yandere disciples

by vamer

ok

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Table of Contents URL: https//novel/what-do-you-mean-my-cute-disciples-are-yanderes.html

I was a genius in the Earthen Plane.I was a cripple in the Spiritual Plane.I was dead in the Cloud Plane.After experiencing death in the form of dragon sneeze, I find myself back in my room in Earthen Plane where I was a genius.I had been too focused on training myself in the past life. Now that I've been given a second chance, I should just enjoy my life to the fullest extent!Instead of locking myself up in my room to cultivate, take in a few disciples so they can help take care of me!Easy life is best life!The other Planes suck anyway, I'll just lay back here and relax! All I need to do is to teach my dear disciples on the things I've learnt while they take care of me!Huh?What do you mean one of my disciples destroyed the Sinister Demon Sect last night? Do you not see how she's here massaging my shoulders now?There's no way my disciple could have obliterated the all-powerful Xi Family, can't you see she's obediently pouring tea for me over there?You must be delusional to even suggest my disciple could have flattened the impassable Death Mountains, just look at how cute she is taking a nap under the cherry blossom tree.What do you mean my cute disciples are Yanderes?

Chapter 1 - Return

I'm dead.

What a way to go.

' '

I was supposed to be a genius back in the Earthen Plane, my strength and intellect were unrivalled garnering respect from all around me.

I reached the prestigious rank of Master at my Heaven Sect at the young age of twenty where most people at that rank were well past their eighties. The praises and attention stoked my ego so much that I got too overconfident, thinking I could easily step foot into the higher Spiritual Plane without any consequences.

I ascended too soon, too rashly and paid the price for it. I was able to step foot into the higher realm at the cost of crippling all my meridians and utterly destroying my Cultivation Point, lowering my strength to nothing more than a non-Practitioner mortal.

It would have been fine if I could return to the Earthen plane where I was still known and respected, but in this Spiritual plane where no one knew me nor cared to know me, I was trampled on like the miserable insect I had become.

Without strength to fight back against these bullying scoundrels, I could only seek refuge in the Spiritual Royal Family Sect by offering my services. But even there, I still faced constant ridicule and thrashing just because I could not fight back.

Lady Luck smiled on me still as even without my profound strength, my intellect was still respectable enough to obtain a position as an archivist in the Royal Archives where many secrets of the Practitioner World was kept. In there, I managed to secretly memorise multitudes of cultivation techniques, combat manuals, alongside hoarding a plethora of alchemical recipes and various other knowledge.

It was there that I learned of a possible pill that could restore my meridians and repair my Cultivation Point.

Unfortunately, more knowledge does not equate to more wisdom as I had been too focused on reversing my crippled state to care about anything else.

One of the pill's ingredients was only found in the Cloud Plane which should have been impossible for a non-Practitioner or a Practitioner with crippled meridians like myself could ascend to. But I had been determined to restore myself at any price and had resorted to using forbidden techniques to force my way through to the next plane.

What I hadn't known then was the Dark quarks I forcefully imbued myself with disintegrated my Quark Veins which rendered the pill entirely ineffective. Even worse was the fact that since my Cultivation Point was destroyed, the Dark quarks I had imbued myself with completely dissipated, landing me back at square one.

I was thus left completely defenceless in this extremely hazardous plane where the weakest being could kill me just by sneezing in my general direction.

That was actually how I died.

Ok not really, but close.

A Primordial Divine Dragon had somehow taken an interest in me, landed in front of me and did something that might have been a sneeze. The Elemental Quarks it exuded from that action instantly overwhelmed my mortal self and I spontaneously combusted on the spot.

I still deserve some credit for surviving there for about two years, though those two years were something that I never ever want to experience again.

Being the plaything and test subject of that maniacal Practitioner was not something I would wish anyone to be subjected to, not even my worst enemy.

Still, death by dragon sneeze should be an achievement somewhere.

Ah~~ I tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it's still all for naught. I regret not taking my time to enjoy life while I could, instead of struggling so hard like I had in this life. If I could go back and redo everything, I would really like to just take it easy and do things at my own pace.

Now that I think about it, how am I still cognizant about my state of being? Unless being stuck forever in a state of unconscious consciousness is what lies after death? That would have been a very interesting subject to study, if only I still had the Elemental Quarks to do so.

I wonder... If I had imbued Astral, Spirit and Space quarks into a body following the Immortal Projection Cultivation Technique, maybe I could replicate this state for myself or the soul in question?

Oh, this might even confirm the theory that souls are indeed a thing instead of just fragmented memories of the dead. I guess the spirits of the old geezers I met might actually be more than just the howlings of the departed after all.

But that also brings along the question of why those souls didn't seem as cognizant of their state as I currently am? Is it because of age or some other fac--

KONG* *KONG*

"The biennial student selection of Heaven Sect will begin soon! Will all Elders and Masters involved please proceed to the Grand Hall!"

KONG* *KONG*

"The biennial student selection of Heaven Sect will begin soon! Will all Elders and Masters involved please proceed to the Grand Hall!"

KONG* *KONG*

I opened my eyes with a start.

The first thing I saw was an eerily familiar ceiling that I hadn't seen in the past decade and a half.

It took me a few seconds to recognise it as my room back when I was a Master at Heaven Sect.

I blinked a few times while ignoring whoever was still shouting and banging the gong outside.

Slowly, I sat up on my bed, trying to get a grasp on what was going on.

Looking around the room, I confirmed where I thought I was. It was indeed the room I had resided in for the seven years I was a Master at Heaven Sect.

Judging by the content of the shouting outside and the lack of scrolls and various other artifacts I had managed to gather over the years, this should be my second year as a Master in Heaven Sect, making me twenty-two.

Looking down at my hands, I confirmed the youthfulness and unmarked skin of my hands. The hands I had been so used to seeing was full of scars and scabs, all received from the trampling, tortures, and struggles I had to endure after I ascended from the Earthen plane.

I immediately tried circulating my Elemental Quarks, a tear finding its way to the corner of my eye when I realised my Cultivation Point and meridians were completely fine.

Shaking my head to recover, I immediately started analyzing my situation.

My memories of what had occurred were too vivid to dismiss as a dream or imagination. The cultivation arts, recipes and knowledge I had gained from it were also a testament to the fact that everything I experienced was real.

So this can be ruled to either transmigration or time travel.

I had no artifacts on me that could cause this phenomenon, nor had I the Elemental Quarks to cause this phenomenon myself.

That means someone else caused this recently before my supposed death by sneeze.

It can't be that person right?

That maniacal Practitioner had always continuously thrashed me with a giant stick called 'truck-kun', constantly claiming that it would allow me to awaken in another world or something. Every time I was beaten unconscious, my consciousness actually did travel to another realm full of towering buildings and metal carriages. I would spend some time wandering there before a long metal carriage would ram into me, sending me back into my body.

Then there was that time I was used as a test subject by that same demented monster for some new cultivation technique involving Astral and Light quarks. I remember seeing stars and some weird blue colored rectangular box floating in front of me. There was a sign on top of it but I only managed to catch a glimpse of the word 'Police' before I was dragged back to reality.

Oh, there was also that incident where I was used by that damn crazy psycho as a shield to block a curse by another Practitioner, which resulted in me being teleported to another realm of existence. I had a weird vision of seeing six different colored stones revolving around me that seemed to give off infinite power before I blacked out, waking up back in my realm again.

No, definitely not possible. No way that crazy lunatic could have a hand in something like this.

Must be the Dragon.

Yep, that settles it, the Dragon must have caused this.

How? I have no idea, I was definitely not in the state to analyze the Elemental Quarks involved in that sneeze while I was literally being burned into nothingness. But I surmise it must be that dragon sneeze that caused this phenomenon.

How am I so calm about this? Well, if you had to struggle like I did to survive in those hellish places for more than a decade, you gain the uncanny ability to adapt to and take advantage of any situation as fast as possible.

Throwing my worries out the window, I stood up from the bed with clenched fists. Since I was offered a second chance, there's no way I'm not going to make use of it! I'm going to live an easy and relaxing life at my own pace!

No more rushing to be the strongest! The higher Planes are crap anyway! Earthen Plane is the best to relax! Everyone is trying to backstab and kill each other in the higher Planes to get stronger, totally unlike the Earthen Plane where Practitioners are more laid back and more concerned about what to eat for dinner rather than how to exploit their fellows, at least in my eyes.

Screw those puffed-up self-important Sect Masters and whatever godly Primordial beings that exist in this universe, I'm going to live the life I want after being your plaything for all those years! Just you watch! I'll wake up late every day, train when I feel like it, travel the world at a relaxed pace without a care in the--

A gentle knock on my door brought me out of my musings.

"Master Lin? Are you ready to go yet?" A voice asked from beyond my door.

Eh? That voice' "Elder Qing? Yeah, I'll be ready in a bit."

"Heh, this is your first time participating as a Master right? It's still early so you can still take your time, I'll wait for you at the courtyard."

"Oh, ok then. Sure er' Just going to change my clothes and I'll be out in a bit."

"Alright then," Footsteps echoed away from my door.

No doubt about whether this is real, I remember Elder Qing also came to call me during the student selection back then. I had refused to participate in the selection that time though, thinking it was a waste of time.

He was my teacher when I first joined the Sect before I showed my genius talents as a Practitioner. The Sect realised I could progress more on my own than under a tutor and gave me freedom to learn as I willed though Elder Qing remained as my mentor throughout my time in the Sect.

There was no jealousy when I advanced to the rank of Master above him. In fact, he had admitted he felt pride in having a hand in guiding me, no matter how insignificant his role might have been.

I had almost forgotten these kinds of people existed.

On the Spiritual Plane and Cloud Plane, everyone only cared for themselves.

Some commoner insulted your family and has better talent than you? Hire assassins to kill them before they can get stronger than you.

Some talentless cripple is marrying the prettiest girl in your city? Poison them on the night before their wedding to stop that.

Someone about to obtain the strongest treasure in the known universe? Betray them just before they get their hands on it so you can have it for yourself.

Don't even get me started on the Planes beyond that. I was lucky enough not to reach there but I have heard that it was just as bad if not worse than these two Planes.

Yeah, not going to miss any of that drama. I want an easy life now after all.

No wait, I just remembered hearing that not long after I left the Earthen Plane, some kind of disaster happened that rendered more than ninety percent of it uninhabitable.

Apparently a Practitioner had somehow summoned Divine Lightning storms that burned most of the world to ash. How someone on the Earthen Plane obtained that power I had no idea. Not even I could achieve that back when I was a Master.

Well shit... Guess I have to make some contingency plans after all, but nothing will stop me from trying to live the easy life still! I have an estimated five years before that happened anyway!

I stretched before proceeding to wash myself with a bucket of water I summoned with my Water quark and heated with my Fire quark.

I had to spend some time to refamiliarise myself with circulating my Elemental Quarks after missing them for so long. You never know how to appreciate what you have until you lose them.

And to think I had to manually draw water from wells and heat it up with firewood after I crippled myself back then. Then again, having to learn how to do all the things I always depended my Elemental Quarks on was still an interesting experience, disregarding the dire situation I was in.

Refreshed with a new change of clothes, I am now prepared to begin my plans of living an easy life!

Chapter 2 - I Shall Get A Disciple

"Are you thinking of getting a disciple yourself, Master Lin?" Elder Qing asked as we made our way towards the Grand Hall.

"Um… I'm still thinking about it," I answered honestly.

Elder Qing nodded, "Hmm hmm, no need to rush yourself, you're still young after all, haha!"

I smiled at his joke, I was the youngest amongst the Masters after all.

In a sect, the hierarchy begins at the bottom with student Practitioners who have just joined the Sect. They will learn under teachers to control their elemental quarks of a certain element until they are able to master the Basic tier of their element.

There are multitudes of elemental quarks one can learn to control. From the four common elements of Fire, Water, Earth and Air, to specialised ones like Light, Dark, Astral, Metal, Space and many others.

Some might frown upon the learning of Dark quarks not because it is seen as evil, but more because it is proven to be detrimental to an ill-prepared Practitioner's health. I can testify to that fact, unfortunately.

Each elemental quark has six tiers of mastery starting from the bottom: Basic, Journeyman, Intermediate, Advanced, Master and Legend. The things one can with their element at each level of mastery increases exponentially.

A Basic tier Water Practitioner could summon a bucket of water with enough concentration. But a similar Practitioner at Legend tier could cause destructive tsunamis with just a flick of their hand.

Once a Practitioner masters the Basic tier of an element, they are admitted to the Outer Core Practitioners. There, they have the choice of mastering three elemental quarks to Basic tier, two elemental quarks to Journeyman tier, or one elemental quark to Intermediate tier to be promoted to an Inner Core Practitioner.

The next requirement is to master four elements to Journeyman, three to Intermediate, or two to Advanced to be admitted to the ranks of an Elite Practitioner.

Usually, the limits of Earthen Plane Practitioners are at the Advanced tiers with only a handful being able to touch the fringes of Master. Legend tiers were unheard of until the Spiritual Plane and even there they were exceptionally rare.

To be a Master in an Earthen Plane Sect you had to at least be Advanced tier in four elements to be considered for the position. The Sect will also take into account your personality, skills and attitude before conferring that title to you.

After all, the rank of Master was just below the Sect Master in terms of hierarchy and was well respected and known throughout the land. It was not a position to be treated lightly.

As for the Elder position, it is more of an honorary title conferred upon Elite Practitioners who have stayed within the Sect for an exceptionally long time. In other words, Elders are the ones with the most experience and wisdom in a Sect and usually take up the position as teachers and mentors.

Elder Qing had been with the Heaven Sect for a hundred years, the man himself already pushing on a hundred and thirty though he looks like he was in his fifties. Honestly, I had a hunch he wanted himself to appear older so he had grown his beard to the point it reached his chest, or else he just has a thing for stroking long beards.

It is a fact that Practitioners age slower than non-Practitioners because of the quarks they circulate in their bodies, so it wouldn't be a surprise to find an Elder who was way past the hundreds in terms of age while looking like they're barely sixty.

We reached the Grand Hall where most of the other Masters and Elders have already gathered without incident.

"Elder Qing, Master Lin!"

Both of us turned towards the source of the voice, finding a bespectacled old man with an even longer beard that screamed of 'sagely'.

"Oh, Sect Master Long, have you come to see the prospective disciples?" Elder Qing asked.

"Umu, it would not do well if I do not know how the new generation is like after all," Sect Master Long remarked while stroking his long beard.

Elder Qing nodded, similarly stroking his beard, "I have heard we might have a number of really good students this year. I can't wait to meet my future students."

"Good, good. What about you Master Lin? Will you take a disciple this year?"

I noticed that most of the Elders and Masters had turned their attention to me. It was not surprising since the Sect will probably give priority to my choice because of my status. In my previous life, I had chosen not to take in any disciples throughout my time in the Sect. I had spent every waking hour concentrating on strengthening myself instead of others, thus the thought of getting a disciple seemed like a burden to me.

Hmm… Since I'm aiming for an easier life, a disciple would actually help with that.

I imagined myself being served tea while imparting the wisdom I learned in my previous life to them.

Then I could train them to become stronger and they will help stop that Lightning Practitioner from destroying the world too. That would definitely be much easier than me facing that crazy strong Practitioner by myself.

Yes, that's the easy life that I wanted.

"I think I might just pick one, it's a good chance for me to experience teaching others for a change," I decided.

The Elders and Master all nodded in unison, probably thinking with my guidance, they would see another genius in the Heaven Sect and cement their position as the top Sect in the Earthen Plane for a long time.

"Good, very good," The Sect Master nodded, still stroking his beard. What is with old Practitioners and stroking beards? Do they think it makes them look sagely or something?

Well, I wouldn't know since I never bothered to grow a beard, do you know how much effort and time one needs to spend to maintain that 'sagely' and 'wise' look the Elders are so proud of? I don't doubt they spend more time trimming and grooming their beards compared to vain women doing their makeup to meet their similarly vain friends.

All that wasted time could have been spent on cultivating and train-- no no no, what am I thinking? Easy life, simple life. Yes.

That actually makes sense now. An easy life of spending half of your time stroking your beard. Not what I would go for but to each his own I guess? Looks like I misunderstood you long bearded Elders, I must apologise.

"Now then, let's go see our new students," The Sect Master announced, leading the way deeper into the Grand Hall.

Chapter 3 - Geezer Gathering

"Oh, there are quite a number of promising students this year," an Elder commented.

"Umu, the talents this time are quite surprising. I believe that group there cultivated the Phoenix Fire cultivation from the Phoenix Minor Sect, the Fire quark I sense from them is quite profound," another Elder nodded.

"Hmm… I should probably get a new disciple as well. The Heavenly Storm Dragon Minor Sect sent a number of students this year. One of them surely would be able to comprehend the Hidden Thunder Lightning God Cultivation Technique," a Master whispered to himself.

"Oh, look at that young man, his innate Cultivation Point seems to be quite large and profound for his age. He must have been cultivating since a very young age."

"What's this? That young woman there seems to possess incredibly profound Elemental Quark. Could she possess the fabled Primordial Divine Goddess Meridians?"

"Ah, that young man is Elder Jing's grandson, isn't it? He would probably pass the selection without any problems. The Piercing Sky Cultivation his family is famous for will definitely ensure his skills in Air Elemental Quark manipulation."

Why do I feel like I'm in the market and these guys are picking out the vegetables and meat?

I remember I had never been interested in the selections so this scene is quite new to me. The me from the past life would always come up with an excuse to miss it so that I can continue to train myself during this time.

Still, I can't deny that I'm quite enjoying this atmosphere.

Considering how I never heard of any other notable disciples here in my past life, I was honestly not expecting much from this batch actually.

But seeing how excited these Elders and Masters are, I can't help but retort all their words in my mind.

'Phoenix Fire? Boy, I've seen real phoenixes and comparing phoenix flames to those group of young pups are like comparing an inferno to a wicker candle flame!'

'Hidden Thunder Lightning God Cultivation technique? That Cultivation Technique is nothing but a joke cultivation one of the ancestors created in the past! It was meant as nothing but a prank technique to create clouds that produce fart sounds!'

'Large and profound Cultivation Point? Are you sure you're not mistaking that for his fat belly? No matter how I see it, that man is just fat with a completely average Cultivation Point!'

'Primordial Divine Goddess Meridians? Heavens, if someone were to possess such meridians here in the Earthen Plane, they would have ascended past the Cloud Plane long ago much less appear here! Those Meridians are nothing but a cheat! I've only heard about one person in existence who has it and it's definitely not her.'

'Oh my god, I can't believe the Piercing Sky Cultivation is still being practised here! It is entirely inefficient for people who are already proficient with manipulating Air quark! Scratch that, it is just inefficient to anyone in general! That technique is like using your Pure quark to convert to Fire, then to Water, then to Earth before finally changing to Air Quark, why would anyone even do that?!'

My disbelief seemed to have shown on my face since Elder Qing prodded me with an elbow.

"Master Lin, did you sense something to be making that face?"

I quickly schooled my features back to an image of calmness, "No… I'm just surprised that so many people came this year."

Elder Qing smiled, "Hmmm, that's true, I think there's twice the number compared to the year you came here."

I breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't doubt my words.

A hand landed on my shoulder which made me jerk in surprise. Turning back, I see Sect Master Long giving me a grin.

"Master Lin, why don't you go initiate them to the test? I'm sure they will be more motivated if they see you there."

I raised an eyebrow, why would they be more motivated to see a Master as young as me there? Surely they will be filled with thoughts of nothing but contempt and jealousy?

"Me? Why would they? I think my presence will do the opposite," I inquired.

"Ha ha ha!" The Sect Master laughed. "It seems you forgot what a commotion you caused two years ago Master Lin! Everyone in this continent knows your skills and intellect are unmatched and many sought to learn under you, you know?"

Two years ago? When I was promoted to Master rank? Why would they be happy abo-- Oh… This is the Earthen Plane, the people aren't as petty as they are on the other Planes. I completely forgot about that.

But still, I want an easy life. This kind of responsibility doesn't seem like someone who wants an easy life would do.

"Umm… Sect Master, I don't think I'm suited to do it."

"Oh? What are you saying? You don't need to do anything other than just wishing them well for the test, then use a little of your Pure quark to suppress them as the first test."

I pursed my lips, trying to think of another excuse to reject the role but an idea struck me. I could actually use this chance to scope out potential disciples!

Sure there are potential disciples within the Sect I could choose from, but they already have their own commitments and responsibilities to attend to, making them a part time disciple at best. If I were to take a disciple from within this new group under my wing, I could train them full time which let's them aid me in all my responsibilities everyday!

Can't believe I almost passed up this opportunity.

I gave the Sect Master a smile of mock defeat, "Very well, I shall go see them."

The Sect Master nodded with a brighter smile before letting go off my shoulder.

I made my way towards the doors of the Grand Hall, still hiding myself within the shadows to take a look at the gathered potential Sect members out in the Grand Courtyard. Some of them came from obviously well to do families judging by the flamboyant clothes they wore while others are less so from their patchwork clothing and dusty looks.

The crowd seemed to congregate into three groups, the ones from the poorer families in the back, the richer second generations at the front while the rest gathered in the middle.

I shook my head slightly, in the Practitioner world, the wealth of your family does not determine your standing in a Sect. Most sects believe in meritocracy and would put more consideration into Practitioners who show talent. I did manage to get to where I was despite coming from a normal common family after all.

I guess this is the difference in ideals between Practitioners and non-Practitioners.

Speaking of which, I should probably visit my family one day, I wonder how they're doing now?

That was then I noticed a distinct gap between the poorer people and the common people. Within the gap stood a lone person wearing a tattered dirty long cloak with a hood covering their face. The sleeves of the cloak were torn to reveal extremely thin arms that had scars and cuts on them, suggesting the cloak was there to hide the other blemishes underneath.

Seemingly noticing my gaze, the figure looked towards my direction, a flash of piercing yellow eyes meeting my gaze for a moment before disappearing into the shadow of the hood again.

I wonder where have I seen those eyes before?

Shaking my thoughts away, I sucked in a breath before stepping towards the exit of the Grand Hall to the Grand Courtyard outside.

Time to initiate my plan to an easy life!

Chapter 4 - Thirst For Power

(Hooded Person POV)

My name is Lian Li, one of the only survivors of the Autumn Massacre.

I was born and raised in the village in the fringes of the BeiYang continent where our way of life centered around hunting animals and forestry.

I was raised by my mother to be the perfect wife for my father's friend's son, whom they had arranged a marriage to before I was even born.

I hated him.

Just because Father's friend saved my mother's life, they made this stupid agreement without thinking about their unborn daughter's feelings.

Not like they would since in such a village like ours, having a daughter was more of a burden. Only the men worked while women stayed at home.

A daughter would just be another mouth to feed to a family, so why not send her off to someone else and let her be their problem?

The son was cruel and a useless scum, always bullying the weaker kids and treating others like trash while lazing around all day. Sure he would put on a kind, smiling face in front of the adults but in their absence his cruel nature would be revealed.

Even when I tried to tell them the truth, no one would believe me, thinking I was jealous of all the praises he was receiving.

I was set to marry him on my sixteenth birthday, but for good or bad, monsters came to attack our village the day before the marriage, tearing the buildings down and devouring anyone in their way.

My parents had entrusted me to the scum son to bring me to safety while they sacrificed themselves to buy time for us. Though they hadn't done much for me when I was young, I had wanted to die with them since it was a better fate than being this scum's property.

Probably knowing my decision, he managed to knock me out to take me with him.

When I finally woke up, the scum had bounded my limbs in preparation to * me. Seeing as how he could not touch me back when my parents were around as they wanted to keep me pure before marriage, he wanted to vent out his sexual frustrations there and then.

I'm not surprised a scum like him could still think of such things right after our village was destroyed.

Despite my struggles, he managed to push his disgusting thing inside me.

My screams must have attracted the monsters because a pack of them had appeared then.

That scum immediately bolted for the trees, thinking the monsters would go for me instead of him. Unfortunately for him, they had chosen to chase after him instead, completely ignoring me.

I admit I felt a little sense of glee when I heard his screams of agony.

With nothing else for me, I had thought to let my life end there as well, but something told me I would regret it if I died there.

Cutting my bindings on a protruding rock, I managed to find my way out of the forest to the next village, passing them the news of the monster attack.

They wanted me to stay there but I had nothing to offer so I refused, making my way towards the capital city of Jin where my mother used to tell me stories about when I was young. Naive as I was, I believed I could begin a new life there with nothing on my back.

I learned later that a monster had gained enough intelligence to gather the surrounding monsters together to form a community, invading our village to establish its domain. With my news of the monster attack, the village managed to request the help of a few Adventurers and nearby Sects to eliminate the monsters, though they were too late to save anyone there.

The event was later known as the Autumn Massacre, where the monsters had invaded just as the leaves began to fall, like how my village fell to them.

As for me, Jin city held no hope for me.

No one was interested in a scarred, dirty and starving girl with piercing yellow eyes and muddy blonde hair. I was forced to scrape by on trash heaps while fighting with the other slum residents for food and space for survival.

The syndicate that controlled the shadows also exploited us slum squatters. I would sometimes be taken in to 'entertain' their people, either corrupt officials or other crime bosses.

At least they fed us sometimes and the food was better than what I would be able to scavenge.

It was the worst four years of my life.

I had contemplated suicide more than once but I felt like surviving as long as I could to spite that scum son who had died so pathetically back in that forest. It might have been a foolish notion but I had nothing else to live for at that time.

Sometime during my fourth year as a slum squatter, I was jumped by four men who wanted the bread I managed to steal from the bakery shop.

In my panic as they assaulted me, I unconsciously channeled Elemental Quark into my Cultivation Point and disintegrated them into ashes. Till this day I still don't know what I did, but I never regretted my actions.

Knowing that I was now a potential Practitioner, I crawled out of the slums to find the Heaven Sect, the strongest Sect in this continent.

I knew that only by having power will one not be trampled on in this world. I will learn from that Sect and obtain power, then stand at the top of this world and watch it burn for all the wrongs it has done to me!

My arrival had been fortunate as it was at the time of their entrance test, everyone from all walks of life had gathered here hoping for admission.

The disciples near the entrance had preached about their Sect values and rules which I cared nothing about. I was only there for power and that's the only thing I will care for.

They gathered us in some giant courtyard, telling us a senior member would come out to greet us soon to initiate the first test.

The crowd immediately separated themselves into four groups. The poor, the average, the rich and me.

Not even the poor would want to associate themselves with a slum squatter like me. And even if anyone wanted to, my glare would be enough to keep them away.

Sensing someone looking at me, I looked up at the giant building ahead to see a man standing within its shadows, staring at me.

I quickly dismissed him as a curious disciple, dropping my gaze back down to my feet.

That was when He stepped into my life, changing everything.

Chapter 5 - I Screwed Up?

(MC POV)

"Good day potential Heaven Sect members," I greeted while strolling into the Grand Courtyard. "I am Master Lin and I shall be the first test for your entry into Heaven Sect and your path to be a Practitioner."

Murmurs immediately exploded throughout the courtyard though I paid no attention to its contents, my mind busy with thinking of what to say.

"Know that the path ahead is not an easy one, but if you persevere and never falter, you will obtain what you seek."

I crossed my arms, "I will not lie, some of you may not pass today, some of you may find that you are not suited on the path of the Practitioner. To those I can only offer my condolences and wish you the best in your future endeavors. But to those who will become a Heaven Sect Practitioner, I hope you will never forget the path you took to be amongst us. A Practitioner is more than just someone who cultivates Elemental Quarks."

I spread my arms in a welcoming gesture, "What you learn here is up to you, we of the Heaven Sect can only guide you in your studies. It is my sincerest hope that I will see all of you as members of Heaven Sect!"

I took a moment to look around again, seeing some people with eyes of determination while others seem rather disinterested, probably confident of their abilities, I suppose.

Heh, I somehow managed to make up that speech on the spot, don't doubt my ability to bullshit my way out of dangerous situations back on those two accursed Planes!

Relaxing my posture, I began circulating my Elemental Quark, directing them towards the centre of my Cultivation Point. Damn, how I missed this feeling!

You truly never know what is precious until you lose it, at least all the knowledge I gained from those higher Planes can be used to easily improve myself now.

"Now, without further ado, here is your first test! Receive my Elemental Pressure!"

I roared as I let out the blast of quarks I had been storing, enveloping the entire Courtyard.

(Lian Li POV)

The person whom I thought was a curious disciple stepped out and introduced himself as some 'Master Lin'. Since I wasn't really familiar with Sect rankings and whatnot, I didn't know how important he was.

Almost immediately, I heard the people around me whisper frantically when he said his name.

"Master Lin?! You mean THAT Master Lin?!"

"Damn! Who else can it be?! The genius who was promoted to Master at the age of twenty!"

"Don't tell me it's that guy who was rumored to have achieved Advanced tier in all four common elements before eighteen?!"

"Damn, we're both unlucky and lucky for him to be here huh?"

"Tell me about it! I never dreamt that I'll meet him in person but if he's going to be the first examiner, I'm doomed!"

It seems like this Master Lin is quite a big shot, not that I care anyway. Unless he can give me the power I wanted, he'll just be another nobody in my eyes.

"Here is your first test! Receive my Elemental Pressure!"

The words barely echoed off the walls of the courtyard before a sense of dread overwhelmed me.

My whole body suddenly felt extremely heavy as something pressed me downwards with force.

That pressure enveloped my entire body, seeping its way under my skin and straight into my soul. I gasped as breathing suddenly became harder, my vision blurred and the edges began to darken.

I clawed at my throat as I desperately tried to suck in air, my lungs seemingly refusing to obey.

Fear began clawing its way into my heart, it's claws sinking deeper and deeper into my core.

The fear of death.

I hadn't feared death before.

When the monsters destroyed my village I wanted to die with my parents.

When the scum son raped me, I wanted the monsters to kill me after I was sullied.

When I was alone within the slums, death was like a neighbour you greeted every day with a nod and smile. Even when I was assaulted by those men, I felt more panic than dread.

I looked up, trying to see how that man was exuding such pressure.

The moment my eyes met his, everything around me instantly darkened to blackness.

It was like staring into the abyss while free falling into it. I reached out my hand but I couldn't even see the tips of my fingers.

Then I felt the eyes on me, the bone-chilling gaze staring deeply into me like it could see the darkest depths of my soul.

The pressure constricted around my throat as I fell deeper and deeper into the darkness, I could hear my heart hammering in my chest and my mind desperately screaming at me to run.

My body refused to budge an inch while my heartbeat sounded louder and louder, shutting out every other sound.

All of a sudden, there was a 'pop' sound and the world regained its colour again.

I found myself standing at where I had been, my own hands wrapped tightly around my throat.

The crowd that had initially stood tall and proud now lay in crumpled heaps on the ground. Some of them completely still, others twitching slightly with their eyes rolled back and foam coming out from their mouths.

Master Lin stood unmoving at where he was originally, his face impassive while staring straight at me. I immediately dropped my hands to my sides, suddenly conscious of myself.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, that action making me hold my breath, worried that I had somehow disappointed him.

He frowned before turning his back on the courtyard, walking back towards the way he came.

I only remembered to breathe again when his figure disappeared from sight.

That was power.

No, he was absolute power.

How foolish I had been. I was nothing but a frog in a well. The Heaven Sect being my stepping stone to my path of revenge? Laughable.

I was probably nothing but a footnote in his eyes.

I sank to my knees, joining the rest of the crowd on the ground.

(MC POV)

What the hell?

Why did half of the Courtyard collapse? Why is that guy even spasming on the ground? Is he having a seizure?

No no no, more people are collapsing as well, what the hell is going on?

All I did was condense my Pure quark as much as I could before sending it out in a wave that contained a little of my killing intent. It's a little trick I managed to pick up from the dragons in Cloud Plane.

I would often be used by that psycho to lure out young dragons for that lunatic to kill and harvest their parts. The dragons would think I'm easy prey and use this method to stun me into a paralysed state.

But after I've been constantly subjected to it, I learnt how they did it and even managed to become a little resistant to it.

I thought if I used it here the most they would feel would be a little fear. The 'talented' ones should be able to shrug of this intimidation with a little effort.

I'm not a dragon after all, so the fear effect should be lessened. Why does it actually look amplified here instead?

I only wanted to see which of them could actually withstand the pressure so I could easily seek out the more talented ones, but who knew this would happen...

I quickly dispersed the pressure, but it seems like everyone in the Courtyard had already collapsed.

No wait, that cloaked figure is still standing!

That figure dropped their arms to their sides, which seemed to be holding something around their neck just now. I narrowed my eyes at them, wondering if they were wearing a necklace or maybe hiding some artifact in their hands.

If they were using an artifact to negate my pressure, it would reflect nothing on their innate ability. Were they planning on cheating their way into Heaven Sect?

I was thinking of confronting the cloaked figure but I remembered the whole Courtyard is now unconscious because of me.

I frowned, wondering how the hell am I supposed to fix this mess.

This is beyond embarrassing for me… If I confront that cloak figure now and it turns out my hunch was wrong, I would probably lose all credibility and my face in this Sect.

Well… At least what's left of it after what I just did.

I better think of an excuse for this or I can say bye bye to my easy life.

Better play it safe...

I turned around to return back to the other Elders and Masters, hopefully someone there can fix this screw up.

I was surprised that I returned to the sound of clapping.

What? Why are they applauding me? Aren't they angry about the screw up?

"Magnificent, Master Lin!" Sect Master Long laughed heartily. "Only you could come up with this way to test their resolve and innate Cultivation Points at the same time! Marvelous!"

Huh? What the hell is this guy talking about?

What resolve? What innate Cultivation Point? Didn't I just make them all piss themselves?

One of the Elders nodded while stroking his beard, "Indeed, when your Pure Elemental Quark spread through the Courtyard, their Cultivation Points reacted quite splendidly. We can already easily tell who has the potential to become Practitioners just from that, negating the need for the next few tests."

"I've never seen such a mastery over Pure quarks before, as expected of our Sect's Master Lin."

"The ones who managed to stay awake for even a second shows great innate potential as well, they must have great mental strength to withstand that pressure."

"Hahaha! That means there are a lot of talents this year!"

"Yes, this test that Master Lin devised has saved us a lot of time and is much more accurate."

"The hooded one is interesting as well, we should keep an eye on them."

"Umu, as expected of Master Lin, truly the blessing of Heavens."

I just stood there with a strained smile while hearing their praises.

Sect Master Long clapped his hands together to silence the commotion, "Very good! Since there's no need to carry out the preliminary tests anymore, have the potential members move to the final test area while the others are escorted out."

"Yes, Sect Master."

The Elders and Masters moved to carry out as instructed, while I still stood rooted to the spot.

What the hell?

Chapter 6 - First Disciple

(Lian Li POV)

"Congratulations to all of you who have passed Master Lin's test. I am Elder Gong and I'll be here to facilitate your final test to see if you can be admitted to our Heaven Sect."

An old geezer rambled on in front of us.

There's a surprising number of people who passed. I thought the main point of the first test was to see who could withstand that enormous pressure that he radiated, it seems I was too naive.

But all that didn't matter now, if I pass this test, I will be a step closer to him. He could help me achieve the power I sought for.

"This test is a simple one," the old geezer continued. "There are multiple orbs in front of you, step up to one and circulate your own Elemental Quark inside your Cultivation Point. The orb will measure your potential and we will be able to assign a teacher to you based on your skills."

That sounds simple enough, I already had experience manipulating my innate Elemental Quarks on my journey here, though I could never seem to materialise it. That will change here.

"Now if there are no questions, form lines behind an orb and begin."

Queuing up behind one of the orbs I awaited my turn to be tested.

(MC POV)

I was still a little in shock on how things have progressed.

Standing beside the rest of the Elders and Masters, we watched the prospective Sect members line up in front of the orbs to have their Cultivation Point tested.

The orbs would measure the purity and quantity of their Pure Elemental Quarks within their body, they would then be assigned to classes of students with similar statuses. This would allow them to learn and grow with each other easily.

Oh, the cloaked person is stepping up now, I should pay attention to their potential.

The orb will display a number when a Practitioner circulates their Elemental Quark numbering from zero to ten, with zero being a complete lack of Pure Elemental Quark and ten being an overwhelming amount.

To date, there has not been a single Practitioner that has received a ten grading upon entry, even I only received an eight before reaching where I am now, where I would probably shatter the orb if I tried.

Hm? Looks like the result is out. Judging by how they had remained conscious after my Elemental Pressure, they should have quite a large amount of innate Elemental Quark.

I moved to the side to get a better glimpse of their orb.

Eh?

Zero?

No wait. That can't be right?

"Ah… It seems like that cloaked person managed to pass the first test through a fluke of some kind," an Elder remarked.

"A pity," another agreed.

"Someone escort them out please."

Hmm.. Does that mean they were actually using an artifact? But I don't think there are any such artifacts in the Earthen realm that could fake a Cultivation Point.

Unless it's something that was dropped from a higher Plane?

That's possible...

Could that artifact be a lead to the destruction in five years time?

This I definitely had to check.

Ignoring the rest, I strode forward towards the cloaked figure who seemed to be at a loss at the moment.

I reached out and grabbed their wrist, shocking them into looking up at me.

Oh, she's a girl.

But I didn't have time to ponder that as I dragged her with me towards my own courtyard. I needed to check the artifact on her without anyone else knowing what I knew about the other Planes. Ugh, I had been hoping I could have an easy life this time around too…

(Lian Li POV)

When I saw the zero appear on the orb, I thought my life was over.

That zero could only mean I had no innate Pure Elemental Quark.

No doubt I would be escorted out of the Sect right after this, then it would be back to the slums for me.

At that point in time, my mind was too filled with despair to even consider how I could've killed those men that assaulted me if I had zero Elemental Quark.

But at my lowest point, a hand reached out to grab me from the abyss.

I looked up in surprise to see my saviour, a pair of dark brown eyes stared straight back at me.

"Come with me," he spoke firmly, leaving no room for argument.

I had no choice but to follow behind my saviour.

That was how I found myself standing in his personal courtyard, nervously grasping my fingers in front of him.

"Show me your neck," he ordered.

I complied, pulling down my hood and collar to show my neckline.

For some reason, that action made him frown, was it because of my battered face?

I had cut my once long blonde hair short since longer hair would give other slum squatters an opportunity to grab it in a fight. Not to mention my face was filled with half healed scars and cuts that I had received from my various brawls.

"No artifact… Then innate quark?" I heard him murmur.

He stretched out his palms to me, "Put your palms on top of mine."

I complied and gasped when he clasped my hands gently, a light shock going through my body the moment we touched.

A warm feeling spread through me, and I did not need a mirror to know my cheeks were flushed.

What was this feeling?

I looked at him timidly.

His eyes were closed while his face was relaxed, a slight breeze blowing through his short black hair. I admired his angular jawline and thick eyebrows, my eyes following his neckline towards his chiseled chest hidden under his pure white robes.

The warm feeling spread itself towards my belly, making my knees quiver in pleasure.

I had never felt this way before.

Why was I feeling this way? And only in front of him?

The feeling immediately dissipated when his hands released mine, a mewl of disappointment escaping my lips before I could contain it.

"I will take you as my disciple."

I took a while to comprehend his words.

"You are special," he declared with a slight smile on his face. "I will guide you to your full potential which no one on this Plane can. I will care for you and protect you as you learn, all I need is that you do the same for me. Do you accept?"

I am… Special? I… Am needed?

No one has ever said that to me before.

I was the daughter destined to marry the village scumbag, no one caring about what I wanted.

I was the nobody among the slum squatters, no one caring if I lived or died.

I was the failure who didn't even have any Pure Elemental Quark within her.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I knelt down on a knee.

"Disciple Lian Li greets her Master."

For He who has pulled me from the abyss, I have decided to give my everything to Him.

He would be my everything.

(MC POV)

That was really scary.

When I realised she had no artifacts on her, I took the chance to sense her Cultivation Point.

Pouring my own quark through her Quark Veins, I located her Cultivation Point around her belly area.

Divine Lightning quark.

It was obvious the orb couldn't sense any Pure Elemental Quark from her since she had none. Her entire body was filled with Divine Lightning quark.

Practitioners who do not possess Pure Elemental quarks are exceedingly rare within the Earthen Plane, it is no wonder that people like her go unnoticed.

Now I know why her eyes looked familiar.

She was the one that was known throughout the Cloud Plane as the Goddess of Retribution. She had wreaked havoc alongside another Practitioner as they hunted down Sects that practiced inhumane Cultivation Techniques like using blood of the innocent as catalysts or raping defenseless young women.

Too bad the psycho was too insignificant in the grand scheme of things for them to notice and rescue me...

Well crap.

She's the one that would have caused the disaster five years from now isn't she?

Divine Lightning is a combination of Lightning and Light quarks, while Lightning is obtained from Energy and Air quarks. Energy could only be obtained by combining the four common quarks of Fire, Water, Air and Earth, making her compatible with learning every afore-mentioned elements at an extremely fast pace.

In other words, she's a heaven sent genius.

Good thing she accepted being my disciple.

I doubt anyone else in this Sect knows how to help her cultivate her Divine Lightning quark. If I bring her on the right path, there shouldn't be any disaster in five years time, right?

I guess I should be happy that my easy life should be safe now.

…

That's a flag isn't it?

Chapter 7 - First Victims

(Lian Li POV)

Master had not only accepted me as a disciple, he healed this useless body of mine with a divine pill he had made. No doubt that pill costs a fortune and he had not even hesitated before making me swallow it.

All my scars and injuries were gone in an instant, even my hair was restored to its former beauty. But the one thing I feared to be lost forever was also returned to me.

The trembling deep within my womanhood told me my most precious place had been restored, I was unsullied again. All the wounds those filthy men had inflicted on me were gone.

Master truly is my everything.

I swore to myself then, I will definitely protect my Master from anything that sought to harm him. I must train hard to repay this new life Master has given to me!

