I don't own The Scum Villain's Self Saving System's 'Proud Immortal Demon Way'! Only, it's going to be a Cultivation online game instead of a web-novel.

- o + O = O + o -

Xin Xing is what he named his Demon character. The Xin is the character for Heart and Xing character can be either Successful or Thriving, he means it as Thriving. Dark grey hair, dark yellow eyes, the starter clothing allows for him to pick a color set, which, for the Demon Race being black, red, and purple. Of course, he goes with black and next is the usual option where he would have picked to either to increase his starter Stats, which are under the categories of Vigor, Mental, and Spirit or he can decide to spend the points into buying and ranking selected Skills to the max of Rating 2, there's a max of the number of Skills that could be at Rating 2 as well, which is having four at that max and two at Rating 1.

Given the nature of the server he's joining, there isn't any real choice as the Stat option has been greyed out. Leaving him to pick either ten skills at Rating 1 or going with four at Rating 2 plus one at Rating 1. The Skills offered are only twenty. And so, he selects, in this order Searching, Appraisal, Bartering, Lore: Demon Realm, Lore: Demonic Clans, Performance: Acting, Performance: Flute, and Performance: Acrobatics. With two points left to spend, he increases Flute to Rating 2 and, after a bit of debate, picks Acrobatics over Acting as it will likely come in handy in fights and exploring the world.

As he finishes, he sees his starting Stats, Vigor has a total of 8 points total, which is divided between Constitution, Dexterity, and Strength, the highest at 4 and his lowest being 1. His Mental total is 3, which is divided by Charisma, Intelligence, and Wisdom. His Spirit's total is 8, and it's divided between two for his Race along with the sub-listing being Demonic Qi and Resistance, it seems that his Resistance has a 6 while his Demonic Qi has 2. He knows that each Character's Stats are also randomly generated for this server in a similar fashion with only 19 points total instead of the usual 25 points that his Race typically gets, Human typically get 20 standard points and Spirits get a standard of 30.

The Race Spirits wasn't an option and he'd been torn between Demon and Human... Until all the limited Human slots had been picked, it had been a mere two hundred Players for that Race. He'd been a late sign up for this Server, so he didn't have any solid ideas for a Character. Two of his friends were the ones to talk him into signing up for this Sever, it's some kind of custom server and very story driven, thus role play heavy, he's not overly familiar with the normal edition of this game, only checking out information when he'd been given confirmation about being allowed to join, which was two weeks ago, it's been almost five months since the closed to allowing people to sign up for it.

Xin Xing slowly rotates around before him with the room displaying signs of the Demonic Culture. The Lore skills allow players to get information viva pop up. The higher the Rating of the Skill, the more detailed the information given. He picked his first three skills due to taking his friends' advice before deciding on the others, again, following some advice his friends gave him about the art of Role Playing in games. He figured he'd manage to earn some money viva knowing how to play a Flute or joining an acting troop.

He's fairly sure that having a high Resistance is a good thing, although he'd rather not have his Mental at a total of 3. "I should be able to raise them." He murmurs as he presses the final confirm button. It's the first day of the prepping to the beginning of the Server becoming open. Each player is only allow one Character and that Character will be reviewed, if he doesn't get a message about Xing Xing, then, his Character has likely past the review, being approved.

Closing logging out of the Server and then the game, once back at his main hub, he goes through the list before selecting Eras of Cities which is a city builder and manager. It'll be six days before the Server, which is entitled Proud Immortal Demon Way will be open for them to play their Characters, the game is Worlds of Wondrous Cultivation 3, the first of the game line that's multiplayer.

(Worlds of Wondrous Cultivation is a single player game where the only Race option had been Human at the beginning. Only through special hidden Quests could the player unlock various other Races, at the time Demonic or Spirit wasn't used as a general Race. What would be consider Breeds in the sequel game were considered separate Races in the first, which needed to be unlock one at a time, be it a Demonic Tiger or Tiger Spirit. Demonic types were noted for having black Qi and are easily enraged while Spirit types for yellow Qi and have difficulty with socializing, being described as emotionally distant. Humans generally have basic and balanced light green to either white or blue, depends on if they specialize in Physical Cultivation Skills and Perks or in Spirit Cultivation and Skills.)

\_ [ ^ _ ^ ] _/

As the light fades, moving his hands before him, he turns them this way and that. Opening and closing his fingers individually. There's no greeting pop up, but then, he knew that wasn't going to happen. There's no tutorial for him to go through either. Glancing around, he finds himself in a plains area and mutters out the Menu Command. There's no portrait of his current looks, taking in the Stats and then checking his Skills, he wonders what possessed him to pick Performance Skills instead of Crafting Skills given his Mental total.

With a sigh, he checks for any Racial Inherit Perks or Flaws. "Demonic Fox: Fox Fire." It activates but vanishes within seconds as his Qi ran out before he though to dismiss it. One of the Flaws is what he'd consider a minor blessing, at least, he thought it could be, it's called Intoxication Resistance, which means it takes him a lot to get drunk. He's fairly sure that his high RES could be blamed for this particular Flaw. It's his second Flaw that causes him to despair a bit as it's called Qi Medicine Resistance and it is fairly sure that any Healing Items or Medic Arts won't be overly effective on himself because of this particular Flaw. This one means he'll have to be careful about his HP, making it worst has to do with how low it already is due to having such a low CON.

For other Perks, it's pretty much the flip side of his two Flaws, again, it's due to his RES and, yea, it's a lot listed, but he's a bit confused as to why there's an Aphrodisiac Resistance nor why it's considered a Perk instead of a Flaw? After all, it not like he has any reason to go around buying Aphrodisiac drug. "Am I missing something? I mean, this is a Cultivation game, right?" The player of Xin Xing muses.

In the end, he closes his Menu and begins to take in the room he's in. It's a shallow cave and looking around, he finds a few things that he notes as having some value. Picking them up and putting them into his sleeve, which is how he's to access his Inventory, it's not long before his Search Skill increases along with his WIS Stat. Doing some exploring outside of the cave, he again does the same to what he notices to be of value, his Skills and Stats increase within an hour of doing this.

With a better Appraisal Skill and Mental total, he goes through what he has picked up. With an increase to his INT to it being 5, he's able to use his Lore: Demon Realm to get a better idea of what each is used for. Some of what he gathered is very common and won't bring in a lot of money. It's about half a dozen of that will gather him better money for being rather uncommon given the location he's currently in.

Putting it all back into his Inventory, Xing tries out his Acrobatic Skill and does a few back flips before seeing how high he can jump, using his Qi to boost his jumps. He gets tired by the third jump and finds himself panting a bit, his Con goes up, which is a good thing given he'd managed to raise it only once before. Which gives him the idea to stick around and do some more physically taxing exercise in hopes of raising it even more.

By the end of the day, he's yet to wander very far from the cave where he'd spawned in. Still, he's satisfied with everything he's done, the only Stat he'd been unable to increase is CHA but that's rather understandable given he's alone in this particular mountainous range. For Skills, it had been his Bartering, Demonic Clans, Acting, and Flute, two of which is the same reason as his CHA but the other has to due with lacking a Flute to use.

It's not until he tries to log out that he gets a reminder about what's needed for him to log out, which is a bed or a sleeping bag. Going through his Inventory just to double check his fears, yes, he lacks a sleeping bag and camping equipment. Closing his eyes, Xing takes a series of deep and calming breaths while repeatedly counting down from ten.

Letting lose a sigh, Xing begins walking away from the cave, down the slop. He does continue to wander around, grabbing what's uncommon and higher quality Items. Altering his path, sometimes going back to grab something. It's near what he'd wager is midnight that he gets his first taste of Combat in the form of something called a {Ore Skin Boar} which is a Rare Demonic Beast that lives in Mountains rich with metal ore.

