think I heard little aunt saying Clan head forgot about it" I lied, not sure but this is a good opportunity for him to mess with me I am not giving him any chance to make it any more troublesome than it already is, and sorry for using your name little aunt.

"If that is the case I would ask a servant to bring a horse from Clan's stable, be ready ok? and what is that pendant?"

'pendant?'

Reaching my right hand to the neck, I grabbed hold of a foreign object, which I am pretty damn sure was not there earlier.

As my gaze fell on the object in my hand, time seemed to stop flowing, as my mind went numb for a moment, shakily I raised my left hand where I found nothing irregular, raising the right one was when I saw a light green mark on the palm, which was previously not there when I last checked before leaving the room.

The 'Sky poison pearl' and the 'Mirror of Samsara' ranked fifth and seventh among the seven heavenly treasures respectively, came into being after the death of the Ancestral God, their existence is even higher than those eight creation gods.

They are the cheat items of this world that I was expecting on my first day of arrival.

The sky poison pearl is like an inventory with infinite storage and detoxicating abilities, as of now it got divided into two parts, the other half has poisoning capabilities which is with Yun Che's master, while the actual use of the mirror is unknown, but many believe that it's reincarnating back in time twenty years ago and then it needs twenty million years to be used again.

I wonder, if someone were to die for a second time while using it would they go forward twenty million years in the future minus twenty years, if somehow it is capable of storing its user's soul in it or it would just not work in this case?

I may be wrong about its recovery time though since I read somewhere it only takes twenty years to be able to be used again, it was also mentioned there that this mirror might be the source of 'Well of Samsara' as well, and is needed for repairing it.

While its original owner is unknown, some believe that unlike other treasures it came into existence with the Ancestral God himself, making him his real owner, but only time will tell if it is true or not.

"Che'er... Che'er!... CHE'ER!"

I slightly shook, before I blinked my eyes a few times, as I was brought out of my monologue by a loud voice.

"You suddenly stopped responding, and why were you looking at the pendent so intently, are you really alright? anyway, forget it, we are already lagging behind the scheduled time" he said as he began to take his leave.

"Fine, grandpa"

"Good, then join us outside after you are done"

As I was left alone standing in this empty hall, my gaze landed on the porridge bowl in my hand, as I brought my right palm over it a dim green light left my hand covering the bowl, after the light subsided I felt something got stored inside the pearl.

It was the poison, 'Heart murdering poison' to be exact, as the name implies it attacks the heart of the victim, creating blood clots that make the blood thick and prevent the entry and exit of blood into the heart, resulting in a heart attack, it is used to give your enemy a slow and painful death.

It is something to have someone trying to kill you this way when you don't even have any form of enmity with them, their reason being they just can't accept the fact that they can't marry the 'beauty' while someone else can, that's it, the young master just can't keep their d!ck in check!

It makes my blood boil how this useless madafaka with no goal in life is existing for the sole purpose of making my life hard.

I took a deep breath to calm my raging mind, closed my eyes, and held my breath for a few seconds before releasing it, ...guess Yunlong is my first kill in this world.

*chew*

*chew*

*gulp*

At least this porridge is not bad.

************************

-Outside Xiao clan-

-8:40 am-

A luxurious carriage was standing outside the clan hall, with some men dressed in red accompanying it, as Xiao Che walked out of the Clan gates he was met with this sight, as he was taking in the view he heard Xiao Yunlong speaking to him in his usual sweet voice.

"Brother Che, please forgive this useless brother of yours, I was given one task of preparing the horse for you and I even failed at that" he said with clear sadness in his voice.

"Ah! but don't worry we at least have a mule which you can use, it is at least better than nothing right?" he added

"Just that? don't worry brother Yunlong, I was already aware of your uselessness, so I asked grandpa to prepare a horse in advance" I said with a smile, to which veins appeared on his forehead.

"Ha-ha~ brother Che is generous," he said suppressing the raging fury in his heart.

"Isn't that obvious brother Yunlong? if I won't be generous with the likes of you then who would? sigh* I sometimes get worried about you brother, I mean considering you are just some random piece of trash how are you going to succeed in this life? if you don't up your game you would keep on reeking of failure you know?"

For a slight second Yunlong's face distorted into one of madness and rage but he recovered quickly and went back to smiling slightly, as he left with a laugh when Xiao Lie came back with a horse.