(MC POV)

After getting her to clean up and change into a robe for student Practitioners, I healed her of her scars and cuts using a healing pill I mixed. I knew about its effectiveness first hand since I had to make tons of them back when I was still being tortured by that psycho Practitioner.

It was not really that hard to make the pill, the problem was that the recipe required immense concentration and understanding to make which I both fortunately excel at. That was also putting the fact that I was speaking as a crippled Practitioner, it's an entirely different case now.

With my previous life's experience and restored Quark Veins, I can now make them effortlessly as long as I have the materials. If something wasn't completely destroyed like my previous Quark Veins, this pill would restore it to mint condition.

Yes, this pill was the one I had tried to create back then. The ingredient that could only be found in the Cloud Plane could actually be easily substituted with Energy quarks that I could easily materialise now. The other materials needed to create this pill are actually quite common around the Earthen Plane.

Huh, I can actually make a killing off selling this, can't I?

No wait, if people knew I could make these pills, a lot of problems would come up. I definitely don't want to be stuck making pills forever.

Hmmm… I'll need to think more on it.

My new disciple started crying again after she ate it and her hair grew out into long golden locks.

I had thought she hated her hair or there was some kind of side effect but she started thanking me profusely to the point of kneeling down and kow-towing. I guess her hair meant more than I thought to her.

On another note, I was quite surprised to see that she was actually quite a beauty. Without all the scars and cuts, her face held an otherworldly charm like a fairy's.

Her eyes seemed to glow with a golden yellow hue while her full kissable lips shined brightly under the sun.

The breasts that she had binded with cloth before were let free to reveal bountiful D-cup bosoms and her curvaceous hips joined with snowy white legs that seemed to go on forever.

Whoever catches her eye in the future will be an extremely lucky man indeed.

Too bad in my other life she was a known man-hater and always wore a veil to cover her face..

For starters, I taught her how to circulate her Elemental Quark through her body to manifest her Divine Lightning. That should keep her occupied for awhile.

"Master? Is it normal to have sparks on my fingers when I do this?"

Huh… Not even five minutes and she's already materializing her Elemental Quark. Alright then, I'll teach her a Basic Cultivation Techniques for Divine Lightning.

"Master? Umm… I managed to cast the technique you gave me…"

Just a day and she's already casting techniques flawlessly. The Practitioners who spent months trying to do this are crying. Then again, I shouldn't be too much of a hypocrite since I was similar in my youth.

Wait, I'm young again, I should stop thinking like a middle aged man.

"Master? I fulfilled the conditions to summon and manipulate my lightning."

Just a month and she's already at Basic Tier for Divine Lightning. Apologize to the Practitioners who spend years training their asses off you cheater.

During this time I had not been idle either. Using my knowledge gained from the other two Planes, I managed to advance all of my four common Elemental Quarks to Master tier while similarly regaining my Basic tier for Darkness and Energy without the drawbacks. Give me a while more and I could probably get them to Journeyman soon.

...

I'm a hypocrite aren't I?

Shhhh...

Reaching this stage, I figured it might be high time for Lian Li and I to leave the Sect for a 'training journey'. If the other Elders and Masters caught wind of her godlike cultivation speed, they would assume that I was the cause and dump more disciples on me to train.

Nope, I don't want to spend so much of my free time on training after all.

Lian Li is a smart girl, I can just teach her the basics and she will figure out the rest on her own, leaving me ample time to laze around whenever I want.

I've seen our other disciples and they were definitely not as talented as her. I'll be damned if I'm going to spend every waking moment teaching them all the things Lian Li figured out on her own.

Now if I were to take her to travel the world with me, I could just explain that we had a very fortunate encounter outside which would explain her rapid progression easily.

With that in mind, I told Lian Li to pack her things and sent an extended leave of absence to the Sect, stepping foot into the outside world.

Our first stop would be the deep forests behind the Sect, hunting a few monsters should get us better acquainted with our new strength.

Monsters are essentially animals that have lost their minds due to being corrupted by Elemental Quarks, they're a rather serious menace to the environment so quelling their numbers is essential.

They should serve as the best practice targets for both Lian Li and I.

But of course, asking for things to be smooth sailing seems to be too much…

(Lian Li POV)

"This is a robbery! Males on the left! Females on the right! Hurry up!"

How dare they.

How dare they interrupt my lovely trip with my Master?

Master took the effort to bring me together with him on his mystical journey and this is what we get barely half a day out of the Sect.

These insects dare to disrupt my precious alone time with my Master.

I was tempted to just vaporise them where they stood, but I was afraid that Master may not like bloodshed. I gazed at Master a little teary eyed, prompting him to stroke my head with a smile.

Ehehehe~~

Some people may call me weird for acting cute when I'm already in my twenties, but they don't know how much joy it brings me when Master calls me his 'cute disciple'.

It's really wonderful you know?

Eh?

Wait.

Master, you're really just giving them money like that?

They're normal mortals you know? They're not even skilled Adventurers. We could have just killed them with a wave of our hand, why are we acquiescing to their demands?

Kind.

Master is too kind.

He has lived for too long within the Heaven Sect and has forgotten how cruel the non-Practitioner world could be.

While I, on the other hand, knew exactly how cruel and heartless this world is.

Even if you show others kindness, they may not reciprocate back the same kindness you have shown. Even if you choose to spare them, they will just come back with more people to hurt you.

But Master probably believes that people are inherently good, that must be why he chose to take me under his wing.

Ahhhh~~ Master I've fallen more deeply in love with you!

You don't need to change Master, you are the Light of salvation for me.

I shall be your shadow and protect you against the filthiness of this wretched world!

Yes! I will defend my Master's purity with my life!

Once I'm able to confidently walk beside Master as his equal, I'll confess my love for him! Then we'll spend the rest of our day in each others' arms doing this and that and... Kyaaaa!

What am I thinking?! How indecent! I should think about how to make Master happy first!

Yes, that comes first!

That night when we made camp, I made sure Master was asleep before I snuck out into the forest to find those wretched insects.

I could've killed them in their sleep, but I wanted them to know who they had offended.

I strung every one of them up by their manhood and tortured them slowly with my Lightning, starting with their leader of course.

They thought they could threaten my beloved Master and get away with it?

How laughable.

It is too late to beg for mercy now, so stop crying while wetting your pants, it's disgusting.

I don't even care if you are willing to give me all your money. You disturbed my lovely time with Master and even pointed your weapons at him, I'll make sure none of you will live to see the next sunrise.

Oh, but I'll take the money anyway since I want the best for Master. There's no way I'll let Master sleep in some low class inn and eat low class food.

Now, where was I?

Oh yes, your left hand first or your right hand? I have all night to do this.

Ahahahahaha~~

You ask me why am I doing this? Didn't I already tell you? You dare, dare, DARE threaten my Master. Even offering your life is not enough to compensate for this travesty!

You were just trying to survive?

Why should I care?

Everyone else but Master is insignificant. All of you should just perish.

Did anyone care when I was in the slums? Or when I was being raped?

No. Master was the only one who took me out of that hell.

Your fate was sealed the moment you threatened my beloved Master.

Now, don't make me repeat myself again, your left hand, or your right hand first? And don't scream so much, you might wake my Master and that would trouble Master greatly.

I do not like things that trouble Master you know?

Chapter 8 - Fox Predicament

(MC POV)

I can't believe we got robbed less than half a day from leaving the Sect.

Yeah, it's true I could probably just kill them where they stood, but I remembered that Lian Li had the possibility of destroying this entire Plane in the future.

I should try to minimize the amount of human deaths she witnesses while learning under me just in case something like that triggers her desire to rid the world of humans.

Yes I should teach her the path of compassion and kindness so she wouldn't possess any thoughts of destroying the world.

Of course if those bandits had wanted to get violent, I won't hesitate to retaliate as well. Lian Li's and my own safety comes first before anything else.

Good thing they left right after taking my money or I'll need to spend a lot of time teaching her about the difference between self-preservation and genocidal tendencies.

But even after saying all that, we're now flat broke.

I still have a lot more money stored back in my house within the Sect, but going back now with the reason that 'I got robbed' will make me lose too much face.

At least we're still camping out in the forest for now, so money is not really needed.

"Master, I found this by the river," Lian Li's melodious voice woke me from my thoughts.

I looked towards her to find her holding a large sack in her hands.

Curious, I gestured for her to pass me the sack to open it, only to find the bag filled to the brim with gold coins.

"What is this?" I asked, utterly shocked.

Lian Li's face brightened, "The heavens must have been moved by your kindness to those bandits Master! This gold must be your reward for having such a compassionate soul!"

That sounds unbelievable no matter who heard it.

But Lian Li was looking at me with her fists clenched to her chest and eyes full of sparkles that it was hard to retort against her.

This gold probably belonged to some wealthy merchant who hid his stash of emergency gold here for some reason. Not that I would know anyway. At least this will solve our current money shortage.

I swore to myself that I will surely return this gold should we find a merchant looking for this sack of gold.

Nodding to myself, I began training my cute disciple in utilising her quarks.

Cue the training montage!

Eh? Too early? Who cares? I'm the Master here you know?

A few weeks passed uneventfully as we cultivated our quarks, both of us managed to reduce the number of monsters within the forest to a low enough number, ensuring the safety of this forest for a long while.

Lian Li being the genius that she was already managed to get her Divine Lightning to Journeyman tier while the four common Elements were already at Basic Tier.

I made similar advancements with my Darkness Element while managing to practice some techniques I was unable to do back when I was crippled.

Who knew there was so much more to Pure Element's utility rather than being a catalyst for other elements?

I had planned for us to remain here for a few more months but a messenger spirit from my Sect arrived with a message for me.

Apparently some fox youkai in the nearby mountains had requested our Sect for aid in fighting off a powerful monster. They had stressed that the monster was an extremely powerful one and requested for the strongest Practitioner my Sect could provide.

Monsters are born when animals become corrupted after absorbing Elemental Quarks whereas animals who gained intelligence without corruption become youkais. It does not mean all youkai are harmless to humans though as some still retain their bestial nature even as youkais.

The fox youkai are one of the few who have friendly relations with humans, more because their entire population is female which meant they look towards human males as potential mates than anything else.

Still, since there's a lot of perverts in the human's community, I don't think the males chosen as mates mind being picked. The fact that most, if not all, fox youkai are usually exceedingly beautiful probably helps too.

Although I've heard of how some males who reject a fox youkai's advances go missing without a trace before, but nothing ever pointed the cause to the fox youkais.

Seeing as how I was already out in the field, I see no reason not to accept this request. This would also serve as another possible 'fortunate encounter' for us anyway. It's definitely not because I was interested in seeing how beautiful they were for myself, not at all.

Packing our bags, we hit the road once more towards the snowy mountains of the fox youkai village.

It took three days to reach our destination, a tall imposing torii gate standing proudly at the top of the mountain. All around us was endless piles of snow, if a Practitioner was unable to circulate Fire quark in his body here, they would have frozen to death long ago.

In front of the torii gate stood a young woman wearing their traditional kimono, the nine fox tails behind her and her vulpine ears a dead giveaway of her being a nine-tailed fox youkai.

The greater number of tails, the more proficient the fox is in utilizing their Elemental Quarks. A nine tail is similar in proficiency to an Elite Practitioner in Earthen Plane Sects, though individuals might differ. The most I've heard is the Thousand Tailed Fox Spirit that lives beyond the Cloud Plane, whether it really has a thousand tails is anyone's guess.

I glanced at the fox youkai, her waist-length hair was dark orange bordering on brown, matching her tails and fox ears in colour while her kimono was a contrasting aqua blue with white flower petals imprinted on it. There was a faint trace of red lipstick adorning her lips while her eyes were hidden behind attractively long lashes, making it seem as though her eyes were perpetually closed.

What really stood out were her firm bosoms that seemed to be a cup size larger than Lian Li's. How she managed to maintain that straight posture without back pains is a wonder.

As soon as we reached the gate, the fox youkai gave a bow.

"Greetings, I am Manami, a resident of the Snow Fox village. Are you perhaps Master Lin from the Heaven Sect here to fulfill our request?"

I nodded, partially wondering why Lian Li was gripping my arm so tightly. Was she not good with Youkais?

How thoughtless of me, I have to make sure to pamper her a little later to make up for it.

"Yes, I've come to assist in the subjugation of the monster," I confirmed.

Manami nodded, stepping aside to gesture towards the gate, "Please, this way. The situation has become quite dire."

I stepped through the gate with Lian Li still clutching my arm lightly.

The hiss I thought I heard coming from her as we passed Manami must have been my imagination.

The moment our feet passed the boundaries of the gate, our vision shifted and the empty area behind the torii gate was empty no more.

A small village filled with Minka houses were spread out among the snow.

Many fox youkai were going about their businesses, a few welcomed us with curt bows which I returned with one of my own.

I noticed that none spared Manami a glance though.

"Am I going to meet the village leader?" I asked, ignoring the hissing noises coming from Lian Li.

"Unfortunately, that's the problem. The monster has taken her hostage, demanding we vacate this area so that it can live here."

"Oh? An intelligent one then?"

No wonder they wanted me here, monsters that have gained intelligence are in a league of their own.

"Yes. The reason it hasn't taken this place by force is because it believes there's a nine tailed fox protecting this village. It could still overwhelm us with its pack but it would rather not take the losses it would incur."

I raised an eyebrow at her, "There isn't?"

A hint of sadness crossed her features as her tails shifted like mist, most of them disappearing into short stumps, leaving her with only one complete tail.

"Ah… Damaged Quark Veins," I sighed, familiar with her condition.

She nodded, hugging her last tail with her arms, "It was a mistake I made fifty years ago, now I'm only able to use a little of my Space quark to make the illusion that my tails are still fine to trick monsters into leaving us alone. I have tried various ways to repair them, but I have never succeeded."

"That's why you made the Sect Request."

"Yes, we had wanted to approach the Adventurer's Guild but we had heard the Heaven Sect's Master Lin was training his disciple nearby, so we made the request to Heaven Sect instead."

I looked towards Lian Li, just in time to see her stop hissing at Manami to look at me with beady eyes.

Does she really hate youkais that much?

I made a mental note to soothe her properly later while I turned back to Manami.

"Since I'm already here, just show me to where your leader is being kept. Oh, I'll also heal your damaged Quark Veins as well," I told her offhandedly.

Chapter 9 - Request Complete

(Lian Li POV)

I knew it!

The moment I saw this damn vixen eyeing Master I knew she was up to no good! In fact, the whole village has ill intentions with Master!

This sly fox spun a sob story about her tails and my most benevolent and kind Master healed her without hesitation.

Ah~~ As expected of Master! You're truly a blessing sent from heaven! Ehehehe~~ Master is patting my head again~~

No wait! This damn vixen is latching on to him as well!

Go away! Stop clinging onto his leg and crying!

He already healed your Quark Veins so shoo!

Stop saying that he's your destined mate and pledging your eternal servitude to him! Don't you know Master hates clingy girls?!

No no no no! Don't touch his hand! What are you doing?!

AHHHHHH SHE KISSED HIS HAND!

Who do you think you are?!

I haven't even kissed him anywhere yet!

I should've been first!

You sly vixen! How dare you sully Master! I'll slowly torture you and--

Eh?

Master?

Your hands? Eh? You're hugging me and patting me at the same time?

No… Ah~~

Stop… This feels too good… Ahhh~~

I… This… This is heaven~~

Nooo… Anymore and I'll melt~~

I'll melt! I'll really melt! I'll…

Fuwaaaahhh~~

(MC POV)

It seems like patting Lian Li and giving her a hug calmed her down.

She was probably terrified of Manami getting so close to her with how she froze up but it seems my touch was able to soothe her worries.

Manami was still kneeling in front of me after kissing the back of my ring finger.

I was confused about that part.

The moment her tails fully grew back after swallowing the pill I gave her, she began crying while hugging my leg, thanking me over and over again.

While I was still trying to calm her down, she had seized my hand and made the kiss, declaring me to be her destined mate and herself my ever loyal servant.

How the hell did a monster subjugation request turn into this?!

I mean, I expected her to be thankful but not to this extent. I thought healing her would let me have good relations with this fox youkai village, allowing me to come visit from time to time.

Now she's saying that she will follow me everywhere I go...

Ah… I suppose I could just treat it as though I picked up another disciple, she is technically a Practitioner after all.

With Manami's help, I might even help Lian Li rid her fear of youkai.

Yep, that's a great idea, two birds with one stone.

(Manami POV)

To a fox youkai, her tails are her everything.

Her status, position, power and identity all revolves around her tail.

Fifty years ago I was the strongest within the village, acting as the village guardian and was respected all around. My authority was second only to the village leader but even she was partial to my decisions.

In seeking out more power to better protect my village, I tried a forbidden technique that I discovered only for it to cripple my Quark Veins in the backlash.

When I lost my tails, all that prestige I had were gone as well.

The foxes who used to look at me with respect now only have scornful looks for me.

"Why did she have to do that?"

"It's called a forbidden technique for a reason."

"She should've been satisfied with her power, greed was her downfall."

"A guard dog who can't guard is just a dog."

I endured the harsh comments thrown at me, still trying to fulfill my duties as village guardian despite all the abuse.

However, no one feels safe with a crippled guardian. With the constant fear of monster attacks taking over them, they chose to take out their frustrations on me.

Finding a mate was also next to impossible with my state and the thought of living my life without a partner frightens me.

It was a fate I had resigned myself to after finding no cure for all those years.

If that was not enough, I had to fail my duty as guardian as well, letting a monster kidnap our leader.

I had never felt so useless and powerless in my life.

But when all seems lost, my mate and Master appeared before me, sweeping away my problems and fears with his presence alone.

He never looked at me with scorn.

I had expected disgust when I revealed my tails to him, but there were only concern and understanding in his eyes.

It was like he knew my pain and understood me.

Master thus bestowed upon me my new life.

My Quark Veins were healed, my tails entirely restored and he had also accepted my pledge of loyalty by letting me kiss his ring finger.

Yes, for He who has returned my everything to me, I will give my everything to Him.

I will be the perfect mate for Master!

(MC POV)

Manami guided us to where the monster was waiting, an unassuming cave deep in the mountain.

She told me it was a bear type monster and it managed to gather at least thirty subordinates.

The initial demands were for the fox youkai to vacate the village before they would release their leader. If their demands were not met within the week, they will devour the fox youkai leader and claim the village through force.

A giant black bear came out of the cave we arrived at, holding a fox youkai whom I assumed was the leader in its hands. Behind it, a group of ten white bears followed while growling threateningly at us.

The bear monster sniffed in our direction before growling, "You… You are the nine tails. Have you come to surrender? Who are the ones with you?"

My, my, for a monster it sure is inquisitive.

Before Manami can respond to its questions, I had already pierced its head with an ice shard that instantly froze the top half of the monster.

The other monsters didn't even have the time to react when my earth spears exploded out from the snow beneath them, piercing through their hearts and instantly killing them.

Without missing a beat, I sent out my Dark quarks into the cave, skewering every bear monster inside.

What? Did you think I would stand there and let the enemy monologue while having a hostage in its hands? Or did you think I would try to make peace with these monsters? That's just naive thinking.

If the enemy presents an opportunity for you to strike, just take it.

Wasting time talking will put the hostage in a much more precarious situation than they already are, so why take the risk?

Huh? A long and epic battle?

You think I'm a level one noob that just started his first quest?

No way will I have trouble killing a few monsters like this, this is the Earthen Plane after all. Give me a dragon and I'll probably run away though.

Now that that's done, let's just return to the village with the unconscious leader.

I guess I'll just send the Request rewards to the Sect then we'll continue our training journey.

That reminds me, would this village be alright without Manami as their guardian?

Chapter 10 - Deja Vu

(Manami POV)

It didn't take much for me to leave the village.

All I had to do was tell leader that I found my mate and she let me go.

Not like she had a choice anyway, I owe this place nothing with how they've treated me. The village leader did nothing when I was crippled too, so she shouldn't expect me to stay after I healed myself.

This new life was granted by Master, so I belong to Master.

Another reason why I was let go so easily is probably because she knows I've found my mate.

Most people don't know about this but fox youkai mate for life.

Once a fox youkai has chosen her mate, they would usually leave their covens to live with their mate to bear their offspring. If the child is female, she will definitely grow to be a fox youkai while male children will be human and remain within human society.

In the event of a female child, the parents will raise her until she is old enough to set off towards the mother's village on her own, beginning the cycle anew.

Should the fox youkai come across a mate who does not return her affections… Well, we are all extremely proficient in hiding traces of kidnappings.

We are quite possessive after all.

Thus began my journey with my Master whom I looked forward to spending lots of time rolling in the hay with.

Except there was one problem.

This Lian Li girl.

She's Master's first disciple and I know for a fact that she harbours affections for Master as well. It is also obvious she knows that Master is my destined mate and is clear on showing me her disapproval of that fact.

I wanted to ask Master if I could warm his bed that night, only to find this busy body preventing me from doing so.

How cute.

She thinks she can deny our sacred communion?

Ufufufufu.

Don't you know Master and I are destined to be together? I don't mind sharing since we both belong to him, but what do you mean you want to wait until you're worthy before partaking the forbidden fruit that is Master?

Ara, ara? It is true that Master's greatness is truly beyond our comprehension but that is beside the point.

I wish to make love with Master, it is as simple as that.

If you wish to wait for certain conditions to be met before you claim his seed, that's your choice, don't force it on other people.

Do you even know how much I'm holding back right now?

If you were any other person preventing me from reaching Master, I would've just decapitated you right there and then.

Just as we began hissing at each other, Master poked his head out of his tent.

"Girls, no fighting ok? It's getting late as well so go to sleep, we have a long day of travelling tomorrow."

Both of us nodded meekly at his words.

Master's words are law.

I suppose I'll try again some other day.

Ufufufu, I can't wait!

(MC POV)

It seems Lian Li and Manami got off on quite a bad footing, I caught them hissing at each other outside my tent that night.

Lian Li had claimed Manami was going to 'devour Master' and 'taint Master's pure soul with her black magic', while Manami called Lian Li a 'spineless, naive little girl' who was 'only good at being a hypocrite'.

I hope they learn how to get along soon since they're both my disciples after all. Having my disciples fight with one another all the time would shatter my dream of living the easy life.

I idly wondered what I could do to help them get along? Maybe a group cultivation session would help?

That might be a good idea that I'll try out.

Unfortunately that can only take place on another day because right now we were being robbed again.

"This is a robbery! Males on the left! Females on the right!"

Huh, I just got a feeling of deja vu.

Manami was visibly angry and probably wanted to attack them but Lian Li stopped her.

It seems I succeeded in influencing her to dislike human bloodshed, I gave myself a mental pat on the back for the achievement.

I guess I should start teaching Manami the same thing too, don't want her to accidentally inspire Lian Li to destroy the world or having those thoughts herself.

I quickly gave the bandits the money they wanted and they thankfully left us alone.

Too bad it meant I lost the 'heaven-sent' gold that Lian Li found by the river. I sent a silent prayer to the merchant who probably won't see this bag of gold again.

When we made camp, I instructed Lian Li in improving her Divine Lightning control while devising a training regime for Manami to get used to her restored cultivation again.

I am teaching her from first hand experience after all.

Our current destination is the capital city of Jin, I've been thinking that it was high time I went there to look for some treasures for my dear disciples.

Oh, but now I'm broke again. Maybe I should go hunt those bandits when my disciples are asleep to get my money back?

No, no, no. I shouldn't be a hypocrite by pretending to be a benevolent teacher while doing the opposite behind my disciples' backs. Yes, I must uphold the mentality of a good teacher!

Pointless killings, bad!

Kill with good reason!

Wait, what kind of people would fit this category? Ok, not going to have a moral dilemma here, I suppose I'll just do whatever I feel I need to do.

Still, how fortunate would it be if my disciples just so happened to find another sack full of gold tomorrow morning?

(Lian Li POV)

That vixen was not happy I held her back from killing those bandit dogs.

But it seems she understood Master's infinite benevolence from how he freely surrendered his money to the bandits and asking them to let us pass.

At least there was some hope for this minx.

I managed to track down the bandits' hideout to a cave nearby at night, only to find the fox already there and stringing the bandits up by their manhoods.

She seemed to be just as surprised to see me there.

I told her about the first bandit group and how I dealt with them, that seemed to put a smile on her face.

She suggested that starting off with a whole hand is too lenient. For mistreating our beloved Master, we should ensure their suffering was as long and painful as it could be.

It seems like I was wrong about her, I had initially thought she was only aiming to breed with Master and nothing more. She really does love Master like me it seems.

But make no mistake, I would still stop her from sneaking into Master's bed if she tries to.

If Master calls for her to join him that would be another story, but to sneak into the holy sanctum that is Master's bed herself would be sacrilegious.

Jealousy?

Neither of us feel such a thing.

Master is not someone who can be possessed by anyone else.

We belong to him, there is no need to fight for him because we are already his.

He has given us more than what we can repay in our life.

As long as we understand this, we don't need to fight for his attention.

Well enough about that, we still have this group of filthy maggots to take care of first.

Now, the little finger on your left hand or the little finger on your right hand first? Both Manami and I have all night to do this.

Are you really begging for someone to save you now?

Ahahahaha~~

You misunderstand, we are here to save you, don't you know?

You have sinned so greatly against our beloved Master, so we have come to save you from living the worthless life that you have been so uselessly clinging on to all these years.

So rejoice and repent for your sins!

Now stop making me repeat myself, your left little finger or your right little finger first? I have a lot of things to cut off tonight so stop making me wait.

You should be grateful that I'm even giving you a choice you know?

(Manami POV)

Ara ara, I was quite surprised to see Lian Li gleefully torturing these bandits into crying little boys.

It seems I was quite mistaken about her being a naive little girl.

She told me she had been raped in the past and see herself as less than worthy to be loved by our great Master, thus she sought to obtain the power to walk beside Master as an equal before bedding him.

Mmm, quite a good sister she is, I shall support her in this endeavour of hers.

Make no mistake though, I will still try to get into Master's sheets as soon as I can.

Of course I will not sneak into his bed, that would make it no different from *. Anyone who would consider raping Master is less than worthy of living.

I will properly care for him like a good mate would, setting the proper mood before suggesting the two of us to have a romp in his bed. The mood is important.

I am a patient hunter after all.

Ufufufu.

I'm already having such dirty thoughts about what I want Master to do to me.

Oh no, pure thoughts, pure thoughts.

It's good that I learned from Lian Li that Master prefers pure girls, I shall strive myself to be a better mate.

Oh, but there are more pressing concerns at the moment.

Yes, Mr bandit who has stupidly chosen to ruin our travel with our infinitely benevolent Master, would you like me to start with your left eye first, or your right eye?

This big sister can also start with your fingers first like my dear sister is doing over there if you would like?

Oh my? Did you wet yourself? How deplorable.

No worries, let me just burn it off so you won't wet yourself again.

Ara ara? Could you stop screaming? It hurts my ears you know?

Oh my? Are you begging for mercy now?

Ufufufu... I don't understand how a worthless scum like you can still imagine you are worthy of mercy?

Now since I lost my patience with you, I guess I'll start off with your left eye.

Stop squirming so much or my finger might miss. Having your dirty fluids staining this body is already quite a sin by itself you know?

Fufufu, I'm fantasizing about Master filling me with his fluids now…

Ara ara, why are you screaming again? So annoying.

Here, let big sister feed you your eye.

Open wide~~

There, much better, right?

I'm such a nice sister don't you agree?

Ufufufu~~ Now for the other eye...

Chapter 11 - Dark Sect

(MC POV)

"Master, Master! Look what we found by the river!"

I looked up to see Manami and Lian Li proudly holding two sacks in their hands.

"Don't tell me…"

According to Lian Li, it seems like it was another 'heaven sent gift' for my mercy towards the group of bandits the other day.

This is definitely fishy no matter how I look at it, but seeing the sparkling eyes of Lian Li and the serene smile of Manami side by side, I just waved the uneasy feeling away while being glad that the two seemed to be more amiable to each other now.

Maybe they had a girls' pillow talk while I was asleep and resolved their differences? I guess I should just be glad that they are getting along now.

We had a long day of travelling ahead of us so I told the girls to pack up quickly.

Our journey in the morning was thankfully uneventful, I half expected a group of bandits to come rob us again. Did the Earthen Plane always have this many bandits?

The girls on the other hand became really active, both of them seemingly trying to get my attention for some reason.

Lian Li would ask if my legs ached from the walk and offer to massage my feet for me. I rejected of course, since I wanted to cover as much ground as we could today, I did tell her I might consider it tonight though.

Manami would serve me tea from a flask that I had no idea when she prepared beforehand, seemingly appearing out from under her sleeves whenever I'm not looking.

The tea was exquisite and I told her so which made her beam at me, probably proud of her tea making skills.

Tea is the water of life to us Practitioners after all.

Sometimes they would talk to each other, probably trying to get to know each other better. I tried not to eavesdrop on them them since it's girl talk and a gentleman shouldn't involve himself in a lady's private matters.

As we stopped for our afternoon break, I spotted something that I didn't think I would find here.

"Is that…"

"Oh my, a Phoenix Ember? I never thought I would see one up close," Manami mused, noticing the same flower I had under a tree.

Phoenix Ember? Oh right, those were what they were known as in the Earthen Plane. I almost said the name they were called in the Spiritual Plane: Practitioner Droppings.

You see, these flowers bloom in areas of high concentration of Pure Elemental quarks. Usually this meant around areas with many Practitioners gathered in a single place or a location with an abnormal concentration of Pure Elemental quarks.

Our Heaven Sect probably sees one or two blooming every year within our Sect grounds. It is quite rare and valuable here in the Earthen Plane since it can be used to make quite a number of cultivation pills.

A single petal on the flower could reach around two thousand gold at least, that's enough money for a normal mortal to live in luxury for the rest of their lives with enough left over for their grandchildren too. Even the current me only had enough money to buy two petals at most.

A normal loaf of bread would probably cost around one copper while a night stay at the best inn in Jin city is around two silvers. A hundred copper would make up one silver while a hundred silvers will make up one gold. You can tell how incredibly valuable the flower is when it costs the same as twenty million loaves of bread.

If you ate a loaf of bread everyday, you would have enough for more than fifty-four thousand years. That's a lot of bread.

Practitioners would usually keep the flower for themselves than to sell it, which drives the price even higher.

But in the Spiritual Plane and beyond where almost every other Tom, Dick and Harry are Practitioners, they are treated almost like weed.

Useful, sure, but they grow back so fast that people are paid to remove them instead of the other way around.

Lian Li clapped her hands together, "To be able to find such a legendary flower by the roadside, Master truly is someone blessed by heaven!"

This girl really believes I'm some blessed child of heaven huh? You're the one that is truly blessed by the heavens you know? You Divine Lightning cheater.

But that brings the question of why this flower would bloom here? On the side of this random road under this tree? As far as I know, there wasn't a Sect around here that could be comparable to Heaven Sect in size.

My senses are also telling me that there wasn't an abnormal amount of Pure Elemental quark in the air either.

That leaves the possibility of a Dark Sect making their base around here.

Dark Sects are just basically cultists who pursue all sorts of immoral cultivation techniques to bolster their powers, exactly the ones the Lian Li of my previous life hunted to oblivion.

This place would make sense for them to set up a base as well, far enough from Jin city to not bring unwanted attention while still being near enough that they could kill or capture anyone going to and from the city.

Crap, maybe they were the actual ones who end up destroying the world?

It's highly possible that whatever forbidden arts they were practicing might have a side effect of bathing the world in Divine Lightning.

Especially considering that whatever they were doing caused a Phoenix Ember to bloom here of all places, it is definitely not something insignificant.

I guess I'll have to do some cleansing.

I can't bring the girls along since I don't want my cute disciples to see me killing these scoundrels, so I just picked the flower and announced we were camping here for the day, instructing them on their next stages of cultivation until nightfall.

Turns out Manami was quite the genius herself too. Aside from Space, she even has Astral at Intermediate Tier. Her best was Fire at Advanced while the other three common elements were at Basic tier. No wonder she was the village guardian.

Before we retired for the night, Lian Li insisted I let her massage my feet. I had wanted to turn in early so I could sneak out later to find the Dark Sect but seeing her tearful expression made me give in.

I had to admit her hands felt really good.

For some reason I felt that Lian Li was more blissful than I was.

I had to remind her that it was getting late before she finally stopped fondling my legs.

Well, time for me to exterminate some pesky Dark Sects!

Hmm? You're wondering why it seemed like I was more than eager to get rid of these Dark Sects?

Aside from the fact that everyone benefits from their extermination, I definitely do not want them going around ruining this Plane with whatever dark schemes they have and destroy my dream of an easy life.

Do you know how many times I was called out of my Sect to fix a problem these Dark Sects caused?

Oh, some fanatics managed to summon an ancient demon that's burning down villages, get Master Lin here to defeat it. Oh, a Dark Sect is performing a sacrificial ritual, get Master Lin to go break them up. Hey, another group of cultists are going around pillaging and raping in the name of their dark lord, get Master Lin to do something about it.

Sure the pay was good, but why is it always me? Just because no one was as strong as I was meant that I had to be sent alone. Solo trips gets lonely you know? Being a prodigy has its downsides too apparently.

It was especially irritating back then since I was always pulled out of my cultivation period which made me even more irritable. I admit to causing more damage than necessary sometimes…

Was that why some people feared me? Nah can't be, I'm such a nice person, right?

Oh well, after I've trained my cute disciples to be strong enough in the future, I wouldn't mind taking them along for the scenic road trips while I exterminate people like these at the side.

I should really stop procrastinating on teaching my disciples about the killing thing…

But the Earthen Plane is so peaceful you know? I don't really want them to cross that bridge this early, they should maintain their innocence for as long as they can.

Hmm? What about the bandits we've met?

Please.

I've seen some shit back in those two Planes I can tell you that. Those bandits got nothing on the monstrosities in those places.

It's like comparing cute, cuddly puppies to giant, black, oozing, slimy, multi-legged, hundred-eyed tentacle monsters summoned from the depths of the abyss. I am not joking about the tentacle monster.

Now, where could this Dark Sect be hiding?

Chapter 12 - Unum Caput Abscisum Restituitur Bis

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(MC POV)

It didn't take long to find the Dark Sect in the area.

They're always underground after all, so predictable. All I had to do was to look for some sort of pathway leading downwards hidden behind some bushes and viola, entrance to Dark Sect get.

I descended the stairs cautiously, even if I may be a powerhouse within the Earthen Plane, it never hurts to be more on guard against anything unknown. Or maybe it's just a habit I retained after being the weakest within the higher two Planes showing itself.

Still, doesn't hurt to be careful in places like this.

Two guards stood in front of a stone door with various insidious carvings on it. Before they could even raise their voice, their bodies combusted immediately. My Fire quarks burning them from inside out within a blink of an eye, not even leaving ashes behind.

I tried the door and was rather surprised that they hadn't bother locking it. Oh well, saves me the trouble of kicking it down.

The door opens up to the second level of a hall, it seems to overlook a gathering area of some sort.

At that moment, it was packed full of Dark Sect members listening to who I can only assume to be their Sect Leader. How convenient, I don't need to go around the place searching for them since they're all here.

Using a technique I learnt recently, I sent out a small pulse of Pure Elemental Quarks without my killing intent. The Dark Sect members' Cultivation Point flared, letting me sense their proficiency secretly.

This should feel like a small breeze to them.

Yeah, it's similar to what I did during the entrance test. I had been too focused on limiting my killing intent to see the secondary effects of the skill, no wonder those geezers were so excited back then.

Still, I doubt they could discern as much information as I can with this pulse.

Oh what's this? Their strongest is only capable of utilising elements at Journeyman tier? Even Lian Li wouldn't have a problem here. Easy pickings then, very nice.

Guess it's a good opportunity to polish my sword skills, never know when you might need them.

I had to depend on only my sword skills after I got crippled after all, not that it was any good against the things in those two Planes though…

Try using your sword against a horde of monsters that have extremely tough mesoskeletons, highly acidic blood and a blade tail that can pierce through seemingly anything.

I'm incredibly lucky I wasn't in their sights at that time.

Oh well, at least swords will definitely be more than adequate enough to deal with anything on the Earthen Plane.

After taking care of this Dark Sect I could probably loot this place as much as I pleased, there'll definitely be tons of treasures from all their looting, hehehe.

After all, their proficiency in Elemental Quarks is so low that I'm surprised they managed to form a Dark Sect. That points to them possessing a Cultivation Technique that could gather a huge concentration of Pure quarks around that allowed the Phoenix Ember to grow outside.

It's showtime.

I dropped down from the alcove to the hall with my sword unsheathed behind them, blocking the door that leads out of the hall.

"Hello there."

(Manami POV)

I sniffed the air.

The scent of cinnamon and lavender seemed to be drifting further and further away.

I nudged Lian Li who was sleeping beside me, still sniffing her hands that she used to massage our Master.

She shot me an annoyed look, still holding her hands to her face.

"Master is leaving camp."

That made her shoot out of the tent, frantically looking around the place.

I followed out after her, my nose catching his scent a few meters away.

"Quietly," I hissed as I motioned her to follow me.

We snuck out of the camp, following Master's scent that I tracked through the woods.

We finally spotted him kicking around a bush, both of us immediately hiding ourselves from view.

"Hmmm? Perhaps Master is taking a dump?" I suggested.

Lian Li pinched my arm, seemingly offended that I could suggest that such a divine being like Master even needs to take a dump.

Ara? Thinking about it, I don't think we've ever seen Master relieve himself, so that might be true.

We watched on as Master swept the bush aside, revealing a trapdoor that he opened up before descending into its depths slowly.

Lian Li and I waited a minute before doing the same, just in time to see him jump off an alcove ahead.

Worried, both of us sprinted forward to see our beloved Master cutting off the heads of several Practitioners with ease.

"Dark Sect," I muttered.

Lian Li nodded beside me.

Oh, Master must have realised the Phoenix Ember's growth was suspicious, signifying the presence of a Dark Sect nearby.

No one likes Dark Sects and it seems Master is no exception. I guess that's where Master draws the line for his compassion, which is still really high up considering he spared those low life scumbags who robbed him.

Ara? Master looks very displeased.

It seems even the act of killing all these lower lifeforms pains him.

Look at how his face scrunches up whenever he cuts down one of them. The way his eyes narrows and lips curl downwards as he dances through these good for nothings in his deadly blade dance.

How vexing.

It makes me want to hug him and tell him everything is alright.

Lian Li is right, we must protect Master from the impurities of this world. We shall be his sword and shield and Master shall never have to worry about the darkness of this world with us on his side.

Master should remain in the light where he glows the most brightly after all.

(Lian Li POV)

These insects.

These worthless pieces of trash.

THESE FILTHY MAGGOTS DARE SULLY MASTER!

His pained expressions… His hurtful visage… Why does Master feel for these scum unworthy of life?

How dare they?

HOW DARE THEY!

Master only wants the best for this world, why does this world continuously hurt him so?

I see now.

This world does not deserve Master.

Master is too good for this world.

Yes.

I know my purpose in life now, why I was granted this Divine Lightning.

Yes.

I am Master's first apostle, I will spread his Word to the misguided.

Yes.

I shall create a paradise for my beloved Master.

Yes.

All the impure shall burn.

YES.

All the non believers will be cleansed in death!

YES!

The whole world shall be bapt—

A sharp pain woke me from my daydreams, making me turn towards Manami who had retracted her finger from flicking my forehead.

Oh, I almost got carried away and forgot the important things.

It is thanks to Manami that I did not forget that. What a good sister she is.

(Manami and Lian Li POV)

We, as Master's disciples shall cleanse this world and forge it anew, all for our Master.

Spreading his holy word and burning the heretics.

Only those who believe shall be saved.

(MC POV)

Urgh, I need to avoid getting all this blood on me, it'll be hard to clean off later.

Hmm, this form is not right, I think I should twist my elbow this way? No, that's not it, damn my sword skills are getting rusty.

And what's this cold feeling I've been having at the back of my neck for awhile now?

Chapter 13 - Auction

(MC POV)

What a good haul today.

Even though the Dark Sect was filled with small fries, the things they had stored in their vault were quite impressive.

My storage ring was filled to the brim with all the gold, cursed weapons, cultivation techniques and manuscripts they had. I could probably sell most of these in Jin city for a good price while keeping the ones useful to us.

I'll read through the Cultivation Techniques later, there's definitely something good among them that I can make use of.

After disintegrating the corpses by burning them, I returned to the camp to realise it was already early in the morning. I must've spent too much time collecting all the loot.

Manami and Lian Li were already up and preparing breakfast.

Oh well, I guess I can say I was out taking a dump if they asked.

Contrary to what I thought, my cute disciples didn't even ask where I was at night, welcoming me back with bright smiles and a bowl of hot stew.

Ahh~ Having such cute disciples is really the best.

I need to spoil them properly later.

It was midday when we reached Jin city, the city guards welcoming us the moment they saw my Heaven Sect Master's seal.

While I was wearing my normal Heaven Sect robes, I had given Manami and Lian Li Outer Core Practitioner robes to wear.

As a Master, I can immediately promote Student Practitioners to Outer Core Practitioner at my own discretion once they fulfil the requirements.

To advance to Inner Core Practitioner, they would need to pass a test within the sect but none of us were in a rush to do so anyway.

The Sect robes were convenient since it has a hood to cover the face, hiding their world shaking beauty from view to avoid unwanted attention.

It's been a long while since I've been in this city and I believe Manami has never been here before. Lian Li on the other hand seems rather familiar with the city with how unimpressed she was.

"Lian Li, you have been here before?" I asked.

Lian Li seemed surprised by my question as it took her awhile to react, "Umm.. Ye… Yes, Master. I lived here for some time."

"That's great, you can guide us around then," I laughed, patting her head.

Lian Li nodded enthusiastically, quickly guiding us around the city.

(Lian Li POV)

Uwah~ Master is depending on me!