Making very good use of his Acrobatic to dodge the charging attacks and putting distance between them, Xing considers if he'd be able to flee successfully from this monster. Then something happens that causes the monster's hide to glow before it flashes, which causes him to find it hard to see clearly. It's only hearing the hooves that he manages to dodge to the left, he'd been dodging to the right, so, there's an enraged bellow and he mentally curses as his vision slowly clears up.

One good turn deserves another. Xing things and waits for the last second before not just dodging, but aiming for the nearest eye, "Fox Fire!" The boar monster screams in pain and he tries to not pant at having pumped all his Qi into that attack.

It's a bit before his Qi returns and he continues to evade the boar monster. Ignoring the sounds of the pop ups are making, only giving it a bit of a mind at the fact that this fight is helping him get stronger, the settings have the pop ups not show when in battle. He gets to the other side and does the same to the other eye.

Feeling a bit more secure, after all, he blinded the monster, he isn't expecting it to not be overly hindered when finding him. It's then that he pays attention to realize the snout seems to be moving, which means that the monster is using scent to track him. He continues to evade the charges of the monster, waiting for his Qi reserve to fill enough for him to use his Fox Fire once more and he'll target the nose for the third use of it.

This monstrous boar does the flare, he looks away as a hand covers his eyes along with him closing them. Xing focuses on listening for the hooves clanking upon the stones. As the monster moves, he lowers his hand and looks at the monster. Another series of dodging and he thinks he's got enough Qi for his Fox Fire, so, he waits for the demonic boar to charge at him again and prays that he's able to get the timing right for this, as this is risking injury from the tusks that are jetting out.

"Fox Fire!" Xing roars and pours everything into it once more. His hand doesn't move fast enough and he hardly feels any pain, likely due to his high RES. Still, he experiences a brief thrill of adrenaline as the monstrous boar seems to have crashed into the ground.

The sounds of pop ups are heard as he looks between his right hand to the monster for a bit. Straightening up, he cautiously walks over and, well, grabs the exposed throat. And so, he strangles the monster to death, which takes a lot longer then he expected.

The only reason he knows it's dead has to do with the pop ups finally explode before his eyes, with the oldest going first and the rest following in order. The bulk were just confirmation that his Stats or Skill increased. The last has to do with an increase to his STR before fading.

Looking at the monster's corpse, Xing isn't sure what to make of the fact that it remains and there isn't any loot in its place. "I'm... going to have to butcher it, aren't I?" He mutters out loud and then looks at his only slightly pointed nails of his hands before looking at the slightly shiny hide that's copper with hints of grey about the hooves and covering the majority of the snout. He wonders what kind of metal that grey represent.

He knows how valuable this monster's parts are, the most is the pelt. With a check, his Qi is mostly up and walks over, deciding to see if he can't use Qi to sharpen his nails so he can cut into the body. He's felt how his Qi when he's used Fox Fire. So, he tries to call up the feeling, which causes it to take the form of the navy blue fire that's like Fox Fire.

Letting the feeling go, he tries again. It's the ninth time that he finally manages to focus the filling into his nails of his right hand. A pop up sounds out before appearing, congratulating him on discovering a Demonic Qi Skill: Strengthen Nails. Thankfully, he doesn't need to do much as an option shows up and he selects the Skinning option. Xing finds himself watching himself use his nails to skin the monster. Once he comes to himself, that option list is still waiting for him and he selects the Butcher option, which has his body do so.

With that, he manages to get the pelt and parts into his sleeve. Once that is done, he flickers his right hand around to shake off some of the red blood on his hand. In the end, he wipes his hands on his robes and then he studies the area and then the blood splatter on the ground before him. It's still night and Xing continues on his way down the mountain.

\_ [ ^ _ ^ ] _/

It's about noon when Xing finally encounters a group of Demons that weren't looking for someone to either rob or gang pressed into being a servant of the leadership of the group. He's tired and wants a bath in hopes of getting clean, given the temporary buildings, which number about twenty and are similar to tents, he's not sure of what kind. In other news, no bath. He thinks to himself.

The Demons that he sees sport various animistic characteristics like horns and odd looking eyes, be it in color or in shape to the more extreme like a tail, wings, or an extra eye. He's hardly that surprise that the women look more... human, but then, it's more in having that 'classic' hour glass figure. It suddenly makes him wonder if his looks have changed upon logging in as Xin Xing.

"Greetings." One of the Demons sporting a set of horns from behind the pointed ears and antlers coming from the temple. The nose is smashed up with only slits for nostrils above the mouth. The skin tone is a dark brown and there's a few hints of crows feet at the edge of the mouth. The robes appear to be dark red with off yellow trim, he wonders what kind of material the rough but tough robes are made out of.

"Greetings." Xing returns, his Lore: Demonic Clans doesn't register any of the Demons to be important, thus, would be classified as commoners. "I'm looking to sell and buy." It's bluntly said and he's fairly sure that he made a social faux pas but didn't feel overly invested to reflect on what.

"This one would like to see what it is that sir is looking to sell." The greeter states, hands folding into the sleeves. He can only guess at the other gripping a hidden weapon.

Humming, he pulls out some of the more uncommon items he's collected, most of which are faint glowing stones and some {Ore Rock} that he's only can guess at with some being a few light consuming flowers. Xing notices a slight, intense stare at the flowers. He doesn't have the right Rating to identify those blooms correctly, in his check, it was merely brought up as {Demonic Ebony Pansy(Unconfirmed)}. "Those..." And then the greeter looks up at him, doing his best to mask his interest.

"I'm looking to purchase, for a start, a {Bed Roll} and would like to see what you have for wind instruments." He states flatly. The greeter clearly studying him with a calculating look.

Is he about to be cheated? Yea, he likely is but at this point, he really was just done with the game and have been wanting to log out for some time now. His first encounter with his fellow Race saw him kill two out of the three of the Demons, as did one ran away, and he looted more {Ore Rock} and four clay pots of various poisons. The second had been only a pair and he got away viva using Fox Fire to set one on fire and pushing them into the other. Third had him fight a few examples of the first Demons sporting Rat traits with a singular Demon sharing traits from the second encounter, only larger and sporting slightly different looks.

When he finished with the mob of Rat Demons, not all of them died by his Qi infused nails or Fox Fire as they had been spooked. The odd one out cursed them out for their cowardliness along with offering to only maim him a little before hauling his skinny ass to their Boss. Which, Xing did object to but it was a harder fight, given that this one actually had a sabre and used it. He got away with setting the hair on fire and snapping the straps of the leather belt so it would tangle up with the legs, then he ran to the nearest tree and would then leap from tree to tree as quickly as he could to put distance between himself and that cursing Demon plus jeering mob of Rat featured Demons.

By the time dawn arrived, he'd gotten down from the trees and changed his direction. It's at the edge of a coulee and noticed signs of fire viva smoke. Upon getting closer, he did notice other signs that he's likely going to encounter something, it just surprised him to find such a small traveling band that didn't look like the Demons he'd encountered before.

Finally seemingly getting an idea about Xing, the greeter starts waxing on the Quality of what's being offered and waits for the other to finish before countering the points, particularly about the blooms. It goes back and forth for a bit before he threatens to withdraw the blooms, which gets a startled 'No!' and then the greeter coughs and tries to recover from the miniature break in his business manner. The amount for the blossoms then become the focal point for the next few rounds and he settles on 6 Gold and 5 Silver for each bloom he has, which he bring out the rest of the nearly three dozen he'd picked from the various bushes he's encountered.

More importantly, Xing now knows what they are called, {Light Absorbing False Pansy}. The dozen {Ore Rock} gets sold at 2 Silver and 9 Copper each, but the other isn't interested in buying all he has on him, which is fair, given how common they can be found near the mountain and having that river near the camp sometimes having carried a few down from the mountain. The total amount he gets from greeter is 199 Gold, 90 Silver, and 8 Copper, the Gold and Silver look like tiny boats while the Copper are those coins with a hole in the middle, they also seem to have different mints.