"Here, get on the horse Che'er, we already wasted some time"

The horse he brought with him had clean oval-shaped hooves, a long tail, short beautiful white hair, long slender legs, muscular and deep torso build, long thick neck, while I am not knowledgeable about breeds of horses, this one is one fine specimen. With grandpa's help I got on top of the horse, unfortunately, I don't know how to ride a horse, I wish this were an automatic piece.

As grandpa hit the horse's back, the horse began to pick up speed which soon turned into a canter.

Before I realized Yunlong came into view, I tried to shout for him to get out of the way but the horse had already run over him, someone dying on your wedding day is not considered an ill omen here, right? I hope he survives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the horse kept running at a fast but comfortable pace, I was lost in the joy of riding a horse for the first time.

*swoosh*

*swoosh*

*swoosh*

The cool air hits against me, as my long hair and robes flutter with the wind along with its long tail.

My steering is done through subtle weight changes and nudges with my calves, which I am slowly getting hang of.

As we move along, I notice its attention moving around as she turns her ears to listen. Sometimes I feel her muscles tighten up like she is worrying about something around us, then she steps into a rhythmic jog that encourages me to rise and fall, smoothing out the bumpiness, I pat it as we continue.

Before long we were already nearing the Xia manor, as it pick up its speed and we're off like a shot, galloping.

The speed is exhilarating, it feels like we're flying together, better than riding a car though not as comfortable.

When we enter the city, I move my weight back and it slows its speed to a walk, the entire population of Xia manor is seemingly out along with the town folks, and why would they not, today city's greatest beauty was being married to Xiao Clan's greatest genius after all.

Unlike what I presume, how it happened in the novel this time the reaction of people was different instead of disdain, hatred, and jealousy there was only hatred and jealousy, maybe living in this small city has made them narrow-minded.

Anyway, I hopped off the horse as it stopped near the manor, giving it a light pat on its head I made my way towards the manor as the carriage also arrived soon after.

*************************

-Xia Manor-

-9:00 am-

The Xia manor was decorated beautifully, while red was the dominant color used, you can tell at a glance that Xia Hongyi spent a lot of money for his daughter's wedding, despite being a mad lad he is a down-to-earth person.

Before I could enter the manor, I saw a huge figure exiting it with great speed, despite my futile attempt to dodge it, it still caught me in a crushing hug.

*crack*

This person was none other than Yunba, now my brother-in-law, and I heard something crack.

"Brother-in-law! you're finally my official brother-in-law!" he said with immense joy while tightening the hug again.

"Yeah, that is true Yunba; so true, putting that aside would you mind leaving me?"

"Oh! sorry, he-he I got a little too excited brother-in-law" he loosened his grip as he chuckled sheepishly, honestly, I don't understand how strong he is physically, I am pretty sure if I didn't have any cultivation like a few months ago he would have broken my spine in two, even now I am not sure if I am stronger than him physically, he would still lose in a fight though, not like he is going to fight considering his kind personality.

We both turned our heads toward the entrance of the manor as we saw someone coming out, as soon as I recognized him I went near him.

"My respects father-in-law" I greeted him by cupping my fists and bowing my head.

"It is good to see you in perfect health Che'er, remember from today onwards you would have to take care of Qingyue in my place," he said seriously as he put his hand on my shoulder, looking straight into my eyes.

"Your father Xiao Ying was like a brother to me, Che'er, he was a hero.. truly a hero! I know you... you as his son won't be ordinary Che'er" he said with a reminiscing sigh, which turned into the previous serious one soon.

"Qingyue come out!" he shouted as the bride came out accompanied by her bridesmaids.

Dressed in lavish red robes with phoenix designs, she came out with small graceful steps, when their gaze met it was as if they were the only ones existing in this huge world and nothing else mattered to them, as if the veil covering her face didn't even matter, while unknown to everyone present there the mirror of samsara in Xiao Che's neck glowed with white light for a second.

As I went toward her to lend her a hand, she grabbed my hand with her small and cool delicate jade-like hand, along with it, I felt a strong chilling sensation around the area she touched, wtf, is she a kid? unfortunately, attacks of this level don't work on me, which she clearly understood seeing my mocking gaze.

I guided her towards the carriage and when she was about to enter it, a funny idea came to my mind, when she had just half entered it, my right hand landed on her perky ass.

*slap*

"eep!" a surprised yelp escaped her lips at the sudden attack, even her veil could barely hide her angry expression but she was too embarrassed to do anything, a lot of people were watching her after all, they even saw it! she is going to remember this humiliation! she thought as she entered the carriage with one final look at her 'husband'.

'Sweet non-lethal damage' the protagonist thought.

After they left the manor, the place went back to its quiet atmosphere.

-END-