The four years that I've spent here were actually able to be put to use!

Don't look down on slum squatters! We need to know where everything is to navigate the city safely after all! Ah, but I'm not familiar with the higher class areas though, I should visit a few 'acquaintances' later to get information for Master.

In the meantime, Master told me his interest in visiting the auction house which I was extremely fortunate to know the location of.

With Master's status, we were guided to the VIP area where we were given a room of our own.

Giving an excuse of visiting the washroom, I slipped out of the auction house to find my 'acquaintances'.

Moving through the alleyways that I was most familiar with, I went directly to the main hideout for the city's syndicate.

Just because they have a few rather skilled Mercenary Practitioners, they could suppress the powerless masses of the slums all this time. Unfortunately for them, I'm powerless no more thanks to my most benevolent Master.

Cracking my knuckles, I proceeded with my information gathering and conversion.

This is not revenge, this is the beginning of our crusade.

(MC POV)

Seated within the VIP area of the auction house, I completed the listing of all the items I wanted to be sold with the extremely helpful receptionist.

Most of the items I sold are useless to my disciples and I, like cursed swords and impractical Cultivation Techniques. Best for me to use them to scam… I mean, sell them to others who can probably make better use of them.

I recommended her to take note of her posture since she seemed to be constantly thrusting her chest out which should be bad for her back.

She left with a smile after that.

Taking a seat within the room, I looked out of the window to see the auction hall currently filling up with guests, the auction should start in another half an hour.

I see Manami brushing her tails with a hair brush in the corner of the room, it must be hard to maintain those number of tails. The fur on her tails always seem pristine and soft after all.

Noticing my gaze, she coyly asks if I could assist her in brushing her tails.

Seeing no reason not to, I told her to sit in front of me so that I could help her with it.

Soft!

Her tails are so fluffy!

Ahh~~ I want to just sink my face into these mounds of fluff!

No, no, control myself. My image of their Master is at stake here.

But I can't believe how much I've been missing out on this fluffiness! Just stroking it with my hand is already so comfortable.

Ahhh~ Look at how her tail is curling around my hand! So fluffy~~

Mmm… While I'm at it, I brushed Manami's hair as well.

Her twitching ears are cute too. I had to hold myself back from touching them.

Yep, this is the easy life that I sought for!

Oh, the auction is starting already, regrettably, I asked the fluff… I mean Manami to take a seat behind me.

Oh, Lian Li has returned too, I didn't even notice she was already sitting behind me as well. Either I was too distracted by Manami's fluffiness or she has the skills of an assassin. I'd like to think it's the former.

"Welcome to the Golden Auction House! We have a huge selection of items for auction today! I hope all of you have come prepared as some of these are only seen once in a lifetime!"

Oh, the announcer is a two-tailed fox youkai, what a coincidence.

"The first item of the day! This fire element sword crafted by the renowned craftsman in…"

I yawned, I wasn't interested in these low class items that I could probably forge myself. If I don't see any good treasures to buy for my cute disciples here, I'll just buy some materials to forge my own.

The items I listed were sold at good prices as well, earning me a hefty profit from my looti… I mean items I liberated from the evil clutches of the Dark Sect.

After a few more necklaces, talismans and random scrolls, one of the objects caught my eye.

"Excavated from the ruins of Mount Yin itself! This beautiful opal stone was painstakingly transported all the way here! Our city's jewellery experts have said it's a new kind of gemstone that is unbreakable! The colours on the stone also shift from time to time! It is perfect as a decoration in your home! The starting bid shall be fifty gold!"

I almost lost my cool there.

That stone that reached around half a human's height is not an opal stone.

That's a damn Dragon egg! Specifically a Myriad Colours Dragon!

I've only heard of them being spoken about in the Cloud Plane! How the hell did one of their eggs end up here?! It's the first time I've seen one but there's no doubt about it, the shifting colours is their most defining features after all.

These people have no idea what they're bidding for!

I raised my hand immediately, "Five hundred gold."

The whole auction house became silent.

Chapter 14 - Myriad Colours

(MC POV)

"We have indeed received the money Master Lin, please check your purchase," the proprietress announced in a smooth voice.

Why is she thrusting her chest out like that too? Is it a new fad amongst the young girls? Don't they know that this is bad for their… Oh…

She's trying to flirt. Oh well, sorry lady, but I've seen beauties who reside within the Spiritual Plane and Cloud Plane, you can't really compare to them.

Not to mention Lian Li and Manami are leagues above you in terms of beauty standards as well.

Besides, I want an easy life, getting involved with you would definitely not lead to an easy life.

Huh, after being the trash of the entire Plane for all these years, I almost forgot how being flirted to was like.

Guess I still need time to readjust my common sense again, I've grown too accustomed to being treated like trash and ignored so now I feel like I'm mistaking a lot of things here.

Like… I think I'm missing a lot of things?

…

…

Lian Li and Manami are interested in me, aren't they?

…

...

Well it's not that I mind… But I just never thought about it…

Damn did my sex drive become nonexistent after not having it for so long?

Screw it, if they asked for it I'll oblige them. It'll feel like I'm taking advantage of them if I come on to them on my own.

One of them views me as a destined child of heaven while the other has a skewed sense of gratitude. I might need to humanize their views on me first before I do anything else…

Still, a Master and his disciple being in a relationship as well… It's not unheard of around here but it's not that common either. The fact that most teachers and their disciples have an extremely large age gap might be a factor as well.

Unless I'm completely reading their intentions wrong and they only see me as their respected Master? I wouldn't know since this is my first time taking in disciples and I've never been in a relationship either.

Why couldn't the books I've read teach me these things huh? Damn useless cultivation books. Not even dual cultivation books tell you about your partners' feelings either, like they expect the two partners to magically know or something?

Oh well, whatever happens, happens. As long as it doesn't interfere with my plans for an easy life.

Yeah, I'm kicking the can down the road, but I really don't think I'm in a state of mind to make a decision about it right now.

I stored the dragon egg into my storage ring before leaving the place with my two disciples.

Quite unfortunate that there weren't any good treasures I could buy for my cute disciples today. I suppose I should go find materials to forge some for them myself.

I asked Lian Li for a good place to spend the night and she happily guided us up to the Nobles' district.

Huh, did she used to be a noble's daughter?

Probably a noble house that fell from grace considering the condition she came to our Sect in.

She recommended us a hotel called Jin Shi, supposedly the best hotel in the city.

I went ahead to book two rooms for the night, even though Manami said she would have been fine with only one.

How kind of her to think about helping her Master save money.

It's ok Manami, I'll still come over to brush your tails before going to bed.

Oh right, I'll also brush Lian Li's hair for her as thanks for being such a cute guide for us.

I'm pretty sure both of them enjoy having their hair/tail brushed, judging by their blissful expressions.

Lian Li wanted to massage me again but I told her it was getting late so perhaps another night, I really wanted to check out the egg too.

Manami had asked if I wanted a bed warmer but I told her it's fine since it's not even winter now.

Leaving them to cultivate by themselves, I returned to my room to inspect the egg.

Hmm? I missed something? Oh well, it's probably not important.

I'm blind? Oh please, my two eyes are working just fine, thank you.

The egg was about as wide as my arm while its height was about a little above my waist level. The colours on the stone were shifting slowly, the myriad of colours morphing and merging into one another.

Sending a little of my Elemental Quark, I could sense the unmistakable spark of life within it.

How the hell did the egg of a legendary dragon species end up here?

I know that without being fed with Spirit and Energy quarks, the egg will never hatch.

Hmmm… I guess having a Myriad Colours Dragon would be beneficial to me. They were known by that name because of the myriad of Quarks they were able to utilise masterfully, though their colourful scales might also be a factor. Having one on my side would definitely be a boon.

This egg should count itself lucky that I just managed to cultivate my Spirit Element to Basic tier the other day. Hurray for OP instruction manuals, I really feel like I'm cheating in how fast I'm mastering my Elemental Quarks.

Just the other day my Darkness reached Advanced tier while my four common elements were already pushing towards Legend tier, probably just a bit more to go before I breakthrough.

Not to mention easily picking up Energy, Lightning, Astral and Space just from watching my cute disciples utilise their own. I'm learning just as much from them as they are from me.

Hmmm… I feel like I'm quite broken now?

Oh well, not like it's a bad thing anyway. I had to suffer all those years to get here, I believe I deserve something like this. I deserve some good karma damn it!

After channeling a large amount of Spirit and Energy quarks into the egg, I placed it on the table before settling down for my own cultivation time.

Focusing my consciousness into my Cultivation Point, I gathered my Elemental Quarks to form the elements I am already familiar with.

Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Darkness, Light, Energy, Lightning, Astral, Space and Spirit quarks formed within my Cultivation Point, the first five being obviously more concentrated because of my mastery over them.

This was a simple exercise which should pave the way for simultaneous casting in the future, something I picked up in the Cloud Plane from watching Star God Wolves fighting with Nine Fanged Vipers.

Usually Practitioners would only use their Cultivation Point to convert their Pure Elemental Quarks to materialise into reality, but what's stopping them from storing the converted quarks within the Cultivation Point first before materialising it?

It was easy for me to see the benefits in doing so since the Star God Wolves and Nine Fanged Vipers have their Cultivation Point at the tip of their tails, allowing me to see how they casted their elements normally.

I'm still in the development stages for this technique and once I'm sure of its effects, I'll teach it to my cute disciples.

The first drawback I can see is that it requires immense concentration to maintain multiple elements within my Cultivation Point, it's still doable for me since crafting that healing pill requires roughly the same amount anyway so I have a head start.

Now, concentrate on circulating the elements to form the needed technique and then—

"Papa?"

A voice and a small tug on my shirt woke me from my cultivation.

I opened my eyes to see a young girl with large, round brown eyes and long colourful hair standing at the edge of the bed, lightly tugging at the hem of my shirt. She looked ten years old at most.

She tilted her cute round face at me, "Papa?"

I looked at the egg.

Huh, it's cracked wide open.

I turned back towards the girl, unconsciously already giving her a head pat because of her cuteness.

There were two small horns poking out from her hair, no doubt dragon horns.

Wait.

Why is she in human form? And she already looks like a ten year old?

Her hair is rainbow coloured and the colours keep shifting, similar to how the scales of a Myriad Colours Dragon should be so there's no doubt about her true race.

Is it because I injected the egg with my Quark?

Didn't she hatch way too fast?

I was expecting at least a few years before the egg hatched you know? My heart is still not prepared for this.

Isn't it normal for people to obtain some godly egg and leave it in their storage for an absurd amount of time for it to hatch? In fact, it should remain in their storage for so long that people even forget they have the egg, only for it to suddenly hatch at the most convenient times.

Oh wait, she's still naked.

Here, wear this spare robe I have.

Oh right, you're a newly hatched girl… Umm, dragon? Let me help you wear the clothes then.

The dressed half-dragon looked up at me with sparkly eyes with her fists clenched at her chest, "Papa!"

Ummm… What? Are you hungry or...

Ah, she probably wants a name.

"Your name shall be… Cai Hong."

What? My naming sense isn't the greatest ok?

But it seems like she likes it since she hugged me happily.

Ha… I don't even have time to think about my disciples' situation and I already have a ten year old girl calling me papa.

Well, Cai Hong is cute so...

I stroked her rainbow hair slowly, earning a low purr from her.

I have no regrets.

Someone started knocking on my door.

"Master? It's Manami and Lian Li, we heard some loud noises from your room…"

Ah… I guess when Cai Hong hatched she must've made some noise then. I was too focused on my cultivation to notice.

Well it's better to reveal her existence now rather than later.

"Come in you two, I have someone I want to introduce."

(Cai Hong POV)

I am a Myriad Dragon.

We exist in the space between Realms, overseeing the stability between existences under the Primordial Divine Dragons.

Most people do not know this, but Myriad Colours Dragons do not breed. Instead, an egg is formed from the crystallisation of the universe's energy after several millennia. Usually this phenomenon would occur when an elder Myriad Colours Dragon passes, so the number of Myriad Colours Dragons in existence would usually remain constant.

Other Myriad Colours Dragons would then give the egg a little of their energy until it hatches. With their energy, memories and experiences would also be passed along to the hatchling, allowing it to take its place amongst them almost immediately.

Unfortunately, before I hatched, a rift in space seemed to send my egg into one of the Realms.

I wasn't sure what caused this rift in space but I felt a certain connection towards a human I have met in this so called auction house.

Ah, it seems he knows about my race. The energy he is supplying me is quite plentiful enough. If he keeps this up for the next few years, I should be able to hatch into a fully grown dragon to join the others.

I might just give him something when I hatch as thanks.

Eh?

These memories.

This delicious energy.

This potent source of life.

I can feel my body changing?

This man… He's not a normal human…

His energy is more potent than the other Dragons.

Wait, my memories are being overwritten? No… There are more...

The memories of the other dragons… They're drifting further? This… Shouldn't be possible… Why…

These new memories… This light… This pain… Another world and… Something glowing?

The wings, scales and teeth… This energy that is filling me up to my very core…

This is not normal… He can't be normal...

I… I can see more of this male…

No… My… Pa… Papa?

Papa! He's my Papa!

In my excitement, I burst out from the egg, finding myself in Papa's room.

Ah!

Papa! Papa!

Muu? Papa is sleeping?

I tugged at Papa's shirt.

Papa woke up and patted me.

He clothed me and named me Cai Hong!

Ehehe~~ Papa's hand feels nice~~

Muuu… Just when Cai Hong is enjoying her time with Papa, two weirdos showed up calling Papa "Masta".

Papa called them his 'Decy Poles', then told them that Cai Hong is a proud Myriad Colours Dragon.

Mmm? Papa, why aren't you telling them that you are Cai Hong's Papa?

Muuu… Papa is forgetful! I hugged Papa and called him Papa.

(Manami POV)

"Papa! Papa!"

My eyebrow twitched slightly from seeing this newcomer hug Master so affectionately.

How envious… I mean, how preposterous, just because Master fed you with some of his energy you think he's your father?

Such a Divine being like Master…

Ahhh~~ I want some too! Master! Not fair! Stroke my tails again! Give me some of your energy too! Specifically the one that's in between your…

Ahem.

Well, since this so called Myriad Colours hatchling sees Master as her father she will be one of us now.

I've never even heard of such a dragon, but if Master says they exist, they must be real.

In that case, Lian Li and I shall receive the duty of teaching this newcomer the infinite virtues of Master.

One must start young after all, especially since she will be one of Master's apostles now.

We have almost finished writing the first part of the Holy Text as well, this newcomer shall be the first to embrace it and see Master's light.

Once she has converted, we will have another apostle to spread Master's light to the masses.

Lian Li has already found a number of potential candidates.

Those who refuse to receive it shall be cleansed by fire.

Chapter 15 - Another Flag

(MC POV)

I've decided to make Jin city our base for the next few weeks.

The Adventurer's Guild has been rather busy lately and from what I hear, Mercenary Practitioners are rather few in number right now.

It would be a good chance for both Manami and Lian Li to get some experience in working with other team members while I get some connections outside of my Sect.

Hey, it's important to network you know?

Huh? Why do I know terms like 'network'?

Thanks to that psycho Practitioner of course. Being sent by that stupid "truck-kun" stick to another world made me learn a lot of things that I never thought possible. I pity those 'salarymen' really, I think their life is harder than mine when I was trash.

Speaking of which, maybe I should introduce some of the food here, I miss all those delicious fried food and stuff too.

I guess I'll try making them later.

In the meantime, I tasked Lian Li and Manami to take Requests to gain experience.

Cai Hong was taken with them since they wanted to bond with her or something.

Oh well, I assumed that it was a girl's motherly instincts or something so I let it be.

It's better for Cai Hong to be with young girls than an old man (mentally) like me anyway.

In the meantime, I should go meet some people to network.

I always wondered why they're called Adventurers when they barely did any adventuring. They're either exterminating monsters or doing fetch quests and other odd jobs.

If anything, they should be called odd jobbers instead.

The head of the Adventurer's Guild, Markus, sat in front of me, a guild receptionist placing a cup of tea between the two of us.

"So what can I do for the famed Master Lin of Heaven Sect?"

I took a sip of the tea, not as good as Manami's but passable I suppose.

"I have heard that there is a severe lack of Mercenary Practitioners at the moment."

Markus nodded his head, "That is true, there's an influx of Fighters and Archers but we have very few Practitioners that are working with us at the moment. I believe most of them are preparing for your annual Sect Showcase Festival."

Ah yes, it was the annual gathering of all Grand Sects and numerous Minor Sects to showcase their disciples' talents.

Many Mercenary Practitioners would also participate in order to exchange pointers from veterans there as well.

Since it's quite a big event, many Practitioners would enter closed door cultivation at this point in time.

What about my disciples and I?

Have you seen the monstrous improvements we've been making? I scare myself with how fast I'm cultivating sometimes that I'm afraid I might not even be human anymore.

My two disciples are also absolute geniuses too, you know? Add with the cheating instructions I'm giving them, they're completely broken now.

Closed door cultivation? More like NEET cultivation.

What they need now is to know how broken they are, so pairing them with some normal people and go out to fulfil Requests would be the best way right now. Once they know about the power difference, I will get them to learn how to control their strength and to hide their abilities in time for the festival.

That way I won't draw too much attention to myself. Well, less than what I already have at least.

As for me…

Well I'm just here to kill time really.

And since I can make some extra money by the side, why not right?

I nodded sagely, too bad I didn't have a beard or I could stroke it to appear more even more sagely. Not that I actually do plan to grow one, mind you.

"Anyway, I have two disciples who need more experience in the outside world. I'll let them participate in a few of your Guild Requests just for a small cut of the pay. I myself, will take a few of the harder ones should anyone require help for a minimal fee."

"Hmm… In that case, would Master Lin mind helping me check up on a team?" Markus asked, scratching his head. "They took a Request a few days ago but they have yet to return, we're kind of worried now."

"Oh? What were they supposed to do?"

"There's a group of notorious bandits up north of here, they've been a pain for quite a while now so someone put a Request to get rid of them."

Bandits? How many bloody bandits are there?! Don't tell me it's the same bloody group that's been robbing me all this while? Why are there so many godforsaken bandits here?!

This is an event flag isn't it? This whole thing is just screaming of a flag.

The bandits would've probably captured them by now and it's up to me to save them, I can bet my money on it.

Oh well, just point me in the right direction I guess, best to save them before something bad happens if it hasn't already.

Meanwhile, my disciples would just tag along with another Adventurer group with their own Requests and that should be it for now.

After getting the directions from Markus, I headed into the mountain path which they were supposedly hiding at.

Lian Li and Manami had already picked up a Request together with an Adventurer group early in the morning with Cai Hong following along. Since the Adventurers are rather new as well, their Request should be completed within the day.

Hopefully they don't run into trouble. Despite their OP-ness, anything can still happen. Maybe I should've placed a scrying technique on them?

No good, I'm worrying about my disciples too much. I need to let them spread their wings on their own too. The alarm technique I placed on them should be enough for now.

I should just concentrate on my own task.

Now then, I'll just walk past this narrow road in between these two giant rocks which seems like a prime spot for an ambush.

"Stop right there! This is a robbery!"

Oh wow, surprise, surprise, a bunch of bandits popped out from behind the boulders.

(Monotone) "Oh no, please don't hurt me, I have no money!" I pleaded.

The bandits looked at me weirdly, why are you looking at me like that? Is it that weird for a person being robbed to surrender?

"Umm… Yeah, this… We're here for your money!"

I raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, about that. Didn't I already say I've got no money? So just take me to your boss so you can ransom me or something."

"Huh? Why would we take you to our boss?"

"What? You call yourselves bandits? Of course if your target has no money, you kidnap them and ask their family for ransom right?"

"What? No! We just take whatever they hav—"

I slung my arm around his shoulder, "What? I couldn't hear you. You'll take me back to your boss's place right?"

"Huh? Are you crazy? What are you even—"

I tightened my arm around him, "You'll bring me back to your hideout right?"

"Wha… Wha… Who are…"

"It's the obvious next step isn't it?" I let loose a little of my Elemental Pressure. "Just take me to your boss."

"… O… Ok…"

Heh, easy.

See, if you're polite enough, people would just acquiesce to your requests.

This is why the Earthen Plane is so much better than the other Planes.

Chapter 16 - Flag? What Flag?

(Cai Hong POV)

Papa is the best!

Papa let Cai Hong sleep with him last night! Papa feels very warm~~

Papa told Cai Hong to follow these two big sisters who will take care of Cai Hong.

Cai Hong wants to be with Papa… But Cai Hong is a good girl so Cai Hong will listen to Papa.

Cai Hong thought big sisters will be mean but they taught Cai Hong a lot of wonderful things!

They let Cai Hong read the 'Hole Lee Tax'! It taught Cai Hong a lot of wonderful things about Papa!

The big sisters also taught Cai Hong how to be a good Ay… Ummm… 'Ay Post Tel' for Papa! We must find the bad people who want to hurt Papa and teach them to be good to Papa!

Lian Li big sis showed Cai Hong what they did with bad men!

Lian Li big sis brought Cai Hong to this small room where a lot of bad men were tied up. They were saying mean things about Papa and they didn't even want to read the 'Hole Lee Tax'.

Muuu~

How can they not know that Papa is the best?

Now Cai Hong knows why big sisters feel so sad.

No one else knows Papa is the best, so we have to teach them.

And all these bad men who don't wish to worship Papa…

I̸̛͉̱̳̬̽͐͛͝ ̷̣̕w̵̼̓ͅi̴̳̕l̵͙̼̗̒̒́̆̋ļ̵̞̤̯͐̓͆́ ̸̡̛̝̣͂̃͊͘k̷̨̪̎i̷͉͔̟̺̻̊̊̾͌̈͛ļ̷͓̀͆̔̇̋͝l̷̟̦̤̜̀͑̀͜ ̵̨̾ẗ̸̫͕̼̳͍́͐͊̓̌h̴͖̝̹̠͇̝͛́͊̍e̴̫̮̿̄̔̀͋̓m̵̜̹̽̾͠ ̷͔̟̆̏̏͜a̶̮͐̈́̃͘l̷͉̍̎͜l̶̰̭̼̻̣̩̈͒̋͋ ̷͕̲͔͈͙̜̈́̄͆͛à̴̜̮̠̻̫̿̓͊͠ṅ̶̥͚͌̕͝d̶̢̝̞͓̮̈́̑ͅ ̸̺̹͎̼̱̐͌̄d̷̫͌̀̉̇̈́e̶̛̩̱͒͝v̶̦̺̱̞̉̓̐̚ǫ̵͕̱͕̽͌̐̈́̚͠u̸̺̤̳̬̾́͌ȑ̵̤͖̥̝͎̈ ̷̹͙̓ţ̷̔̐̒̕͝h̷̢̙͈̳͑̾͌̚̕͠ȇ̴̮i̵̝̓ṙ̷͓̦̩͊̊̈͆͝ ̵̼̲̲̳͔̄̈́̔ͅs̴͎͓͂̔o̴̢̢̳̽͒̉̚͝ͅṷ̷̂̋́̿͑̚l̷̹̲̥͌̈̌̽̇s̵̢͖̪̣̖͗̀͆̌̂͜

How dare they insult Father?

These useless bunch of dirtbags.

Your existences taints the world my Father resides in.

Look at yourselves, you ugly, disgusting pieces of filth.

What did you say about Father? Why are you cowering right now? Where was the bravado from just now?

Filthy.

I have to cleanse this world of things like you.

Chomp*

Even your meat tastes horrible, much less your blood.

Chomp*

Your souls are the very definition of trash too.

Chomp*

It makes me want to puke when I know things such as you have refused to receive Father's light so vehemently.

Father might spare you because of his benevolence.

But we, as Father's Apostles, shall not allow things like you to taint Father's sacred being.

For Father's sake, I shall devour the world of all its impurities, starting with you.

So many of you…

I will devour you all.

Ẽ̶͕̞͔̩́̆v̸̧̈̉̕̚e̵̤̪̝̲̰͉͐̀́̄̂͝r̵̨̢͈̙̮̲̎̆ÿ̴̘̬́̽t̸͇̏͌̌̕͜h̵̩̅̃̈͋͜ï̸͉͕͉̗n̴̥͔̙͕̖̂̂̿̏ģ̶̛̱̣͓͇̹̊̃̅͑̌ ̷͇̫̇f̸̡͖̹͓̙̾̈́̽͆ó̷̧̦̀̒̔r̸͙͓̞̾͜ ̷̛̺̐̕F̴̛̳̣̳̠͍̍͂̿̐͝a̵̮̩͙̔̀́͆t̸̥̖͔̃h̶̢͉̲̯̠̄̂é̷͕̣̩̮̎́͗̀͊r̵̲̘͉͉͂͒

Oh, big sisters are also bringing Cai Hong out to do 'reqwest'!

They said it is a good place to find more people who will believe that Papa's the best!

Cai Hong can't wait!

(MC POV)

"So… They're… Dead?" I asked quietly.

The bandit leader was prostrated in front of me, along with his entire band of bandits.

Or what's left of them.

I sighed.

Turns out the Adventurer party that came by to eliminate the bandits were eliminated in turn.

I thought they would be captured or something, guess I was too late…

So much for this being a flag.

The money I bet on that? Don't know what you're talking about. You got no proof! Even if you did, I can't see it!

Ha… What should I do then?

It feels quite bad to kill them now since they're prostrating so earnestly.

Let's ignore the fact that I've already killed half of them before that.

Oh well, I suppose I'll just send them towards Jin city for the Guild to handle. They would probably be sentenced to manual labor for a few years or so, better than dying right?

"Many thanks to Master Lin for your mercy!"

Eh, whatever, they're Markus's problem now. I'll just loot whatever they have and call it a day.

After making sure all the bandits left the cave they made their hideout, I made my way towards the inner part of the cave.

Hmm? What about making sure the bandits actually turn themselves in? I frankly don't give a crap if they do or not.

If I run into them again without my disciples around, I probably will just get rid of them if they make trouble.

Justice for the dead Adventurers? Eh… I don't even know them, if I did, I might feel something. But hearing about their deaths was like hearing about a stranger from a far away place dying from an accident.

Heartless?

Maybe.

I'm not some hero trying to save the world you know?

Speaking of heroes, they're one of the most selfish people out there. Always forcing their sense of justice and ideals on other people.

I don't see anyone saving me when I was under that psycho either.

Anyway, my goal is to have an easy life. Thinking about all these things will be the opposite of what I want anyway.

If any of my disciples turn out to be the hero types I'll just discipline the idea out of them.

I don't want to have the villains that the hero offends showing up at my door after all, just too troublesome to clean up.

I just need to care about the ones close to me and that's enough. Leave saving the world or whatever to someone else.

Oh wait, I technically did save the world by taking in Lian Li…

Ah, looks like I got distracted.

Now let's see, where do they keep all their loot?

There are several boxes of foodstuffs here, this must be their storeroom.

Oh lookie, a locked metal door. Imma just kick it down like so.

Bang*

Hmmm? That door broke easier than I thought. What's this? This doesn't look like somewhere they would store their loot. This whole room is dark and smelly.

Clang*

Eh? There's something moving in the corner of the room.

A person?

Eh… It's a rather skinny person that's chained to the wall.

"Umm… Is there a new target? I'll… I'll get food if I do it properly right?"

Oh, it's a girl.

"I'm sorry I messed up the last time! I… I won't tell those Adventurers to run this time! I'll be a proper Bait this time!"

So this is the flag huh?

The girl clung to my feet quickly, "I won't make a mistake this time! Please! Let me be bait! Just a leftover steamed bun… No! A rotten fruit will do as well!"

I said I'm no hero didn't I?

Troublesome things one after the other…

...

I need to save someone again don't I?

I'm really not trying to be a hero ok?

I'm just working towards the easy life ok?

…

…

I wonder what I should cook first?

Chapter 17 - And Another One

(MC POV)

Hmm… I don't have all the seasonings I would've liked to use but I suppose this is the best I can do for now.

"Here, egg fried rice."

I placed the plate in front of the starving girl alongside a cup of water. The bandits must have robbed a number of merchants for them to have this much things lying around.

Not only were there gold and jewellery but foodstuffs and spices too.

The girl stared at the plate of rice and gulped nervously.

"Can I… Really have this all to myself?"

I nodded.

"I… Really can eat all this? By myself?"

I nodded again.

"Sniff… Sniff… I… I… I really will… Eat this?"

Why is it a question? Just eat it. I nodded once more.

"I will… Really, really eat—"

"Just eat it already!"

"Hauu! Yes!"

She started stuffing her face after I shouted at her.

"Shooo goooood~~"

Heh heh, I'm rather proud of my cooking even if I do say so myself. Surviving by yourself in those Planes was a chore you know? I was treated worse than a servant would after all.

Why didn't I just use that healing pill on her?

Hey, it's not every day I get to flex my cooking skills like this understand? With all the cooking materials lying there, I just had to do it.

Also there was something I noticed about her. Behind that crying and servile facade gleamed the eyes of someone on a hunt.

I won't mistake those eyes anywhere.

The people who 'welcomed' me into the Spiritual Royal Family's archives had that same look too. All smiling faces until they trashed me the very next moment the guards left me.

I won't be fooled again.

As I was thinking to myself, I noticed her plate was already polished clean of food. She was even licking the plate shamelessly.

Ugh, don't make that crying face just because there's no rice left.

"Here, seconds."

She stared at the plate.

"Can I… Have this?"

"Just eat it already, I'll make as much as you want ok?"

"Sniff… Sniff… I… I don't think…"

I flicked her head, "Just eat."

Her eyes were teary but she seemed rather happy.

I know what you're trying to do you know? You got me in the first half though, not gonna lie.

I waited for her to polish off her fourth plate before I finally asked, "Your name?"

"Ummm… They… They always called me Bait…"

I raised my eyebrow, the girl looked no older than sixteen. Her clothes were tattered and torn though her face looked free from abuse. Other than the fact that she might be a little too skinny to be on the healthy side, the bandits shouldn't have mistreated her.

Her black hair was long and dishevelled though, covering half her face and hiding her large grey eyes from view most of the time. She really needs a haircut quite badly.

Either she was newly captured by the bandits or she's actually one of them and was put in the cell for something she did. Or maybe she managed to fool them somehow like what she's trying to do to me?

Well, I don't blame her though, she's probably just cautious about a lone man clearing a bandit hideout by himself. For all she knows, I might be just as bad, if not worse, than the bandits.

Caution is good, saved my life a lot of times before.

"Do you know where your parents are?"

A shake of the head.

"What about where you came from?"

Another shake.

"Anywhere that you can go?"

Another negative answer.

I sighed as I stared up at the ceiling.

What do I do with her?

She grabbed my shirt, "I… I will be useful! I can… I can do chores! I always did chores for the bandits! I can wash your clothes! I can cook your meals! Polish your sword!"

I held up my hand.

"I highly doubt you could do any of that in your current state."

She poked her fingers together, "Be… Because I told those Adventurers to run away when the bandits used me as bait… They locked me in that cell with barely any food or water until now…"

This girl...

I sighed again.

I barely got myself acquainted with Cai Hong and I'm already picking up another girl.

Nah, I think I'll pass her to Markus as well.

She seems more trouble than she's worth.

As if sensing my intentions, she clutched my shirt harder.

"Please! Don't throw me away! I promise I'll try my best!"

"I can help you find a place to—"

"NO! Please! Don't abandon me!"

"I'm not abandoning you."

"Nooo!!"

"You can eat there as we--"

"NOOOO!!"

Godamnit. It's the bloody fried rice isn't it?

She definitely wants more of it and I'm pretty sure no one else in this world can make that, at least not similar to what I made.

I learnt it from the other world after all.

Her acting might be good enough to fool others but don't underestimate me. I had also honed my acting skills in those two Planes in order to fool all those monsters! Something like acting attached to a person just to get food to eat… I've done it plenty of times!

It's not shamelessness, it's survival!

At least she's honest about food.

Oh, I know! I'll teach her the other world's recipes! Then she can recreate them here and I can eat those 'junk food' everyday!

I can probably teach her some swordsmanship as well so she can go hunting on her own for the meat.

Shame she isn't a Practitioner.

Perfect idea!

Five star chef in training get!

"Hmmm… I'll name you… Eris."

(Lian Li POV)

I shivered, feeling a slight disturbance in the air.

I wonder if my reserves of Masternium is low? I have to insist that I massage Master's feet tonight no matter what.

I looked at the party that we were supposed to help today. They were rather new male Adventurers consisting of two Fighters and an Archer.

They were looking for Practitioners to aid in a lizard monster nest clearing Request. It's not a difficult Request but the lizard monsters have annoyingly high regenerative properties.

The Adventurers were adequate in handling themselves but what irritated us the most was how they kept trying to flirt with us.

"Hey, fairy Lian Li, want me to teach you how to use a sword?" Irritating Fighter A asked.

"Fairy Manami, shall I show you how to hunt with a bow?" Irritating Archer A boasted.

"Little Cai Hong, shall big brother here brush your hair?" Irritating Fighter B offered.

Ugh.

Even after clearly expressing our disinterest in their advances, they still kept on trying.

Could you stop wiggling your eyebrows at me? You look disgusting.

If Master hadn't explicitly told us to have a cordial relationship with the Adventurers we team up with, I would have just kicked them aside and be done with them.

We don't know why Master would even bother with fleas like this but I suppose Master saw it as a way to help the needy.

In my opinion, these three are beyond help.

Manami didn't even feel these three were worth introducing Master's greatness to.

Cai Hong was also holding in her irritation by clinging to me. I believe she was extremely close to transforming back to her dragon form to eat the three men.

Maybe we should have gone with an all female team instead.

Haaa…

Master, I already miss you so… Please let me touch your feet tonight… Then maybe… Master will brush my hair too? Ehehehe~~

I have to thank Manami for starting Master's hair brushing tendencies, it's a little vexing to admit but her tails really are fluffy.

Ahhh~~ Just remembering how Master was running his fingers through my hair that night sends shivers down my spine! He was so close! So warm!

His strong, tender hands holding me close, his body less than an arm's length away, his intoxicating aura just radiating off of—

"Fairy Lian Li, you look tired, shall we take a break?"

My daydream was interrupted by Irritating Fighter A.

A finger is fine right? Just cutting off one of his fingers is fine right? It's not too much to ask to use that finger to impale him and dig out his innards to use as a...

No, no… Remember Master's words. Cordial, must be cordial…

Yes, just give him a neutral smile.

"No, I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."

"You shouldn't push yourself so hard, fairy Lian Li. Shall I carry you? It would be bad for your flawless legs to receive an injury."

This guy… Can you take a hint?

Carry me? Flawless legs?

I'm surprised this guy can say all that with a straight face.

How shameless can this guy be?

Haaa… I'm tired… Master, this lowly disciple humbly request to be allowed to massage your back tonight. Mmm… just imagining it is enough to make me shiver.

Ahh… My reserves of Masternium is critically low.

I looked at Cai Hong who was walking beside me.

She was wearing clothes similar to Manami's, the kimono was black in colour with white flowers that accentuates her colourful hair. In her hands was the spare robes that Master had let her wear on the first night.

Noticing my gaze, Cai Hong gave me a bright smile before offering the robes to me.

How nice to have such an understanding little sister.

I made sure the three irritating men were not looking before taking a long whiff of the robe.

Ahhhh~~ Master's smell… This is bliss.

Taking another deep breath of Master's scent, I felt an elbow nudge me from my other side.

"Let me have a bit too…" Manami whispered.

Hum hum. I passed her the robe after taking one last whiff, sisters like us must stick together.

Especially when we're facing this painful ordeal that is the three stooges.

We'll quickly finish this stupid Request and reunite with Master!

"Fairy Lian Li, Fairy Manami, little Cai Hong, the monster nest is just right ahead. Please wait here while we…"

I didn't hear the rest of what that guy said.

Manami, Cai Hong and I already rushed straight towards the clearing that the group of lizard monsters have made their nest.

A few Lightning, Astral and Dragon Fire quarks later, all traces of the monster nest were gone.

The surrounding trees were burnt to ashes, the ground superheated to glass.

The lizard monsters were either dismembered, decapitated, or entirely disintegrated.

At the location of where the leader of the monsters had been, only a large crater could be seen

Whatever that had been alive in that area was now definitely dead.

"Shall we head back now?" I asked the Irritating Trio.

They nodded quickly.

Mmmm… I wonder why my senses are tingling again? Did something happen to Master?

Chapter 18 - Fake Transitioning

(Eris POV)

"This is Eris, I rescued her from some bandits that was holding her captive."

I stood rigidly slightly behind my new target as he introduced me to the three girls in front of him.

He had already cut my long dirty hair into a bob cut, my fringe stopping just above my eyebrows. My tattered clothes were changed to a set of clean shirt and pants found in the bandit's store. The clothes hung loosely around me as I was still too thin to fit in it.

Their stares are honestly quite intense.

Do they know I'm acting?

I think the two older girls are this man's disciples? And the little girl who is clinging to his leg is his daughter?

"Master? Is she our new sister?" The golden haired one asked.

"Yes and no. She's not a Practitioner, but I'll be teaching her some skills to protect herself."

I quickly bowed to them, "Umm! Umm! My name is Eris! I am Master's servant! Please take care of me!"

"Mmmm… I am Lian Li, Master's first disciple. Nice to meet you," The golden haired girl greeted.

"My name is Manami, Master's second disciple, pleased to make your acquaintance." The fox youkai bowed.

"I am Cai Hong!" The little girl said simply while grasping on to Master's leg with a dainty hand.

"Master, do you mind us getting to know our new sister better?" Lian Li asked.

This girl definitely knows I'm faking my submissiveness… I need to find a way to escape...

Master smiled at her question, "Mmm. Go ahead. It's good to get along."

That smile… Don't tell me this guy knew I was faking as well?!

That can't be! No man has ever discovered my ruse before! It's true that some women has uncovered my mask before but that was in the past where my skills were still lacking!

Who are these people?!

Lian Li reached out her hand to me, "Come with us. There are many things we need to… Educate you about…"

I didn't even get to choose whether or not to hold that hand.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting down on a chair and a leather bound book with an intricately designed cover was placed on the table in front of me.

"'The Holy Words of the Divine Being, Our Lord and Saviour, Most Benevolent and Eternal Master'?" I read the title aloud.

"We're still working on the title, but the content is good enough for now," Lian Li explained.

Well, I don't know about this. That guy's food was heavenly after all but I think it might be a little far-fetched to call him a Divine Being just because of that.

But still… Mmm… That plate of rice was nice...

No! Now's not the time to think about food! How do I get out of here?!

"Master has chosen you to be one of us. As his Apostle, you must be more familiar with the Holy Text as compared to anyone else," Manami stated.

I looked towards Cai Hong who was sucking on a lollipop that guy had given her.

Sensing my gaze, she pulled out the lollipop from her mouth with a 'pop'.

"Papa's the best! Cai Hong wants everyone to know Papa is the best Papa!" The girl announced proudly.

Somehow I felt there was a subtle threat behind her words.

I initially only wanted to get myself attached to him to get protection and food, but I didn't expect to be involved with this too…

Could these girls be influenced by his food?

"Umm… Is his food really that good for you to do this?" I asked.

The three girls stopped moving.

"His… Food?"

"Master's… Cooking?"

"Papa's… Yummy?"

Eh? What's with that reaction?

Lian Li leaned close to me, her hands gripping the armrest of the chair.

"You've… Eaten Master's personally cooked food?"

"Eh? Umm, yes?"

The armrests were torn off, the table got pulverised and the lollipop was crushed.

"Manami… The Holy Text needs revision."

"Agreed… Cai Hong?"

The small girl nodded, "Cai Hong will ask Papa to cook."

The three girls turned to me with bloodthirsty eyes, I was sweating a lot by now.

"We shall initiate you first," Lian Li announced before the three of them advanced upon me.

What did I get myself into?

(MC POV)

"This… Is… Heaven…"

"Master… My mate… Bliss~~"

"Papa is the best…"

"I'm so glad to be alive… Master truly is Divine…"

I stared at the four girls' blissful faces.

That Eris just had to blabber to them about my cooking didn't she?

I thought I could take a break after reporting to Markus about the dead Adventurers, he had even told me the bandits turned themselves in as well.

But Cai Hong had came up to me with teary eyes, pulling on my robe while sucking on a finger.

"Papa? Cook?"

Behind her, Lian Li and Manami were watching with sparkly eyes too,

Well, not like I intended to hide it either. All the while when we had been camping out, the girls were the ones taking care of the food so I didn't really have a chance to try cooking by myself here.

So far, I made a few things I remembered like French Fries, Pork Cutlet, Pizza and Fried Dumplings.

Somehow Eris joined halfway through as well. Her aura feels a bit… Different? Not sure why though. Not to mention that glow I had seen in her eyes seemed to have… Disappeared?

This girl probably has an addiction to food now.

Well… It'll be easier to convince her to learn how to cook then.

Now that these four are fed, I should do some planning for our future.

I would definitely bring my disciples to the annual Sect Showcase Festival happening a few months from now, before that I would have to bring them back to Heaven Sect to at least acquaint them with the other Sect members.

I would push Manami and Lian Li to be promoted to Inner Core Practitioner as well, don't want them joining the festival as Outer Core Practitioners and wrecking the low ranks in the Festival. They might become complacent and that would stunt their growth.

I guess spending another month here doing Requests and training should be sufficient enough before we have to go.

Lian Li, Manami and Cai Hong will learn to use their Quarks, while Eris will learn swordsmanship and cooking.

Perfect plan.

I shook the girls out of their food coma and prepared them for their daily lessons.

(Manami POV)

Gathering my Elemental Quarks in my Cultivation Point, I tried to convert them to the elements I am most familiar with.

My Space Quark manifested itself after a few seconds, but the moment I tried to summon my Astral Quark, the Space Quark immediately dematerialised.

It seems like I still have a long way to go, Master's multicasting was truly a sight to behold.