"About your purchases, please, follow me." And the greeter leads him to the left side of the camp. They stop before a wagon and he wonders where the beasts of burden are, along as what kind of beasts were used.

It's not long before the most important item comes out of a longish box. It's still rolled up and made out of leather, it's been used before and thus it should be cheaper then a new and unused one. Picking it up, he asks, "Given it's been used, how many copper are you wanting for it?" Taking in the weight and turning it over to looking a bit more at the few strains of fur from the streams.

"1 Silver and 20 Copper." And begins a debate over not just the price but his need for one. Xing pays 1 Silver and 6 Copper, all the while during their bartering session, the greeter had been pulling out the small collection of Flutes, some of which are made out of nice Quality material but he doubts at the sound they'd give.

"Mind if I test them?" Xing inquires as he picks up one of the more plain Flutes, it's made from a purple wood. "Is sir sure he's capable to playing one correctly?" The greeter inquires in fake innocent tone.

Rolling his eyes, it's a bit of autopilot but he manages to do a simple Twinkle Twinkle Little Star upon the {Southern Vampire Wattle Flute}. As he pulls the Flute from his lips, he looks at the bit over two dozen Flutes, ignoring the greeter's clear surprise at him knowing how to play one. Picking one that seems to be bamboo made, putting down the purple flute as well.

{Blooming Ten Year Bamboo Flute} is a touch heavier but as he runs his fingers over the flute's surface, there's something carved on the back side of the Flute. Turning it, the carving seems to be a short poem and he is illiterate, having not picked up any of the Knowledge Skills concerning reading and writing. So, he merely hums and twists the Flute over and tests it by going with some other simple tune, which is likely native to this world.

This goes on and the camp's Demons come stand around, listening to him test each Flute, some proved to be what he expected while others exceeded his expectations. And if his playing only got better and better... Well, at least none are trying to hurry him through to making a choice right away. And so, it takes most of the early afternoon to narrow down the number of Flutes he's slowly increasing Skill helps him pick out sounds the best for what kind of music he's looking to play.

Once it's down to three of them, and they are the {Blooming Ten Year Bamboo Flute}, {Opal Bone Flute}, and {Silver Inlay Gigantic Lacquer Stem Flute}. "The price of these three?" Xing inquires and the greeter gives him the prices of each, "{Blooming Ten Year Bamboo Flute} is 1 Gold and 73 Silver; {Opal Bone Flute} is 23 Gold, 68 Silver, and 84 Copper; and {Silver Inlay Gigantic Lacquer Stem Flute} is 63 Gold, 97 Silver, and 78 Copper."

"The Silver Inlay is the cause for why it's so expensive." He muses out loud as he looks at that Flute. With a hum, he then examines the final two. One is plant and lighter while the other is more like stone and far heavier. While the hints of rainbow of the opal does look nice, he's unsure of if that means it'll shatter easier then the other one, even by dropping it by accident. Which leaves...

"I'll buy this one." It's cheap and can be easily replaced. He tells himself as he picks up the {Blooming Ten Year Bamboo Flute}.

"Would sir want to look at tassels for his purchase?" The greeter asks and he shakes his head. "No thank you."

Money exchanges hands and he plays a slightly more difficult song on his new Flute. The greeter begins putting the other Flutes away but is clearly listening and enjoying the free performance he's giving the gathered Demons of this camp. As he finishes and puts the Flute into his sleeve and thus his Inventory, which he did to his other purchase. The greeter offered him a look at the rest of what they have, which he agreed with and does go through the contains that he's directed at.

And that's how he bought three slender knives of a simple appearance, a butcher knife, a pair of winter robes with one being dark gray and the other being a light blue, three traveler's robes that match his current robes in color, a straw hat, three water skins that are big enough to hold four liters, and then cooking supplies, including dry ingredients like flour and a small jar of oil for doing some frying, curious to see if he can't fry the monster boar meat at some point. It also caused him to sell more items in the form of roots, leaves, stems, and blooms, either bloomed or as buds to help refill his coin purse.

And so, he walks out of that camp having emptied out some of what's useless for things he can make use of along with having actual money to his name. Xing would find a nice spot in smaller coulee by evening, he'd done his best to travel a bit of the way viva tree tops. He hadn't encountered many monsters since leaving the camp, but assumes it might have to do with the high number of Demons within the area, the more... meek types and more valuable plants have been chased away, hunted, or been harvested.

So, once he's got his camp set up, Xing gives cooking a try, and isn't surprised that he gains said Skill by managing to cook some of the boar with hasty carved wooden sticks and sliced the meat up to create kabob, with no vegetables between the slices. The kabobs were a bit burnt but upon biting down on it does he realize that he's been hungry for some time now. "Right, role playing." He mutters and also realizes that he likely also have to do the other kind of business as well.

It's when he tried to sign out that he finds out that the Server is on a temporal speed up, as in, the time difference between in game time and real world time is a day per ten minutes in the real world and he can't log out until an hour had passed in real world, which is six days in game. The informative pop up also detailed that the Serve will close at 5 am in China and reopen at 7 am, which is 4 pm where he lives and the time the Serve will come back on is 6 pm. It had been a bit after 7 when he logged into the Server.

And so, he falls asleep. Hoping that he's in a safe enough spot, after all, given he's been awake for nearly two days. It was surprising how fast he fell asleep.

\_ [ ^ _ ^ ] _/

"So... What did you end up making?" Asks Philip while sitting across from him while at the library of their school. "I mean, you know about mine! Liang Ye, rogue, con-man Cultivator."

He hums, knowing that's true. "Might as well wait for Garth and Pat. I don't want to share it more then I have too." Which wasn't long as the two arrive, sliding their packs under their respective chairs.

"Did he?" Pat asks and Philip shakes his head. "So... you going to spill? I mean, you know about ours." Garth points out.

Sighing, he replies, "Xin Xing, Demon." He gets pitying look from the three. "So, your stuck solo playing." Sums up Pat as she reaches out and pats his hand in consolation.

"I started out with a six in my RES but only a two in my Qi." He admits and there's a whistle from his two friends while Pat mutters a simple, "Lucky."

"I only had ones across my Mental." He continues. "My DEX was the highest with CON at the lowest. Which, looking back at how events ended out playing out, was likely why I'd been able to use my Acrobatics so effectively."

"Acrobatics?" Philip asks with a hint of bemusement while Pat looks a bit interested while Garth seem to working out why he'd pick such a Skill. "So, you just leap around in a fight?"

"Works very well when you're traveling from one tree to another." Is how he replies. "Just curious, did you guys pick the Skill that grants you the ability to read and write?" He doesn't recall their Characters perfectly, after all, they weren't his responsibility.

"Didn't need to." Pat admits. "You kind of need it to read Cultivation manuals as well as to write letters to try and join a Sect."

"Oh, huh, that's kind of interesting." He muses. "But then, I guess you don't start with a Qi ability."

"What? Wait, hold up, you get a Qi ability right off the bat?! How unfair!" Whines Philip and he remarks, "Demonic Qi at two."

"What was it?" Asks Garth curiously. "Fox Fire." He admits and wonders if he should share the list of Perks and Flaws he has due to having such a RES before deciding it's not something they need to know.

"Hmm, so, you couldn't use it a lot at the beginning then?" Pat muses and he nods. "Spend the first day sticking around where I spawned and just, doing things and collecting whatever looked valuable. Only to find out that I needed a bed or sleeping roll in order to log out."

"And then found out that you can't log out until nearly seven days had passed in game." Remarks Pat and he nods. "So, bandits?" She muses and he blinks before it dawns on him what she means.

"Nope, the Demons I killed didn't have money, just ore rocks and some clay pots for poisons." He corrects her impression. "I got money from selling the various items I picked up, mostly the ore rocks and various plant parts."