Master truly is a Divine Being by how profound his knowledge is. The multiple Cultivation Techniques and knowledge he possess seems to be completely out of this world.

A sigh resounded from my side, prompting me to look at my fellow sister. It seems like Lian Li was having trouble learning Master's profound technique as well.

We were currently seated in an open field outside the city where Master had deemed suitable for our lesson.

Both of us had been making great strides in our cultivation ever since Master took us in, his lessons were easy to understand and his patient guidance was more than what we could ask for.

Perhaps sensing a little arrogance surfacing in us, he showed us this profound technique to humble us.

Even Cai Hong had difficulty mastering it despite her true race as a Dragon.

She had already curled herself under a nearby tree and fallen asleep while hugging her favourite robe.

She was still a child, so it came as no surprise she was easily tired.

Looking straight ahead, I see Master instructing our newest sister in the way of the sword. Master's mesmerising form while dancing with his blade is truly captivating. Looking at how Eris was staring at Master the entire time, I would wager she feels the same as well.

It's good that she has understood and accepted Master's greatness, or we might just arrange an accident for her lies.

Still, for Master to not only be a Master Practitioner and Master chef but also a Master Swordsman as well, I truly wonder if there is something Master could not do.

To have such a perfect being as my destined mate… I need to double my efforts to bed Master.

Oh? It seems like Master is done with Eris and is bringing her here. I guess that's the cue for our break time.

"Manami, Lian Li. That's enough for now, take a break. Eris, clean yourself of your sweat."

"Yes Master," the three of us obeyed.

Master retrieves a blanket from his storage ring and drapes it over Cai Hong, stroking her head as he did so.

"Master? Shall I massage you?" Lian Li asked.

Ara, ara?

It seems she's becoming more and more proactive.

She probably feels left out because Master has taken a liking to brushing my tails.

Mmmm~~

Just imagining his hands stroking my fur is making my toes curl.

Ufufufu.

It seems Master has given consent for Lian Li to massage his shoulders.

Ara, ara. Lian Li, your face is quite perverted right now you know? Just make sure Master doesn't see that face on you.

I sashayed my way towards Master, trying my best not to pounce on him when I got close.

"Master? Could I trouble you to brush my tails again?"

Master just smiled at me while patting the space in front of him.

Pure.

Utter.

Bliss.

I had to stifle my moans now and then but I couldn't stop my tails from curling around Master's arms. His hands are just too heavenly!

Just as I was immersing myself to enjoying Master's heavenly touch, a rude voice entered my ears.

"Hey! You there! What are you doing intruding on my, this young master's, turf?!"

Chapter 19 - Entry To Hell

(MC POV)

"Hey! You there! What are you doing intruding on my, this young master's, turf?!"

My hand stopped brushing Manami's fluffy tail when I heard that shout.

I looked up to see a well dressed young man in his twenties leading a large group of people behind him.

"Don't you know who I am?! I am the eldest son of the Xi Family's patriarch! This spot is where I practice my cultivation to prepare for my acceptance into a powerful Sect in the future! How dare you use this spot without my permission?!"

This scene looks familiar.

Ah, it's the same as all those snobbish young masters in the Spiritual and Cloud Planes. I didn't think I would meet this kind of people here on the Earthen Plane as well. Then again, that's probably because I didn't really step foot outside my Sect much back then.

Hmmm? Does that mean my view of the Earthen Plane is a little skewed? Nah, can't be. Those bandits were nice after all.

But I'm still going to take a guess that this guy is going to threaten me to get out of his sight while asking my dear disciples to please him tonight.

"You are lucky this young master is generous one! Get out of my sight immediately if you don't want my family ruining things for you!"

Oh? He didn't ask for my disciples to stay behind? Maybe this guy isn't that bad.

Hmmm… The Xi Family is quite a powerful merchant family that's backed by the Royal Bei Family itself, I should just avoid confrontation here to preserve my easy life. Even better if this guy doesn't remember who I am.

They do run the auction house after all, if I'm banned from there I'll have a harder time scam-- I mean selling my things.

"I apologize young master Xi, we were not aware of this. We shall leave immediately. Lian Li, Manami, Eris, let's go back."

The girls packed their things to follow me while I carefully picked up the still sleeping Cai Hong.

"Wait!"

I raised an eyebrow at the young master.

"You've already used this spot for such a long time! I expect some form of payment!"

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Just when I actually thought this guy might be a little different… I can already see what he was going to demand as payment.

"Well then, how much gold does young master Xi want?"

"Hmph! Seeing your commoner appearance, you probably can't afford to pay me anyway!"

I blinked.

Oh right, I had switched my Master robes out for a simple tunic and pants since I was teaching Eris sword arts. It is easier to move compared to the flowy robes of Practitioners that hinder your movements, it may look cool but it is impractical as hell.

Speaking of Eris, I get the feeling she's really different from before, her way of talking and her demeanor kept changing a few times throughout the day.

Hmmm? What is that cracking sound I hear in my disciples' direction?

"Just leave the fairies behind you to accompany this generous young master for tonight and there'll be no trouble."

Ah, there it is. The most common 'young master who only thinks using his small head' scene.

This happens so often in the Spiritual Plane that I wonder if they actually learnt the same lines and skill on how to be a young master from the same book.

Maybe I should publish my own version of the book on 'how to be a proper young master' and sell it here, I might even make a killing off of it.

I definitely hear some cracking sounds emanating from my disciples now.

I looked behind me, finding the three of them staring back at me with sorrowful looks. Huh, I guess the sound was just my imagination.

Now how should I deal with this? Reveal my identity? That would be the simplest way.

Once he knows who I am, he would probably start bowing to me and we can continue using this place in peace. Ah, but long term wise he would probably start to bother me to curry favour with me, probably also involving his family to do so as well.

I definitely do not want to deal with a horde of people following me around for that reason.

I should just keep it low now to preserve my easy life.

"Hmmm… I apologize, but these four are my precious disciples. I will not ask them to do something they would not want to do."

"Ha! Disciples?! A person like you can have disciples?! Do not flatter yourself! Besides, no woman would refuse my advances! Now, beautiful fairies, won't you spend some time with me? I am definitely much better company than that commoner there!"

"Muuu… Papa? Why is that weird thing so loud?" Cai Hong yawned, stirring awake in my arms. She rubbed her eyes sleepily while her other hand clutched at my shirt.

So cute.

"Hmph, to call this young master a thing, you can't even educate your daughter properly. As expected of low lifes like you."

Wow, there really must be a book that all the young masters follow. To be able to turn everything into an insult to demean another's status is quite a skill.

I would assume that there's a book two that teaches 'How to get face slapped' for arrogant young masters since they perfectly set themselves up for such situations.

Cai Hong pulled on my shirt, ignoring what that young master said.

"Papa? Cai Hong hungry…"

Oh no, she's becoming a glutton as well. Oh well, I should just wrap this up and make something for everyone to eat.

"Do any of you girls want to keep young master Xi company?" I asked.

"I don't, Master. Could we please leave?"

"I will stay with Master, of course"

"As Master's servant, I will remain with Master."

"Papa, cook?"

I shrugged, "As you can see young master Xi, no one wants to accompany you. With that, we shall take our leave."

I turned my back to him and lead my disciples away, only for a few of the men following young master Xi to block our way.

"Hey, hey. Our young master was generous enough to give you a chance to atone for your crimes, and you're just walking away like that? You're really looking down on the Xi Family huh?"

Wow, even the goons accompanying the young master is spouting such cliche lines. There's definitely a school for "how to be a mob character destined to be a stepping stone" as well, probably an attachment school beside the one for the young masters.

I'd wager these mob characters and the young masters are paired up in those schools and become great childhood friends or something.

Manami stepped to my side, "Our Master has already expressed his sincerest apology, is that not already enough?"

"Haaa? If things can be solved by an apology, we wouldn't need the police now do we?"

Well he's got a point.

"Fufufu… What else do you want then? Before you suggest it again, I shall remind you that neither me nor my sisters are interested in accompanying your shi-- young master."

"Hmph, to catch our young master's eye is your fortune you know?! How dare you--"

"Enough," the young master interrupted his goon.

I'll make a wild guess that's he's going to try to appeal to the girls by offering a 'benevolent' alternative to repay him to get on their good side.

"This young master shall let all this be water under the bridge if the commoner kneels down and kow-tows in apology."

Yep. The standard 'young master's warped sense of entitlement'. They're really learning from the same book.

I was about to refuse when Lian Li stepped in front of me.

"That will not happen. To ask our Master to kneel to you equates to us kneeling to you as well. The only one we will submit to is our Master."

"Hahaha! Did you spend all your life savings to hire these girls? Hey, if you girls come over here I'll pay each of you three times what he's paying."

And there's the 'unable to accept the fact that someone is better than this young master' thinking! Seriously, one more and I'll get a bingo!

"Fufufu… You dare slander our Master?" Manami asked with a smile.

Hey… Manami, that laugh was actually quite unnerving.

"I see him cowering behind girls instead of standing up to himself, am I wrong?"

I'm not cowering I'll have you know, my cute disciples are defending their Master! Don't you know this is the scene that all Masters strive for?! This is the apex of what a Master can achieve! Let me live the dream!

"Master does not need to concern himself with people like you, you are beneath his notice," Lian Li refuted.

Oh er… I didn't know Lian Li could say things like that. It's probably her former noblewoman's way of speaking.

"Tch, he should be honored to even be noticed by yours truly!"

Yes, yes. This lowly commoner is very honored to be noticed by you senpai. I'm just waiting for you to say that last line for me to get my bingo.

"Haa? Master has better things to do than to waste his time with you, you know?" Eris exclaimed from behind.

Like what? Feeding your growing addiction to food? I need to teach you how to cook soon, really. And what's with that sass?

"Hmph! I am a generous young master, but do not push your luck!"

Come on, just say it already, I'm waiting here.

You know, the most standard line that all young masters say? Now that I think about it, a lot of arrogant people would say this line too. It's like the line you have to say before getting face slapped by someone else, it's probably customary to say it already.

Like, the moment you say that line is when your face will get slapped.

Cai Hong leapt down from my arms, waddling her way to the young master before throwing him a piece of candy.

"Here, this is from Papa. Now leave us alone, boy."

Where the hell did Cai Hong learn to speak like that?! Why are you looking at me so smugly?

"You! You… You…"

Oh! He's gonna say it! Good job Cai Hong! I'll give you lots of headpats later!

"YOU ARE COURTING DEATH!"

There it is! Bingo! Ding ding!

Where's my prize?

Chapter 20 - Awakenings

(Eris POV)

My name is Eris, the name my most beloved Master bestowed upon me.

Before I was known as Master's Eris, I was called by many names.

I had the damndest luck to be called 'Bait' for the short time I was captured by those blasted, stupid bandits!

My name was 'Laverna' to the Adventurers...

'Denna' had been this one's humble name when hitching a ride with the merchants, the same merchants that had the misfortune to be ambushed by bandits.

Even before that I had many other names, so many in fact that I've already forgotten the name I was given when I was born.

Simply put, this one is but a humble trickster.

Being abandoned from young, I learned my talent for trickery at the orphanage I was staying at, manipulating the people there to do what I wanted.

Changing personalities and expressions to appeal myself to the people I'm trying to manipulate became second nature to me.

An innocent, humble girl in front of caring adults. A confident and dominant girl in front of hapless, naive kids. A cold, unapproachable girl to the various irritating boys.

I left the orphanage when I was twelve...

A teary eye there and a batting of eyelashes here, most men would be bent around my little finger. A little sob tale here and a bit of gossip there, most women would take my side.

Of course I've still kept my own purity! No way in hell I'll give that away so simply! It's actually easy to manipulate most people without resorting to using that you know?

When the bandits ambushed the caravan, they had wanted to kill everyone there.

But this one managed to convince them otherwise by offering this one's humble service, luring potential targets to lower their guard to be ambushed.

The bandits thus decided to lock me up instead, opting to use me to bait out any other convoys or Adventurers that were passing by.

This damn joke continued for quite a while and a number of dumb dumbs fell for the silly trick, at least the stupid bandits treated me better for awhile. I'll still rip their heads off if given the chance though.

That was when a mole in the Adventurer's Guild informed the bandits that an Adventurer team had taken the quest to subjugate them.

I had thought it would be my chance to escape from them.

I was once again used to lure them to the stupid bandit's ambush where they were predictably slaughtered. While they were busy with the clueless Adventurers, I tried to make my escape only to run straight into a damned group of waiting bandits.

It seemed they had anticipated that I will run from the beginning, can't believe there's actually someone with brains there.

I was then locked inside the cell without food as the price for my mistake.

That was when my most kind Master came to rescue me.

To think I had only saw him as another target to fool for my own ends back then.

How deplorable of me...

I am infinitely grateful for my fellow sisters who have shown me the error of my thinking and awaken me to my true selves.

My meeting with Master was fated to be, my rightful place is at his side for eternity.

Ain't no way I'm leaving Master! I'm not gonna let Master go!

I will remain by Master's side forever...

As long as Master allows it, this one's humble self shall stay with Master.

That is why when that man suggested I leave Master's side to accompany him, I was enraged.

NoNE maY SPeAK THAT waY WITH mY MoST SuPERB MAsTER! WhO DO YOU THinK YOU ARE deFAMiNG rIGHT NOW HuH?

Did we not already say we belong at Master's side as his servant? We did, didn't we? Yes, yes we did. So why?

Ahhh how irritating! I can punch him right?! No? Why?!

Master might not like it...

Yes, that is right. See how Master is calmly standing there, he must not want to resort to violence so easily. We should stand by him.

If this one might humbly suggest that we also defend Master's honor?

Yeah, that's right! Here, I'll show him, "Haa? Master has better things to do than to waste his time with you, you know?"

Mmm… not how I would phrase it, but well said nevertheless.

Haha! Of course!

Too loud...

We should be more ladylike.

This ain't a time to be quiet or ladylike ya know?! These bastards are insulting Master!

This one might humbly suggests assassination.

Poison… Less messy, more pain...

Heh heh, you two are quite merciless as well aren't ya?

Quiet, Master is talking.

(MC POV)

Oh no.

Look at what you did with your courting death shout.

"Papa… That thing is mean…" Cai Hong cried, clinging to my leg.

I stroked her hair to calm her.

"Young master Xi, she is just a child. Surely your generosity would not allow yourself to be infuriated by a child's antics?"

"Grr… She called this young master a thing again!"

I looked at Cai Hong, who was looking up at me all teary-eyed.

"I'm sure she doesn't mean it that way, why not find it in yourself to forgive such a small matter in your wondrously big heart? She's just a child after all."

"Grrr… This young master deserves some respect, even from a child!"

"I'm sure people would praise young master Xi's magnanimous heart should they hear he let a child's innocent joke slide, wouldn't they? It won't be good if they hear young master Xi lost his temper because of a child's antics, right?"

"Cheh, just because this young master has a generous heart, fine!"

Too easy. Power of bullshitting.

"But that still doesn't change the fact that you have been using this young master's place!"

Damn it.

Digging through my sleeve, I retrieved a small pouch of coins that I tossed to him.

"Here, a small gift for the inconvenience."

"Hmph," the young master scoffed while opening the pouch. "You think a small bag of copper coins like this would suffi--"

His words died in his throat when he saw the pouch's content.

Well of course, there's about fifty gold in there after all, not a small amount by any means even for someone like him.

Problems that can be solved with money isn't a problem at all, as they say.

Oh, and the fact that he probably still thinks I'm a poor commoner should play a big part in his shock.

He looked up at me with uncertainty evident on his face, "Wh… Who are you?"

I gave him a smile, "Just a normal Practitioner out training with my disciples. I hope young master Xi will take care of us in the future."

I turned and began ushering my girls to leave.

"Wait, wait, wait. You don't think just giving me this pouch of money would let this young master forgive you, right?"

I feigned a gasp, "Oh? Is the money not good? Should I take it back and--"

"No, no, the money is good enough," the young master quickly pocketed the pouch within his robes. "But this is just for the usage of my place. There's still the fact that I was disrespected by that little girl there."

"Ara? Didn't you agree with Master that you will let a child's innocent joke slide?" Manami asked.

The young master crossed his arms, "Of course, I forgive the girl. But the parent who failed to discipline his child must be taught a lesson."

Discipline Cai Hong, have you seen how cute she is? The only discipline I'm doing to her is giving her cute cheeks a pinch here and there.

"What are you looking for then," I sighed.

"You claim that they're your disciples right? Just have a bout with my man here," the young master pointed to one of his muscular goons who stepped forward. "If you win, you can go. If you lose, the fairies must stay behind."

Seeing no other way, I stepped forward, "Very well then, whenever you're ready."

Without warning, the man charged towards my direction with his fists raised.

He barely covered half the distance between us before I blurred towards him, slapped his face with an open palm before blurring back to my original location.

Everyone stared at me, then turned to see the man halfway embedded into the tree a distance away.

Without another word, I brought my disciples away from the field without even looking back. No one stopped me from leaving.

Shit.

Now we'll probably get chased by the Xi family for humiliating their young master or something.

I only wanted to lightly tap him to knock the guy out, but I didn't expect him to be that physically weak that a slap will send him flying so far away.

Noooo… My easy life is drifting further and further away...

Do you know how irritating it is to have some 'powerful' family coming after you? They'll just keep sending their men to keep hounding at you at every opportunity they get.

Even when you burn their entire family home to the ground, there will always be that one cockroach family member that cannot die and swear vengeance on you.

He'll probably uncover some dark power hidden within his family and get some nonsensical power up before coming back to take revenge.

Do you know how troublesome that is?!

It's like someone coming in to your room at night to take something while you're comfortably in bed, then leave the room without turning the lights off and leaving the door open.

And it will happen…

Every.

Single.

Night.

Oh, why not just kill that 'cockroach' family member? Oh so simple huh?

Guess what, that guy has connections, and his connections has connections, then his connections' connections has connections too! How do you want to deal with that?

That's right! Just envelope the world in Divine Lightning of course, hahahaha!

…

I'll just send another bag of fifty gold over to him later, hopefully he'll just forget about this.

I only slapped his goon after all, not him.

"Master? Is there something special about that bug-- man?" Manami asked.

Did I hear her call him bug? Must be my imagination.

"The Xi Family is quite powerful in this city and they control the auction house," I explained. "It's better to be in their good graces to avoid trouble in the future. Besides, it'll be troublesome if something like this causes me to be banned from the auction house. Not to mention, the family is quite influential as well."

They looked at one another before nodding.

"We understand, Master," Lian Li affirmed.

"Yes, we shall make the arrangements," Eris offered.

Ha~~ At least I have my cute disciples to heal my tired soul.

"Umu, good, good." I nodded. "I'll go back and make something nice for all of you to eat."

"Yay~~ Papa cook!" Cai Hong cheered, hugging my waist.

So cute.

My disciples are the best.

Chapter 21 - Preparing For The Tournament Arc

(MC POV)

"It's so creamy…" Lian Li gasped.

"And thick too…" Manami agreed after swallowing.

Cai Hong licked her fingers slowly, "It's so yummy!"

Eris got closer to me, breathing hard, "What should we do next... Master?"

"Now you cool the cake using Ice quarks so that it will hold its shape," I instructed, wiping away the icing around Cai Hong's mouth.

Circulating my Ice quarks, I lowered the temperature around the cake to around freezing temperature.

"And we'll just have to wait for a few minutes before we can eat cake. Usually we'll leave it at around four degrees and leave it for an hour, but if you can control your ice quarks well, a few minutes is enough."

I turned to see Eris diligently taking notes while nodding her head.

Cai Hong was sucking on her finger while staring unblinkingly at the cake on the table, a hand clasped on my leg.

Lian Li and Manami moved to prepare the cutlery and plates for us to eat the cake, how thoughtful of them.

"What is the name of this, Master?" Eris asked.

"Vanilla cake, there's other variations to it so I'll give you the recipes to them later."

The girl nodded her head enthusiastically. Heh heh, my plan to get Eris interested in cooking is a huge success.

"Now that should be enough," I announced, dematerialising the ice quarks.

Lian Li passed a few plates and a knife to me, earning herself a head pat.

I began cutting slices out of the cake, enough for all of us with a big chunk leftover.

The four girls waited patiently as I took the first bite off my plate, they had always insisted that I ate before they did and no amount of persuasion I tried could sway them.

I nodded in satisfaction, "It's good, try it."

The girls immediately dug in, bringing the sugary sin to their lips.

"Bliss~~" Lian Li moaned, a hand caressing her cheek as she basked in the sweet taste of vanilla.

"Mmm… This is good," Manami remarked calmly, though her tails were shaking back and forth expressing her happiness.

"Papa! It's yummy!" Cai Hong exclaimed, wolfing down her slice of cake.

"Sweet," Eris muttered simply, though it's clear from how her eyes sparkled she liked it.

Heh, who doesn't like cake?

I looked towards the group of merchants who have been staring at us enviously for a while now, "You guys want a slice?"

"Ah? Don't mind if I do."

"I'll take one please."

"Me too."

"One for me as well, please."

"Could I take two?"

The five hungry men came up to us as I cut a slice for each of them, passing it out to them with a smile.

We were on our way back towards Heaven Sect in preparation for the annual Sect Showcase Festival, I was planning for Lian Li and Manami to advance to Inner Core Practitioner before participating.

Luckily for us, a merchant caravan had intended to travel past Heaven Sect so we hitched a ride with them instead of walking back.

In return, we provided additional security for them until we reached Heaven Sect.

It was easy to tell they were elated to have Heaven Sect members guarding them.

After having travelled for a few days, Heaven Sect was just up ahead. Right now, the merchants had wanted to take a break and reorganise their things before seeing us off at Heaven Sect, where another Adventurer group would take over us.

That's why I made a cake for all of us as a farewell.

So far throughout the journey, three groups of monsters had tried to attack the convoy but all were easily dealt with by my disciples without needing my involvement.

Sniff... They grow up so fast.

After everyone thoroughly enjoyed their cake, we reached the gates of Heaven Sect at midday.

The Adventurer team took over us without any problems, thus I brought the girls to the Sect entrance that was being guarded by two Sect members.

"Master Lin! You've returned!" One of them greeted.

I nodded back in greeting, "Umu, did anything happen while I was gone?"

"Nothing major, we received the rewards for the Request Master Lin completed some time ago so…"

The guard noticed the girls behind me.

"Ummm… Master Lin? Who are they? Last I remembered you only took in one disciple?"

"Yes, we had some fortunate encounters outside and I found a few more prospective disciples," I explained.

"To catch Master Lin's attention, they must be really special," the guard nodded.

Yeah, if only you knew the half of it.

Even Eris has been showing some genius talent in cooking and swordsmanship, she doesn't forget anything I teach her.

What's more, her situational awareness is astounding, it almost feels as if there's other people telling her what was going on around her.

You could approach her from her back and she would know you were coming.

What really baffles me is her abrupt changes in speaking patterns, one moment she's quiet and the next she's suddenly really excitable.

As far as I can tell, it isn't triggered by anything specific.

"Umu, in that case, I'll be heading to my place first."

"Of course, welcome back Master Lin," the guards opened the doors for me.

I led the awestruck girls into the Sect.

Lian Li had already been here before so she was less impressed than the other three.

For first timers our Sect is indeed impressive to see even if I do say so myself.

Built on the tallest mountain in the region, entering the Sect at the mountain's foot gives you a complete view of the entire Sect spread out above you.

The size was no laughing matter with it being around half the size of the capital city housing less than a quarter of said city's residents.

I first brought them to the Administration Building where Manami and Cai Hong will register as my disciples and Eris my servant.

Cai Hong will stay as a Student Practitioner for now, she's too young and advancing her too far will draw too many questions.

I can just tell people she's an orphan I picked up who showed promising Practitioner talent.

Being a Master of the Sect gives me the privilege of scouting prospective disciples outside of the biennial entrance test period. This rarely happens though, as most Masters prefer to stay in their Sects to cultivate instead of going out to scout for disciples.

Lazy asses I call them.

Can't believe I used to be like that too.

Oh well that's the past so let's not dwell on it.

The registration proceeded on without a hitch, though there were a few raised eyebrows for Cai Hong.

Her small dragon horns are hidden in her hair so she looks like a normal ten year old girl. Well, as normal as a ten year old girl with shimmering multicoloured hair can get.

They probably let it slide because of her cuteness.

Cai Hong is really cute after all, especially when she starts looking at you with her sparkly eyes. Did I mention she has this really adorable strand of ahoge sticking out of her head? Well she does and it's really, really cute.

While we were there, I arranged for Lian Li and Manami to be tested for their Inner Core Practitioner Advancement Exam next week.

The Sect Showcase Festival was in another three months, so they would get to show their skills in the festival itself.

It's a good opportunity for them to learn from other Sect's Practitioners too.

In the meantime, I should introduce the three newcomers to my abode.

Chapter 22 - Girls Talk

(Lian Li POV)

I opened the door to the disciples' room within Master's courtyard, letting my sisters inside after me.

"This will be our room, just pick a free bed and settle in." I gestured towards the unoccupied beds within the room. "Master's room is the building past the inner courtyard. Don't even think about it, Manami."

Manami huffed at me but said nothing as she placed her things down on the bed beside mine.

Cai Hong tugged at my sleeve, "Lian Li big sis, can Cai Hong take any bed?"

"Mmm, of course."

"Cai Hong wants Papa's bed."

"Except that one."

"Muuu~~ Lian Li big sis meanie," the girl pouted while claiming the bed beside Manami's.

Eris dived into the bed beside mine, "Huuaaah~~ Finally a bloody proper bed! I'm tired of sleeping on those damn sleeping bags!"

"Fufufu. And I'm tired of Lian Li constantly stopping me from attempting to copulate with Master," Manami commented from the side. "Let this big sis have her mating time won't you?"

I ignored her.

I sat down on my bed, smoothing the wrinkles out of the sheets fondly. It felt so long ago that I first became Master's disciple after he pulled me away from the entrance test.

If he hadn't reached out to me that day, I don't know what I might have done.

I reminiscenced on those wonderful days, the times when Master would patiently guide me on exploring my untapped potential. I never knew it was this wonderful to have someone who believed in you.

I would sit outside in the courtyard while listening to his lessons. His strong, powerful visage a guiding light for my lost soul.

Ah, it was also in this very room where I had first started pleasing myse…

"Hey, hey, Master gave us free time now, so what'cha guys thinking of doing?" Eris asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

She was laying down on the bed with one leg in the air, her arms supporting her head.

"Cai Hong wants to play with Papa!" the little dragon girl exclaimed, leaping up from the bed.

Manami patted her head, "Ara… Master said he would be busy so we can't disturb him."

"Muu… If Papa said so… Ok."

Eris brought her leg down and sat up properly on the bed, "Might this one humbly suggest a tour of Master's Sect?"

The three of them turned to me, since I was the only one who had been here before.

"Mmm… I can guide you guys a bit, but I didn't stay here long enough to actually be familiar with the place. I had followed Master on his journey a month after my first initiation as his disciple."

Manami waved my concern away, "That's fine, we can explore together then."

Eris frowned, "Must not trouble Master."

"We are Master's disciples, it would not do well to shame him in his Sect," I agreed.

Manami tapped a finger on her chin, "What about the test next week? Do we know what is it about?"

I turned to my left, opening my cabinet beside the bed and pulling out a small book.

"Master told me about them and I wrote them here before we left the Sect."

The three of them immediately converged around me, peeking over my shoulder.

"'Inner core disciple test consists of a theory and practical test on their knowledge of Elemental Quarks. Disciples must first pass the theory test before proceeding to the practical test'," I read aloud.

Manami's eyes lit up, "A theory test? No wonder Master spends the time after training to teach us about Quark fundamentals. I never thought he had already thought ahead to have us inducted as Inner Sect Practitioners."

"Papa's teaching is fun!"

"Teaching?! We having another sword lesson?" Eris asked suddenly, all excited.

"No, Master is busy, go back inside. And stop making so much noise," I admonished.

"Cheh, you guys are no fun," the girl stuck her tongue at us before returning to her previous spot behind me.

Manami continued reading the next line, "'The theory test consists of testing the Practitioner's knowledge of their own Quarks and Cultivation, it will be an oral test in front of a group of teachers. The teachers will ask several questions and the student will answer to the best of their abilities'."

That made her frown a little, "Ara? Master isn't the one testing us?"

I shook my head, "He will be one of the teachers, but there will be other teachers there with him."

"It's like they don't trust Master," Eris clenched her fist.

"Muu? Bad people?" Cai Hong asked, sucking on a finger.

I shrugged, "Master had explained to me that at the Sect's founding, a student would have three teachers and they would gather to discuss the student's progress together in the past. It turned into a tradition for their tests after more people joined the Sect and it became impractical to do the discussions."

"As long as Master is there I suppose, I wouldn't be able to stand a couple of old fogies staring at me the whole time," Manami sighed.

"The Practical..." Eris asked.

"Umm… 'Practitioners will demonstrate their Quark manipulation abilities as instructed by their tutor, the testers would then decide if they have passed or not.'"

Manami stretched herself, "Mmm… Sounds simple enough, I don't think either of us have a problem with the test next week."

I nodded in agreement, Master himself had already said we were beyond qualified to be admitted as Inner Core Practitioners, but he didn't want us to draw too much attention to ourselves.

Though we were confused as to why he didn't want us to show off and bring more glory to him at first, we came to the conclusion that Master never sought for these kinds of attention.

I worry sometimes that Master's humbleness might draw unsavoury people's attention.

"Speaking of which, how is the group at Jin city?" Manami asked me.

I took a moment to think, "I believe it should be going well, Alpha should be taking over me for now at the base, Beta is in charge of the administration and Gamma is in charge of security."

"This one humbly suggests Delta to take over the conversions, she is the most charismatic one we have now."

"Cai Hong likes Delta's prea… Pea… Peaches!"

"Preaches," Manami corrected. "But I agree, Delta was very devoted in memorising the scriptures, she can take up the responsibility."

"I will tell them that," I nodded.

Eris tilted her head to me, "What about the Xi Family, Master has mentioned he wishes to make use of them."

"Our people have already infiltrated them, it's only because we're not strong enough that we have yet to make a direct confrontation. The insect has already been converted, however," I recounted.

"Arrghh! If only I was stronger!" Eris yelled out in frustration. "I wanna do something!"

I frowned at the girl that was currently rolling around on the bed, "Why are you back out again? Just stay inside."

"But I'm bored! The other three are fine sitting around but I'm not!"

"Cai Hong play?" the little girl prodded.

"I guess we can go with the original idea of exploring the Sect, as long as we keep out of trouble," I relented.

I was curious about the Sect myself, Master only brought me out once or twice before since we had no need of outside contact.

The other girls agreed as well, it was better to know what the place Master has deemed well enough to grace with his presence was like.

With that said, the four of us left our room, taking the time to explore the Sect that we are now currently part of.

Chapter 23 - I Want Overtime Pay

(MC POV)

Well, it's been awhile since I've been back.

Seeing how hard they've been working these few days, I let my cute disciples have the day off. It's definitely not because I wanted to slack off today, definitely.

While I was lazing around on my bed, someone knocked on my door.

"Master Lin? Are you there?"

I immediately jumped out of my bed, "Elder Qing? Ah, yes, let me get the door for you."

How did this guy know I was back so fast? It's not even half a day since I've been back!

I opened my door to see Elder Qing standing there with his bearded smile.

"Ah, Master Lin, I heard that you've returned to the Sect."

"Yes, only moments ago actually. News must travel fast around here," I said sarcastically.

He laughed, not noticing my sarcasm, "Ha ha! When it's news about our prodigy, of course it will travel fast!"

I smiled wryly at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Anyway, I thought you might want to see some of the new students and possibly introduce your own disciples as well."

"Ah, that's unfortunate but I have given my disciples the day off, sorry."

Elder Qing seemed rather surprised, "Oh? That's really unexpected of you Master Lin. I remember back when you were a student you never took days off, like ever. I almost expected you to run your own disciples ragged."

Yep, those were the days…

That's why I thoroughly regretted them and vowed never to return to that.

Easy life is best life.

"Letting them learn at their own pace is best after all, it would be detrimental to their growth otherwise," I admitted.

Elder Qing stroked his long beard thoughtfully, "Mmm… That is true. Still, would you like to see the new students? I'm sure some of them would like to meet you after all."

Hmmm… It's just looking right? Shouldn't be too hard, might even spot another prospective disciple that I missed before.

"Alright then, lead the way Elder Qing."

Elder Qing nodded and lead the way out of my courtyard.

We made our way towards the Grand Courtyard, where most of the Student Practitioners would be gathered at this time of the day.

The Grand Courtyard is big enough to accommodate ten thousand people comfortably, thus it was often used as a gathering place or a training ground.

Within the Courtyard were four pillars with a Cultivation Technique inscribed on them. Activating the four pillars would reinforce the entire Courtyard and negate any damage caused to it and the surroundings.

This technique is frequently used in most competitions as well, the Sect Showcase Festival for one. Can't have the competitors tearing up your Sect grounds can we?

I claim credit for helping improve it and spreading it to the other Grand Sects back in my student days.

When we entered the courtyard, there was a group of roughly a hundred Student Practitioners engaged in a lesson with an Elder.

It was easy to tell their ranks from this distance since the robe colour differs for every rank in the Sect.

For most Sects, Student Practitioners wear black robes with white lining on the collar. Outer Core Practitioner robes are green while Inner Core Practitioner robes are dark blue. Elite Practitioners will change their robes to sky blue and Elders wear theirs in a light grey colour.

The Masters would usually wear pure white robes and the Sect Master would have his robes be in jade green.

There was a running joke in our Sect that if someone stayed as an Outer Core Practitioner long enough, they would become the Sect Master because of how similar the robe colours were.

"Elder Gong!" Elder Qing called out while waving his hand in greeting.

Elder Gong stopped his lesson upon being called, "Ah, Elder Qing! Master Lin! Have you come to use the Courtyard as well?"

Elder Qing shook his head, "Not at all, we thought it might be a good idea for the young ones to be acquainted with our Master Lin at least. He is here to impart them a little of his wisdom."

Hey, hey, hold on. This whole operation was your idea.

"Ah! A splendid idea!" Elder Gong laughed before gesturing to me. "Students, this is Master Lin. Some of you may already know but he is our Heaven Sect's number one genius!"

Oi, I was only here because I was told I could just observe! What's the point of putting this as an off day if I'm stuck teaching another group of students?!

Give me back my off day damn you! I'm claiming overtime for this!

With the spotlight now on me, I can't not say anything either.

I faked a cough into my fist, "Ahem, yes. It's nice to meet you all. First, let me offer my congratulations on your entries into Heaven Sect. I have no doubt many of you have different aspirations on what you want to do as a Practitioner, but take the time to learn from and guide the others around you. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, I'd always like to say."

That was complete bullshit, by the way.

In both the Cloud and Spiritual Plane, there's no one you can trust but yourself.

What friends? What family? They'd all backstab you at the earliest chance they can get for their own benefits. Hell, even your lover will cuck you just to advance their own powers if they could.

Actually, you can't even trust yourself sometimes. There were monsters that could hide within your shadows when you least expect it, backstabbing you the moment you give them the opportunity.

Those places were hell.

These guys are fortunate to be in the Earthen Plane where such things are unheard of.

Such innocent minds.

I clapped my hands together, "Master Gong, what was their agenda today?"

He stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Umu… They already know about the fundamentals of Elemental Quarks, so we were going to let them try to convert their Pure quarks into another element and materialise it."

Ah, the most basic then. Lian Li learnt this in five minutes.

"I see, in that case," I cracked my knuckles. "Picture this: your Cultivation Point is a bowl while your Pure quarks is the water that fills the bowl. What you want to do is start swirling the water inside the bowl, but the water stays within the bowl's confines."

I did exactly as I had described internally, swirling the Pure quarks inside my Cultivation Point.

"Now the water should gain speed and you need to picture where you want the water to go, in my case, let's say I want it to be on my right hand."

I stretched out my right hand in front of me, palm facing the sky.

"Then imagine a little of the water spill out of the bowl while continuing to swirl it, concentrate on the spilt water and guide it from your body towards your hand like so."

A small orb of bluish white light appeared on my palm.

"Now imagine the element you want to change into, for this instance I'll use water since we were already imagining water to begin with. Imagine the water's fluidity, its coolness and its tranquility. The more you understand about the element, the better control you have. Match that understanding into the water you were already imagining swirling inside you and…"

The orb of light turned into a semi translucent ball of water, hovering slightly above my palm.

"Now you have to maintain your concentration on that water, or else this will happen."

The orb of water wobbled and crashed down on my palm, spilling its contents.

"Once you are proficient enough, you should be able to change the quark within your Cultivation Point itself before materialising it."

To prove my point, another orb of water appeared above my palm without appearing as an orb of light first.

"And when you understand more elements, you can manifest them as well."

I circulated the elements needed for my multicasting. A fireball appeared, followed by an orb of wind and a lump of earth.

I severed my connection to the manifested quarks and let the four orbs disintegrate into nothingness.

"Pick the element that you are most familiar with and work from there, it won't be long before you can materialise it at will if you persevere."

I looked up to see everyone gaping at me, even Elder Gong and Elder Qing.

Huh?

What did I do that's so surprising?

"Multi… Casting?" someone whispered.

Chapter 24 - Throwing Smoke

(MC POV)

"Multi… Casting?" Someone whispered.

"Master Lin? What… What was that?" Elder Gong asked shakily.

"That? Which one?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Did you just… Materialise four different elements at once?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Er… Yes? It's just manifesting the elements though?"

"Manifesting… The elements?" Elder Qing parroted. "Master Lin… You can materialise more than one element at once?"

Oh shit.

I forgot that most Practitioners can't actually do that.

Hell, even Manami and Lian Li are still having trouble doing it with two elements and I just did it with four.

Multicasting isn't supposed to be a thing here in the Earthen Plane, heck it's not even a thing in the Spiritual Plane either.

I was so used to teaching my own disciples that I forgot who I was talking to!

How do I get out of this one?! They're definitely going to ask me to teach them at this rate! They're also going to think that I'm some heaven blessed genius too!

Think, think, think!

Ah! That's right!

"Huhuhu, did it look like that? Does anyone think otherwise?" I smiled, pointedly asking the Student Practitioners.

All of them began whispering among themselves but all of them shook their heads.

"Was that not it? Master Lin?" Elder Qing asked.

I laughed once more before my body shimmered and disappeared.

"That's right," I said, appearing behind them smugly.

"Eh? Master Lin? How?"

"A neat little trick I learnt from the fox youkai village using Space quarks. Altering the perception of others in a particular space."

Elder Qing glanced at where I had been standing at earlier before looking back at me.

"So then… All that time that was?"

"An illusion, yes, quite convincing no? That's another advice from me, do not blindly believe whatever you see in front of you. Possessing an inquisitive mind paves the way for more possibilities."

Everyone nodded along like I just imparted a profound piece of wisdom to them.

Phew, managed to smoke my way out of that one! I need to thank Manami for this, I'll probably brush her tails with extra care tonight.

Using the Space quarks, I left an illusion at where I had been standing and snuck my way behind them the moment they got distracted by my question. Misdirection is a powerful tool.

"Ah, but the method I said about materialising your quarks is true though, you can believe that."

Elder Qing stroked his beard, "Umu, but still… I didn't know you were already proficient in Space quarks, Master Lin."

Yes! I've been waiting for that!

"Indeed, my disciples and I have quite a few fortuitous encounters outside. The Request at the fox youkai village had one such encounter."

Haha! Now that would explain away all the sudden growth in strength and direct away all suspicions from me!

Yes, blame it all on mysterious external factors!

"Oh? That sounds like a very interesting tale! Would you mind sharing it with us?"

When did Elder Qing become so inquisitive?!

I thought they would just nod along at this point and mutter 'I see, I see'!

"Hmm, I would like to, but…" I turned my sight towards Elder Gong standing beside the gathered students. "I don't think it is good for me to take up Elder Gong's time with his class."

Elder Gong waved his hand, "Nonsense! I'm sure these young ones are all interested in knowing what you have encountered Master Lin! They won't be able to concentrate on their lessons until you satisfy their curiosity!"

Goddamnit, would it kill you to cooperate here?

Whatever, let's just rely on my bullshitting skills I honed to perfection in the higher Planes.

I feigned a defeated smile, "Alright then, when my disciple and I reached the fox village, we were greeted by…"

(Cai Hong POV)

"That's the Laundry area," Lian Li big sis pointed to the big, white building by the river.

"If you plan to… Appropriate Master's robes for yourself, I suggest only taking the inner robes and nothing else. Only take one and switch them every laundry day, undergarments are a no go as he seems to notice their disappearance quite easily."

Cai Hong hugged the robe Papa gave Cai Hong tighter.

"First hand experience?" Manami big sis asked with a weird smile.

"Just take my advice. And if you would promise not to try tempting Master to lay with you until I get my turn, I'll tell you where he bathes."

"Ara? You're assuming I can't find it myself?"

"Master bathes separately from us, I can save you a lot of time by telling you this."

"Fufufu, no deal. A week is the best this big sister can promise you. I can find all that myself within a few days."

Lian Li big sis clicked her tongue, "Tch, half a year and I'll tell you the best spots to watch from."

"One month and no more. Or this big sister won't tempt Master to brush your hair anymore."

"... Fine."

Lian Li big sis turned around and continued walking, Cai Hong followed behind her with Manami big sis and Eris big sis.

Cai Hong looked at Eris big sis, she only smiled at Cai Hong without saying anything.

Muuu… Why is Lian Li big sis and Manami big sis saying all these weird things? Cai Hong misses Papa already…

Cai Hong sniffed Papa's shirt, Papa's smell is nice~~

It gives Cai Hong a warm, fuzzy feeling~~

Papa had asked Cai Hong to give Papa's shirt back before, but Cai Hong cried and said it was Papa's first gift to Cai Hong.

Papa let Cai Hong keep the shirt after that.

Papa is the best!

"So where are the baths?" Manami big sis asked, a little impatiently.

Lian Li big sis smiled, "Wouldn't it be better to go there when Master is actually bathing inside?"

Cai Hong wants to bathe with Papa… Cai Hong likes it when Papa washes Cai Hong's hair.

But Papa said it was better for Cai Hong's big sisters to wash Cai Hong instead. Even when Cai Hong cried, Papa didn't budge…

Papa said something about being called a 'loly kon'?

Cai Hong doesn't know what a 'loly kon' is but they sound yummy!

Mmmm? Cai Hong can smell Papa? Smell is not coming from shirt?

"Find Papa?" Cai Hong said.

Lian Li big sis turned her head around, "Mmm… Master is busy isn't he? We shouldn't disturb him."

Cai Hong puffed up cheeks, pointing at the big building to Cai Hong's left, "Find Papa!"

Manami big sis also sniffed at that direction, "Hmmm… Cai Hong is right. I smell Master there. What is that place, Lian Li?"

"That's the Grand Hall, beyond that is the Grand Courtyard. I know from Master that it's where the other students will practice but we've never used there for our own training before."

Eris tilted her head, "Could Master be teaching someone else?"

"Very likely, Master did say he would not be free the entire day today," Manami nodded.

"This one humbly suggests not to disturb Master," Eris big sis suggested.

Right after she said that, Eris big sis frowned, "Screw that! I say we go watch! I want to watch! It's fine if we don't disturb Master and watch from afar ain't it?"

Cai Hong wants to watch Papa as well, Cai Hong likes to watch Papa show his strength!

"To think you had so many encounters from a single trip, I don't know if you are lucky or unlucky, Master Lin."

"Haha, I wonder about that myself, Elder Qing."

"Ahaha! Would it be too much for this humble Elder to ask Master Lin to provide some benefits too?"

Muu? Papa's voice?

Cai Hong turned to see Papa walking out of the big building with a weird old man trying to take advantage of him.

Cai Hong ran forward to hug Papa.

"Papa!"

Chapter 25 - It A Date, Is It?

(Manami POV)

"Papa!"

Cai Hong shouted as she rushed towards Master.

"Oh, Cai Hong? Lian Li, Manami and Eris too? What are you girls doing here?" Master asked, receiving Cai Hong's hug.

"Lian Li is showing us around, Master," Eris explained.

"Master Lin, are these your students?" The old fart beside Master asked.

"Ah, that's right. Girls, this is Elder Qing, he was my mentor back when I first entered the Sect. Elder Qing, these are my disciples, Lian Li and Manami. This little one is Cai Hong and Eris is the one at the back."

He looked at each of us in turn, nodding his head at each of us.

"Hmmm, very good. I heard two of them are already applying to be Inner Core Practitioners?"

Master nodded and gestured to Lian Li and I, "Yes, they'll both take the test next week."

"And the other two?"

Master gave a wry smile, "Eris isn't a Practitioner and Cai Hong is too young."

"I see, I see. Does that mean the first two will be entering this year's Sect Showcase Festival?"

Master nodded an affirmative.

Ah, the Sect Showcase Festival... I've heard about it before.

This year's showcase should be at the Phoenix Sect west of Jin city, near Mount Yin where Cai Hong's egg was supposedly found.

It's quite an important event for us Practitioners that even Master has participated in once or twice. We've tried asking him about his participation before but he didn't want to tell us, stating it was embarrassing.

How cute.

What we did find out from other information sources was that Master participated in at least two of them. Once as an Inner Core Practitioner and another as a Master.

He had asked if we wanted to join this year's festival and we immediately agreed. To represent Master and win him glory, why would we pass up something like that?

Mmm… And after we win, I'll ask Master for my reward.

First a thorough tail brushing, then I'll offer to massage his shoulders, then envelope him with my tails… Slowly pushing myself on him, and then…

Ara ara, that's no good. I'm getting turned on just by imagining it.

Ufufufu.

"Ho ho, then I wish you girls all the luck then! This old man shouldn't bother you young ones anymore, take care of your disciples Master Lin."

Ara? This old fart is quite considerate. As expected of someone who had seen Master's greatness first hand.

Master waved the old man off with his usual smile.

Cai Hong started pulling his sleeve, "Papa? Join?"

"Hmm, touring the Sect? Well, why not? I can show you some places I know of back in my student days. Come then."

Master beckoned us to follow him, turning towards one of the paths.

Ara? Could this be a date? It's not right? It's just Master giving us a tour.

"Master? Is… Is this a date?" Lian Li asked.

Oh my, how bold of you, sister.

Master turned his head to give a smile, "Hmm? I suppose you can call it that? Hahaha."

Ara?

Ara ara?

This…

Is.

A.

DATE.

DATE!!!

Bad tails! Stop wagging so much!

AHHHHH!!

No, I can't control them! I'm so happy!!

A DATE!!!

AHHHHH!!

Stop screaming me! Stop! Calm down!

No! No! No! I can't! My face is feeling weird! I can't stop myself! Nooooo!! My body's moving on its own!

My hand reached out for Master's arm, only for another hand to grab my wrist.

I snarled at Lian Li, who held my glare with one of her own.

"We had an agreement," she stated simply.

Tch… She wins this time.

But still, you shouldn't hold yourself back like that Lian Li, I can see your trembling hands that you want to do the same as well.

Fufufu… I shouldn't let something like that bring me down. It's our first date with Master after all!

DATE!

(Eris POV)

"That's the medicine pagoda. If you're looking for any alchemical ingredients, that's where you want to look for," Master explained, pointing to the pagoda building across the lake.

"Is that where Master got the godly pill from?" Lian Li asked.

"Ah, you mean the pill I healed you with right? I only got the ingredients there, I don't think anyone else but me knows how to make it right now."

"God…" I could not help but mutter.

Lian Li and Manami had told me of how Master had created a divine pill that could heal any ailments. Even Manami's supposedly crippled Quark Veins were restored without a hitch, who else but a god could create such divine items? [Eris]

By the way, I'm still quite in shock that we're on a date with Master ya know? [Bait]

… Date… [Laverna]

For Master to allow this one's humble self to date him… This one is not worthy… Not worthy… [Denna]

Hehehe, they're still broken. Hey, hey. Why don't we just jump him already? [Bait]

Heresy… [Laverna]

Oh? You're back huh? That was fast. [Bait]

To suggest such things… Unbelievable… [Laverna]

Oh shut up, not like you've never thought of doing it anyway. Did'ja see how crazily Manami's tail was swishing around just now? Thought they would'a fallen right off right there, hahaha! [Bait]

Quiet, Master is talking. [Eris]

"That's where I used to go to cultivate," Master pointed to a small grove of trees. "Peaceful and private, I haven't seen anyone else pass through there before."

I filed that information away under 'potential happy spots'. [Eris]

Hey, hey, what didja think about the spot on the roof of the Grand Hall? I think I like that the best! [Bait]

You are impossible… [Laverna]

Shaddup, at least I'm honest with myself you prude. [Bait]

Privacy… [Laverna]

Bleh, am I the only one around here who wants a little outdoor action? [Bait]

No doubt. [Eris]

Yes… [Laverna]

This one humbly denies such thoughts. [Denna]

You three are sooo boring. [Bait]

"Eris? Are you ok? You seem to be spacing out." Master called out.

"Eh? Ah! I'm err… This one is okalrightyfine…"

Ah? Why did all of you speak? [Eris]

I panicked ok?! [Bait]

Nervous… [Laverna]

This one humbly apologizes. [Denna]

Ugh… Look, Master is worried now. [Eris]

Eh? Master's placing his hand on my forehead?

"Hmmm… Your temperature is fine, I guess you're just tired?"

Uwawawawawa~~ [Eris]

Calm down, damnit! Calm the hell down! It's just a touch! I'm not panicking, you're panicking! [Bait]

Warm… [Laverna]

This one humbly requests for this moment to last forever. [Denna]

"Hmmm, it's about time we head back as well. Why don't you hop on my back Eris? I'll carry you."

I waved my hands frantically, "Nononono! What are you even suggesting Master?! Someone like me just can't-"

"Oh don't make such a fuss. Here," Master scooped me up in his arms.

"There, see? I'm not that weak you know?" He smiled down at me.

…

…

…

…

PRINCESS CARRY?!!! [All four]

I blacked out.

Chapter 26 - Demotion And Promotion

(Young master Xi POV)

I swallowed the saliva I had in my mouth, clenching my teeth hard to keep the bile down my throat.

I was standing stiffly inside my own room, a young girl in a maid outfit was seated on the chair with a leg crossed over the other in front of me.

Ever since that day… That accursed day that I tried to go against God… My life had been hell.

It was an obvious outcome, if one shuns God's grace, you will be doomed to hell.

The girl in front of me uncrossed and crossed her long legs. If it was the past me, I would be salivating at the thought of caressing those smooth thighs and ravaging the girl on my bed.

Now, however, those thoughts were the furthest they can be in my mind.

The girl in front of me is someone I should never go against. Not unless I want to experience that hell again.

"That's my side of things, anything else I should know?" The girl spoke.

I kept my mouth shut, she was not talking to me of course. From what I had learned, it was a telepathy Cultivation Technique taught to them by that fox apostle using Space quarks. Something that was passed to her by God himself.

"Ah I see… High priestess Lian Li must be planning to move forward with that plan earlier than discussed. I will push things forward on my end as well. Yes, I understand. All for Master."

The girl rose from the chair and I stood a little straighter.

"Listen here, insect. I need a list of all the merchant houses that have dealings with Jin city and which goods they specialise in. I want it by the end of this week."

I gulped, "A… All? E-e-even the minor houses? B-b-but there's more than h-h-hundreds…"

The girl glared at me, prompting me to shut up.

"And? Will that be a problem?"

"N-n-no… Just that… I need time to do it… Since I… Don't have subordinates…"

I swallowed again, forcing the bile back down.

"Then find more subordinates if you have to, insect. Do I even need to tell you these kinds of things? Or should we arrange another session?"

I swallowed harder, memories of what was done to me resurfaced from the darkest depths of my mind. The screams were getting louder and louder.

I was so stupid.

That second pouchful of gold God gave me had been his final test and I failed it, spending it all on indulging myself at the local brothels and pubs while foolishly laughing at my 'luck'.

I was pretty sure the fact that I badmouthed him and conspired with my subordinates on extorting him again contributed to my suffering.

One moment I was laughing along with my plans on sending my family guards to harass him and the next I found the world spinning before my eyes.

I had blacked out and woken up in a dimly lit room, my subordinates all tied up around me and kneeling on the ground.

It was obvious they had went through some kind of torture already judging by the wounds and the lifeless eyes.

The four priestesses I had tried to court from God were within the room, explaining to me just who I had offended.

I tried to resist, and they showed me what happened to people who resisted. It did not take much for me to break.

I hadn't known how powerful they were.

Even then, they had offered mercy for me.

Nay, it was God who had offered mercy I was sure. Had God chosen to abandon me, I was sure I would have ended up like my subordinates at the priestesses hands.

I just had to prove my worth by atoning for my sacrilegious actions.

I felt hope then, I would've done anything to stop the pain from returning back to me. That was until they told me what I had to do.

My subordinates were to be my atonement.

A blade was placed in my hand.

It was supposed to be simple: silence the heretics without the usage of Elemental Quarks.

I tried to give them a quick death, I truly did. But I knew it was not that simple as the man I had first decapitated was still screaming after his head was separated from his body.

They felt everything and didn't die no matter how much I cut them, even stabbing them through the head or heart did not stop their wails.

The blade eventually broke after my frantic slashes.

I asked the priestesses for another weapon but they just stared at me in disdain.

I had to use my own hands.

I tore into each of them, trying to ignore their screams of pain as I tried to beat them to death. I scratched and tore and thrashed until my hands were all bruised and bloody.

It didn't work.

Even when their faces were punched in and their bodies a mangled mess, the screams still continued to echo off the walls.

I realised what they meant for me to do when they told me to silence them.

I had no choice.

I only did it to stop the screams.

The room was finally silent after I was done.

All ten bodies completely gone.

Now, only I can hear the screams deep within my core.

I have taken in their sins.

It took me a long time to get used to the screaming, especially on sleepless nights.

That's why, I would rather die than experience another 'session'.

"N-n-n-no, I will do it! I will get it done by the end of the week!"

"Good. I will return to my room now. Do not disappoint us, insect. You were baptised personally by the high priestesses and was graced by His presence, they're both something most of us would kill for."

I nodded quickly.

"All for Master," she prayed.

"All for Master," I repeated.

With that, the girl left my room to resume her cover as a new maid of the Xi family.

For the young master of the Xi family to be reduced to such a state, it is truly laughable.

Ugh…

The screams seem to be louder tonight…

(MC POV)

"As long as you remember what I taught, you girls will do fine," I assured.

Lian Li and Manami nodded.

We were standing outside a medium sized building that serves as the examination location. In a while, both Lian Li and Manami will receive their test to promote to Inner Core Practitioners.

Cai Hong was having her afternoon nap back in their room while Eris hasn't been leaving there for the whole week now.

I asked them what had happened to her and they only told me that she was 'still recovering from overstimulation'.

Hmm… Was the tour too stimulating for her? I don't remember showing her anything like that.

I had offered the healing pill but they told me it was not needed.

Oh well, I suppose she's just on her period or something.

Giving Lian Li and Manami a good luck pat on their heads, I entered through the double wooden doors.

Inside, the room was pitch black except for two areas, a large table with three seats and a podium facing the table.

Two Elders were currently seated at the table.

"Master Lin, good afternoon," one of the Elders greeted.

"Elder Xiao, Elder Hong, good day," I waved my hand in response.

"Umu, we are testing your two disciples today, aren't we, Master Lin?" The other Elder asked, relaxing in his chair.

"Yes, Elder Hong," I affirmed, taking my seat in between them.

"Ha! Not even a year and his disciples are promoting to Inner Core Practitioners, I remember back then when you jumped straight into the Elite Practitioners within half a year!" Elder Xiao laughed.

"Truly a genius blessed by heaven," Elder Hong patted my back.

I gave them a wry smile, "Alright, let's just begin. Should we just call in both?"

"I have no problems with that."

"Umu, neither do I."

"And while we're at it, I'll just do both the theory and practical at the same time so we can just get this over and done with?" I asked.

No reason to drag this farce out since I literally am their teacher and am fully aware of their capabilities. I'm sure the two Elders would also rather be somewhere else rather than doing this.

Unless you have a fetish for power play and watching students squirm in their seats while taking their tests, you'll probably be extremely bored being an examiner.

"They're your disciples after all, Master Lin. You know them best."

"Ha ha, we're just here to see you work, Master Lin, don't mind us too much."

Elder Xiao stroked his beard, "In fact, we're only here as a formality, really. If you hadn't insisted on not showing favoritism, we would've just promoted your disciples without much preamble."

I translated that as "I would much rather be in my room grooming and stroking my beard than waste time testing some students here" in my mind.

"Ahaha, I did not want to set a bad example for the others after all," I laughed.

"Nevertheless, just do what you feel you need to do, Master Lin."

I nodded and gestured to the Air Elemental that was guarding the door, prompting it to open it for my two disciples to enter.

They take their place at the podium in front of us, both of their demeanors completely calm.

"Ok, Ms Lian Li, Ms Manami, we won't waste your time here so let's just begin if that's ok with the both of you?" Elder Xiao addressed them.

Lian Li and Manami glanced at me, seeing me nod before giving their assent.

"Very well then… Master Lin, if you would."

I nodded, "Lian Li, list the requirements before a Practitioner can consider their element to be at intermediate tier."

"Ability to summon an elemental and obey the summoner's command and ability to combine Elemental Quarks of the same tier," Lian Li rattled off confidently.

"Manami, demonstrate a combination."

Manami reached out her palm, it took barely a second before a translucent blue flame appeared, showing her successful combination of Fire and Astral quarks to form Spirit Fire.

Both Elder Xiao and Elder Hong nodded, impressed.

"Manami, what are the basic groupings of quarks?"

"Base Quarks and Combination Quarks."

I hummed, "and the difference between the two?"

"Base Quarks can be materialised directly, but Combination Quarks can only be materialised by combining Base Quarks."

I turned my attention to Lian Li, "Lian Li, other than the common four quarks, list four more examples of both groups."

"Light, Dark, Astral and Space for Base. Energy, Lightning, Metal and Magma for Combination."

"Demonstrate a Combination Quark."

Lian Li closed her eyes and Lightning began sparking off her body, giving her an ethereal glow.

"Perfect. Explain the process of using a Cultivation Technique."

Lian Li released her Lightning and opened her golden eyes, "The first step is visualization of the intended effect as described in the Technique, then to circulate your quarks as described in the Technique. Lastly is to realise the Technique into the material world."

"Manami, demonstrate."

Manami nodded, stepping closer to the podium just as Lian Li stepped back.

"The Cultivation Technique I will demonstrate is the 'Astral Sound Projection'."

Huh, I was a bit surprised that she chose that Technique, it's a Technique that was well known to be used in pranks.

Using that Technique allows someone to create, store and play certain sounds under certain conditions.

You could, for example, store the sound of someone screaming on the head of a doll, and making the sound play when someone pulls the head out.

The best thing about this is that if one knows the intricacies of this Technique and is proficient in Space quarks, they can hide this Technique after casting it and no one below Elite level Practitioners will be able to tell a sound is playing because of this Technique.

Even better is that you can use Space quarks to specifically target a person, making it such that only that specific person can hear these sounds.

Yeah, it's quite a malicious pranking tool.

Holding out her fist, she concentrated as a glow began emanating around said appendage, indicating her successful materialisation of the mentioned Technique.

She gently rapt her knuckle on the podium, a soft 'tap' sound echoing out from her action.

Manami took a step back, a few seconds passed before the same 'tap' sound echoed again, repeating every few seconds.

"Very good, you can cancel it now."

Manami nodded and did as instructed.

I pushed my chair back to look at the two Elders in turn, tilting my head in a silent query of what they thought.

"Well, I have no doubt we'll be seeing them again to promote them to Elite Practitioners very soon," Elder Xiao said while nodding his head.

"Umu, no doubt about it. As far as we're concerned, they have passed with flying colours. Congratulations Master Lin, Ms Lian Li and Ms Manami," Elder Hong cupped his hands to me.

Alrighty! With this it's onward to the tournament arc!

…

Why are you looking at me like that?

Chapter 27 - Wait, It Already The Tournament Arc?

(Lian Li POV)

We followed Master through the Phoenix Sect's doors, taking the front most position of the Heaven Sect convoy just behind the Sect Master.

Eris finally recovered from Master's unexpected princess carry the week before, leaving her blissful corner of the room.

How incredibly fortunate of her.

Kuh~ I want Master to carry me too…

No, no, must not be too greedy, Master is still brushing my hair after all.

"Sect Master Long! Long time no see!" Some old fart greeted the Sect Master enthusiastically.

"Oho? Sect Master Feng! How unexpected of you to greet us at the door!"

"Ho ho ho! You are too humble Master Long!"

I rolled my eyes at their farce, it's so obvious that neither of them meant what they've said. I won't be surprised if either of them had been planning on backstabbing each other anytime soon.

"Ah, this must be the famed Master Lin!"

The four of us tensed, all our eyes on this old fogey.

"Welcome to my humble Sect, Master Lin! I've heard a lot of things about you!" The old fart greeted, cupping his hands.

"Likewise Sect Master Feng," Master greeted while mirroring his hand actions.

"Hmm, Master Lin. We have a lot of people here who are interested in meeting you within our Sect. Could I offer an invitation for you to stay at our Sect after the Festival as a guest for a while?"

This old fart couldn't be more obvious in his attempt to poach Master over to his own Sect.

Our own Sect Master placed a possessive hand on Master's shoulder, "Ho ho ho! Master Feng, you must understand our Master Lin is a very busy man, he has duties he needs to fulfill back at our own Sect. What's more, he has recently picked up a few disciples which means he won't be able to stay here for long."

"Oh nonsense! Master Lin, your disciples are welcome to stay as well!" That old fart laughed, eyeing us with his disgusting eyes. "In fact, I would welcome them with open arms."

"Hahaha! Sect Master Feng really knows how to jest, our Master Lin's disciples should be nurtured within Heaven Sect itself."

"Oh? But I was not joking at all, Sect Master Long. An exchange between our Sects would go a very long way towards improving our Sect relations. Who else better than the famed Master Lin and his disciples to do this?"

This old geezer really knows how to talk, it's obvious that he's only interested in roping Master to his Sect.

"Oh, but we can't neglect Master Lin's feeling now can we? What do you think of Sect Master Feng's offer, Master Lin?"

Master cupped his hands together, "I am honored by Sect Master Feng's offer, but I cannot accept your offer at this time as I would like to focus on training my own disciples now. With my attention spread out as such, I would not be a good guest at Master Feng's Sect."

As expected of Master, he skillfully deflected the old geezer's invitation without sounding rude or arrogant.

"Hmm… I see," the old fossil nodded pretentiously. "I shall not impose on you then, just know our doors are always open for you, Master Lin."

My sisters and I shared a knowing look, we'll definitely need to keep an eye on this pre-decomposed old fossil.

"Now, if you'll excuse us, Sect Master Feng, I shall lead my Sect to the Festival grounds," our own Sect Master huffed, walking past him with his chin high.

Master followed him without hesitation, prompting the rest of the Sect to do the same and leaving the old fart behind.

The Festival location was in the Phoenix Sect's biggest courtyard, they had a giant stage built to accommodate this farce. I'm pretty sure the stage could have a few hundred people fighting comfortably on it without it being too cramped.

We were promptly shown to our seating area where our Sect Master took the centre seat with Master beside him. The rest of the Elders and Masters also took their own seats while we disciples stood behind them with the others.

Manami, Eris and I stood next to each other while Cai Hong sat on Master's lap as his 'adopted' daughter.

How enviable…

If only there's a way to regress my body's age.

Oh wait, I believe Manami's searching on a way to do just that, I suppose it's just a matter of time. She didn't tell me why exactly she was searching for such a thing though, but I didn't deem it important enough to ask.

It took another half an hour before all the Sects were present, some of the other Sect's Elders and Masters came over to offer greetings to our Sect Master.

But unfortunately for them, it was quite painfully obvious to us that all of them were trying to entice our Master in some way to move to their Sect. Master would always turn down their offers gently though, his compassion truly knows no bounds.

As everyone began settling back to their designated places, an old fart wearing grey robes leapt onto the stage.

Cupping his hands, he made an exaggerated bow to the audience, "Greetings my fellow Practitioners, I am Elder Yu of the Phoenix Sect! On behalf of my Sect, I welcome everyone to this years Sect Showcase Festival!"

Everyone applauded the old fart's introduction.

"For the new ones amongst us today, I shall go over the rules for their benefit."

A few people started murmuring amongst themselves, no doubt the people who are already familiar with the rules and are not bothering to listen.

"We will first start off with the Outer Core Practitioners, then the Inner Core Practitioners and finally the Elite Practitioners. Mercenary Practitioners should already have your ranking groups decided at the sign in tables, so only participate in the group you are allocated in. After that, there will be the open segment where anyone can participate in either group fights or duels."

Ah, so that's why Master wanted us to advance to Inner Core Practitioner before participating in this. If we had entered this as Outer Core Practitioners, we would barely get any recognition! Surely this is the chance for us to gain glory for our Master!

"Now, each group will send out their selected representatives and participate in a free-for-all where the last one standing wins! The stage has been infused with a Cultivation Technique that will send a person out of the ring should they be hit with a potentially fatal attack! It also negates any damage done to the stage! This is all possible thanks to Master Lin introducing this technique to all of us!"

Everyone applauded enthusiastically to which Master nodded in his seat in acknowledgement.

Yes! Glory to Master!

"With that, I wish all of you the best of luck! For the first round, may all the participating Outer Sect Practitioners please step on the stage!"

The crowd applauds once more as the old fart leapt off the stage, giving way for the numerous Outer Core Practitioners to ascend to the stage.

A bell sounded and the free-for-all started. Some had already formed teams while others fought it out on their own, sending their own Techniques all over the stage.

It was basically just a chaotic war zone where everyone did whatever, all the class and decorum stripped off.

While I was just getting bored of the low level fights, I felt a nudge from my right.

Turning my head, I see an older man staring right at me.

"You are Master Lin's disciple, right?" he asked.

I nodded, wondering what this busybody wanted.

"Hmph, must be nice to be a girl. Getting Master Lin to take you in just by spreading your legs."

Hm?

Did this flea just…

He did, didn't he?

I clenched my fist, sparks already gathering around it in preparation to strike down this insect.

A figure blurred in front of me with a little girl coddled in his arms.

A sudden pressure washed over me, similar to the warm, comforting pressure of being hugged by Master back at Manami's village.

On the other hand, I could tell a different kind of pressure had enveloped the flea with how he's standing rigidly still.

Master tilted his head as he glared at that insect in the eyes, "What… Did I hear you say?"

Ah… Master is making a very scary face now...

I earnestly prayed that Master never show such an enraged expression to me, ever.

"No… Nothing… Master Lin…"

Master clicked his tongue at him, "No, no. That's not what I heard, care to repeat that?"

"I… I wouldn't dare… Master Lin…"

"You wouldn't dare… Huh? I see, I see. I must have misheard it then?" Master asked, placing a hand on the thing's shoulder.

Crack*

The air got heavier, I have no doubt that thing is feeling the full brunt of Master's anger. He's probably seeing what I saw back when I first experienced Master's pressure during my entry to the Sect.

"Ahughhhh… Master… Lin…"

Crack*

"Mhm, I guess I really did hear wrong. My bad then."

Master released that thing's shoulder, returning back to his seat with Cai Hong in his arms, her glowing, light brown eyes never leaving that thing throughout.

The pressure was lifted when Master sat back down, the sensation giving me a comfortable shiver.

That thing quickly left the place, almost sprinting. Ah, he's even vomiting as he's running.

How disgusting.

The fight was still ongoing, everyone's eyes were still glued to the stage and no one else but us and that thing had even known this scene took place.

I…

I think I may need to go relieve myself…

Be right back.

Chapter 28 - Fox And Lightning

(Manami POV)

"Ara? You're already done?" I asked Lian Li, seeing her return from the bathroom.

She wiped her hands on the sides of her shirt, giving me that satisfied look of hers.

"Where is Eris?" She asked after making sure her hair was in order.

"Fufufu… Still not finished yet," I said, a mischievous smile crossing my face. "She has four persons' worth to take care of after all."

Lian Li nodded in understanding, turning her attention to the stage.

It was down to the final three contestants after a long gruelling half an hour of constant, boring battle.

"Give up, Gu Zhi of Phoenix Sect! You can't beat the two of us alone!" One of them shouted.

"Ha! Tu Fei and Wu Chi! If you think my Phoenix Sect will yield to your Hawk Sect, you can dream on!" the lonely boy shouted.

"This stubborn guy, let's go, Tu Fei! 'Raging Hawk Claws'!"

One of the Hawk Sect boys charged towards the lone little boy with his hands in a claw shape, air blades forming around his fingers in preparation to strike.

"'Phoenix Bulwark!'"

Flames erupted from the phoenix boy's arm, blocking the downward slash from his opponent.

"You're open! 'Wind Blade!'"

The other Hawk boy materialised a blade of wind, slicing it towards the phoenix boy's neck.

"Not yet!" The phoenix boy roared, raising his other arm to point his palm at the blade.

"'Explooo--'"

"I've returned…" Eris announced, stepping beside me.

"Ara, ara. That was quite fast of you, Eris. All of you satisfied?"

The girl narrowed her eyes at me before her face suddenly morphed into a wide, beaming smile, winking at me.

"What I missed?" She asked, just as an explosion occurred on the stage.

"Nothing much, just three idiots shouting out their Cultivation Techniques for their opponents to hear and prepare a counter for," Lian Li sighed.

"Mmm… Nothing much then..." Eris remarked. "You two going up soon? You're going to end up fighting each other right?"

I tilted my head towards Lian Li, "I win and I get to tempt Master freely for a month without interference."

"I win and you don't get to do that," Lian Li countered.

We shook on it, turning back to the stage as the smoke cleared from the explosion, revealing all three members outside the ring.

"It's a draw!" the announcer declared.

What a farce.

Look, the three of them are even shaking hands and declaring themselves brothers. What kind of development is that?

The Elders and Masters around us began discussing how talented the three were, heaping praises on their quick thinking and conviction.

If I hadn't known, I might have assumed those three were acting according to a script with how they were fighting.

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes.

Only Master kept out of commenting on their performance while patting Cai Hong on his lap.

Oh well, I have other things to think about now.

"Next will be the Inner Core Practitioners! Will all participants step on the stage!"

(MC POV)

I sighed as they announced the next group of participants up on the stage.

I don't know what came over me just now, but when I heard that guy say those things about Lian Li my body just moved on it's own.

Good thing I managed to suppress my anger and I believe only the guy and my disciples noticed the little scene I made.

I didn't know there were such people within Heaven Sect, it was quite surprising.

Honestly… I only participated in this Festival twice and the people changed so much?

Last time I participated in the Festival was in my first year of being a Master. I don't think there were people like him back then.

Maybe I'm getting a little protective of my cute disciples.

"Papa sad?" Cai Hong asked, her hands clutching at my shirt.

I smiled at her teary expression before giving her a comforting head pat.

"No, just thinking."

"Papa, don't be sad!"

Cai Hong hugged me, burying her face in my chest.

Ah… So cute, I'm healed.

"Mm, mm. I am not sad Cai Hong. Look, look, your big sisters are going up on stage now."

"Papa really not sad?"

"Really, really."

"Muu… Ok," Cai Hong relented, sitting back down on my lap to watch Manami and Lian Li prepare for their turn on stage.

So cute.

I've adopted Cai Hong for less than a year, but if anything happened to her, I'll probably kill everyone here and then myself.

The bell sounded for the Practitioners to begin.

"Phoenix Sla-- Ughhh!"

"Whirlwind Ki-- Ahhhh!"

"Hadouk-- Bleeuurghh!"

"Kame-- Uwaarrghh!"

Manami and Lian Li immediately smacked the Practitioners closest to them away, not even giving them a chance to use their Techniques.

They slipped through smoothly under all the other cast Techniques, reacting to them even before the Technique is materialised.

Anyone near enough who attempts to even cast a Technique were immediately countered without a chance of even speaking the Technique name.

What made it rather unnerving for the other competing Practitioners was the fact that the two of them were completely silent.

A few hundred Practitioners had entered the stage, only Lian Li and Manami were left after a short ten minutes.

"Master Lin…" The Sect Master nudged me. "They're your disciples aren't they?"

"Yes, they are," I admitted proudly.

And why shouldn't I be proud? I was the one who taught them it was incredibly foolish to shout out Technique names since it leaves you open for a counter.

Like, who in the right mind does that? It's like two guys getting into a fist fight and they start shouting "Left hook!", "Right Jab!", "Left kick!" at each other.

"They are… Ummm… Very impressive indeed…"

"Thank you for the praise, Sect Master."

I turned my attention back to the stage. Cai Hong was clapping enthusiastically for Lian Li and Manami, she's probably entranced by all the Techniques being thrown around on stage.

"Now the extras have left the stage," Manami remarked, turning towards Lian Li with all her tails spread behind her.

"Indeed… May the best disciple win," Lian Li agreed, her eyes beginning to glow.

Balls of fire appeared around Manami before flying straight at Lian Li.

Lian Li raised her right hand and the fireballs were immediately shot down with bolts of lightning. She then clenches her hand into a fist, pulling it towards her body.

Manami clucks her tongue as she leapt away, moments before a lightning bolt struck her previous location from above.

Not missing her chance, Lian Li gathered energy quarks between her two palms, throwing her palms forward to create an energy blast that pulsed towards Manami.

Fire cloaked around three of Manami's tails, smacking the energy blast away to explode on the stage.

My fox disciple landed on the ground in a half crouch, her palm flat on the ground and glowing red.

A fire pillar erupted from beneath Lian Li, the golden haired girl barely managing to defend herself using an Earth shield at the last moment.

Lian Li reached out her palm towards Manami, drawing a circle in the air.

Clumps of earth appeared around Manami, sticking on her to form a solid cocoon of earth.

Lian Li's eyes glowed golden as she channelled her Lightning quarks once more, shooting her palm high up into the sky.

A lightning pillar engulfed the earth cocoon in an explosion of electricity, vaporising it.

Manami reappeared after the smoke from the explosion dissipated, collapsing on the stage in a crumpled heap.

I spotted the announcer opening his mouth to announce the winner, but he was interrupted when Lian Li released an explosion of electricity around herself right after landing back on the stage.

The collapsed figure of Manami disintegrated into smoke, the real body reappearing a distance behind Lian Li with fireballs prepared to strike.

I could hear Manami's irritated sigh at her illusion being revealed before chucking the fireballs at Lian Li.

Lian Li shot down the balls once more with her lightning and countered with her own balls of lightning.

Manami leapt away from the attack, fire engulfing her fists as she closed the distance between them.

Her fire clad fists shot out towards Lian Li's face, only to be intercepted by the girl's lightning clad palms.

"Ah, wrong move," I commented.

The people who heard me raised an eyebrow at my comment.

They didn't have time to question what I meant as Lian Li was struck by four of Manami's tails from her right side, sending her flying.

She tried to right herself midair but Manami was already there to receive her.

The fox youkai's fiery tailwhip smashed my golden haired disciple in her abdomen, the attack transforming her into particles of light and dumping her outside the stage.

It's quite clear that Manami is superior to Lian Li in her battle sense, she does have more battle experience after all.

It took a full minute before the announcer finally shook himself out of his stupor and declared Manami as the winner.

Yep, I'm definitely proud of them.

Chapter 29 - A Conversation In One Head

(Eris POV)

It seems like Manami will get her month long ticket to seduce Master now. [Eris]

Yeah, but did'ja see that mid-air spin?! That was so damn cool! [Bait]

Strong… [Laverna]

Yes, this one still has a lot to learn. [Denna]

"Elite Practitioners, please make your way to the stage!"

Hmm, these would be the creme of the crop for each Sect. [Eris]

Ho~ I wonder how different the so called 'elites' are gonna be from our sisters? [Bait]

Study… [Laverna]

Yes, this is a good chance for us to learn, Master must have brought us here with that in mind. [Eris]

"Welcome back. Congratulations on your win," I greeted Manami and Lian Li.

The two of them had received congratulatory head pats from Master before returning here to spectate the next round.

"Ufufufu, thank you Eris."

"Hah…" Lian Li sighed. "Please at least start tomorrow, Manami?"

"Fufufu, I suppose this big sister can give you that much."

The bell sounded and the chaos on the stage resumed.

Cultivation Techniques were thrown here and there, Practitioners teaming up and shouting out their Technique names against their opponents.

Most of them only attacked from a distance, relying on pure firepower to overwhelm their opponents.

"Ara? These are the so called 'Elites'?" Manami muttered, tilting her head.

Lian Li pinched her chin, "Hmmm… How do I say this? They seem to be… Lacking?"

Hyperbole… [Laverna]

This one humbly agrees. [Denna]

Ehh~~ I was so looking forward to see good fights too, what a bloody let down! [Bait]

No, Master must mean for us to know how the Elites fight in order to find counters. [Eris]

Ah ha! That sounds right! Heh heh, we'll need to pay attention then! [Bait]

Mmm… Loud… [Laverna]

You're right, they're really flashy. Master's way is more elegant. [Eris]

Haha! But isn't flashy good too? Nothing beats pummeling some dumbasses into the ground with your own fists! [Bait]

Disagree… [Laverna]

This one too. [Denna]

I… I think it depends on the situation? [Eris]

Whaaa? You as well?! I get the other two since they're all weird as hell but come on, surely you agree the best thing is to punch the hell out of a heretic?! [Bait]

… Says the one with a penchant for outdoors… [Laverna]

Ha! That's the most I've heard you say in a single seating! Did I hit a nerve with the weird comment? [Bait]

Annoying… [Laverna]

Ok, ok. Don't fight in there. I'm still trying to watch the battle. [Eris]

This one humbly believes that this one is not weird as well. [Denna]

Ooh? Did I ruffle your feathers too? Who knew that there's something you're not humble about? Hahaha! [Bait]

This one is only being honest. [Denna]

Arrogant… [Laverna]

Hey, teaming up on me isn't fair ok? Don't make me smack you! [Bait]

This one dares you to. [Denna]

Ok, enough. [Eris]

…

…

…

After the three of them finally stop bickering, I turned my full attention to the stage.

About a little more than half have already been ejected out of the stage, there were only a few solo fighters left and even now their numbers continue to dwindle.

Truly, this 'festival' was meant for Practitioners to learn and get used to war zones. The question is why? A tradition? Or was it preparation?

Master did not explain either and none of us deem it necessary to ask either.

Then again, there is still the country of Dong south of the Death Mountains. I know for a fact that the militaristic country was ruled by a dictator who governs it with an iron fist. The only reason why they have yet to march into our side of the continent was because the Death Mountains prevented them from doing so.

To get from our side to theirs, travellers have to journey through a treacherous mountain path for thirteen days, a single slip up would result in death which gave the mountains their infamous name. Still, many people make the journey since it was a better alternative than living in that hell hole, even if the success rate was only fifty percent..

I would know, since the orphanage I had stayed for a time was in that Dong country before I made the journey here.

The group of people I followed lost five out of the ten people on that journey.

I suppose this Festival might have been a way to prepare Practitioners for war in the past but because most people believed the Dongs to be a non-threat, the event devolved into a dick-measuring contest for the Sects instead.

Pffft! Hahaha, you said dick! [Bait]

Why are you making noise again? [Eris]

I can't help it! It's funny! Right? Right? [Bait]

Immature… [Laverna]

This one refuses to comment. [Denna]

You guys are boring you know that? You need to be a little more assertive to get what you want! [Bait]

It is this one's humble opinion that too much assertiveness might bring the opposite outcome. [Denna]

Oh really? Well we just need to wait and see how successful Manami is in the coming month don't we? I'd bet my money on her. Anyone of ya taking? [Bait]

No bets… [Laverna]

Oh come on, let's do it! If Manami bags Master, let me jump him. Like in a forest somewhere would be good enough! [Bait]

Could you not use this body as a collateral? And Master is not someone for you to 'jump' on. [Eris]

Cheh, just because Master named you, you get to act bossy, huh? [Bait]

Yes, just because Master named me. [Eris]

Oohh, where did you learn how to be sassy huh? [Bait]

You, of course. [Eris]

Hmph… I should probably talk less then, huh? [Bait]

Yes. [Eris]

Yes… [Laverna]

Yes. [Denna]

… Touche. [Bait]

This one humbly suggests you to be a little more humble. [Denna]

And end up like you? Nahhh, that'll be too boring! Life is about the excitement you know?! [Bait]

Ah, look. Because of all the bickering, the match has already ended. [Eris]

Nothing to learn… [Laverna]

Heh, I agree with her on this one, they're nothing much after all. So much for Elites. [Bait]

The next round is the open segment isn't it? This one wonders who will participate? [Denna]

Elders… Master… [Laverna]

Ohh, I'd love to watch Master kick some ass too! Mmm, speaking of ass, don't you think Master's ass are really tight? I'd tap that anyday. [Bait]

You are unbelievable. Why am I even sharing a body with you? [Eris]

… Agree with her… [Laverna]

This one… Also thinks Master has a nice behind… [Denna]

You three… [Eris]

"Ara? The Sect Master seems to want Master to participate?" Manami remarked.

I turned my head, just in time to see Master leap on stage.

Now this is something worth watching.

Chapter 30 - Obligatory Set Up Before The Big Fight

(MC POV)

"Master Lin, won't you participate in the open segment?" Sect Master Long asked.

I paused in brushing Cai Hong's hair, prompting her to tilt her head back at me.

"Muu? Papa stage?"

"Participate huh… How long has it been since I last came here?" I mused.

Twenty two years I believe, it really feels like it's been forever.

"Oh? Just two years ago, isn't it?" Sect Master Long recounted. "The year you were made a Master you came here to make your position official to the other Sects. Hahaha, I remember we had a hard time convincing you to take time off your cultivation to participate!"

Oh right, it's only two years for them.

"It would be a good chance for other Sects to learn a bit," the Sect Master added in.

How kind of you to think about helping the other Sects improve as well. Yes, it is a good chance for everyone to learn together.

"Well… I suppose it won't hurt," I decided.

Yes, I shouldn't be selfish. Just go up there and exchange some pointers with the other Sect's experts, correcting their mistakes and guiding them in their Techniques and fighting styles.

This will surely improve the average levels of Cultivators in the Earthen Plane.

In case any calamity occurs on the Earthen Plane in the future, these people won't just rely on me alone to deal with it.

I stood from my seat and placed Cai Hong gently on it, giving her a last head pat before leaping up on the stage.

"For the first round of the open segment, Master Lin has taken the stage!" The announcer narrated. "How many opponents is Master Lin seeking to face?"

"I want to fight ten… No, whoever who wants to come, just come."

A ripple of gasps emanated from the audience.

Is that really surprising? I mean for sure there should be a number of people who would want to exchange pointers with me right?

Like how to effectively engage and disengage in a close quarter Practitioner fight or the advantages and disadvantages of precasting your Techniques for example. I could also show how to effectively deal with your opponents when outnumbered too.

I definitely didn't waste my time up in those two hellish Planes you know?

One of the Masters from another Sect stood up, "Master Lin, are you sure you're not overestimating yourself? With those words you might even face fifty of us you know?"

I shrugged, "It doesn't matter, whoever wants to face me just come up here. One on one, ten on one… I'll take you all on."

It's better that those interested in learning come at me together, so I don't need to repeat my lesson over and over again.

"Such arrogance… Very well then!"

The Master turned towards his Sect Master who gave him a nod before leaping up on the stage.