"Aarg, really? You picked up a bunch of rocks and sold them for actual money?" Philip moans and Garth gives a very fake look of sympathy along with a series of pats on a shoulder. "There there." Garth adds.

"I spawned in a cave on a mountain." He states with a shrug. "The Demon World is suppose to be more dangerous, so, ecology of that world kind of calls for it? It wasn't until noon of the second day did I encounter a traveling camp of Demons that weren't interested in attacking me. Was just glad they had what I wanted to buy along with buying what I was looking to sell."

"What did you end up buying?" Pat asks curiously and he lists everything besides the mention of the flute that had been his second purchase, after all, he didn't think it worth mentioning nor about how those Demons had gathered around as he was testing out various flutes.

"Just how much money did you earn to buy so many things? Demon goods are always marked up compared to Human sold goods." Philip states while Garth adds, "Got a wider selection though. No need for a black market."

"Hm, well, the most expensive would be the blossoms of Light Absorbing False Pansy." He admits, "Nearly three dozen of them, six gold and a bit of silver for each."

The mention of price per blossom, they each sport various looks of shock, surprise, wistfulness, and envy. "Well, damn. How'd you know they were that valuable?" Asks Garth, the first to recover his voice.

"Didn't know what they were, neither of my two Skills were Rated that high." He admits. "Which two?" Asks Pat.

"Appraisal and Lore: Demon Realm." He answers. "Neither were the ones I upped the Rating on." He admits.

"So, you did go with Appraisal, Barter, and Search like we suggested then?" Philip pipes in and he nods. "OK then, I hope you plan to make it up to us in some fashion in the future." Philip states and he merely smiles before glancing at the clock of the library.

Garth brings up the reason they were suppose to be visiting the library in the first place and thus, they reviewed the list of books they can pick from for a book report. He considers just what kind of book he would find interesting enough to read without forcing himself to. They leave their bags under their chairs as they went around the shelves to see the book covers and read the summary on the back.

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In the eight months since this Server, he'd learnt a lot of about Fox Demons along with learning that yes, Xin Xing's Fox Demon blood is notable in his appearance what with him having fuzzy ears, sharp canine looking teeth, and having the ability to manifest a fox tail. As for why he'd invested in learning about Fox Demons, it seems his Fox Demon blood is that of a sub-variant instead of that of a more common and jack of all trades type that is Common Fox Demon. The hint has to do with his grey coloring of hair, it signifies one of the two known mountain breed of Fox Demon which is, so creatively, called, Rock Fox Demon. Despite the element in the name, their Qi elemental is actually wind and their specialty is in illusions based upon sound, which covers music.

The second mountain Fox Demon is called Snow Fox Demon and they have white but instead of black marks they instead sport light blue, which notes them from the Ice Fox Demon, who have the typical black markings. Ice Fox Demons' primary elemental Qi is water with wind as a secondary while Snow Fox Demons' primary elemental Qi is wind with their secondary being water, their names do say what they have the easiest time creating when combining the two elements. Ice Fox Demons primarily live in the Northern Kingdom while Snow Fox Demons can be found where mountains are like his own, which means the two mountain breeds are often in conflict over said territory.

As for the other sub-variants of the Fox Demons are, Moss Fox Demon, Stone Fox Demon, Spiral Fox Demon, and Abyssal Fox Demon. The Moss Fox Demons are known to live in Jungles and sport dark green markings instead of black, the primary coat color being any. Stone Fox Demons are known for having grey coat without any black markings or lighter coat for their belly with them also just possessing the max of three tails and then their Qi nature being earth, which they use to turn their bodies into said element so that they can merge into earth and stone to travel through said stuff without a trace showing where they are within said material. Then there's Spiral Fox Demons come in orange with shades of yellow for markings, what's notable is the red spiral that's found either on their heads, chest, or lower back as for powers, they are also well known for having dual elemental nature, which is generally fire matched with some other one but it's not always. Finally, Abyssal Fox Demons sport total black coats with them possessing two different eye colors, they are known for either conjuring illusions of or having beyond the typical nine tails, and like their name suggests, they are commonly found in the Endless Abyss.

Letting out a sigh, Xing considers the Quest Board of the city. There's no real rating system to what's posted which means he's got to rely upon his own judgement. Thankfully, he's spent time not just studying up on Fox Demons but on learning other things that he thought would pay off.

There's a request for collecting five monsters, alive it seems. A living {Flesh Swimming Beetle} seems to be worth more then a dead one, strangely enough, but luckily, there's ways to encapsulate one using a particular Talisman and common tree sap. Having spent a lot of time and money on learning Demonic counterpoint of the general Cultivator Skills, he doesn't need to spend money on buying said Talisman as he can create his own. It's more of a question of being careful when it came to dealing with the frightfully dangerous and yet tiny bug as he didn't want one getting into his body, after all.

Given the ease of which said monster insect has with ignoring most organic material, Xing is in need of inorganic material for both footwear and what passes off as 'socks' of this particular game. It's a matter of finding a genuinely made without the maker cheating by having used something other then said material. He's hoping for boots, which means he could get away without having 'socks' made out of something similar, after all, it's rather expensive given that it's also a casual display of wealth by both powerful Demons and wealthy ones.

So ignoring that one, he continues reading. Most, upon skimming, are fetch or collecting requests. The few that weren't, well, seem to have them meeting with someone about a Quest. With a soft sigh, he selects the Quest concerning bringing back a mini statue from an old manor that belonged to a previous Eastern Duke, he's not sure which one given how restless said Kingdom is as there isn't an agreed to King or Emperor. The only given hint of what the statue is, has to do with it being tiger.

It's only when he checks through a book he owns about Directional Animals did he realize that tiger isn't a symbol of the east but the west direction. The symbol of a dragon is used for east, for the north is a turtle, and a bird for the south. Considering what he knows, the Western Kingdom hasn't had a structured governing body for nearly a thousand years. With the fall of the Pei Clan, which had been the main line descendants of the founder of the Kingdom, the name of whom he doesn't known but the Pei Clan had been a sub-variant of Tiger Demon, likely white in color given what he read about the Directional Animals, well, unless there's more to it then that?

Either way, Xing thinks that it'll be something interesting to do, after all, if this statue is still not found within this more then likely estate, it means that it's not been fully looted by many. It takes him nearly six weeks of travel to made it to into the Eastern Kingdom. He'd done a number of quick Quests along with being sure to go through the various self improvement Daily Quests. Of course, he log out and into throughout that time, done over three days with varying time played.

He'd been unsure if anyone else hadn't completed the Quest by the time he arrived within sight of the estate and he'd been unsure if he'd gotten the right place, so, he'd asked around among the locals that lived in a village near the estate. The history of the Copper Bell Mansion was simple, built by Duke Hua Ling, who was a plant Demon, who didn't care about the name, hence the seemingly silly name. As a plant Demon, the Duke didn't have a definite gender nor did they marry as that's not how the Duke's kind reproduces, didn't think of a different one other then the one the architect had put down as a project's name by the time it finish getting built.

The point of the Duke being a plant Demon is also why it got abandoned after... well, the final assassination attempt, it did succeeded but it also kind of didn't. Given the rampant vines that are trying to escape out of the property's barrier, the story goes that the Duke ended up reacting to the poison mist of the assassin by seemingly withering up. Then, as the assassin was waving to bring in whoever was waiting for a signal, the body exploded in new growth and it wasn't long before the whole manor gets covered by the Duke's new growth, roots digging in firmly the ground and in months, a great tree over takes the outside of the manor.

Various attempts had been made to cut into the manor and the plants surrounding the gigantic tree that had been the former Duke Hua Ling for various reasons only saw the tree giving off a glow that encouraged the various plants to mutant or evolve into more dangerous kinds. So, it became challenging to even get at the tree, let alone trying to get into the encapsulated manor. There isn't a lot of information about the former servants and he wonders if they managed to get out or if they died within the manor.