The moment he did, ninety nine other Elders and Masters entered the stage as well.

Oh, it seems I'm quite popular? Didn't think so many people would want to exchange pointers with me. Even the really old Elders have stepped on the stage, no doubt to learn whatever they could by challenging me.

My Sect Master stood up from his seat, "What is the meaning of this?! Master Lin has been gracious enough to enter the stage of his own volition and all of you resort to this?!"

Ah, Sect Master must be worried that guiding so many people at once might tire me out, how thoughtful of him.

A Sect Master from another Sect stood up, "What baseless accusations! Master Lin himself has said it himself that he would take on any number!"

Another one also rose up, "Indeed! Don't slander us Sect Master Long! For so many people to take an interest in exchanging pointers with Master Lin is admirable!"

Well, you also have to take into account the inefficiency of such a thing right? A single teacher teaching a hundred students won't allow each student to learn much you know?

Hmmm… But in order to be a better Master for my disciples, I'll just see this as the next step in my growth as a teacher.

"All of you are too much! If you…"

"Sect Master Long," I interrupted him. "It's fine."

I gave him a smile of reassurance, he stared at me in silence for a while before he sat back down.

I glanced towards where my disciples stood, spotting their worried visage.

It's good to have such caring disciples, I just gave them a smile and nod to ease their worries.

I turned back to face the hundred Practitioners with my right hand behind my back while my left hand gave a 'come hither' motion.

"Let's start the lesson."

(Lian Li POV)

Everyone here should just BURN!

I can't believe that everyone would take advantage of Master like this!

Even our so called Sect Master had less than noble intentions, suggesting to our Master to take part in the open segment to boost his own Sect's reputation shamelessly. Any goodwill we had of him just went down into the drain right there.

What made it worse was those sacks of trash!

I heard them! They're conspiring to hurt Master! The whispers they did right before those wastes of space challenged Master!

"He doesn't want to join our Sect, make sure he won't empower Heaven Sect."

"As long as we don't use a fatal attack to start with, the Technique to send him outside won't activate."

"Cripple him in the fight, make it look like an accident."

"Use this poison needle in the fight, it will corrupt his Quark Veins."

"This pill will strengthen your power by ten times for a full minute, use it and destroy him."

"Remember to use the Eternal Crippling Poison Blow on him, that will ensure him being a cripple forever."

That pitiful excuse of a Sect Master tried to stop the fight but he was utterly shut down by the other trash.

How useless!

Manami, Eris, Cai Hong and I were all ready to move to protect our Master, all of us were prepared to shed blood there.

But Master turned around and gave us his usual smile.

"It's fine."

He knew.

He knew their intentions but Master was saying it didn't matter.

Master truly is the epitome of power.

Yes, all we had to do was trust in Master, the Master who had pulled us from within the darkest abyss.

He will surely win.

"Let's start the lesson."

I shivered involuntarily upon hearing the words he normally said to us during our trainings.

Master will teach them himself it was utterly foolish for them to try and bring him down.

The fools who do not even possess the capability to reach his feet, dares to try and pull him down? Never in a million years.

We four sisters shared a look, all of us knowing that all we have to do now is to believe in our Master.

For now, we could only lament in our powerlessness. Our church is still small with few believers and fewer preachers.

But it is just a matter of time.

The underground of Jin city has been conquered, the Xi Family had been infiltrated into and our believers slowly but surely growing in number.

They will all bathe in Master's light sooner or later.

Or else.

Chapter 31 - Obligatory Ass Kicking

(Random Phoenix Sect's Master POV)

My name is Bai Chi, a Master of the Phoenix Sect.

I was known as a prodigy back in my time. Entering the Sect at only twelve years old, becoming an Outer Core Practitioner at fourteen and an Inner Core Practitioner at twenty.

I was then elevated to Elite at twenty five and finally breaking through to Master at fifty.

I was supposed to be the youngest Practitioner to be granted the rank of Master, the genius prodigy of the Earthen Plane.

But an upstart just had to show up out of nowhere during the Festival two years ago, taking that spot away from me! It was a slap to my face out of nowhere!

A Master at age twenty?! That guy can't be anything but a hack! He must be a liar! A cheater! There's no way some guy can reach that level so easily since even I had to claw my way up here!

That was unacceptable!

Phoenix Sect would have been the undisputed strongest because of me! But this nobody came along and elevated the always stuck at fifth place Heaven Sect straight into the limelight! The Heaven Sect definitely doesn't deserve this fortune!

They were only at fifth place because of their Sect's location and age! Just because their founders laid claim to the entire mountain gave them that advantage!

Other than this Master Lin, their other Masters were third rate compared to ours!

When I heard this so called Master Lin was participating in this year's Festival, I had already planned for his downfall.

Days before the Festival, a number of Masters and Elders had met in secret, all of us agreeing that should this upstart Master Lin refuses to leave that insignificant little Sect, we will make sure he is crippled thoroughly.

But what was outside our expectations was that he had already taken in two disciples. Two very, very strong disciples.

They were supposed to be Inner Core Practitioners, but they fought like Masters. Even I could see their overwhelming talents from just that battle alone. Not to mention their otherworldly beauty, I definitely envy that upstart for having them serve him hand and foot!

Why does this guy get all the luck? It's unfair!

After we crippled him, I'll definitely claim them as my own disciples!

All hundred of us gathered on the stage, all prepared to cripple him and make sure he can never become a Practitioner again.

That upstart gave us the come hither gesture.

"Let's start the lesson."

I roared in rage, gathering our Sect's trademark Phoenix Fire in my palms, the others around me doing the same with their own Techniques.

He's smiling?

This upstart is smiling at us?!

I'll show you the power of this Cultivation Technique! The power of Phoenix Sk--

"Phoenix Sky Bolt, Waterfall Dragon Dance, Profound Killing Lightning, Vicious Blade, Monkey Steals Peaches. Quite the standard few huh?"

Huh?

He saw through our Techniques before we even finished casting them?

Impossible!

"Phoenix Sky Bolt!"

I unleashed the flames that had been accumulating in my palms.

"Too late," A voice echoed out from within our midst. "Lesson one, don't let your opponent read your attack unless it's a feint, or you'll be open to counters like so."

A scream, followed by a yell of pain.

Two of the Elders were immediately expelled outside the stage.

I turned my head towards where the scream came from to find that upstart standing there with his hands behind his back.

Our Techniques exploded at where he had been at the start of the fight.

The one closest to him immediately raised his hand and slashed downwards, his arm coated in water that was sharpened into a blade.

"Lesson two, don't trust everything you see."

The hand descended and another scream followed.

The one we had thought to be the upstart suddenly shimmered, his figure disappearing to reveal one of our own standing in his place before being expelled outside the stage.

We looked around frantically for him, wondering if he was masquerading as one of us.

"Lesson three, most people tend not to look up or down in a battle, exploit that fact."

He crashed down from the sky, exploding the area around him with a burst of electricity and sending everyone flying. I landed on my back a distance away with another Elder beside me, our group that had huddled together was now spread out around the stage.

The five people who were directly in the impact zone were immediately sent out.

He turned and looked directly at me, giving me the smile I would never ever forget in my life.

"Lesson four, when outnumbered, divide and conquer."

I felt a shiver down my spine as he disappeared from my view.

I immediately erected a flame barrier around my right arm, lifting it up just in time to block a sword from slashing at my neck.

"Hmm, good battle sense, you'll go far," he complimented before disappearing again.

How dare this guy!

I glanced to my side to see the Elder that had been beside me gone, sitting outside the stage with a blank look on his face.

One of the Dragon Star Sect's Elder stood up, "Everyone! Form a ring! Watch--"

"Lesson five, commanders are prime targets in a battle."

He flicked the Elder on the forehead, causing the elder to combust into flames before being sent outside the stage.

"Eternal Crippling Poison Blow!" A Master from the Viscous Poison Sect shouted, rushing towards him.

The upstart back kicked the Master across the face before letting a gout of flame to envelope the Master, instantly vaporising him and sending him off the stage.

"Lesson six, don't do what he did."

This…

This damn upstart! He's mocking us isn't he?!

"You… You… YOU ARE COURTING DEATH!" One of the Elders screamed, pulling out one of the poison needles to throw at him.

In response, that guy just lifted his hand, lightning sparking out of his fingers that disintegrated the needles before striking the Elder in the chest and sending him outside.

"Not sure what his problems were but lesson seven, be sneaky when you're trying to do sneak attacks. Like so,"

He disappeared from our view, all of us frantically looking around us to find him. Some of us had the sense to start grouping up together but I remained where I was, afraid that my movement might trigger his attack.

Five more Elders had fallen quietly, we hadn't even known they were gone until they raised cries of confusion outside the stage.

In such a short time, twenty five of us had already fallen and we hadn't even touched a single strand of hair on him. This was beyond humiliating.

"Come out you coward! Or do you not know how to fight openly?!" One of the older Elders shouted.

"Mmm, good taunt," that guy appeared in front of the Elder, barely an arm's breadth away.

"But you had no follow up to your taunt, that's lesson eight by the way."

As soon as those words left his mouth, he had sliced through the Elder's neck with a wind blade, sending the Elder outside the stage.

"Also, lesson nine. When you and your opponents are familiar with the area of battle, don't ever drop your caution towards traps they might have set."

He pointed at his feet.

The ones who had chosen to group up together noticed something glowing at their feet.

That damn upstart managed to inscribe seven Cultivation Techniques on the ground, even correctly predicting where the groups would be!

The Technique caused giant icicles to explode out from the ground, piercing through the Practitioners who were unfortunate enough to stand near them.

All seven icicles covered more than half the stage, normal Practitioners would need half a day to inlay even one of these inscriptions, when did he manage to lay such a trap during the fight?!

No, it can't be… That short time frame when he was doing sneak attacks?!

Does he even understand that inscribing Cultivation Techniques on surfaces requires immense concentration and precise control over quarks needed for the Technique?! It takes quite a while to even inscribe one! That's definitely not something that can be done in the heat of battle!

He waved his hand and the icicles disintegrated into dust.

There were only ten of us left. We made sure to spread ourselves out this time.

"Now, that's under a quarter of you left. What else should I teach?" The upstart mused.

"Not yet!" A Master from the Flying Tigers Sect shouted, digging through his pockets to swallow a pill. "Now we'll have the advantage!"

"Oh, a Rage Pill? Didn't think I'll see one here but alright."

He even knows about the hidden secret pills of the Flying Tigers Sect?! I only knew about it because they told us during our meeting to cripple this upstart!

The Master's body swelled, growing to twice his original size. He let out a roar as a frightening amount of energy began gathering between his palms.

Now that this Master is ten times stronger, surely we can turn the tables around right?

The energy that was gathered in his palms was released towards that upstart in an instant, the beam hurtling towards him with blinding speed.

"Lesson ten, temporary power ups are extremely unreliable."

I didn't even see when the upstart had moved, only that he was already in front of the Rage Pill enhanced Master the moment the blast was about to hit him.

That upstart infused his fist with Energy quarks before punching that Master in the gut.

The Flying Tigers Master heaved, all the energy in his body suddenly leaving him like a tidal wave.

With another kick to his forehead, the Master was sent outside the stage.

What kind of bull is this?!

How did he even managed to dispel the Rage Pill's effects just by doing that?!

"Together!" I shouted, there was no way I am going to let him win!

The remaining nine of us rose to our feet, channeling as much power as we could for our next attack.

"Lesson eleven, on the off chance you need to let a potentially annoying enemy escape you, give yourself some insurance in case they come back."

He snapped his fingers.

My right arm began to glow.

An explosion Cultivation Technique.

When did he…

That short moment when I blocked his sword!

He managed to put such a complicated Cultivation Technique on me in such a short time without me noticing?!

That's beyond comprehension!

I looked around in a panic, realising all nine of us had similar Cultivation Techniques inscribed somewhere on each of our bodies.

He's a true monster.

"Class dismissed."

He snapped his fingers once more.

Boom.

Chapter 32 - Obligatory Side Characters Looking For Trouble

(Eris POV)

Glorious. Master is simply too glorious. [Eris]

Daaaaamn I really want to roughhouse with Master at least once! [Bait]

Beautiful… [Laverna]

This one wishes for a saved recording. [Denna]

We still have a lot to learn to stand beside Master. [Eris]

Too much… [Laverna]

Hey, is it just me or does it feel a little wet down there? [Bait]

…

…

…

Haaa… Ya see? This is what I don't get about you guys... Ya want something, just go get it! Give me five minutes and I'll be riding Master's bones in no time! [Bait]

Raping Master is the greatest sacrilege you can perform right now. [Eris]

Huh? Who said that I would resort to that?! You guys reaaaally have so little faith in me?! [Bait]

It is this one's humble opinion that nothing else needs to be said when you are interested in exhibitionism. [Denna]

Shameful… [Laverna]

Argh! You guys! I said I'd like to do it outside, but that doesn't mean I want an audience! I just like the feeling of being free! [Bait]

Suggesting that a normal time with Master is not liberating enough? [Eris]

Hey, we all have our preferences alright? Don't pretend I don't know what you guys actually want, we're all sharing the same body here! [Bait]

… Lies… [Laverna]

HA! You're also kinky yourself! Using herbs and all that alche-what's-it to increase your pleasure! [Bait]

Don't know what you're talking about… [Laverna]

Heh heh, seeing as how you're talking like that, not very convincing at all! [Bait]

This one humbly reminds you that you still have the most dangerous fantasies of all. [Denna]

Dangerous? And yours isn't? Hahaha! Tell that to the rope markings you've left on this body! [Bait]

That… That was just a small mistake on this one's part. [Denna]

Whatever you say. [Bait]

I'm normal. [Eris]

If you would call your fantasy of being done roughly as normal! Face it, we're all equally screwed up here! It's half the fun! [Bait]

Whatever. What I want to know is if we need another session in the toilet. If we already forgot, our underwear is in a little bit of a crisis. [Eris]

Ohhh~ Kinky. [Bait]

Shut up you. [Eris]

No time… [Laverna]

Yes, Master's already returning. This one thinks we should not be absent. [Denna]

Oh well… I guess we'll just wing it. [Eris]

"Congratulations on your victory, Master."

(MC POV)

Whew, it's been awhile since I did such a workout!

I think I did pretty good for my first mass lecture, especially since they were Elders and Masters.

I knew most of them wouldn't have much real combat experience outside of participating or watching this Festival, so I decided I should impart them some battlefield knowledge.

Most of these lessons got me through my time in the Spiritual Plane. I couldn't fight my tormentors head on, so I had to get creative to stop, or at least delay them, in pestering me.

At least these guys went easy on me, I couldn't feel any threat from their attacks so they're probably also playing along to my impromptu lessons.

I even managed to avoid using multicasting during the lesson, I feel quite proud about that.

I stepped down from the stage after giving the audience a bow.

Since they aren't clapping, I assume they were still busy digesting the lessons I gave them. How studious of them.

"Papa! Best!"

I caught Cai Hong who had leapt towards me the moment I returned, placing her on an arm while I patted her head.

"That was… Very impressive, Master Lin," Sect Master Long congratulated with a weird face.

He must be thinking about my lessons as well.

Not surprising since most of these things were what I learnt in my time within the higher Planes. There isn't much of a war going on down here after all.

"I aim to please, Sect Master," I grinned.

My disciples came forward to welcome me back.

"Congratulations, Master."

"Fufufu, that was splendid, Master."

"Congratulations on your victory, Master."

I nodded to my disciples, "It was nothing much. I hope all of you learnt something from that little showcase?"

All of them nodded enthusiastically. Probably excited to see my first Practitioner on Practitioner combat.

Heh heh, nothing beats a practical lesson.

While I'm basking in my disciples' congratulations, the announcer cleared his throat after finally shaking himself out of his stupor.

"Ahem… That is… That concludes the first of the open segment… If there are anymore participants willing to… Er… Showcase their talents… Please step on the stage…"

The crowd began murmuring amongst themselves.

I managed to pick up some confusing words though, they were saying things like "can't target him", "go after disciples" and "disfigure them".

I'm pretty sure I misheard them, they were probably discussing on figuring out a way to court some disciple of another Sect with a certain kind of figure who was already attached.

It took another minute before an Elite Practitioner from another Major Sect, the Fiery Flames Sect leapt onto the stage. I believe they were currently ranked third at the moment.

But seriously though, 'Fiery Flames'? That's a redundant name if I ever saw one. It's like saying a round circle, or even worse, sonic speed of sound.

"This lowly Se Lang of the Fiery Flames Sect requests to exchange pointers with Master Lin's disciples. Would either of the two beauties--"

"Master, are we allowed to participate?" Lian Li asked, completely cutting him off.

"Umu… If you girls want to. There's no obligation though," I told them.

Manami and Lian Li glanced at each other before nodding, both of them leaping up onto the stage at the same time.

Se Lang looked surprised by their actions, taking a step back.

"Umm… I meant to duel either of you though?"

Manami smiled, "Ara ara? You're suggesting weak Inner Core Practitioners like us to duel an Elite Practitioner like yourself? Are you bullying this big sister here?"

"How shameful, do you get off on bullying weak girls? Disgusting..." Lian Li poured oil on the fire.

"N-n-no! I… I… Isn't ganging up on one person unfair?" Se Lang protested.

"Ara? You can say such a thing when our Master just faced a hundred by himself without complaint? If you are only here to tell jokes, please don't waste our time."

Well… Manami, you can't compare us like that. The Elders and Masters I fought against only participated to give the audience a practical example on my lessons, they didn't really fight me seriously.

Another Elite Practitioner from the Fiery Flames Sect leapt up beside his Sect brother.

"In that case, let me, Bian Tai, join him to make this fight even!"

"Huh? Who called you up here? Your mother?" Lian Li sneered. "We were the ones being challenged, not you. Go sit back down."

I really have no doubts that Lian Li might have been a noblewoman in the past now.

"What?! How dare you slander me?! I'm only here to--"

"Make it fair?" Manami interrupted. "Ufufufu, I see you are also here to tell jokes. How can two Elites fighting against two Inner Core Practitioners be fair? Even a non-Practitioner can tell that is anything but fair."

"This… This… You two had shown prowess beyond what an Inner Core Practitioner should be capable of! Both of you must have faked your ranks!" Bian Tai accused.

Well… He's not wrong about their capabilities, they really are geniuses after all. But none of them managed to get their summoning right yet so they're technically not qualified for the Elite position. In fact, I would rather they not reach there so fast since they would raise some serious questions and I'm not in the mood to answer said questions.

Eh? Kind of feels like the temperature dropped several degrees?

"Ara? Did you just suggest that our Master is a liar?" Manami smiled at him.

That guy recoiled as though he got hit physically, his eyes darting towards me. I only responded with a small smile and a slight tilt of the head.

"Ugh… No, that's not it, I--"

"No matter," Lian Li waved her hand. "Since you insist on doing so, I shall not begrudge you. You are welcome to join to make this a two on two fight. Any problems with that, Manami?"

"Ufufufu… Or course not. This big sister shall teach them what it means to disrespect Master."

The two of them took a few steps away from the two.

"Now, whenever you're ready then," Manami declared.

The announcer rang the bell once he was sure both sides were ready.

"Alright, Se Lang! Cast--"

Bian Tai's words were cut short as a fox tail impacted against his stomach, sending him sprawling on the ground a distance away.

"Bian Tai! Why you--"

Se Lang didn't have time to voice his complaints before a bolt of lightning struck him square in the chest, blasting him flying away as well.

Manami spread out her hands, summoning a wall of flames that engulfed the entire circumference of the arena, cutting us off from view.

The roar of the fire was also deafening, completely isolating the arena from the audience.

Smart girl, the wall must be there to hide their trump cards so that the other Practitioners who might challenge them later won't know about it.

Guess we'll just have to wait for them to be done.

Chapter 33 - In The Fire And Flames

(Bian Tai POV)

As soon as the bell rang, I turned to my Sect brother, intending to ask him to cover me with his trademark Virtuous Flames enhancement Technique.

He was supposedly the best enhancement Practitioner in our Sect, his enhancements two to three times stronger than most other Practitioners.

The Virtuous Flames Cultivation Technique would clad the target in Spirit Flames for a set duration which would burn anything that came close. The flames are so hot that it instantly boils water a meter away, a truly powerful defense Technique.

Normally this Technique would require at least ten to fifteen seconds to cast amongst the Elites.

For brother Se Lang to cast such a strong Technique, five seconds was more than enough.

But who knew that even before I could relay that thought to him, something hard had hit me in my abdomen and sent me sprawling on the ground.

I groaned as I tried to sit up, only for a foot to step on my chest, pushing me back down on the ground.

I looked up to see that Master Lin's fox disciple smiling down at me.

It was not a kind smile.

"Ara, ara… What should big sister do to you? This arena forces a person out the moment they receive a fatal wound and negates said wound, but non fatal wounds will stay on you even after being forced out… For Master to create such a Technique is nothing short of divine."

What is this woman on about? I quickly circulated Fire quarks within my body, directing it towards my hand in preparation to cast a Technique.

Pain erupted from my palm, a scream slipping past my lips.

"Ara, ara. That won't do. You're being punished right now so be a good little thing won't you?"

She withdrew the tail that had impaled my hand, I had always thought fox youkai's tails were only mounds of fluff, but it seems I was wrong.

Whoever told me that fluff was justice should go have their heads checked.

"Now, you'll be a good little thing, right?" She asked.

I gritted my teeth, focusing the quarks towards my mouth this time.

I will pretend to answer her before blowing a gout of Spirit Flames at her.

What I didn't expect was for her to lift up her foot before slamming it down on my face, her sadistic smile never wavering in the least.

She grinded her foot against my face, "Fufufu… I think you didn't hear this big sister's words. I asked if you would be a good little thing?"

I tried to struggle out from under her, raising my hands to push against her foot.

"Ara, ara? Do you still not understand?"

My limbs were pierced by a tail each, my screams muffled by her foot against my face.

"I see… A stubborn one. I guess this big sister will work extra hard then."

The foot was lifted from my face before ruthlessly descending between my legs.

I could somehow still hear her voice through the red haze of pain, "Fufufu… I had intended to heal you up completely after playing a bit with you. But I think I'll just leave this part broken… Ufufufu…"

(Se Lang POV)

I watched slack jawed as Sect brother Bian Tai was sent flying by that fox youkai's tail.

I never knew their tails could stretch like that, much less used as a weapon

"Bian Tai! Why you--"

My words were cut off abruptly after something shocking exploded against my chest.

The pain made me black out for a few moments before my sight returned again, only to see the incarnation of death standing above me, her face impassive.

I leapt up to my feet, gaining distance from her.

It was then that I noticed the entire arena was surrounded with a flame wall, isolating us from the outside.

"Wha… What are you… Planning?" I asked shakily.

She tilted her head, a smile materialising on her face.

"Hmmm… I wonder…" She murmured, lifting a finger as electricity started to gather around said appendage. "Just a little play session."

Play session? Does that mean we weren't even worth their trouble in their eyes?!

"Don't look down on me!" I yelled, more to gather my courage than anything else.

I circulated my Fire quarks, casting my famed Virtuous Flames Cultivation Technique on myself.

Flames began gathering around my body, I was sure that this would at least prevent her from getting close to me.

Her smile got wider as she began walking towards me, "Are you afraid of a mere Inner Core Practitioner? Some Elite you are."

Why is she not afraid of the fire?

I gulped, "You're actually coming closer? Instead of running away from my flames, you're approaching me?"

She lowered her finger to her side, "I can't beat the hell out of you without coming closer, after all. Actually, I can, but it's not as satisfying."

Before I could comprehend what she said, she had already appeared in front of me with her finger embedded within my abdomen.

Immense pain overloaded my insides, a burning sensation that I had never felt before exploded from the wound. My Virtuous Flames was immediately canceled, the flames not even leaving a mark on her.

It was like being burned from the inside out while you were drowning at the same time. The shock had made me forget how to breathe while her lightning fried my insides.

She retracted the finger slowly from the wound, agonizingly slowly.

"What… How?" I blurted out, collapsing on my knees. How was it possible for someone to not get burned by this heat?

Her smile widened, "I could say that my passion for Master burns fiercer than your flames, but I know some people who won't be satisfied by that answer."

What is this person smoking?

"Your fire is colder than my lightning," She shrugged, as though that answered everything.

Her finger was then stabbed into my shoulder and the pain came back alongside my screams.

My vision began to darken but she retracted her hand before I blacked out.

I grasped at my shoulder with trembling fingers while she laughed maniacally.

"Ahahaha! Yes! Scream! Scream more for me you little shit!"

Gritting my teeth, I punched my fist towards her, blasting out a gout of Spirit Flames from my fist. She didn't even have time to react before the flames entirely engulfed her entire figure.

Looks like I managed to catch her off guard.

"Hmph! You got cocky!" I laughed.

"Cocky? Ahahaha!" A laughter emanated from within my fire. "You think I actually care about your pitiful attack? You really are a pitiful shitstain!"

My flames were blasted apart to reveal her lightning clad finger lifted in front of her. My flames were stopped by a single finger?!

No, this must be an illusion! The real her must be-- ARRRGHHHH!

She stabbed her finger into my other shoulder.

"It's such a shame I can't keep you up like I did the rest~~ Their screams really were quite soothing to my ears! To have other people screaming and crying for help instead of me like in the past, how addicting~~"

What… What is… She talking… About?

I gasped as she pulled out her finger again.

"Why… Are you… Like this?" I tried to ask.

"Hmmm~~ Why? Are you interested in little old me? I've been sullied before you know? Treated as nothing but a thing. Does that turn you off?"

I grimaced, shuffling away from her.

"Ahahaha! You actually are repulsed by that fact! I'm pretty sure someone like you had his share of raping and bullying others too?

I spluttered, "No… No! I never--"

"Hahahaha! You're lying! I can tell you know? I always have the best time torturing little trash like you~~ Ahhh~ The feeling of power I get…" She stabbed her finger into my chest, making me scream again.

"IT'S JUST SO AMAZING!"

To think… Master Lin had disciples like this… He must be as equally crazy as these--

Death gripped me by the neck, hoisting me high up into the air.

The smile that she had was gone, replaced with a face of pure unbridled rage.

"You… Just thought of something rude against Master didn't you? Yes, you did… How dare you… HOW DARE YOU!"

I was slammed back into the ground, her knee pinning against my chest while she stabbed her finger repeatedly against my sides, all the while still gripping on my neck tightly.

"HOW DARE YOU?! HOW DARE YOU?! HOW DARE YOU?!"

I saw my life flashing before my eyes.

"How dare you have such filthy thoughts about Master?! The very being of absolute power?! The Divine Being who gave back everything I thought lost?! You piece of TRASH!!"

She clenched her fist before slamming back down between my legs.

"ARRGGHH! You crazy monster!" I roared back, trying to appear defiant.

My words seemed to stun her for a moment, the pressure on my chest lessening a little.

I had thought my words had hit the nail on the coffin, only for her full-face smile to return.

"You're funny," she giggled, her fist descending again. "I will have fun with you."

Chapter 34 - Ball Busting

(MC POV)

It took about fifteen minutes before the two Fiery Flames Sect disciples landed outside the stage, both of them unconscious.

The fire wall came down a few moments later, my two cute disciples looking like the very image of calmness.

Lian Li rushed down from the stage to meet me, her eyes full of sparkles.

"Master! I did it!" Lian Li declared with a satisfied smile.

"Mmm, mmm… Good job," I praised her, patting her head.

"Master, me too," Manami announced proudly, making her way to my side.

"Yes, yes, you did good too," I relented, patting her head as well.

They always asked for headpats as rewards that it's become second nature for me to do it.

Who knew that taking care of disciples involved patting heads? Not that I'm complaining but I don't remember my head being patted back when I was a student.

Or is this head pat thing just for them?

While I was busy with the headpats, I heard the Fiery Flames Sect members fussing over the two defeated members.

I didn't hear what they said exactly but I heard a few lines like "an excuse", "come over", "we will learn".

The rest of their words were drowned out as another duel started on the stage

"Hohoho! To think that your disciples could even take on Elite Practitioners at their current level, they must be truly gifted!" Sect Master Long laughed, appearing beside me.

Lian Li bowed her head, "Not at all Sect Master. It is thanks to Master's guidance that we have reached our level today."

Noooo… Why you do this, Lian Li? They're going to push their incompetent students on me at this rate!

Do you want your Master to be swamped by other incompetent students all day? I won't have time to laze around after that you know?

How am I supposed to brush your hair if that happens? Think about it!

I faked a laugh, "Hahaha, what are you saying, Lian Li? I merely pointed you in the right direction, everything else is because of your own efforts."

"Ara, ara? Master, you are too modest. I would never have reached where I am today without your guidance."

Et tu Manami?

"Yes, Master is the best teacher," Eris nodded beside me.

Cai Hong hugged my leg, "Papa! Strong!"

"Hahaha! Master Lin, you truly are a heaven sent genius!" Sect Master Ling chuckled before leaving.

I watched him return to his seat, striking up a conversation with the other Elders and Masters.

I can feel my easy life drifting further and further away…

Well… I can't really blame the girls, they seem like they were really genuine in their praises and I never told them I actually want an easy life.

Really though, which Master would straight up tell their disciples that they want an easy life? I would lose all the credit with them if they found out about that!

Imagine your teacher coming to class and saying 'hey, I don't want to be bothered so much so I'll only teach the really smart ones to support me.'

Yeah, might as well just commit social suicide there.

I'll need to come up with a plan to stop the horde of students I see coming my way!

Before I could formulate a plan, an Elder from the Fiery Flames Sect approached me, anger evident on his face.

"Master Lin! How do you intend to compensate for this?!" He yelled.

I raised an eyebrow, "I'm sorry? You are?"

Those words seemed to piss him off as his face became redder, "Elder Tisi of the Fiery Flames Sect! Your disciples here have cippled my disciples!"

I tilted my head to see the two Fiery Flames disciples still unconscious on the ground. Sending out a wave of my Pure Elemental quarks, I scanned their bodies for anomalies.

Finding nothing, I turned back to him with narrowed eyes, "They are only unconscious, why are you making such a big fuss?"

He gritted his teeth, "Only unconscious?! Do you not see their manhood has been completely crippled?!"

Oh, they really are.

I turned to Lian Li and Manami.

They looked a little sheepish as they avoided eye contact.

"They did… Inappropriate actions to us, Master... And it was a reflex action," Lian Li explained.

Poor girls, those two men must have tried to touch them inappropriately while they were exchanging pointers. At least they're not hurt.

I turned back to Elder Tisi, my face unamused with a little hint of anger, "Then their actions were justified, Elder Tisi. Such despicable actions are never acceptable."

"Does that warrant the crippling of their manhood?!"

"They brought it upon themselves and it's not like it can't be healed."

"Healed?! So easily?! Who around here can heal such a wound?!"

I tilted my head at him, "It's not even completely crippled. Soak them in a bath of Healing Grass herbs every night while having them consume a mixture of the Vi flower, Ag salt and Ra grass for three days."

"I… Umm… Er… I still demand compensation! They have been humiliated!"

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes, "Very well, I'll make sure to discipline my disciples properly about proper fighting etiquettes, would that satisfy you?"

"Huh? How will that satisfy me?" He asked clearly offended. "For all I know, my disciples may be traumatised for life!"

This time I actually rolled my eyes, "Alright then, what do you want?"

"Come to our Sect and heal them personally! Then compensate our Sect with the amount of time lost for their recuperation!"

"That's not going to happen. I already gave you the way to heal them and I still have my responsibilities to my disciples."

"What? Who cares about them? Our Sect's disciples come first!"

"Because the are your disciples right? It's the same for me that my own disciples come first."

He furrowed his eyes, "You're avoiding responsibility! The least you could do is to come over to our Sect and nurse them!"

I sighed, "Then you'll have to arrange accommodations for my disciples as well."

"That… Err… No! There's no way we can allow those demonesses into our Sect grounds! What if they cripple even more of our members?!"

I narrowed my eyes, turning towards the stage and walking away.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" The Elder demanded.

I turned my head to him, "To the stage of course, you want to teach me a lesson right?"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Well, I think we should just stop pretending now, don't you think?" I stated, gesturing towards the stage.

The previous fight had already ended a while ago, though I didn't get the chance to know who were the participants.

Without waiting to see his reaction, I leapt onto the stage, taking a second to double check that the Cultivation Technique I had designed was still intact on the stage.

After I was sure it was intact, I rose to my full height, "I formally challenge Elder Tisi of the Fiery Flames Sect to settle his grievances here on stage."

There was a wave of gasps from the audience.

What? Was it really that surprising for me to do this? This is what he wants right? He even went out of his way to insult my disciples, if it wasn't a fight he was looking for, what else could it be?

The Elder took a step back from my challenge, looking towards his Sect Master.

Ah, I guess he's still asking for permission.

With a nod from the Sect Master of the Fiery Flames Sect, the Elder leapt up on stage before me.

"To think you'll go this far for your disciples… Or is it because you have something against our Fiery Flames Sect, Master Lin?" The Elder asked.

"Not at all," I shrugged. "But if you think I'm fine with my disciples being harrassed, you'll be wrong."

"This… Master Lin, don't you think you're overreacting a bit here?"

I scoffed, "Overreacting? I hardly think so. Do you know what it means when I tell you the attitude makes the man?"

The Elder frowned while shaking his head.

"Then let me give you a special lesson," I declared.

The announcer checked that we were both ready, the two of us nodding in response.

The bell rang but both of us remained at where we were.

I raised my eyebrow at him, "Well? Are we going to stand around here all day, or are we going to fight?"

The Elder gritted his teeth, a ball of Spirit Fire materialising above him.

Before he could do anything else though, I was in front of him, my foot kicking straight between his legs with lightning speed.

There was a loud "crunch" before the Elder dissipated into thin air, reappearing outside the stage unconscious and foaming at the mouth.

I descended from the stage casually.

Overreacting? Please.

No one gets to bully my disciples in front of me.

If they do, they won't get to do it a second time.

I'll make sure of it.

Chapter 35 - A Little Consolation

(Cai Hong POV)

Cai Hong does not like weird stuff…

This old fart who is trying to bluff Papa is weird.

Cai Hong punish old fart?

Muuu… Cai Hong cannot punish old fart because of crowd. Maybe Cai Hong will punish him later if big sisters says so.

Cai Hong not happy…

When Cai Hong not happy, Cai Hong thinks about things that makes Cai Hong happy!

Cai Hong likes Papa~

Cai Hong likes Papa's headpats~

Cai Hong likes Papa's smell~

Ehehehe~ Cai Hong is still holding on to Papa's shirt.

Muuu? Papa is on stage again? Is Papa going to beat up all the weird people again?

Cai Hong likes to watch Papa beat up the weirdos!

Oh, it's just the weird old fart.

Muuu? Papa did a new move Cai Hong never saw before!

Papa kicked the weirdo between the legs and the weirdo disappeared instantly!

This must be a new secret move by Papa!

Cai Hong will learn it!

Then Cai Hong can use it on all the bad people who makes Papa sad!

Then after that, Cai Hong can punish them!

Papa is the best!

"Papa! Carry~" Cai Hong reached towards Papa.

Papa picked Cai Hong up after coming down from the stage.

Ehehehe~

Cai Hong is getting headpats.

(Manami POV)

Fuuu~

Fufufu~

Ufufufufufu!

Oh Master, you truly are my destined mate!

Only you can tempt me like this!

Ahhh~~ I don't think I can hold out much longer~~

The way he punished that annoying fly… Simply divine~~

Those useless trash think they can corner Master so easily? My fox ears are not for show you know? I could hear all the shameless things you were saying behind Master's back.

Make use of your disciples' injury as an excuse to get our benevolent Master to go to your Sect? Then take that chance to learn his secrets before arranging an accident? Fufufufu, how naive.

And what was that about not letting us accompany Master so that there will be fewer things to clean up once you guys are done? I guess we'll have to keep this group of worthless trash in our sights.

Those two worthless dogs that we crippled will only be the beginning. We couldn't finish their baptism because those two passed out from just that short session, causing the Technique to activate and send them out of the stage prematurely. I suppose we will be paying them another visit to finish their initiation.

But first things first.

I gripped Lian Li's shoulder, "It's ok right? Just let this big sister jump Master tonight. I don't mind if you join you know? We can do it together, I really don't mind. Just let me have the first shot, let me have the thickest one, that's all this big sister is asking for."

Lian Li pursed her lips, averting her eyes.

Ara, ara? She's trembling. Is she tempted too?

"I can't…"

"Fufufu... Why are you still denying what you blatantly desire?"

She looked me in the eye, fear evident on her face, "We caused trouble for Master."

That sobered me up quickly.

What she said was true, because of our carelessness, we caused a few insects to bother Master. To think I was so blinded by my lust to not even be able to see such a thing… I need to reflect on myself.

We should take more care in punishing the heathens in the future.

But it seems Lian Li was quite badly affected though, her entire body was shivering and she dared not look in Master's direction.

Was she afraid of incurring Master's anger? Did something happen between the two of them in the past before Master saved me?

Ah, before I wonder about such things, I need to properly apologise to Master for our mistake when he returns.

"I'm back," Master announced as soon as he returned.

""Master, forgive us, for we have sinned,"" Lian Li and I bowed our heads.

There was a slight pause as Master placed Cai Hong on the ground. His hands entered our vision and lifted both our heads up by our chins, showing us a face devoid of blame.

"What? Is this about those two guys? Don't worry about it, it wasn't any of your faults."

"But… We caused trouble for you, Master…" Lian Li .

"Problems? You mean that Elder? That is but a small little thing, hardly even can be considered a problem. He's just someone who bit off more than he can chew. I'll be fine as long as nothing happened to any of you."

"Master…" Lian Li sniffed. "Please… Don't… Don't ever abandon us…"

Master smiled at her, "I won't, you are all my precious disciples after all."

Lian Li teared up, "Rea… Really? I… I… I am useless without Master… I… I don't want to… to... Go back to..."

Master pulled her into a hug, "No, you're not going anywhere."

Lian Li sniffled and cried into Master's chest.

Ah… I understand now.

Lian Li is afraid that any mistakes from her could lead to Master abandoning her without a second thought. It seems she has abandonment issues that originated from her past.

I am a little ashamed to admit that aside from her history of being raped by her ex-fiance, I know next to nothing about her background. Then again, none of us cared about each of our backgrounds as long as we serve Master.

But Lian Li, you should have some faith in Master you know? Master is the most benevolent and loving being in existence, we just have to ensure he stays in the light.

Fufufu~~

Yes, we just have to take care of the filthy heretics who dare to try and sully our Master.

Alright, this big sister shall hold back and wait until tomorrow before she starts her hunt~~

Ah, I shouldn't get distracted now, I still have to repent for my mistake. During the tortu--enlightening session, I should have made sure they stayed for the sermon until the end. This big sister got a little too enthusiastic with her sermons which probably resulted in Lian Li doing the same.

What a blunder...

"Master," I called out, my hands grasping on his arm. "Please forgive this disciple for her mistakes as well… I should have known better."

Master patted my head, his hands brushing against my ears and tickling them.

"You have done no wrong, there is nothing to forgive."

Master~~ Please don't tempt me like this~~

I'm really holding myself back you know? I really am you know?

This big sister really wants to hold back ok?

It's just Master really is too much in tempting this big sister~~

Especially Master's hands~~

Fwuuaahhh~~

Mmmm~~

Riiiiight there~~

Right behind the ears~~

Ufufufu~~ Master that tickles~~

Bliss~~

Chapter 36 - A Little Wake Up Call

(Lian Li POV)

I felt it was such a shame the two insects only received less than half our sermons before they disappeared from the stage. Both Manami and I agreed that we would continue our preaching to those two lost souls at a later date.

But what was really unexpected for me was those old farts using their disciples as an excuse to try and target Master!

Despite all that Master had done, his overwhelming display of absolute power, these people still possess thoughts of harming Master?

This…

This was my fault wasn't it?

I gave these scum a reason to target Master.

If we hadn't risen up to their provocation, they would not have a reason to do this at all.

When that Elder came to demand compensation from Master, I felt my rage build up inside me, threatening to tear that old decrepit trash apart. But the moment Master's face changed when he realised we crippled the two thing's manhood, my whole body froze up.

The aura of kindness and benevolence disappeared and an aura of icy calm replaced it.

Seeing how Manami, Eris and Cai Hong failed to react to it tells me that I was the only one who felt the change.

I couldn't tell what the reason was that I alone felt that aura. Was it because I spent more time with Master to understand that little intricate detail? Or was it because that aura was meant for me?

That last thought frightened me beyond measure.

My entire body shook in fear and my mind blanked out.

I remembered my days back in the village.

I had thought my fate was set in stone.

To be the perfect wife, my mother had always said. I could not object nor could I escape. Harsh words and punishments always awaited me whenever they felt I was a disappointment.

They abandoned me to the scum son.

I could do nothing but mend and sew, to clean and cook, to be a pretty face for him to ravage.

Thus the scum son abandoned me for the monsters.

I had no skills, no connections and I was hungry and scarred.

The city of Jin abandoned me to its slums.

I was another competitor for the limited food, another thief and runner on the streets.

Of course the slum squatters never took me in kindly either.

Even at Heaven Sect, the entire Sect was prepared to abandon me as well, to kick me back into the abyss where I had thought I barely managed to claw out from.

But Master was there to catch me before I fell, pulling me away from the edge into his warm embrace.

I clung on to the belief that as long as I was with Master, the abyss would be but a fading memory.

I realised I had grown complacent.

Master is benevelovent, and I took advantage of Master's kindness.

My failure might still lead to Master abandoning me as well.

To be abandoned by my beloved Master… It terrifies me to no end.

I didn't even see how Master dealt with the Elder, being too absorbed by my own fears.

Manami gripped my shoulder then, telling me something about jumping on Master.

"I can't," I whispered, afraid my own voice might betray me as well. "We caused trouble for Master."

I could only hope that Master punishes me but lets me stay, I don't even mind giving up everything else as long as I can stay with Master.

Master returned with Cai Hong in his arms.

I bowed my head together with Manami, "Master, forgive us, for we have sinned."

I did not want to be abandoned again.

But contrary to what I thought, Master did not blame me, he made a promise that I would not leave his side.

He promised me that I would not return to that dreadful place again.

I felt my fears being swept away once more.

Master…

This lowly Lian Li is not worthy.

Master pulled me into his bosom, soothing me as I cried, not even caring that I was probably dirtying his clothes with my tears.

My everything is for Master.

I decided then, as unworthy as I was, I will offer myself to Master. I was not sure if Master will accept me, but there is nothing else I can offer at this moment.

As soon as we return to the Sect, I will do it.

And I must double my efforts in bringing Master's light to the rest of the world.

Once we have achieved that, I would finally be able to offer the world to Master, as it should be.

But now… Let me just bask in Master's warmth.

(MC POV)

I see Lian Li is still carrying such a heavy baggage on her. I am not one to pry about another's past unnecessarily so I've never bothered to inquire about my disciples' history.

Why focus so much on what is already past and neglect what is in front of you? You don't see me wallowing in self pity about my past either.

But that's just me I suppose, I've had more than a decade to deal with my problems but Lian Li probably hasn't gotten over hers.

Since she hasn't approached me about it, it shouldn't be something that she can openly share.

Some say that it is better to talk about your problems with someone but that doesn't mean you force someone to start divulging their secret problems when they're not even ready to do so.

What I can do is wait patiently for her while being there to support her.

But that's just the psychological problems that I can't solve at the moment. As their Master, I still have my duty to protect my cute disciples.

This kind of thing shan't happen again as long as I can help it.

I let Lian Li cry her heart out on my chest while soothing both her and Manami at the same time, ignoring the gazes of the other Practitioners around me.

They can judge however they want, but since I've taken in these girls, I have started to feel a sense of responsibility to them. I won't be like those damn backstabbing, jealous and ungrateful teachers in those confounded Planes.

You know, some people say that the smarter some people are, the more blinders they have on them?

I realised now just how many blinders I have on me.

I had been so focused on training myself solitarily in the past that I've thought that things would remain the same even when I get disciples. I've forgotten even the most basic rules of human interactions and emotions.

I tried to kick this can down the road but apparently the can got really big all of a sudden.

I can't get my easy life by just going with the flow all the time, this isn't a boat ride along a calm river current.

No.

Life is like being tossed along violent river rapids that are full of rocks and debris, you are going to need to paddle for your life if you don't want to smash against those rocks and drown.

It's just that the rapids in the Earthen Plane are calmer than the other two Planes, but that doesn't mean I don't need to paddle.

To keep my current easy, well easier, life, I'm still going to have to work for it.

I know what I have to do now, and I know where I need to start.

But before starting that plan of mine, I need to comfort my traumatised disciples.

They are too precious.

Chapter 37 - After The Tournament Arc, It The School Arc

(MC POV)

We returned to our Heaven Sect grounds with much fanfare.

Hard not to after all, since we clearly dominated the entire Festival.

Right after Manami and Lian Li recovered, they went on to accept several other challenges from other Sects. Needless to say, all the Elite and Inner Core Practitioners got their butts kicked.

Thankfully, none of the Elders and Masters were shameless enough to challenge them.

Actually, that's not true, they did not dare to challenge them because the moment one stood with the intention to do so, I was immediately on the stage and issuing a challenge to them before they could say anything.

It took about three rounds of this happening before the other Elders and Masters finally caught on and stopped trying entirely.

Now, we were finally back in our Sect after a four day journey. Sect Master Long has yet to approach me after the Festival, so he might have forgotten about throwing those students at me. Now I'll just go and take a nice, long bath and--

"Master Lin, could I speak with you for a moment?" Sect Master Long asked as soon as we reached the Grand Courtyard.

Damn, me and my big mouth huh…

I nodded to my disciples telling them to rest for the day, the four of them giving me a bow before leaving.

"What do you need, Sect Master?"

"Come, walk with me."

He spun on his heel, leading me towards another direction.

There was a little garden beside the Courtyard where a giant peach tree grew, its branches stretching into the sky and its trunk so thick it needed five grown men to link arms around it.

The garden itself was built around the tree and it bore fruit all year round.

I know you're expecting some convoluted backstory for the tree, like maybe the founder himself planted it or some kind of god shed some blood or tear on a normal peach tree and it grew into this. But no, it's just a giant peach tree.

No really.

It got this big because of all the Pure Elemental Quarks we've infused in it, making it grow and bear it's delicious fruit.

Quite a number of us like peaches you see.

They had me infuse my own quarks in it once and it doubled in size the next day. Seeing as how it continued growing to this size after that event, it was definitely due to the other Elders and Masters infusing their own quarks into it.

The Sect Master led me under the tree, plucking two fruits from its branches with his quarks and handing one over to me.

I thanked him and waited for him to take a bite before I bit mine.

Sweet.

Not as sweet as my disci--

Ok no cheesy lines, sorry.

"What do you think of our Sect, Master Lin?" he asked.

I pretended to think, "It's peaceful and quiet, a good place of learning."

He nodded at my answer, "Yes, I thought our predecessors truly chose a good place to nurture the students. How are your disciples finding it here?"

"I believe they are of the same opinion," I answered half-heartedly, waiting for his small talk to be over.

"Umu, good, good," he muttered while stroking his beard. "In that case, I have some students--"

I knew it!

"-- that some other Elders and Masters have deemed to be problem students. They had shown potential but for some reason they just don't seem to be able to advance no matter what they do. Could you take them under your wing?"

Ha! You thought I came unprepared? I was expecting this the moment I saw you talking to the others back during the Tournament Arc! I told you I will now work for my easy life didn't I?

"I'm afraid that would be rather difficult for me, Sect Master. I have four students to teach now and with my current level of experience, I'm not ready to take on more."

"Hmm… That is true…" Sect Master Long nodded.

How's that? I told you I came prepared!

"In that case, how about an exchange of students? You can leave your disciples with the other Masters for a time, then focus on training the problem ones."

Oh? Still trying me?

"Ah, but having them learn another Master's teaching methods after being used to mine would be detrimental for their development."

"Mmm… Master Lin seems to have long decided how to develop his disciples I see."

"Of course, since when did I do things half-heartedly?"

"Hahaha! That is true!" Sect Master Long laughed.

Heh, see? Simple.

"In that case, I have a suggestion for you, Master Lin."

Come on, what else do you want?

"Oh? What is it?" I asked.

"Your disciples have already shown quite the talent, but they have yet to mix with the rest of the Sect so far. They could use this time to get to know their peers, seeing the top talents of our Sect would also encourage the Sect members to work harder too."

You… Cunning little…

I can't even say no to that without sounding like a possessive person.

"I… See… But why the sudden interest though, Sect Master?"

Sect Master Long looked around for a moment before leaning close to me, whispering, "Truth be told, Master Lin. Those students I mentioned have showed unique constitution just like your Lian Li. While you were travelling, they showed up out of the blue claiming to have came from the Dong side of the continent."

I tilted my head at him, not understanding what was so special about it. It's not like the country of Dong didn't have Practitioners either.

He continued, "We wanted to turn them away since it was past our recruitment period, but they were very insistent and had nowhere else to go. Refugees you see."

Uh huh, uncommon, but not that surprising either.

He made sure that there was no one around again before whispering, "I didn't want to make too much fuss so I told Elder Qing to use the same test you did back then on them. These students didn't even flinch when he unleashed his full Elemental Pressure on them. Normal non-Practitioners would have fainted immediately but not them, even though the orb clearly showed that they had zero Pure Elemental quarks."

Oh come on... These kinds of people are supposed to be rare, and you're telling me a group of them just showed up on our doorstep just like that?

He sighed, "I was just hoping if you could take a look at them? None of the other Elders and Masters know what to do with them either since they have zero Pure Elemental quarks… But none of them wants to admit that because of pride you see… I'll only suggest the student switching if you accept to train them for a bit."

I groaned inwardly, this kind of changes things.

If they managed to withstand an Elder's Elemental Pressure without training, they definitely aren't normal people.

I wonder why I've never heard of this group of students before?

Is it because of the fact that I took in Lian Li?

Had I not been there at her selection like the past, she would have been turned away from entering the Sect. But because I had taken her in despite her obvious lack of Pure Elemental quarks and groomed her into the cheat character she is, the others figured out that Pure Elemental quarks were not everything.

So this group of students who should've been turned away were accepted instead, though I really don't know how they did not foresee the problem of not knowing how to teach this group ever came to mind?

I mean, it's not like they know much about innate Elemental Quarks either, these people were stuck with the idea that all Practitioners have Pure Elemental quarks within their Cultivation Point.

I guess it wouldn't hurt to just take a look. Hell, for all I know Elder Qing might have grown senile and his Elemental Pressure had become nonexistent.

"I suppose I could at least take a look," I relented.

Sect Master Long clapped me on the shoulder with a smile, "I knew I could count on you."

Hah… I guess I'll need to think of another way to get my disciples occupied for some time…

Chapter 38 - Do Not Pursue

(MC POV)

"You're that Master Lin?" A young man asked with an arrogant air.

I tilted my head slightly at the man's question, "Yes, that would be me."

"How old are you even?"

"Forty' I mean, Twenty two."

"Haaaah? You're younger than me! What makes you think you can teach me anything?!"

I raised an eyebrow at his outburst, wondering what I had done to offend him. It's a good thing my disciples aren't here to be traumatised by his attitude.

The young man who was raising his voice was a little taller than me in his early thirties. He had broad shoulders and a squarish jaw with his black hair tied neatly in a bun on top of his head.

The sole female beside him was a brunette in her early twenties, her hair tied in a braid that reached to her lower back. Her angular features were accentuated by the pink qipao that she wore, the slit at the side revealing her fair toned legs.

A real beauty, basically, but I've seen my share to feel nothing from her. I'm not a young kid anymore to be drooling at every piece of meat thrown my way.

According to what I could find, he had came to the Sect during the time I was at Manami's village, leading a group of three men and a young woman banging on our Sect doors demanding entry.

They were turned away at first but they had claimed to be exceptional talents so they were allowed in for a quick test.

Using the method I performed, Elder Qing deemed that they might possess the same potential as Lian Li whom, last they saw, had miraculously been revealed as a Practitioner despite not having Pure Elemental Quarks.

They surmised it had something to do with the fact that they could withstand the Elemental Pressure exuded from a Practitioner that made them different. The Sect Master agreed to admit them into the Sect but none of the Elders or Masters knew how to teach them since they had no Pure Elemental Quarks.

They decided to leave them to me to deal with when I came back.

What they didn't expect was for me to return with even more disciples in tow.

They then took some time to discuss on what would be the better option to do since they were afraid of stunting my disciple's growth. At least, according to them, that was the reason for their hesitation.

They didn't manage to come up with a solution before the Sect Showcase Festival came around so they decided that kicking the can down the road would be best. They had left them behind at the Sect during the Festival since they didn't want the other Sects to know about them.

Only when they saw how much Lian Li had grown did they decide the best choice was to still push this group of students to me.

"Watch your mouth young one, do you not know Master Lin?" Elder Xiao admonished.

"Why should I know about some young upstart?! Do you not know who I am?!"

"Not really," I admitted.

His face reddened upon my answer, "Feng Xian! The rightful heir of the country of Dong! How could you have not heard of me?!"

Ignoring his outburst, I looked towards the group behind him, "And the rest of you?"

The woman did a perfect curtsey, "Greetings, Master Lin. My name is Diao Chan, I am young master Feng Xian's retainer."

"I am Cheng Lian."

"My name is Wei Yue."

"Hu Zhen is my name."

I didn't bother with those three since they were obviously side characters.

"So what is the 'rightful heir of the country of Dong' doing here?" I asked, mixing a little sarcasm in there.

The youth crossed his arms, "Hmph! I was betrayed! Do you Beiyang people even know what is going on across the mountains?! How ignorant can you be?!"

I looked at Elder Xiao who only shrugged at me, showing that he was unaware of such a thing as well.

I decided to humour him.

"Well then, mind telling us what your situation is then?"

He scoffed, "Hmph! Of course such uncultured people like you wouldn't know! The king of Dong was disposed merely a few weeks ago and my trusted advisor betrayed me! Claiming that I was the one who killed the king!"

"And so, you ran away?" I guessed.

"It was merely a tactical retreat!" He corrected. "I will build up my strength here and return back to claim what belongs to me!"

"Hmmm' If I remember right, wasn't the king known to be a tyrant?"

"Ha! What do any of you know about martial valor?!"

I shrugged, knowing it was pointless to continue any form of argument with him.

"Alright, right now, I care just as much about your background as you do about mine. Once you've been accepted entry here, you are a student and nothing more."

He seemed offended but I didn't care.

I just returned to the Sect barely an hour ago, you know? I'm tired, sweaty and pissed, why can't they let me have a proper bath first before slapping these problem kids on me?

I continued, "Specifically, you'll be my student. I've heard that your group's constitution is similar to one of my disciples, making me the only one who can properly teach you. It's up to you if you want to learn under me or not."

"You mean the great me has to bow to someone younger than myself and call Master?! I've never even called anyone else Master before and you expect the first one is to some young upstart like you?!"

"Whether you do, or do not, I frankly don't care. You're here to learn and I'm only interested in teaching people who have an interest to learn which you seem to have a lack of."

He gritted his teeth, the other three men had similar dissatisfied expressions but the girl didn't look like she cared. In fact, all this while she seemed quite disinterested in what was going on.

I turned my back on them, "Seeing as I've just returned from our trip, I'm going back to my courtyard to rest. If any of you want instruction then come to my place. If not, the exit is right where you came in from."

"You! How dare you turn your back on this prince?! Do you not care what will happen to you once I've gone back to take over Dong?! I'll slaughter you!" the kid screeched.

I made a show of digging through my pockets, taking out something from within before turning back to him. I gestured for his palm which he stretched out, confusion clear on his face.

I dropped a piece of candy that I've kept for Cai Hong in his open palm, "Sorry, but that's all the care that I could give about that."

I didn't wait to see his reaction before strutting away, teleporting the candy that he tried to throw on the ground back into my pocket. No way will I let Cai Hong's candy go to waste.

If this young master was expecting me to pursue him, he'll be thoroughly disappointed.

Honestly, if any of them come, I wouldn't mind trying to teach them. They actually do have quite a unique constitution, but I'll need to have a closer look at them if I was to be sure.

A quick scan from me revealed that all of them had a Cultivation Point at least, except for that Diao Chan.

Finding out how she managed to withstand Elder Qing's Elemental Pressure would be quite interesting.

Chapter 39 - The Sable Cicada

(Lian Li POV)

"Master, where is the Fiery Flames Sect?" I asked, trying to keep my breathing calm.

Master had just returned from his bath and there were still traces of moisture on his neck, a droplet of water rolling past his collar temptingly. I won't deny having thoughts of licking it once or twice… Maybe a few dozen times.

Master designated the day we returned as a rest day, letting us relax after the journey back from the Phoenix Sect and also as a reward of sorts for doing so well during the Sect Showcase Festival.

We wanted to peek on Master's bathing but upon reaching the Sect, Sect Master Long, or who we know as Shameless Long, called Master away for some reason.

When Master returned, he had already taken his bath and joined us in the garden's pavilion within his courtyard.

Wasted opportunity indeed...

Right now he was busy with brushing the last of Manami's tails while I waited for my turn with my hair. Eris was seated beside me, silently listening to our conversation while no doubt conversing with her other selves inside her head at the same time.

Cai Hong had chosen the most enviable position by using Master's lap as a pillow while she napped.

"Hmm? The Fiery Flames Sect is it? They should be northwards of Jin city," Master answered, running his hands enviously through Manami's fur.

I spotted a glistening trail of drool escaping from the corner of Manami's lips, her hands gripping her knees tightly while her body shuddered in pleasure.

"It should be a four day journey on foot from here, their Sect is smaller than ours but they are ranked third because of their expertise in Spirit Fire. The Sect is built in between a small hill and forest with a village just south of it."

I nodded, Manami and I would be paying a visit to that Sect soon to complete the baptism for those two trash that I can't remember the name of.

"Heaven Sect is only ranked first because of Master, isn't it?" Eris asked.

Master nodded slightly, "It's a bit sad to admit, but yes. The other experts in Heaven Sect can't match up to the experts in other Sects. The disparity in talent is quite disappointing."

I tapped my chin with a finger, "Then why does Master stay here?"

Master smiled, "I've already spent a long time here and I'm familiar with the people. No reason to just abandon them like that."

As expected of our kind Master.

How could I have thought Master would abandon me so easily back then? I truly have shamed Master greatly because of my insecurities…

Ah, but Master had hugged me though… Ehehehehe~~

Master ran the hair brush through Manami's tail one last time before tapping her on the shoulder, "Manami, I'm done."

"Funyaaa~~" Manami answered eloquently, standing up from her seat on shaky legs.

I switched places with Manami, the fox youkai leaning heavily on Eris when she sat down with half-lidded eyes.

Master ran the comb through my hair, sending shivers down my spine.

Trying to distract myself from the pleasure, I asked, "Master… If I may… What did Shame-- I mean Sect Master Long want from you just now?"

"Hmmmm… There were a few problem students in the Sect that he wanted me to take charge of."

I frowned, "Problem… Students?"

Master nodded, "They have special circumstances and no one else in the Sect can teach them properly."

"Master… Best Teacher…" Eris commented.

Indeed, Master possesses knowledge that is beyond normal mortal comprehension. With such skills and wisdom, Master is definitely someone beyond this mortal world.

"Hunymmmm… Where… Where are the students?" Manami asked, wiping the drool off her face.

"The leader of the group is a disposed prince from the country of Dong, he resents having to bow his head to someone younger like me. So they have yet to accept being my students," Master shrugged.

Eris perked up, "The prince of Dong?"

Master smiled while braiding my hair, "Yes, Eris. The prince of Dong. Do you know him?"

Eris nodded, "He is quite feared in that country and also acknowledged as the best warrior in history. He personally lead armies to conquer many territories for his foster father, the king."

"Oh? He was adopted by the king? He claims to be the rightful heir to the throne, though?" Master recounted.

"Not wrong… King without children…"

"Ara? Does that mean Eris is from there as well?" Manami questioned, finally recovering her senses.

Eris gave a bark of laughter, "Ha! Yep, born and bred there! A real piece of work that place. If you ain't good at fighting or a rich supporter of the king, you're totally screwed!"

Master hummed, "Do you know why he's here then?"

Eris tapped her chin thoughtfully, "The last that this one heard… The prince was interested in a woman whom the king also had his eyes on, they had a falling out because of that. This one isn't sure what happened in the end but humbly thinks it is related."

"Umu… There was a young woman accompanying him that introduced herself as his retainer. She introduced herself as Diao Chan," Master added.

"Ah, yes, I remember now," Eris hammered her fist into her palm. "She was supposedly known as Dong's top four beauties. It was said her beauty could topple nations."

Ah, that prince must have murdered the king in cold blood and fled here with her then, no doubt painting himself as the victim to the people here to garner sympathy.

While I was starting to immerse myself in the feeling of Master running his fingers through my hair, a voice called out from the garden's entrance.

"Apologies for the rudeness, Master Lin. May I take a moment of your time?"

All of us turned to see a breathtakingly beautiful young woman standing at the archway of the entrance.

Her lustrous brown hair that seemed to glow in the light, her angular fairy esque face with gleaming blue eyes and seductive red lips. The scandalously fair leg that peeked out from the slit in her qipao alongside her well rounded curves was enough to incite the fires of lust in many.

I had never felt this threatened before.

Judging by how the others sat straighter and even Cai Hong waking up from her nap, they felt the same as I did.

It wasn't because of her beauty, no. It was this aura of malice that seemed to cling to her, choking the life out of her surroundings and making everything seem darker.

"Ah, Diao Chan," Master called out. "Are you here to learn? If you are, I'm afraid today is a rest day so there won't be any lessons. You can return tomorrow if you wish."

She shook her head, "I'm afraid not, Master Lin. I was sent by my lord to inform you that he refuses to learn under you."

This girl… She's lying. Her skills aren't as good as Eris but the skill involved with how she controls her features and voice are comparable.

"Oh? Then I'm surprised he even bothered to send you here, I'd thought he would send one of his men or not even bother telling me at all."

It seems Master has caught on too, resuming his braiding of my hair.

"He is still imposing on your Sect after all, he would rather not be too rude."

'Your Sect'?

What is she trying to achieve?

"You flatter me, Diao Chan. But I am not the Sect Master of Heaven Sect."

"Ah, apologies. I had assumed since Master Lin seemed to be the most respected figure in the Sect."

"No harm done," Master assured, his hands still braiding my hair. "You can tell your lord that I have received his intentions quite clearly."

She bowed, "In that case, I shall take my leave."

"Umu."

She left without another word.

I'm not totally sure if I was only imagining the place getting a little brighter after she left.

"Papa… Scary person?" Cai Hong tugged at Master's sleeve.

"Ah, I believe her constitution is rather special. But I'm not sure of how special it is at the moment."

We sisters were all in silent agreement that we had to keep an eye on her.

"I'm done, Lian Li."

Ah.

I had been too distracted by her appearance to properly appreciate Master's touch…

Oh, that reminds me. I had promised myself to do this once we've returned to the Sect.

"Master, would it be too much to ask to sleep with you tonight?"

"... Eh?"

Chapter 40 - You A Wizard

(Manami POV)

Lian Li slept with Master last night.

Nothing happened though, really, they just shared a bed.

Or at least, that's what she told me while blushing to the tips of her ears.

She was still quite insecure about being accepted by Master so she had requested to be near him for some time.

No doubt Master had already realised her insecurities and acquiesced to her request.

Even I was not that cruel to get between Master and her that night, she made it easier for Master to accept me in the future after all.

And about her claiming nothing happening last night? I don't believe a word of it.

But well, that was last night's business and I would claim my time with Master soon.

I have one month to do it freely anyway, I doubt it is impossible for something to happen between us after spending so long together.

Ufufufufu~~

We started our lessons as per normal today, Master guiding Lian Li, Cai Hong and I in our Practitioner classes and Eris in her sword arts.

Halfway through, that woman showed up again predictably.

"Master Lin? I hope I am not disturbing you?"

Ara? Do you not see you're disturbing our precious time with Master? If you do, why don't you make yourself scarce?

Aren't you just taking advantage of Master's kindness?

Master glanced at her direction before turning back to Eris, resuming their spar.

"As you can see, I am quite busy. What do you want? Eris, don't get distracted."

Ufufufu! Master! What have we done to deserve you? You really are tempting me to the extreme right now you know?

Unperturbed by Master's comment, she bowed, "Forgive my rudeness. I beseech Master Lin to allow this lowly maid to spectate your lessons, for I have never witnessed a Practitioner lesson before."

Ara? Like anyone would believe that?

"Really? Then what have you been doing all this time within the Sect?" Master asked, ducking under one of Eris's sword swings.

"The other Masters and Elders had not seen me fit to join in on their lessons. Young master Feng Xian had also deemed most of them unworthy of instructing him."

Master parried another blow from Eris, spinning himself out of range, "Your footwork Eris, you're not leaning your weight on your feet again. Anyway, Diao Chan, why come to me of all people then? And did your young master approve your coming here?"

"I am here because I was told that Master Lin was the best teacher in the Sect and you knew at a single glance that we were different. As for the young master… I have no wish to remain as his retainer."

I tried hard to not roll my eyes at her blatant attempt at garnering sympathy.

"Oh? Interesting, do tell," Master prodded, side-stepping Eris's thrust.

"What young master Feng Xian had told you was only half the truth, I was not originally his retainer. My father had promised me to the king as a concubine but my presence had caught young master Feng Xian's eye. He wanted me as his wife but the king refused to give me up."

"Let me guess, your little lord murdered his father for this," Master stated, locking his blade with Eris's. "And he was found out by the king's followers and was ousted from the country, fleeing for his life with his few loyal men and you in tow."

"Master Lin is indeed as insightful as the rumours say."

Master flicked his wrist, disarming Eris in a single movement.

"Weak grip, Eris," Master flipped his sword around to put it in Eris's hands. "Here, your hand position just now was here, it will slip out easily when I do the disarming technique. But if you move it here, it won't slip as easily."

"Understood, Master," Eris bowed.

Master nodded, patting her head, "Take a break then. Lian Li, Manami, Cai Hong, you girls too."

I stretched my arms after stopping the breathing technique Master instructed us to use, standing up to relieve my sore legs. I made to move towards the pavillion where Master had always prepared refreshments for us, his cooking is divine as always.

Eris, Lian Li and Cai Hong followed suit, taking small bites out of the assortment of pastries Masker had baked. Our senses were still focused on that woman's interaction with Master though.

If she dared to take any inappropriate actions, we would be ready to stop her.

"Diao Chan, enough with the melodrama. Just say exactly what you want."

"... It seems even I cannot deceive Master Lin's eyes…" The woman sighed. "I want to escape from him."

Master raised an eyebrow, "Him, as in, your lord?"

"Yes. It may sound like boasting but I was regarded as the top four beauties within the country of Dong, I had been treated like a bird in a gilded cage for as long as I can remember. My father forbade me from doing anything and I had been kept on a tight leash, afraid that I would run off on my own."

She looked past Master to stare at us, "Even under the king's service I was still treated like some priceless jade that cannot be touched, the same goes for the young master. I only wish to be free."

Her eyes went back to Master, "Teach me. Train me. Make me strong enough such that I can take control of my own fate. I tire of having my own life dictated for me."

Ara? it seems like she is finally honest for once.

"Hmmm… Stretch out your palms for me," Master instructed.

She did it without hesitation, letting Master grip her palms with his hands.

I felt the release of Master's Pure Elemental quarks and I knew he was scanning her Cultivation Point.

A few seconds passed before he let go of her, tucking his hands behind his back.

"You… Do not have Pure Elemental Quarks as expected… In fact, you're not a Practitioner," Master announced.

All of us frowned, that means she does not even have a Cultivation Point right?

She furrowed her brows at him, "What do you mean by that? If you do not wish to teach me, then just say that to me, no need to make such an obvious lie about it."

Ara, ara? How daring… I should really slap some sense into this girl.

Master shook his head, "I do not lie, you truly do not possess a Cultivation Point which all Practitioners have, howe--"

"Impossible!" She yelled, flinging her fists in clear frustration. "I felt the power! I felt the energy! I just didn't know how to use it! When that Elder flared his so called pressure on me, I clearly felt something within me react! You lie!"

Master sighed, "Could you just stop your hysterics and let me finish? I said you're not a Practitioner because you have no Cultivation Point. What you have is a Mana Core. You are a Witch."

"Eh?" Everyone called out at the same time.

Chapter 41 - Face Slapping, Literally

(MC POV)

I sighed internally once I figured out this girl's special circumstances. It seems life really wants to make a joke out of me with all the things I've been thrown at.

"A… A Witch? What do you mean?" Diao Chan asked.

It was no surprise that she did not know, they were unheard of within this Plane. Not because they were exceptionally rare but because people didn't know that they exist, even the witches themselves.

"I mean exactly that." I sighed, thinking about how troublesome it was going to be. "While Practitioners possess a Cultivation Point within their body that allows them to manipulate Elemental Quarks, Witches possess a Mana Core within their body and are incapable of manipulating Elemental Quarks directly."

She frowned at me, "Then what good would this… Mana Core be? Is it… Powerful?"

I gestured her towards the pavilion, "This will take a while to explain, let's talk about it over some snacks."

She followed behind me without hesitation, taking a seat opposite of me at the table while I took the side with my disciples.

Somehow this feels like a job interview…

"I'm probably going to dump a lot of information now, so be prepared," I warned.

She nodded a go ahead.

"Normal Practitioners have a Cultivation Point within them that circulates Pure Elemental quarks. The amount they can contain within them is dependent on their proficiency and size of their Cultivation Point which can be enlarged the more the Practitioner cultivates. The air within our world is filled with Pure Elemental quarks so even an untrained Practitioner is able to tap into it unconsciously to refill their Cultivation Point."

Diao Chan scoffed, "Please do not insult my intelligence by telling me all these that even a twelve year old would know."

"If you do not want to listen to Master that much, the exit is right there," Lian Li growled while holding two strawberry tarts in her hands.

Diao Chan narrowed her eyes, "I only ask for my time to not be wasted here."

"Ara, ara? You're speaking as though you're wasting no one's time by being here? Are we a joke to you?" Manami asked, placing a cup of tea in front of me.

Eris nodded, "My lesson time with Master was cut short."

"Papa, hug?"

I picked up Cai Hong and placed her on my lap, facing away from me. She continued nibbling away at her cookie while staring at Diao Chan across from her.

"Alright, let's move on, shall we?" I tried to steer the conversation back, seeing how my disciples and her were throwing imaginary lightning at each other.

"Some people possess Mana Cores instead of a Cultivation Point, allowing them to contain what we know as mana within their bodies. The Mana Cores do not allow the user to manipulate Elemental Quarks directly, but they are able to generate and store mana that they can directly utilise in order to influence Elemental Quarks. However, for some reason yet unknown, Mana Cores are primarily found within females. Thus, these group of people are called Witches."

Diao Chan scowled again, "So basically you can't help me right? Since you can't use this so called Mana Core at all."

There was a loud crunch.

I looked down to see Cai Hong waving half of her cookie threateningly at Diao Chan, "Bad woman! Bad! Cai Hong no like!"

I patted her head to calm her down while looking back at Diao Chan, "I don't get why you're jumping to conclusions so fast. I'm the one telling you all this information aren't I? What makes you think I wouldn't know something about it?"

"Aside from the fact that everything seems too convenient and you aren't a female?" She answered with a voice full of sarcasm.

I shrugged, "You don't need to be here, as Lian Li said, the exit is right there. None of us will stop you from leaving."

There was a pause, she glanced towards the archway she came from before turning back to me. Cai Hong had went back to nibbling on her cookie.

"I'm sorry. I was too emotional, please carry on," she relented.

I nodded, "Witches rely on what we call Spells to materialise their mana into the material world. Their fundamentals are similar to Cultivation Techniques but Spells are exceedingly rare as compared to Cultivation Techniques. One reason is because they are much harder to invocate then Cultivation Techniques and only Witches could utilise a Spell's full power."

I took a sip of my tea.

Mmmm... Manami still makes the best tea.

"But the end result for both Spells and Cultivation Techniques are fundamentally similar. Both of them are making use of Elemental Quarks to influence the material world, albeit spells doing it in a roundabout way."

She looked pointedly at me, "I take it that you know a few spells then, Master Lin?"

"Indeed I do," I confirmed.

The matriarch of the Royal Spiritual Family Sect had been a very powerful Witch. Strong enough that no known Practitioners could stand a chance against her.

She was the main reason why I managed to get a position within her Sect since she took an interest in my intellect. She had posted a challenge for any Witch to decode and replicate a spell she had created but no one had succeeded until I came along.

I realised the connection between Cultivation Techniques and her Spell just from seeing it once and managed to decode it and understand the fundamentals of Spells from that challenge alone.

She thus recruited me as an archivist and allowed me free reign of the library.

The catch was that I also became the sole target for all her Spell testings.

Fun times… Not.

So to say that I was an expert in Spells is an understatement.

Diao Chan narrowed her eyes, "So a Practitioner can use both Cultivation Techniques and Spells while a Witch can only use Spells?"

"Basically," I nodded.

Her skeptical look returned, "In that case, it sounds more like Witches are a downgrade of Practitioners aren't they? Since Spells and Cultivation Techniques are fundamentally similar, what use are Spells?"

"Ah, but they're actually quite different once you consider the intricate details," I answered with a knowing smile.

"A simple way to differentiate is like asking two people to get you a glass of water. One will go directly to the kitchen and pour out the water that has already been prepared beforehand and return back to you, that's Cultivation Techniques. The other will go up the mountain to search for an extremely pure water spring with a bucket, filling the bucket with said water before returning back to you. Both gives water, it's just the efficiency and quality of both will differ."

I stretched out my hand, Pure Elemental quarks gathering around my hand immediately and making it glow.

"For Practitioners, efficiency and speed is always the key. As such, if you ask the one who has always retrieved water from the kitchen to climb a mountain, it can still be done, just that the time taken is longer and the water they retrieved might not be as pure and plentiful."

I dispersed the Pure Elemental quarks before closing my eyes, "but if a Practitioner has enough practice, he might at least gain enough proficiency to utilise spells to a certain degree, though Witches will always naturally be better at it."

"Ah, but the Witch won't be able to take water from the kitchen because she's not allowed to be there?" Lian Li guessed.

I patted her head, "Hmmm, that's not wrong. Witches can only use Spells but are the best at using them while Practitioners can use both Cultivation Techniques and Spells but are not as adept at Spells as Witches."

"Could we see an example of a Spell, Master?" Eris asked.

"Umu," I stretched out a hand to point at the open area in the garden. "'Brilliance that shines upon the night, guardian of the eternal abyss. I seek thee by my name and bind thee to mine will, your service and obedience I demand from you. Shine forth by my command, strike down the blight upon the land. Heed thee, I call upon you! Light Wisp!'"

There was a gust of wind that blew through the garden before a flash of light appeared at where I had pointed my palm, merging itself slowly to form a ball of light that remained floating at where it was.

"A light ball, basically," I explained. "Used to light up dark areas and can follow its summoner around."

"That… Is a Spell?" Diao Chan asked, staring at the Light Wisp floating a few meters away.

"Yes, as you can tell the difference already, a Spell requires an incantation to cast while a Cultivation Technique does not."

She furrowed her brows at me, "So what? All I need is to memorise a few lines and I can basically do anything?"

I smiled at her, "You can go ahead and try."

She reached out her hand and repeated the words I had spoken, only for nothing to happen.

"If all you had to do was to recite the words, anyone would be able to become a Witch," I laughed.

She swivelled to face me, "Then teach me!"

I raised my eyebrow at her, "I have yet to see why I should. I offered and you didn't accept, you came to me with less than honest intentions and I already have four other disciples to take care of."

She eyed all my disciples for a minute before standing up and making her way to my side.

"Fine then, you can have it. Just train me after you're done," She spat at me.

My eyes narrowed in confusion, "Have what? I do not know what you are talking about."

She gritted her teeth, "Stop pretending, you men are all the same! You want my body don't you?! Like how these girls must have tempted you! Just get it over with!"

A loud slap resounded throughout the courtyard, followed by another one soon after.

"You have guts bad mouthing our Master in front of us like that," Lian Li growled, glaring at her.

"Fufufu… You behave quite arrogantly for a rabid dog who came barking for scraps," Manami smiled. "Do we need to throw you out?"

"Woman… Bad," Cai Hong pouted.

"To know nothing about us and assume so much… You truly don't know the definition of rude," Eris shook her head in pity.

Diao Chan furrowed her brows, both her cheeks beginning to redden from the two slaps Lian Li and Manami had given her.

"Master Lin! How dare your own--"

"Get out of my sight," I ordered, turning my eyes away from her.

"What?"

"You heard me. I have no intention on taking someone as arrogant and rude as you under my wing, you might have better luck elsewhere though I doubt so."

Diao Chan spluttered at my sudden hostility, "Wha… What? I… Wait…"

"I will not repeat myself again, you either walk out of here on your own two legs or I'm sending you out without them."

Realising I was serious, she quickly bolted out of my courtyard.

"More tea, Master?" Manami asked.

"Umu, yes please."

"And if it's not too much to ask, could I also warm your bed tonight?"

"... Why not?"

Chapter 42 - Late Night Visits

(Lian Li POV)

I tapped my foot impatiently as Manami slipped out of Master's room, closing the door silently behind her.

It was already late into the night, the crescent moon the only source of illumination within the courtyard.

She glided down the steps to meet me, her features radiating a slightly ethereal glow.

"Nothing happened, hmm?" Manami poked at me.

"Shut up… I… I didn't think it would actually happen then…" I admitted.

"Was it good?"

"... Heavenly."

"Ufufufufu~~ This big sister would really like to sit down and talk about it but… Let's leave it for next time then, are you ready?"

I checked my clothes before nodding to her, "You sure you can bring us there?"

"Ara, ara? It's a Technique Master taught us, I have full confidence in it."

I nodded, "Let's go then."

Manami waved her arms in an intricate pattern and her body began to glow slightly, a small ring of light appearing beneath her feet.

She stretched her arms out to the side, causing the circle of light to expand to beneath my feet.

With a snap of her fingers, the light glowed brighter and the world around us blurred before snapping back into focus suddenly.

"Where are we?" I asked, not recognising the place.

"The forest just behind the Fiery Flames Sect," Manami explained. "The two pieces of trash live near the back walls so this works in our favour, or so my sources say."

"Hmmm… How do we get in without anyone knowing then?"

"Fufufu… That's the most simple part," Manami giggled, waving her hand in the air.

I felt a wave of cool air wash over me as her illusion Technique took effect. Raising my hands, I could see that my hands were translucent now.

"We can still see each other, but the others won't be able to see us. Remember, this only hides our presence and sight, not our sound or smell," Manami cautioned.

I nodded in understanding, "Alright, you know where they are?"

She tapped her nose, "Of course I do, follow me."

The both of us leapt over the wall without trouble, landing silently within a spacious courtyard.

Both of us were just about to move forward when the door to the building beside us opened, an Elder stepping out into the courtyard with his legs spread rather wide apart.

Manami's concealing Technique held strong as he didn't even look in our direction.

We immediately recognised him as that trash Elder who had challenged Master back then.

"Haa… To be used by the Sect as a scapegoat and even receive such a wound from Master Lin… Truly is my bad luck…" he murmured to himself.

He hobbled away slowly with his legs spread wide apart, much to our amusement.

We would have loved to leave some malicious 'gifts' for him but we decided it would be best to leave as little trace of our involvement tonight as possible.

We crept through the courtyard, following a winding path towards what should be the Elite Sect members' courtyards.

Manami stopped in front of one such courtyard, frowning, "I smell blood… Thick..."

My frown matched hers and I prepared myself for what may be inside.

That trash might be engaged in a form of blood ritual.

We crept into the courtyard, gliding across the small garden to reach the interior building that should house his sleeping quarters.

I tried the door, but it wouldn't budge.

Manami circled her finger in the air, signalling to find another way of gaining entry.

Reaching the back of the house, we noticed a window that was left slightly ajar. Judging by its position, it should lead to the bathroom of the house.

I lead the way towards it, intending on using it as a point of entry.

That was when the thick stench of blood assaulted my nose.

I looked back at Manami who had her own nose wrinkled from the smell. Her ears twitched slightly before she gave me an assuring nod.

Readying myself, I pulled open the window slowly and peered inside.

Nothing prepared me for what I saw.

That trash was suspended upside down on the ceiling, his body swaying slightly in the breeze.

There was a gaping hole at where his abdomen would be, his innards dug out to be used as the rope to suspend him.

Manami peeked from my side, wrinkling her nose at the sight.

We climbed into the room, our senses tuned and wary for any threats.

Finding no one else, I began to inspect the corpse.

Other than the hole in his abdomen, that trash seemed to have underwent a series of torture judging by the various bruises and cuts.

A gag was also stuffed into his mouth, stained red with blood.

It seemed like he was killed while in the midst of bathing, as evident from the tub of bath water that sat directly below him, the water already stained red with the blood from the hanging carcass.

Manami's hands glowed as she touched the thing's head.

"Ara? No memories… The person who did this was very thorough. This thing should've died last night or two nights ago."

The distance between Phoenix Sect and this Sect was shorter compared to ours, so that means they should have returned to their Sect earlier than us.

"Hmm… This changes things…" She whispered. "Should we check on the next one?"

I nodded, feeling slightly annoyed that someone had ruined our plan of gaining another believer. He was probably the result of some inner feud between Sect members.

Manami led the way towards another courtyard further down the path, stopping at the entrance.

"It's the same," Manami stated, annoyance clear on her face.

We crept into the courtyard, finding the door locked as well while the bathroom window was similarly left slightly ajar.

It felt like whoever did this was taunting us.

Peeking into the bathroom revealed the other trash in the exact same position as the first one.

"This one too? How many enemies do they have?" I wondered aloud.

Manami tapped a finger on her chin, "Mmmm… Well, this is quite unfortunate… But there's nothing we can do now so let's just go back."

I narrowed my eyes at her, "You just want to crawl back into Master's bed, don't you?"

"Ufufufu~ Looks like I got caught. Do you want to join me?"

I waved my hand at her, "Maybe next time. Let's just go back, I'm tired already."

Manami invoked her teleportation technique again, transporting us back with a flash with none the wiser about our late night visit.

Neither of us cared about the two pieces of trash, the thought of disposing the bodies not even crossing our minds.

Those two were just insignificant shitstains after all, if they were killed by someone else because of a Sect feud so be it. As long as it doesn't complicate our plan or Master's life.

Disgusted by the state of their deaths?

Not really, we've already done worse.

Much, much worse.

Chapter 43 - Door To Door Salesman

(MC POV)

The next morning, things were mostly back to normal. It was just after lunch time and we all had a satisfying meal of rice topped with grilled steak.

Right now, we were taking a short break after our meal.

"Master, could we learn spells too?" Lian Li asked.

Ah ever the studious one, she is.

"Umu… I could teach you all, but I think there's enough on your plates for now. Spells are really inefficient for Practitioners after all."

Eris pulled at my sleeve, "Master… May this one humbly inquire if this one is a Witch?"

I patted her head, "Mmm… No, you do not have a Mana Core Eris. But you don't need to worry about that."

Eris nodded meekly under my head patting.

Manami tapped her chin, "Master, I still do not understand. If a Practitioner trains long enough, shouldn't their Spells be just as good as Witches?"

"Unfortunately, it isn't as simple as that. You see, it's not a matter of proficiency, it's the matter about the source itself."