It makes sense that those servants that hadn't been at the manor at the time of the assassination lived pass what happened to the manor, it's the ones that had been in their respective rooms that causes him to wonder if they could have lingered after death, transforming into ghosts or their corpses becoming wandering dead, he knows from listening to his friends that it's something that happens in the Human Realm of the game. He hasn't encountered any restless dead in the Demon Realm but it could be just a matter of time and that time is now.

It was pretty late when he finishes with his information gathering and speaks with the only tavern about providing some entertainment for a meal and drink. Many seem to sit silently as he plays his {Blooming Ten Year Bamboo Flute}, it's hardly the first time he's done this kind of thing and Demons seem to be more incline to be friendly with him. For himself, he's come to find playing music as relaxing and de-stressing activity.

As the evening ends, a waitress brings him that free meal and drink along with praising his playing. Xing is sure to be polite while talking with her before she hurries away. Alone, he eats, sampling each of the dishes before taking a sip out of the drink, it burns a bit going down and it's then that he realizes it's liquor he'd been served.

Oh yea, drinking age being... Huh, is there even one in this game? Xing wonders. Still, he does his best to eat between sips, as he finishes, he downs the last of the liquor before heading to the room he paid for upon arriving in this town.

Getting ready for bed has him ordering a bath and being sure to take care of his long hair. Once he's managed it, he blows out the candle and gets into the bed. Upon waking, Xing bushes his hair and then changes his under robes and then begins to add the other layers for his outfit. Pulling out the basket he collects the layers of yesterday's outfit, it's not full yet so he has a bit before he'll need to do his laundry or to play others to do it for him, it depends if he's in just feeling lazy or is busy.

Then comes putting his hair in a work ponytail and going through his various knives, a war fan, and a staff. The staff was for trap checking, it's the ninth one he's owned and unlikely to be the last one, given the nature of the task he used it for. Next was going through his stock pile of Demonic Qi Tools and Talismans plus going through the book of Beginner Arrays, it's the Demon edition, of course. Once that's done, he double checks his supply of various papers, inks, and brushes.

As he can't ever get rid of that one Flaw, there isn't much point in carrying healing potions, balms, but then, he doesn't really need anti-poisons and the like in turn. Given how little pain he'd felt throughout various fights, he had to check the Perk list in search of an explanation and it seemed that he's had Pain Resistance since the beginning, which makes him really wonder if RES was a broken Stat. I'll figure out a way around that Qi Healing flaw one of these days. Xing promises himself.

Once everything it packed up into his Inventory, he heads down and orders breakfast. What he orders is whatever local specialty there is for congee, eating something light given what he's going to be doing today. Done, he pays and leaves to begin scouting about the barrier. He'll be seen leaving the area this morning before sneaking back, after all, he didn't know weather he's being paranoid about this Quest but it seemed like a good idea to stay cautious.

\_ [ ^ _ ^ ] _/

"So, how's things as Xin Xing?" Pat asks as they take a break from doing their homework. They're in her parents' kitchen, grabbing some snacks and refilling their respective glasses with soda.

"Eh?" He hadn't expected her to bring it up, after all, it's not like he's playing in the same Realm. It's generally Garth, Pat, and Philip talking about shared adventures, gossiping, and making plans. He's pretty sure they have their own Group Chat for doing just that.

"Come on, Aaron, you hardly talk about your time on the Server." Pat continues and he... guesses that's right. "Unless..." There's something odd that flickers in her eyes.

"Unless?" He parrots back with a questioning tone. Confusion likely evident upon his face.

"Well, Demons... They are strong believers of Might makes Right." Pat replies and that doesn't really explain anything in his opinion as he's fairly sure that in the Human World of the game, it's pretty much the same, only they do it in a more cloak and dagger way then Demons.

"I'd say that Demons are more straight forward compared to Cultivators or Humans." He reasons out loud. "As for Xin Xing, things are going rather strange since I collected this tiger statue from a former Duke's estate."

"Tiger statue?" Pat inquires, gently encouraging him to continue to on about the topic. Humming as he takes downs a bit of his soda before he begins to elaborate upon the issue, "So, you know about Directional Animals in Chinese Mythology? Tiger, turtle, dragon, and bird?"

"Sounds familiar." Pat admits and he nods. "Tiger is west, turtle is north, dragon is east, and bird is south. It's also something Japan shares it as well." He explains.

"So, there was this miniature figurine of the White Tiger and it's a Relic of the Western Demon Kingdom." He continues as he gently swirls the contains of his glass as he tries to organize his thoughts concerning his particular snag for Xin Xing. "It was on a request board and I thought it would be nice to see another part of the Demon Realm, ok? So, I wasn't in a hurry, not worried about time as someone else could have already picked it as a Quest."

Pat states, "Ok. So, did someone?"

"No." He says as a sigh. "You see, the Eastern Duke who'd owned it, well, they were a plant Demon." He looks over at Pat to see if she knows that there could be plant Demons.

"Ok? How was that a problem?" Pat asks curiously as he takes a sip of his soda.

"So, they don't have any particular gender and don't really have body Heirs." He explains. "But, well, there was this assassin attempt on this Duke and went in both directions at the same time? The Duke wasn't able to continue on as a Duke but nobody could loot the estate due to how the Duke's body engulfed the manor, making into like a huge tree in the end."

"Then, as people tried to get into the mansion, they'd cut through the overgrown plants and in doing so, those plants began to either mutant or evolve into higher kinds." He continues as he recalls how thankful he was to have so many Resistances to so many things. "Many had become able to induce aphrodisiac reaction in various kinds of Demons along with classic poisons with various kinds delivery systems or acid sprayers."

"Well, at least you had plenty of anti-elixirs once you saw the estate?" Pat muses and he snorts before stating in a dry tone, "Ah, did I mention I started with a six in my Resistance? And that I started off with a rather robust list of Resistance Perks? Oh, and two Resistance Flaws."

"Poison being one of the Perks then?" Pat muses and he nods. "Yip, and one of my Flaws has to do with Qi Medicine Resistance." He admits, "With it, I hadn't seen much point in investing in healing stuff."

There's a look of sympathy from Pat. "Sounds rough. I can't imagine playing without that kind of hindrance."

"I'm looking into it." He admits as he thinks about the few Clans that sport a regenerative trait that's strong enough to regrow limbs. "Oh, did mention that I did some research about Fox Demons and found out that there are sub-variants? The kind of Fox Demon I'm descended from is call Rock Fox Demon? Seven Demonic breed total."

"Anything special about being one?" Pat asks and he replies, "Wind for Qi Nature and gray coloring." He doesn't share the tidbit about audio being the medium for illusions.

"So, did you get the statue?" Pat asks as he finishes drinking his soda. As he refills the glass, his thoughts return to the subject of said tiger statue. "Yea, I got in." He debates over sharing how he found his way into that manor or about what he encountered once he got in.

"I found the statuette that was made out of some kind of white steel and had once had painted black stripes." The metal's name ended up having the triple question mark in brackets so he's unsure of its name. "Which brought up the optional Quest to pursue the Kingship of the Western Demon Kingdom and when I declined it when it popped up, another optional Quest is a Kingmaker quest-line. They also show up daily upon waking up in the morning."

"And people are hunting you down for it?" Pat muses and he nods. "Yea but I also can't sell it as it's bound to me, it seems that picking it up with your own dry blood on a hand was a bad idea." Stated in a very dry tone as he glares at his left hand, it was the hand that had said dry blood.

"So, you're still soloing and now anyone looking to rule the Western Demon Kingdom has to go through you." Pat muses and he nods with a sigh, a hand running through his hair before rubbing behind his nose. "And do to this being a world changing item, if I die, I die permanently." He admits as his hand goes down and he looks down into his glass.

"The reason your not dead yet has to do with the lack of accepting the King path." Pat muses and muses, "Philip would be so jealous over such a situation, wishing it had been his Liang Ye in that position."

He hums in agreement. "Yea, Philip's gotten pretty power hungry ever since Liang Ye got that fragment of that mirror." The name of the mirror isn't one he knows off the top of his head. "He really wants to use that mirror to create his own pocket dimension." For what purpose, he doesn't really know but could only guess. Likely for the prestige of being the first player to have recreated such a Legendary item and having something like it. He muses.

"Well, it's not like Garth doesn't have his own plans concerning launching his Gongsun Shu into the spot light." Pat admits before looking at the clock display upon the microwave. "I think we should head back up, we still have a bit more to write."

Putting the lid back on the bottle, he puts it into the fridge while Pat finishes with her soda bottle, which he also puts into the fridge. Soon enough, they pick up whatever snacks they came down for. Moving to the side, he let Pat head up the stairs first. Walking back to the office/study that belongs to Pat's dad.

\_ [ ^ _ ^ ] _/

Looking at the half-Demon, one Luo Binghe, Xing wonders for the first time if he shouldn't be thankful for that one troublesome Flaw as {Heavenly Demon's Blood Parasite} counts as a Qi Medicine technique. Thus the idea of the food being laced with the Heavenly Demon's blood doesn't bother him as much as it does the others gathered within the room. All having been summoned concerning the situation of the Western Demon Kingdom.

In game, it's been years since he came into possession of that statuette that is also a {Relic of Kingship}. Then again, the Server had been spend up to help progress the story of this Server's game and thus the two Realms of the game. The fact that he'd been solo playing for so long, it's still something of a surprise that his Xin Xing is still alive and whole compared to what's happened concerning the circumstances that happened concerning that mirror fragment that Philip's character had and the execution for Evil Cultivation that Garth's character had been found guilty of practicing with Pat's character getting handed a prison sentence for her ignorance about Garth's character's actions.

It would be half a year before whoever owns the Server allows those players who suffered perma-death of their character to create another one. If there were space for Human characters, those who'd played Demons got first choice to decide if they wanted to try being a Cultivator or pursuing some other career path besides that. Which saw Garth and Philip making Demons, Garth's Demon is named Nanguo Zhou and is of feline Demon descent and Philip's second character gets named Ye Wang and is descendant of a breed of Lizard Demon, which are generally of the Southern Demon Kingdom. As for Pat, she's just waiting out her sentence instead of going through with suicide so she can make a second character.

And so, as the tension continues to build as few of the various Demons refuse to accept the hospitality of their Host. Given the previous sneers and comments before the half-Demon entered into the room, it was fairly clear they mistrust Luo Binghe's intentions to try and rectify this matter. Many thinking that he'll just lay claim to the empty post himself or set up a figurehead of a King who'll answer to him.

While he's incline to agree with that sentiment, Xing just wanted to get this issue over with and be rid of the statuette. Being so paranoid, it might have done wonders for his incentive to learn the typical Art that is Illusions but with the Status of {Stressed} he ate more and didn't have very restful sleep at night. He's also fairly sure he'd have been driven to drink if he could get intoxicated from drinking liquor or turned to some other drugs. But since that wouldn't work for him, he's become rather dependent in musical pursuits to de-stress plus, learning new instruments helped him hide his identity as many know him as a Flute playing Fox Demon that sports gray hair.

There's been only a bit of small talk going on as he spends time sampling the various offered food and drinks. Waiting for things to get on track concerning the issue they were summoned for. The son of the King of the Northern Demon Kingdom arrives and seems to glide towards the man who defeated Mo Yu, whispers into Luo Binghe's ear a report of some kind. Once done, Mo Yu stands up straight and waits for a signal of either dismissal or to be given some order.

A slight gesture and Mo Yu leans back down, this time it's Luo Binghe who whispers instructions to Mo Yu. "As you command." The Ice Demon states before gliding out of the room.

"Gentlemen and Ladies, it's time for us to discuss the matter that brought us here." The half-Demon addresses the room with a seemingly charming smile. Given the way most react to the smile, it seems that Luo Binghe really was nice looking, if one likes men.

Many eyes flicker at him and he pulls the statuette out of his Inventory, getting up a bit as he places it a bit more to the center of the table. Settling back down, the various gazes are now on the statuette, which still sports faded and chipped painted stripes. The eyes are purple gemstones while he still doesn't know the definitive name of the metal it's made out of. As his gaze lands upon Luo Binghe, the other seems to be staring at him, the mark upon the forehead glows lazily along with eyes being the same red as that mark.

Then they break looking at one another and he leans a bit more into his chair. The half-Demon is rather intense after all, he wonders a bit about what kind of life he'd lived before ending up in the Endless Abyss. There's a lot of rumors about Luo Binghe's background, but there's likely some truth to be found in some of them. Given the ease of which the other uses the Demon sword that's named {Xin Mo} with confidence, there's history between Luo Binghe and Demon Saint Sha Hualing, and he's rather distasteful when it comes to dealing with Demons as he'd been a member of a Cultivator Sect.

He's not sure when various Demons piped in about their qualifications only that as he comes out of his musings over the rumors centering around Luo Binghe but it was growing in volume. Most claiming blood connection to the Pei Clan or about boasting their family/clan's accomplishments. It's not long before bids began to come forth and he never liked when that came up, as though money was all that's needed to make one a King.

Well, I guess it could have, if it weren't for the fact that it devolves into threats to just kill me and claim it before I ever thought about a price tag. Xing muses to himself. His eyes drift towards Luo Binghe instead of the statuette and wonders about the man's motives for taking the role of Kingmaker. His gaze changes to taking in the various paintings that decorate the room and then works on a particularly odd techinque so he can see the paintings or decorations behind him without turning around, it's a self targeted hybrid of Divination and an Illusion to do so. It's a tricky visual Illusion.

"This Lord is rather curious about Xin Xing's claim." He blinks before starting a bit as it seems he's just been dragged into the conversation. Blinking as he let's the Illusion go to stare at Luo Binghe, his mind rather blank and thus, he doesn't really have an answer to what seems to be an inquiry or an order.

"Pardon? Lord Luo Binghe?" He voices as he's not sure if he heard it correctly. Then his mind takes in the statement before stating as politely as possible, "This one isn't interested in the position nor does this one think this humble one's opinion should carry any weight upon this matter as this one is a mere wandering musician."

"It's been this Lord's understanding that this statuette is bound to one such as yourself." Luo Binghe replies. "Such relics, this Lord has heard, don't just bind themselves to someone at random. It this this Lord's understanding that if the applicant isn't suitable, they are drained of their Qi and Life."

Eh? Xing's gaze flickers to the metal statuette. There's an answer he could give, he's sure, but saying it's likely due to his RES likely would be breaking character. Which, he's been fairly good with, having only receive two separate warnings about it throughout his time playing on this Server. After all, he's very much a foreigner in regards to the target audience and the Culture that's within this game isn't one he's typically exposed to never mind live within. It's only due to very good translation programs that he's able to understand the language within this game.

"This one isn't sure if that is truly the case and thus, must bow to Lord Luo Binghe's superior knowledge upon this topic." It seems to be the only thing he could say in this situation. "This one does not feel as though the mantle that the statuette bestows is a right fit upon this one."

And why did it seem that his reply seem to bemuse the half-Demon? There's a slight up taking of the lips and there's something about the manner of which the Demon Lord, soon to be King of the Southern Demon Kingdom, says, "This one will take that into consideration."

As the various eyes shift from him, he wonders when the total of the Demon Realm will bow down to Luo Binghe as Emperor of the Realm. Likely some time after he claims the Southern Throne. Xing thinks to himself as the others, once more, being to sway Luo Binghe's regard in the matter of Kingship of the Western Kingdom.

For all that Demons have such a wide variety of traditions and polite manners, third person speaking continues to be regarded as proper and formal manners. It's the same in the Human Realm. He recalls the complaints of his RL friends.

Soon enough, the evening comes to an end and before leaving, Xing makes a showing of stowing away the statuette into his sleeve. He knows that if he didn't, about thirty minutes and it'll be in his Inventory, having vanished from where he left it. Once in his room, he begins preparations for security before he makes use of the wooden tub that's filled with water, a simple use of a Talisman and the water is rather hot, but by the time he's ready to enter it, it should cool down enough to be merely hot warm instead of just hot.

Stretching a bit before entering into the water, Xing manifests his twin tails before entering into the tub. It takes him a bit to clean his tails and his own hair, being sure to use the right items to ensure it remains healthy and nice looking. As he gets some under robes on, he begins preparing his own security measures concerning his stay within this room for the night.

He is sure to place the {Minor Scrying Mirror} on the inner door of the wardrobe before plastering only six {Temporary Space Expansion Talisman} within it. It'll take a bit before the space will be the right size for himself, so he continues work on the room, particularly with the bed. The Illusions that he has the most trouble with has to do with death scenes as he has to account for methods on top of how powerful the assassin doing it is. The more powerful, the harder to fool, particularly given they might be expecting an Illusion given it's known he's a Fox Demon, what's unknown to the majority at large is that he's a sub-variant on top of that.

Setting up the {Wind up Comb Music Box} between the bed and the wall, there's a simple Talisman warped around the casing. He sets up the trigger Talismans at the door and the window. At the hidden door that he found, he sets up a Barrier Array that he will leave up for the next few days they'll be discussing this matter. While Xing would love to check the ceiling for another hidden door, he isn't a Cultivator and he's yet to find an Array that can have something as small as a sword float in the air with someone on it.

The final trap has to do with the fake statuette that's on what passes as a night stand. There's obvious traps and hidden traps about the room. All of which are simple as he'll have to remove them come morning, before the servants assigned to this room arrives to do so.

And so, he enters into the wardrobe and unrolls his bedroll. With an Alarm Talisman upon his left wrist set to go off two hours before dawn. Xing does his best to just... fall asleep.

\_ [ ^ _ ^ ] _/

It's the pounding of the door that wakes him, there's a servant standing there once he puts on something over his night robes. The servant informs him that his presence is required and then comments that he'll send someone over to help him dress. Blinking a bit blankly at the servant's back, Xing didn't have time to finally realize what that implies and as his face heats up, he shuts the door.

The room he spent the night in isn't the one he was led to. Practically a minute of being in that room, Mo Yu arrived into the room viva a portal, picked him up before stepping through another portal and left him in the room. And thus, whatever assassination attempt that was going to happen wasn't going to be targeting the correct room, nor would he be within the room for them to find. So, without worrying about needing to set up his own security, Xing takes a quick look to realize it's likely a servant's room, which likely means he's in the Servant Quarters.

Shaking his head, he resists the urge to yawn as he walks around. With a sigh, he considers what to wear viva going through his Inventory. While he would like to have a bath, as he didn't have one before going to bed, he unties his hair from it's sleeping style. As he begins to comb his hair, there's a quick knock on the door before someone enters, the servant is on the short side and might be a young teen at most, a preteen at the least plus being a maid given the cut of the uniform.

This young servant's ears are on the side of the heads, reminds him of a rodent's. Eyes are slits with their color being purple with the face seems to suggest a muzzle or snout. He notes that there isn't a notable tail, or if there is one, it might be a tiny thing that could be hidden under the cloths. The teeth he glimpses seems to be a mixture of rodent and smallish fangs.

Soon enough, the servant takes charge and takes over combing his hair. Once it's done, they move onto his robes and then on styling the hair, he gets asked for something better then a hair tie. It takes him a bit to pull out the collection he's been gifted throughout his time in the game. The servant tuts at the selection before sighing while picking out a rather well carved hair piece that's made out of {Jade Maple Wood} with a hair stick of {Thorn Abyssal Oak} with white gold inlay that goes throughout the hair stick.

The hair is in a style that's rather complicated, likely the most complicated he'd worn since he arrived in for this discussion. He's not sure why the servant gives him an expectant look as he puts away the hair accessories into his sleeve. "What?" He finally asks.

"Jewelry." He isn't sure what to make of that statement but, sadly, he does have pieces he's also been gifted. "What kind?" Xing asks with a bit of bafflement.

"Just... all of it. I'll pick out something." The servant states after sighing and rubbing her nose bridge. Giving him a good look at the tips of the fingers that has natural black 'nail' about the finger tip, the thumb doesn't have the same on it.

And so he does, necklaces, bracelets, rings, brooches, belt accessories, rings, and things that could clamp on his ears, leaving the actual earring in the Inventory. His ears are not pierced nor does he want to pierce them. The servant hums at the collection, some were wooden, others stone, and then there's a few made out of various metals, most of the metal used is either gold or silver.

Xing isn't that surprise that wood and gold pieces at considered with a great deal of intent. He feels like a doll as he begins trying on various selections that the servant picks out, even spinning when asked. He's fairly sure that this is taking far too long but she seems to be rather firm about making him presentable, which only causes him to wonder about what kind of act is going to be put on about whoever it was that was allowed to enter into the estate to 'assassinate' him.

It's a bit over an hour before he leaves the simple room he spent the night in. About his left wrist is a dark wooden bracelet with a clear gemstone, it's carved like a eight legged dragon, the name of the dragon escapes him. On his belt is an ornament sporting a black stone talisman with a tassel that's a neutral grey strings. Right wrist sports a golden linked bracelet that has tiny ruby gemstones on every second link. There isn't anything hanging from his neck nor about his throat.

While the servant clearly displeased at the lack of make up, she seems rather displeased that she couldn't enhance his natural features. It seems she be-mourns that she can't enhance his eye lashes. Still, he's handed off to a different and older servant, one that possesses a monkey while also sporting horns that wouldn't look out of place on a ram or goat, only they are a polished dark red. The eyes of his guide are reptilian gold and green.

He's lead out of the Servant Quarters and out into a courtyard before entering into the main manor. Xing gets something of a tour of more of the manor as he's lead back to the Guest Wing. He gets more then a few casual looks from guards and from the servants, he blames his Fox Demon heritage for giving him a very human appearance.

Xing is proven correct, that what's about to happen was going to be a pageant as he's right on time for the dramatic arc of the act. He listens with half an ear to Luo Binghe's antics and the reactions from the other guests. It doesn't some as much of a shock when one of the guests finally breaks his polite mask to lunge at Xing with a very thin sword, an example of the 'mythical' soft sword, that had been hidden under the wide cloth belt.

He moves to the side and is sure to break the wrist upon catching it, forcing the soft sword to fall to the ground. He stares into the other Demon's eyes, which are a silver grey. "Forgive this Lord for not reacting quickly enough in defense of honorable guest." It's not long before he lets go of the wrist as the other Demon is lifted into the air viva the neck, which has the hand of Luo Binghe about it.

"This one must apologize for being bring trouble into Lord Luo's estate." Xing says, it's said respectfully and politely. It's more for social graces then because he actually feels like that. Being sure to do the right bow directed at Luo Binghe.

Lines in a play. Xing muses to himself as Luo Binghe ignores the final pleads of the attacker is giving while slowly get choked out. Being more alert, he does his best to keep watching the crowd of watching guests, figuring that someone might try something while this was going on. All the world is a stage and we are mere actors playing out our parts.

It seems that none had the nerve to act out and as the body drops to the floor, Luo Binghe addresses the others while sporting some Demonic Qi slowly moving off of his body in the manner of fire. Threatening tone and body language, all designed to cow those around himself. And Xing notices lust flaring up ever so often in the eyes of those other Demons, it wasn't just in the women's eyes but a few of them men's own.

Even he finds it hard to not shiver at the sight and listening to that tone, Luo Binghe's Demonic Qi is heavy in the air, seemingly causes gravity to grow heavier and heavier until it's like he couldn't remain standing, that any more pressure and he'd be on his knees or flat on his butt. He truly doesn't wish to be on the receiving end of this Demon Lord's fury. He's only got two tails, after all, he's no match for this half-breed. He knows that Heavenly Demons have been known to unite the four Kingdoms of the Demon Realm, taking the position of Emperor with all bowing down to them, looking to carry their favor.

It's why it's so widely believed that Luo Binghe is looking to follow into his various ancestors' foot prints. There's been a few Heavenly Demons who died before doing so, with many become famous. Although he doubts that history recorded how it went down properly. Between being immune to most poisons, it's their regeneration that's the roadblock for killing them in a duel, never mind with armies. It's most likely through assassination that those few Heavenly Demons died to, poison or some other, likely decried unhanded, means.

And so, Luo Binghe pronounces his decision after reigning in his Demonic Qi and as they all recover from such an experience, he states, "This Lord has given it much thought and given the under handed manners that have been employed, decides to support Xin Xing's candidacy as the carrier of the {Bright Steel Tiger of the Western Rule}." What a mouthful. Xing thinks before it really registers what Luo Binghe had just done.

"What?" He states but it's drowned out by much louder protests who clearly forgot about what just happened just seconds ago. Hold on, since when did I throw my name into this? He mentally complains as he finds it rather hard to work his mouth plus it was dry, likely due to being open. His lips moved but nothing was said.

I don't want a kingdom to rule! I'm not playing this game to try and manage anything besides myself! This is suppose to be about me not doing empire building! Like, of any kind! Xing thinks as he face palms his mouth after closing it with a soft click of his teeth.

In what way have I shown myself to be a leader of men? Err... of Demons? He wonders to himself. Or power hungry. Or ambitious. Or... well, anything besides being a good musician and survivor?

But there's no way Luo Binghe is going to change his mind. Of that, Xing is sure. The man, the half-breed is known to be stubborn and is beginning to be rather ruthless when it comes to ensuring what he wants to happen to happen. Still, he's not fully sure when he's been guided out of that hall, doesn't really remember being told to follow either. And yet, he's in a rather spacious office that he's fairly sure is belonging to Luo Binghe.

It takes him a bit to calm himself down, his fingers twitching as though he was playing an instrument. Focusing on his breathing, his eyes being closed, he can pretend he's playing a calming tune. When the door opens, he listens for it to close before opening his eyes and looking over his shoulder before turning his whole body around to give a proper bow, "Lord Luo."

Once he's held it for the polite amount, he straightens and Luo Binghe moves to sit down behind the desk. The look is rather hard to read. That it's just the two of them, it causes a bit of unease and he waits for Luo Binghe to break the silence.

"This Luo Binghe recalls hearing Xin Xing play nearly a year ago." He's a bit surprise at the admission. He also has an idea of when, due to him only using his actual name during more populated celebrations.

"The Festival of Spice and Wine?" It was held once a decade at Bone Mills' Ridge. Spicy food and various kinds of alcohol, it wasn't just rice wine like was typical to China and Japan, but fruits, grains, potatoes, and types of honey.

He'd played his signature flute, the one he bought on his second day of playing. Xing had played many tunes, even ended up singing once a night for the three nights of the festival. He muses, "Lord Luo must have visited briefly as this musician does not recall anyone mentioning Lord Luo's presence."

"This Lord did not want the attention that doing so would bring if this Lord had announced his intentions to participate in the festival." In other words, he didn't want people making plans to try and assassinate him or challenge him to a dual. Xing muses.

"This musician hopes that Lord Luo found his playing to his satisfaction." He states and Luo Binghe's lips quirk upwards. "This Lord found Xin Xing's playing to be very satisfying. And this Lord wishes for Xin Xing to play him a tune before we begin to discuss how to begin bringing the Western Kingdom to accept Xin Xing's ascension to Kingship over said Kingdom."

Xing politely bows before producing his {Blooming Ten Year Bamboo Flute}. And so, he plays something that'll take a bit to play in full. In doing so, he hopes to steel himself and to put off the discussion as much as he's able to.

Epilogue

He is nineteen when Proud Immortal Demon Way gets released. He'd been nearly fifteen when he signed up for the Server that would get recorded, the records were what is used to make said series. The end of the Server had been when he'd been seventeen and it would be some time before he'd been contacted concerning Xin Xing's casting role, as it were.

His parents got involved along with other parties due to... well, given how involved he'd become concerning Luo Binghe's rule, yea, his Xin Xing would be a center player when it came to the Demon Realm Arc and so he had to be contacted. Given he'd been a minor when he'd played as Xin Xing, yea, his parents had to get involved, although, it seems that both of his parents had been more aware of the sexual nature that could come up then he'd been, they figured it would be a safe way for him to experience such things and... well, given the minor... ah, harem? Of admirers he'd accumulated upon ascending to Kingship, never mind the random admirers he'd had before.

Yes, it does seem that he'd had admirers due to not just being a decent fighter and Talisman knowledge but, more due to his ability as a musician on top of it all. It seems that being one or the other was more common but being both? The lack of visitation to the Human World seems to cause him to be even more impressive? That he also learnt other instruments?

Not that he ever had a... roll in the hay? I think that's how dad put it. Nope, he'd stayed a virgin until the end of the Server.

It had taken some time to work out an agreement involving Xin Xing along with any need of him making appearance concerning the promotion of the game mod, whether his Character will be part of it as a NPC, and, then, any appearance of he himself or participating in any extra content concerning PIDW. Which is why he's attending the premiere online event that will see the first three episodes being released and them doing a bit of Q&A between breaks or pauses when one of three Hosts decide to do so. Given that the Server had been open for people throughout the world, those that could group up for the streaming premiere, they did.

Not that he'd be in company as there had only been another three from various parts of North, Central, and South America, besides himself being in Western USA, there's one was in one of the Territories of Canada, somewhere in Mexico, and the other in Chile. The Canadian is the Player of one Gongyi Xiao, who's a Cultivator and former Head Disciple of Huan Hua Palace, who ascended to Sect Leader near the end of the Server's timeline. The Player from Mexico's Character is Yang Yixuan, the only Disciple hand picked by the War God of Bai Zhan Peak. The Player from Chile's Character is one Jin Zhao, Head Disciple of An Ding Peak.

And so, as he sips from his glass of water, computer finishes with its updates thus it begins booting up, he's still got nearly fifty minutes before the pre-show part of the event begins. Which should take an hour and half. He's going to have to go over the settings and ensure that everything is up and running with a few techs that will also be in charge of arranging the streams from the Americas. After nearly twenty minutes, he's joined into a video chat with Jin Zhao, who he smiles a bit and greets by introducing himself, the thirty something year old does the same.

Minutes tick by and they chat lightly about anything, really. About fifteen minutes, the other two are brought into the chat, again, introductions are made. There's some light chatting for almost five minutes before they change chats. Quick intros are had, it's not long before the pre-show begins.

He can only hope that he doesn't embarrass himself.

(The pre-show premiere went over well! The next day, the rest of the series is release. Which is a lot of episodes.)

(When the fans wrote their own fan fiction, many pairing would spring up and, unsurprisingly, Xin Xing would be one of the fan favorites to be shipped with any cannon or author's OCs. It wouldn't be until his friend Pat bring up one of the more popular stories that Aaron would become aware of just how popular of a bottom Xin Xing is portrayed. It caused him much embarrassment and, later, teasing by many among his friend circle along with family.)

((The game mod would be release three years after the release of the PIDW due to many, many problems. Many of those who'd had Characters in that Server would be paid to continue playing those Characters. The reason should be its own story.))

Extra List of Character and Payer Info

Character = Player

Xin Xing = Aaron

Gongsun Shu(Dead), Nanguo Zhou = Garth

Yan Mei = Patty, Pat for short

Liang Ye(Dead), Ye Wang = Philip