Lian Li tilted her head, "The source? Is Mana different from Elemental Quarks?"

"Technically, yes. Mana is an energy that Witches generate within themselves naturally. Their Mana Core can be similarly improved like a Cultivation Point but the Mana is used to influence the Elemental Quarks to do their bidding unlike Practitioners who directly manipulate said quarks within their Cultivation Point."

Manami sat straighter in her seat, "But doesn't that mean that Witches can learn how to manipulate quarks through their Mana? If Mana can be used to influence Elemental Quarks, they should be able to circulate their Mana like how Practitioners circulate quarks right?"

"Very good question, no one has yet to confirm the answer to this date but I managed to come up with a theory after learning how Spells work."

I picked up my tea cup, holding it from the bottom with a hand.

"I have used the imagery of a bowl filled with water for a Practitioner's Cultivation Point for our lessons and this imagery holds true. The water inside the bowl are the Practitioner's innate quarks which they will circulate when attempting to materialise something."

I began to swirl the tea cup at a speed that leaves the water just below the edge.

"Once they have obtained the necessary image, element and target, the Practitioner releases the circulated quarks towards the body part they wish to materialise from."

I sped up the speed I was swirling the cup, letting a quarter of the water to spill out of the cup, hovering in the air.

"The gathered quarks will then materialise as the Practitioner intended, affecting the material world."

I released my hold to let the blob of water splash onto the table.

"As for Mana Cores, you can liken them to water wells where the water stored inside it is their mana. You need a bucket to draw up the water similar to how Witches need Spells to draw out their mana. Both are long processes but the water they draw up is greater in quantity than what a Practitioner can swirl out from a bowl."

I dried the wet spot with a wave of my hand before taking a sip of my tea.

"If a Practitioner tries to attempt a Spell, it would be like removing the well's bucket and replacing it with a small bowl. We can still materialise the spell but it won't be anywhere as good as what a proficient Witch can do. But Witches can't use Cultivation Techniques because you cannot swirl the water in a well. At least, that's what I theorize."

My girls nodded in understanding.

Actually, what I said was a half-lie. I have already confirmed this 'theory' as fact after being the test subject of that Matriarch for those years. I was the one who made a study of it and even recorded my findings down for her.

Well… Considering that I've came back to the past and the study has yet to be officially done, I guess it's still just a theory for now.

A very accurate theory that is.

"But Cai Hong thinks Papa looked very cool when doing 'Spwells'!" Cai Hong exclaimed on my lap.

I patted her head, making her purr comfortably.

"Mmm, I agree with Cai Hong. Master looked really enchanting back then," Lian Li praised, leaning towards me.

Manami mimicked her action, "Fufufu~ I wouldn't mind Master showing us more of his spells~"

"Likewise…" Eris agreed.

But of course, something just had to ruin the moment.

"You damn poser! Come out here and face me!" A voice shouted from outside my courtyard.

Since my courtyard was the only one around this area, there was no doubt that the person was shouting for me.

"Mmm… I should go check what he wants then," I sighed, lifting Cai Hong off my lap.

Cai Hong reached out her arms towards me, "Muuu! Papa don't go! Ignore mean boy! Cai Hong wants huggies!"

"Master, I concur," Manami nodded. "Such a rude person should not be entertained."

Lian Li joined in, "Master, let us go instead. We'll tell him not to bother us."

I stood up from the table despite their protests, "It's alright, I'll just see what he wants since he came all the way here after all."

"Papa, huggies…" Cai Hong pleaded, reaching out for me.

I relented to her cuteness, picking her up in my arms to let her wrap her arms around my neck.

"Mmm… Why don't you girls prepare for the lesson while I'm gone?"

The girls nodded their heads in assent, leaving me to see who the visitor was with Cai Hong hanging on my neck.

"Have you no guts?! I said come out here and face me you--"

I pulled open the doors to my courtyard, stepping out to see that Feng Xian fellow shouting while waving a trident halberd in his hands.

"What do you want?" I asked, turning Cai Hong away so she doesn't get terrified of this guy's angry face.

"What do I want?! You damn well know what you did! After Diao Chan visited you yesterday, she has locked herself inside her room refusing to come out!"

I raised my eyebrow at him, "Why do you assume that I'm the one that caused this? She could just be tired of seeing your face."

"You ingrate! It must be you! Why else would she do this right after coming back from your place?! I knew you were trash the moment I saw you! Using your position to take advantage of her like that!"

I rolled my eyes, what is with people and assuming that girls are only there for men to take advantage of? Like as if you could go far in life just by doing that, I mean just look at those two idiots who tried to touch my disciples, they got their manhood crippled didn't they?

It's like every other male in this kind of world only has a brain in their smaller head.

I wonder how those two idiots are doing now though?

"Papa… Bad man?" Cai Hong asked.

I patted her head to comfort her, she was probably thinking Feng Xian to be a scary person.

Turning back to him once Cai Hong quieted down, I asked, "So did you actually ask her what the problem was or did you just assume I was the problem?"

"Ha? The fact that she became like that is evident enough it was because of you!" He accused, pointing his halberd at me.

Cai Hong's grip tightened, no doubt scared of his raised voice.

I looked down at his weapon, "I suggest that you stop with your incessant shouting… And not to point that thing at me."

He inched the blade closer to me, "Or what?"

I shrugged, making sure my grip on Cai Hong was secure before smacking the blade away with the back of my free hand.

He lost his footing from the sudden jerk of his weapon, stumbling towards me.

I grabbed his head with my free hand and introduced his face to my left knee.

I released my grip on him and let him tumble backwards from the force.

Dropping to a half crouch, I shot my lightning-infused palm forward towards his chest, sending him flying into the air and crashing a distance away.

Well, I guess that should knock him out for a few hours at least.

It's quite a big deal to threaten a senior around here so what I did was not unwarranted. In fact, people would feel that it was weird if I didn't punish him in some way.

What happened to my 'benevolent' appearance?

The fact that he's not crippled is benevolent enough ok? Anyway, no one's here to witness this and as much as it feels scummy to say this, but the Sect will choose to believe my words over this guy's anyway.

But still, I should go and check out that Diao Chan girl, it wouldn't do anyone good if she got traumatised by me and decided to lock herself in her own room for the rest of her life.

Wasting Sect resources and all that.

Hai… Why are all these problems being pushed to me?

Chapter 44 - Please Hurt Me

(Diao Chan POV)

Diao Chan, the top four beauty in the country of Dong.

Diao Chan, the unattainable flower.

Diao Chan, the perfect beauty that can move nations.

Diao Chan, the bird in a gilded cage.

Those were all the titles that were given to me, none of them inaccurate.

I was adopted by my father when he found me in an orphanage, having landed there after my village became a casualty of war.

My father had controlled my life ever since then. As a daughter of a noble family, I had no say in what I wanted to do.

Here, in the country of Dong, power was everything.

The current king had overthrown the previous one through sheer military force, marching into the capital city when he was least expected and executed the king within the throne room itself.

He ruled tyrannically, beheading anyone who did not share his views and silenced dissenters with his army.

Most dared not to cross the king as he had his adopted son, Feng Xian, by his side.

Feng Xian was known as the strongest warrior of the country, his martial strength unrivalled.

A Practitioner could still be in the middle of circulating his quarks and Feng Xian would've pierced them with his halberd.

With such a powerful warrior by the king's side, he easily subdued the surrounding nations and consolidated the continent's power.

My family only survived as a noble because of their unwavering support to the king.

What no one knew then was my father had always had his eye on the throne as well but did not have the strength to dispose of the king.

That was when I came in.

Groomed and trained into the perfect beauty with skills in dancing, singing and other forms of entertainment, I was used to capture the hearts of both the king and Feng Xian.

My father had introduced me to the king during a banquet, promising to offer me as a concubine for the king's harem. Feng Xian was invited to my home the next day, where my father promised him my hand in marriage.

Thinking Feng Xian to be my chance to escape the gilded cage I was locked in, I readily followed my father's plan to the letter, using my charms to make both men fall for me.

It was not that hard for me, all I had to do was to follow the script father wrote out for me, like always.

The king had taken me in as a consort, enraging Feng Xian.

He demanded an explanation from my father, only to be told that it was the king who demanded my service.

He intruded into the king's courtyard to find me, listening to me spinning a sob story of how the king abducted me from my home and forced me to be his consort.

The king returned to see him embracing me, causing him to throw a sword at Feng Xian which he managed to duck in time.

The king chased him out of the courtyard before confronting me, only to find me crying in his embrace.

I then spun a tale of how Feng Xian had forced himself upon me, playing the role of a hapless maiden.

Thus began the souring of relationship between the two, all according to the script my father had written for me to follow.

My father had, in the meantime, convince Feng Xian to 'rescue' me.

He provided Feng Xian with a plan to stage a coup on the king, stating that he should overthrow the tyrant king and be the new king instead.

With father's moral support, Feng Xian marched into the king's courtyard accompanied with his own men. I was beside the king when Feng Xian demanded the king's abdication, only to be met with scorn.

The king hadn't taken Feng Xian's demands seriously and paid the price for it.

With Feng Xian leading the charge, no amount of palace guards were enough to take him down.

The king was stabbed through the back when he tried to run, his last sight was me standing over him, staring at him with scorn.

As soon as Feng Xian pulled out his halberd from the king's deceased body, the courtyard was surrounded by numerous archers and soldiers.

Standing at the front of said soldiers was my father, charging Feng Xian with treason and ordering his execution.

At that time, I was supposed to stab him in the back while he was distracted like father scripted.

But I had chosen not to.

It was the only part of the script I had chosen not to follow. The first time in my life that I had actually made a conscious decision for myself.

No, it was not out of love for him or anything stupid like that.

I knew if Feng Xian fell here, I would be forced back into my gilded cage as father's little prize, to be used as a chess piece in his political play for power.

I would forever be just one of his little actress, to dictate as he desired while being kept like a songbird in a cage.

Instead, I had held on to Feng Xian, acting all scared and vulnerable and pleading him to escape.

He fell for it. Hook, line and sinker.

With me by his side, he cut a path through the encirclement, sacrificing his men in the process but managing to escape with me and four of his closest aides.

Unfortunately, he had to take an arrow to his side and leg, disabling him from further combat.

My father had assumed power, his own private army taking over the capital city within hours as there was no one to stop him, not when Feng Xian already did the heavy lifting for him.

We fled to the Death Mountains, seeking refuge in the country of Beiyang.

It was during that journey that we heard from the other refugees that the strongest Sect there was Heaven Sect.

With neither shelter not a destination in mind, we decided we would try to seek refuge within that Sect. After all, where else could the strongest warrior from the country of Dong go?

We passed their little entrance test easily, though I had no idea why back then, but I was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I entered the Sect alongside Feng Xian and his little posse. By then, I had already questioned my decision to run away countless of times.

I realised that I had been so naive.

Where the king and my father had treated me like a little bird in a cage and locking me somewhere within their sight, Feng Xian was worse.

He treated me like I was a bird with clipped wings, never allowing me to do anything.

I had thought of sneaking away, but the sheltered me had no idea of what to do once I was free. Thoughts of being caught alone outside in the wilds at the mercy of everything terrified me.

The trip through the Death Mountains had sobered up the jaded me, that the outside world was not as magical as I had thought it to be.

Encountering multiple near death experiences could do a lot to the mind.

The men were used to it because of the wars they fought, but I had never seen spilled blood before Feng Xian led the coup. The mountains were like the culmination of my nightmares.

A girl who had grown up in the lap of luxury, surrounded by nothing but gems and glittering stones was suddenly thrown out into the wilds. The only thing that glittered there were the eyes of hungry wolves and prowling monsters in the darkest of nights.

A girl who had only slept in the comfiest of beds finds herself sleeping in a leather tent on the cold, hard ground, trying her best to ignore the bugs that were crawling on her skin while she slept with one eye open. She could not be sure that the monsters that pursued them all morning wouldn't show up again at night.

A girl who only learned how to sing and dance now had to sit by the dug-out cooking pit, trimming the sticks to be used as kindling while keeping a shortsword close by. She had learnt it was prudent to have a weapon close at hand in case another group of bandits attacked them. It was the first time she had received a wound on her flawless skin.

A girl who had everything just by following directions, but now had lost everything because she decided to go off script once.

That was when I realised how cruel this world truly was.

The number of times I found myself hanging off the edge of life and death in that one journey were too numerous to count. As much as the other four tried to coddle me, nothing could take away the fear that had taken root in my soul.

I began to feel lost, was this what awaited me when I had freedom? Is this worth it?

That was when I yearned for a script to follow again, to guide me in what I should do. But memories of my previous circumstances felt equally stifling to me, as though I was living a life that was not mine.

Thus began the irony of my want of freedom and my deathly fear of it at the same time.

For the next few weeks we were left mostly alone within Heaven Sect.

They had told us an expert by the name of Master Lin was supposed to teach us but he was preoccupied with other disciples at the moment.

It was only when they came back from their so called Sect Showcase Festival did I finally meet the mythical Master Lin.

I hadn't thought anything of him at first.

He was a little younger than I was and Feng Xian did not take him seriously.

But my perception of him changed when he showed up that Feng Xian so naturally.

He didn't care about Feng Xian's identity.

Rules did not apply to him.

He was bound and beholden to no one.

He was free.

His presence made me decide to sneak out from Feng Xian's sight for the first time. It wasn't that hard since he had been seething with rage after the exchange with Master Lin, locking himself within his own room.

I asked the other disciples for Master Lin's courtyard and was pointed to the top of a solitary hill.

Entering the courtyard, I found him surrounded by three young women and a little girl, conversing casually.

I came up with an excuse to be there to test him, finding out that my charm had no effect on him and neither did he cared about my circumstances.

He had the potential to free me from my cage.

He could be my safe haven to acclimate myself to the outside world.

I left there that day, determined to return again to begin my own plan of having him free me.

But I had made a mistake.

When I returned and convinced him to explain my supposedly special circumstances, I had assumed him to be another man who sought to taste my body or at least possess me like everyone else.

With how the other girls had been fawning over him, I had thought it was only natural. For a man like him to be surrounded by such beauties, who else would have thought he was celibate?

Judging by what has worked so far, I had chosen to go with the face of a girl that is angry at having to offer her body up, it would instill the desire of a hunt in most males.

At that time, I thought that it would be a good decision.

That facade would cause most young masters to feel challenged and will not hesitate to leap at the chance for a hunt, then thinking they had won when the female shows a little favour to them.

I would be able to skip the tedious first base and head straight for the end goal, but who could have known that I would incur his disciples' wrath.

I was slapped by two of his disciples on the face.

Their actions enraged me, my first thoughts were that they had blatantly stepped out of line. How could someone serving under such a Master possess this much freedom after all?

That was when I laid eyes on his face.

He had no blame for his disciples' actions, but his anger was directed at me.

His anger felt like a hurricane.

An absolute force of nature that blew away everything in its path where nothing could stop it.

It was intoxicating.

His threat only served to enhance his charms.

Right then I felt the most freedom I ever had in my entire life.

The thought of him hurting me seemed so…

Tempting.

I knew then he was no mere mortal man.

That amount of freedom could not be possessed by a mortal after all.

Everyone in this world was shackled in one way or another.

A noble daughter like myself is chained to her family.

A homeless, starving man will be tied down by his own circumstances.

Even the highest of kings is beholden to his people.

But not Master Lin, nothing shackles the hurricane from wreaking havoc.

And in extension, his disciples who stand protected in the eye of the storm shared a bit of that freedom.

I wanted it.

I had fled his courtyard, locking myself inside my room to try and sort the mess of feelings within me.

I wanted more from him.

Where others saw me as a caged bird who could do nothing for herself, he alone never did.

I needed that feeling.

And I will do anything to get it again.

I was still in the midst of forming a plan to ingratiate myself to him when he kicked down my locked doors, dragging an unconscious Feng Xian behind him.

Was he here to punish me?!

Please be here to punish me!!

Chapter 45 - Here Some Punishment

(MC POV)

After leaving Cai Hong behind with the girls and explaining that I would be taking out the trash, I dragged the unconscious Feng Xian by his left foot towards the Student Practitioner dorms.

I got a few raised eyebrows along the way but no one stopped to question me.

I'd say it wasn't hard to guess what occurred when they saw who I was dragging and the weapon that I was holding propped against my shoulder.

I got the directions to their courtyard from the Elder in charge, he barely batted an eye about my current situation too.

Finding their shared building, I entered to see the three side characters seated in the common area, discussing something in muted whispers.

They leapt to their feet the moment they saw me enter with Feng Xian in tow, dragging him across the door threshold.

Instead of being enraged like I thought they'd be, they seem absolutely frightened for some reason.

"Where is Diao Chan?" I asked, dropping Feng Xian's halberd in the corner.

The three of them pointed towards the furthest room in the corner.

Seems like the guys had let her choose the corner room that had no windows.

What? Surprised that she was allowed to live in the same area as the guys? We have no gender segregation here I'll have you know.

These kids better be old enough to decide for themselves since we're literally teaching them how to use their abilities to kill things if they so wished.

If we can't even trust them to decide who they want to sleep with, why even bother teaching them?

They can decide for themselves what to do with their life as long as it doesn't bother the others.

There's this philosophy that I remember hearing from someone in the Spiritual Plane: 'There are two problems in this world: your problems and my problems. Do not make your problems into my problems."

Worked rather well for me and I'm gonna stick by it.

I walked past them to reach the room, pushing against it only to find it locked.

I braced on a foot and kicked the door down, I'm not going to waste time to convince some insecure girl to come out of her room like an idiot.

She was sitting on the bed with her knees tucked to her chin, seemingly lost in thought.

My abrupt entrance had shocked her on her feet, her eyes widening when she saw me enter.

Hmm? Did I see a hint of anticipation in those eyes? Nah, must be the light.

I tossed the comatose Feng Xian into the room, "Your little boyfriend got upset about you being upset."

Feng Xian hit the ground face-first with a loud thud, his body still unmoving.

Diao Chan stared at the unconscious man, her face scrunched up in confusion as though she didn't understand the scene in front of her. It took a minute before she looked up at me.

"You… Beat him?" She asked.

I raised an eyebrow, "What? Didn't you send him to come and disturb me?"

She tilted her head, "Why would I do that? I truly meant it when I said I wanted to learn under you, Master Lin. I do not think causing unnecessary problems for you will put me in your good graces..."

Well I guess she does have a point. Her breathing did not hitch and her expressions were normal too, she's probably telling the truth for this one.

Disregarding the fact that she insulted my disciples and I with her words that day, the fact that she was willing to go that far just to learn under me showed her resolve.

Gotta give credit where credit is due, I suppose.

The doesn't mean I was fine with her talking down my disciples like that though.

"In that case, take care of him, won't you?" I gestured to him. "I don't want him to come over and disturb me unless he's interested in learning."

"Eh?" She gasped.

I raised an eyebrow at her shocked visage, "What were you expecting?"

She hugged herself, "Ummm… You're… Not going to punish me?"

I narrowed my eyes at her, "You already admitted that you had nothing to do with him coming to me, so why would I?"

"Erm… The inappropriate things I said in front of your students? I… I didn't know what… Ermm… I had assumed your disciples and Master Lin's circumstances… And acted rudely… So… I hope-- Ahem, thought I was going to get… Punished?"

Why does it sound like a plea at the end?

Ah, she probably thought that she would get back into my good graces if she opens herself for atonement. Very well then, I can at least give her a chance if she's genuine about her want for learning.

She will be a good partner for the girls to learn about Witches too.

"Alright, here's your punishment," I pointed a finger at the still unconscious Feng Xian. "Make sure he nor your friends outside cause any trouble or complaints for a week and I will consider taking you guys in as students. That is, if any of you are interested in it."

Judging by the attitude of the spoiled brat currently passed out on the floor, it won't be an easy task for her.

If she fails then I'll kick them out of here like they were supposed to in the first place.

But on the off chance she manages to succeed, I'll at least get a few more cooperative students to teach which is leagues better than rebellious ones.

What happened to my easy life plans?

This is my easy life plan!

If I don't teach them now, others are going to show up later, I guarantee it.

It would be so tiring to come up with reasons to reject every single one of them.

Much better that I make them proficient enough and have them do all the heavy lifting in the future right?

I meant it when I said I would work for my easy life ok?

And honestly, the amount of effort I'm putting in now is incomparable to the hellish training regimes I set myself up with in my last life.

Break time? Never heard of it.

Social life? Can that be eaten?

Off days? You mean extra training days?

Why else do you think Elder Qing was surprised by the way I was treating my disciples?

Ah, that reminds me.

Sorry for thinking you had grown senile Elder Qing, you were right about this group after all.

Still, you can't be too sure about old Practitioners, really.

They can turn into rambling old fogeys at the drop of a hat.

"Master Lin! Diao Chan accepts your punishment! Please watch me!" The girl thumped her chest enthusiastically.

Huh? I thought she would be the cool headed beauty type? Why did she become so energetic all of a sudden?

Don't tell me… Chuunibyou?!

Fuuuuuuu--

Chapter 46 - Making Lesson Plans

(Eris POV)

"Ah, I see. So it's like an exchange program?" Lian Li asked.

Master nodded, "But only if that Diao Chan girl fulfills my condition. So tell me if any of them start making trouble for you girls."

We nodded an affirmative to his words.

So what do you guys think about Master's idea? [Eris]

This one believes it's Master's way of introducing our humble selves to the other Sect members. [Denna]

Thoughtful… [Laverna]

Yeah, we're gonna flex on them! [Bait]

How crude, I'm pretty sure that's not what Master had in mind. [Eris]

Maybe, but I sure as hell ain't gonna pass up the chance to show off a bit ya know? [Bait]

Exaltation… [Laverna]

Yes. This one thinks it would be a good chance for us to extol Master's virtues. [Denna]

"Papa… Leaving?" Cai Hong asked, pulling on Master's pants.

Master crouched down to pat her head, "No, Papa may need to take care of some problem children. So Papa will ask a few friends to take care of you, ok?"

Cai Hong nodded, "Cai Hong will be good."

"Hmm? But what about us, Master? I don't think there's any other competent swords master hanging around," I asked.

Master stood up, "Actually, there is one other Master in the Sect that I know has practiced the art of the sword. Though I've never tested his skills before, he should be competent enough to train you in my absence."

"Understood…" I nodded.

Someone who is comparable to Master? [Eris]

Doubt… [Laverna]

Indeed. It is this one's honest opinion that no one is able to match Master's blade. [Denna]

Heh heh heh, works for me! More asses to beat! [Bait]

This one would still prefer to have Master… [Denna]

Why? Is it because you're jealous of those two getting it on with Master? [Bait]

This one is surprised you knew. [Denna]

Pshhh… As if it's hard to tell with the two of them practically glowing like that! So when are we going to jump him? [Bait]

We will not 'jump' on Master. [Eris]

Why the hell not?! When will we get our turn then?! [Bait]

Chaste… [Laverna]

I agree. We should ask Master for it, not 'jump' him. [Eris]

Cooome ooon! I'm not saying literally jump on him! Stop taking my words like that! [Bait]

This one feels like it has been mentioned before but… This one humbly reminds you that you have mentioned your want of doing it outdoors. [Denna]

Are we ever going to drop this thing? It's just my preference! [Bait]

Unlikely… [Laverna]

Bah! You guys will know the thrill of it one day! [Bait]

"Master, what shall we do for the rest of the day then?" Manami asked.

Master folded his arms, "I'll have to pay a visit to those Elders and Masters I mentioned and inform them about this arrangement. For the rest of the day, you girls can just relax."

"Should we accompany you, Master? To let those teachers know who exactly they are going to teach?" Lian Li suggested.

Master shook his head, "There's no need. The Sect Master should have already told them about this arrangement, I'm just going to them to confirm it."

Master stood from his seat, "I'll head off first, you girls be careful, alright?"

"Take care, Master," All of us bowed.

"Umu."

We watched Master stroll out of his courtyard before turning to look at one another.

"I will practice the breathing technique Master taught us the other day," Lian Li decided.

"Fufufu, this big sister shall join you then~"

"Cai Hong too!"

What about us? [Eris]

Well, there ain't much to learn when we don't have an opponent to spar against. So what do y'all suggest? [Bait]

Spy… [Laverna]

This one agrees, we can go see what that rude woman is doing. [Denna]

All in agreement? [Eris]

Aye! [Bait]

Yes… [Laverna]

"Mmmm… I'll go see what that girl Master mentioned is doing." I announced.

"Ara? That's a good idea. Tell us if she's planning anything bad ok? Big sis will be sure to punish her lots~" Manami giggled.

Lian Li nodded, "Mhmm, no matter how noble her intentions are, she was still incredibly rude to Master. She needs to go through the initiation if she wants to join us."

Cai Hong sucked on her finger, "Bad woman… Cai Hong punish?"

I patted Cai Hong's head, "No, she may be a potential sister. We just have to teach her a little."

"Yay! Cai Hong likes teaching! Cai Hong wants to teach!"

"Soon," I promised. "I'll be off then."

"Have a safe trip~" Manami waved.

"Go armed," Lian Li suggested.

Should we? [Eris]

This one believes it is better to be prepared than not. [Denna]

And we can whoop some ass if we find some! [Bait]

Ignore her… [Laverna]

I nodded to her suggestion, moving to retrieve my sword from our room before leaving.

It took us a while to get directions from a passing Student Practitioner, pointing us to the building they were staying at.

Before I could enter through the main door however, a loud crash resounded from within.

I retracted my outstretched arm, a hand gripping on my sword as I stalked towards the side of the building instead.

Crouching beneath an open window, I peeked over it to see broken furniture and two men having a standoff while another two tried to pacify the situation.

"You've gone too far this time, Feng Xian!" A man shouted.

"Ha! Hu Zhen! You think you're a match for this prince?! Then come at me!" Another one called out.

One man moved to hold that Feng Xian guy back, "Young master! Please stop this!"

"Hu Zhen! Listen to yourself! What are you even saying?" The last man held back the one called Hu Zhen.

It seems like there's a fight. [Eris]

Really? Sounds like a really touching boy's love story there. [Bait]

Unbelievable… [Laverna]

I was being sarcastic, come ooooon. [Bait]

This one humbly points out that Diao Chan girl is standing in the corner. [Denna]

True enough, Diao Chan was standing in the far corner of the room near the door, staring at the scene in front of her.

Instead of the concerned face we thought she might be making, she had an extremely out of place smile on her face. Her eyes were glazed over while her lips stretched to her ears, displaying her perfect white teeth.

Her hands were placed delicately in front of her waist, her body's posture suggesting that she was merely an uninvolved onlooker.

Her aura… It's different from before. [Eris]

More… Dark… [Laverna]

Master had said she was a Witch, does that have something to do with that? [Denna]

Hell if I know, we don't even know Witches existed until yesterday. [Bait]

She looks happy. [Eris]

Eerie… [Laverna]

Heck, I didn't even know she was capable of making such a face either. [Bait]

Hey, ya guys think this be considered trouble enough? [Bait]

This one suggests we wait and see. [Denna]

Agreed, let's just see how this plays out. [Eris]

Alright, but I'm telling ya. This girl looks crazy to me. [Bait]

I settled down, keeping myself hidden while I observed the men continue their bickering, all of them unaware of the smiling Witch that was observing them from behind.

Chapter 47 - Int. Diao Chan Room - Day

(Diao Chan POV)

Master Lin punished me!

I don't know why the thought of such a fact brings joy into my heart, but it just does!

I must carry out his punishment dutifully!

If I do it well, Master Lin will accept me as his student and there'll be more opportunities to be punished! This is perfect!

I looked down at the little prince that was passed out on the ground.

Master Lin wanted there to be no problems but knowing this idiot's attitude, if trouble doesn't find him he would go looking for it.

I need to think of something that would prevent that...

A plan formed in my head as I stepped outside of my room.

"General Hu Zhen? Would you be so kind as to help me with lord Feng Xian?" I called out.

There was the scraping of chairs as he rushed towards me.

"Yes, fairy Diao Chan? How can I help?" He asked, a suspicious smile etched on his face.

"Please help me with bringing lord Feng Xian back to his room, I'm afraid I am nowhere strong enough to lift a man of his stature."

His mood soured a little, "Ah… Yes, of course."

I lead him back into my room, stepping over to Feng Xian's side to lift one of his arms over my shoulder.

"Fairy Diao Chan, I can carry him, there's no need for you to do such labour."

I shook my head, "He is still my lord. I should do at least this much."

"I… I see."

Hu Zhen tried to mask his disappointment as he mirrored my actions on the other side.

Together, we half-dragged, half-carried the unconscious prince back into his room across mine, depositing him on his bed.

Pretending to tuck Feng Xian into bed, I popped open the cap of one of my strong perfumes hidden up my sleeves, letting a small drop land on his collar.

I turned back and curtsied to Hu Zhen, "My thanks, General Hu Zhen."

"No need for that, a beautiful fairy like yourself should not even have to do this."

In case anyone could not tell, this Hu Zhen is also smitten by me. It is not surprising, since most, if not all, men that I come across usually end up like that.

Master Lin was the first one who had not displayed any reaction to my face.

I also knew for a fact that Hu Zhen held a grudge against Feng Xian.

During our escape from my father's encirclement, Feng Xian had tried to sacrifice Hu Zhen to buy us time to escape.

The general was sent to lure them away from our escape route, but he managed to shake them off and reunite with us.

Of course Hu Zhen felt quite betrayed that his years of dedicated service only led to being a bait. He knew he was no match for Feng Xian in terms of martial ability, thus he could do nothing but suck it up.

But the human emotion is such a volatile tool, father had taught me that much.

I turned away from Hu Zhen, letting a sad smile materialise on my face, "If only that were true… This sad life of mine, I thought that things would be different after we had arrived here but… It seems like it's all just my wishful thinking."

Hu Zhen approached me, "What troubles you so, fairy Diao Chan?"

I turned to him, making sure to have a little tear present in the corner of an eye before suddenly turning away, "No… My own troubles should not affect General Hu Zhen…"

He grasped my shoulder from behind, "Nonsense! There should not be any problems that deserve to trouble this fair maiden! If there are, let this Hu Zhen smite them down!"

I cringed inwardly at his words but I managed to maintain my facade.

Tilting my head to the side to give him a view of my eye, I let the tear drop, "If only my troubles could be so easily struck down, General Hu Zhen…"

His grip on my shoulder tightened, "Tell me. Tell me then, let this Hu Zhen share your troubles."

Bleugh… I hate having to resort to this kind of acting the most. Too dramatic, but at least it can play out like a script easily.

I turned my head back away from him, hiding my face from his view once more, "No! General Hu Zhen! You are too kind to me… This lowly Diao Chan does not deserve your kindness…"

He turned me around to face him, his face full of concern, "Tell me, Diao Chan. I can help you."

I sobbed into my sleeve, trying to hide my cringe at how much this entire scene is playing out like a drama play, "I… I am scared, General Hu Zhen…"

"Shhh… It's ok, I am here."

He pulled me into his embrace, his arms wrapping around my back. I had to forcefully push down my desire to shove him away, opting instead to cry into his embrace while waiting for the next main character to show up.

"Hu Zhen… What do you think you're doing in front of this prince?!"

The two of us separated quickly, myself taking a few more steps back than necessary to get away from them.

"Feng… Feng Xian, that was not what it looks like," Hu Zhen stammered.

"Not what it looks like?! This prince saw you with his own two eyes you pulled her to you!"

"I was only trying to comfort her, I had no inten--"

"Silence! Since when is it your turn to comfort my Diao Chan?!"

Feng Xian leapt to his feet, punching Hu Zhen in the face.

The force sent Hu Zhen crashing into the nearby desk, breaking it in half.

Oh? I didn't even need to play victim? That was convenient.

Hu Zhen stood back up, rage evident on his face.

"Feng Xian! I have served as your aide for so many years! Fought beside you as your brother in all your battles! But not only did you abandon me in your escape, you raised your hand to strike me down now?!"

I moved away from the door, my hands covering my mouth while I scrunched up my face in fear.

Anyone who looks at me should see a young maiden that was shocked and terrified of the situation in front of her.

The other two generals who had been outside burst through the door, no doubt alarmed by the crashing sound. They turned to see my fearful facade, then the broken table and the bruised face of Hu Zhen.

Immediately piecing together what had happened, both of them rushed to separate the two.

"Stop! What are you guys doing?"

"Feng Xian! Hu Zhen! Calm down!"

Feng Xian pointed a finger at Hu Zhen, "Don't think so highly of yourself! You should be glad to be sacrificed for this prince! What other notable achievements could you obtain in your life?!"

"You! I should've left you to die at the Battle of Bonang Plains! I lost half my men trying to break you out of that encirclement you got yourself in!"

"HAHAHA! You gave yourself too much credit! This prince would've slaughtered his way out of that place soon enough! You were just incompetent to lose those men!"

"You've gone too far this time, Feng Xian!" Hu Zhen roared, stepping forward with his fists clenched.

Yes… All according to the script.

A smile stretched across my face as I watched the scene in front of me play out.

I just have to keep these four occupied for a week, what better way to keep them occupied than to have them at each other's throats?

Yes, they just have to play their part in this little act. I will be their little director, guiding them on their individual parts.

To think that Master Lin had already begun teaching me, his wisdom is truly profound.

He saw that I was lost with just a single glance, giving the solution to my problems so easily.

I don't need to find another person to give me a script, I just have to make the scripts myself! I can be both the director and the actor!

It's so simple yet wonderful!

Ahhh~~ This Diao Chan can't wait for Master Lin to fully accept her as his student!

I'm sure he would be a much better director than I can ever be, I just need to be his little actress with him while being a director with others.

With this, I no longer would need to fear freedom!

Master Lin keeping me on a little leash… Mmmm~~ A loose, black leather leash tied to a matching collar on my neck. Master Lin standing over me while I grovel at his feet.

Such perfection!

Ehehehe~~ Master Lin, are you sure this is a punishment? It feels more like a reward now!

Chapter 48 - New Challenger(s)

(MC POV)

"I see, I will be happy to receive your disciples should they look for me for instructions."

"Many thanks, Elder Xu," I nodded.

"No thanks needed, Master Lin. It is my pleasure to be able to teach your disciples, even if it's for just a lesson or two."

I cupped my hands together, "Then I shall depend on you when the time comes."

Elder Xu mirrored my actions, "Likewise, Master Lin."

I turned and left Elder Xu's courtyard, the only one aside from myself in our Sect who has bothered to learn sword arts outside of it being a hobby.

Of course, no one else knows how much I truly knew the way of the sword since I've never really had a reason to show it off. But having only that skill to rely on within the upper Planes should have at least made me a swordsmaster of sorts.

And since Elder Xu had already been practicing the way of the sword for several decades, he should be quite proficient with it. Or so he liked to boast.

I looked up at the night sky, visiting all the Elders and Masters who I thought would be good teachers for my girls took half the day.

I strolled towards my own courtyard, nodding greetings to the other Sect members who I passed by.

Most of our Sect members are quite nice so I'm not especially worried about any one picking on the girls. The instructors were quite thorough in disciplining any bullies and arrogant pricks back when I was a student, it shouldn't be any different now.

I remember my first days here when I displayed my talents, some rather insecure pricks had tried to gang up on me. Elder Qing was quick to discipline them and anyone else that came after them, making it obvious that such actions were not tolerated.

The fact that I did not experience such bullying once I advanced into the more senior ranks further reinforced my beliefs about the discipline.

Entering my own courtyard, I found the girls sitting in the pavillion, waiting for my return.

Cai Hong was the first one to rush up to me.

"Papa! Papa! Huggies!"

I caught the little dragon girl as she launched herself towards me, lifting her up for a hug.

"Was Cai Hong good?" I asked.

"Ehehehe~ Cai Hong was a good girl!" She boasted.

"Good girl," I praised, patting her head and making her purr.

"Welcome back, Master." Lian li, Manami and Eris greeted.

"Umu, how was your day?"

"Lian Li and I were practicing the breathing technique you taught us, Master," Manami reported with a slight bow.

I nodded, "It should help you with the summoning that both of you are having trouble with. Any results?"

"We are able to at least conceptualize the summon, but we have yet to materialise it," Lian Li answered, disappointment clear in her voice.

I patted her head with a free hand, "That's good, you're all making significant progress. There's no need to try and rush B."

"Rush B?"

"Nothing, don't mind it. What about Eris?"

Eris bowed, "I had went to familiarise myself with the Sect grounds."

"Mmm, not much you can do without a partner. I already talked to the Elder that can train you in sword arts so you don't need to worry about that."

"This one thanks Master," Eris bowed again.

"Anything about that Diao Chan girl?" I asked.

The girls looked at one another.

"Eris big sis went to check on her…" Cai Hong spoke up, leaning her head on my shoulder sleepily.

Eris nodded, "This one had asked around for her location and someone pointed this one to their courtyard. She seems to be keeping them in check rather well."

I arched an eyebrow, "Oh? That's quite surprising. How?"

Eris tapped her chin, "She's… Quite adequate at diverting their attention elsewhere instead of causing trouble outside."

"Let me guess… Herself?"

Eris only gave me a wry smile for an answer.

Oh well, can't fault her for being creative.

"But she's not causing trouble is she?"

Eris shook her head, "Negative… She is… Restrained…"

Huh… Surprising that someone like her would know how to restrain herself. Maybe I had been too harsh on her?

Ah, but there's the possibility she's just a Chuunibyou and all this is just her trying to act cool.

That's probably why she seemed so arrogant during my explanation but had a change of attitude when I went to meet her.

Yeah, that's the most likely scenario.

Sorry, but the tsundere fashion died out years ago.

Who wants to keep associating themselves with someone who spouts obscenities and constantly hurts you at every opportunity they get?

Don't give me that love is deep bullshit.

If someone has the mind to abuse their love interest both physically and mentally, they should have the guts to confess their own love for them.

You know who would be ok with these kinds of people who abuse them because they 'love' them?

Masochists, that's who.

And sorry to say, I'm the furthest away from being a Masochist. Not with what happened to me in the past… Or should that be considered future?

Whatever, that's not important.

"Alright, it's already past your bedtime, let's get you girls to bed. Cai Hong is already nodding off."

"Buuu… Cai Hong… Not sweeepyyyy…" The loli dragon muttered before promptly falling asleep in my arms.

I smiled at her cuteness, "Come then, it will not do well if any of you caught a cold outside."

"Maybe… Master can warm us up?" Lian Li suggested meekly.

After that night where we slept together, I realised she has been a little more open than before.

Where previously a mere head pat could make her fidget about nervously, now she would even snuggle her head into my hand with a rather blissful expression.

"Master?" Eris called out, pulling my sleeve.

"Mmm? What's wrong, Eris?"

She fidgeted, turning her face away from me, "Umm… This one… I have something to… Talk to ye about ya?"

Ah, her too, huh?

I nodded, "I'll just tuck Cai Hong into bed, can you wait inside my room?"

"Eh? Ah, nah... I can just wait out 'ere Master."

"Umu… Alright then, I'll be right back. Lian Li, Manami?"

"After you, Master."

"Fufu~ Please lead the way, Master."

I led the way back to their room, Lian Li opening the door for me to lay Cai Hong on her bed, tucking her in.

I had to spend some time prying her hand away from hugging my neck though.

Once I had the little dragon girl tucked in, I turned to see the two girls also laying in their respective beds, looking at me expectantly.

I raised my eyebrow at them, "What?"

"Master… Tuck us in too?" Lian Li pleaded with tearful eyes.

Hai… I think I spoil my disciples a little too much.

I tucked Lian Li in, planting a kiss on her brow before turning to do the same on Manami.

What I didn't expect was for Manami to pull me in for a deep, long kiss on the lips before letting me go.

"Fufufu~ Thank you for the meal, Master~" My fox disciple giggled, licking her lips salaciously.

I flicked her on her forehead as punishment, blowing out the candle lights before stepping out of the room.

Eris remained at where I left her, waiting for my return.

"Shall we head to my room, Eris?" I asked.

Eris looked around furtively, "Erm… Not yet, Master. I was thinking if we could start here?"

I raised an eyebrow at her request, waving my hand to put a silence and invisibility Technique on us before stepping closer to her.

I really do think I'm spoiling them a bit too much.

Nothing wrong about it though.

Chapter 49 - A Spank A Day Keeps The M On Cloud Nine

(Lian Li POV)

A week passed by in the blink of an eye.

Diao Chan managed to fulfill her conditions to be accepted as Master's student.

Although her methods were rather… Dramatic… I still have to admit that the fact it played out so smoothly was testament to her skills.

One of us would keep an eye on her after our lessons with Master, watching her direct that little 'play' of hers she had thought out herself.

Even Eris had given praise to her acting. She had claimed Diao Chan was a natural actor unlike herself who had relied on switching personalities to act.

Though they may look similar on the surface, it was a different matter when it came to the actor's mentality.

Eris crafts her personalities from scratch, fully integrating herself with her other personalities to create an extremely lifelike persona that she occupies.

This allows her to truly believe the character she is playing as is her real self, but it makes switching of characters midway impossible.

That is, until we came along and enlightened her.

Though she has yet to tell us the names of the other personalities of hers, I know for a fact that 'Eris' was also a crafted personality she had made after Master named her.

I do not think her real person has surfaced yet so far, at least, she has yet to show it to us.

On the other hand, Diao Chan seemed to be an expert at donning masks.

She still remains as Diao Chan at heart, but she just dons various different masks for different people and scenes.

"She was groomed to be adept at political intrigue," Manami had stated once after observing her. "Groomed to be nothing but a chess piece within the game that is."

Regardless, throughout that one week, she managed to keep those four idiots out of trouble.

Permanently, that is.

And no one even knew what had happened to them.

Hmmm? What did we do? Nothing much, really.

For the official records, those four pieces of trash just gathered their things and left the Sect one day, apparently having a falling out amongst each other.

Some of us were just out for a stroll and saw some trash lying around, so we cleaned it up, naturally.

Cai Hong did the most thorough cleaning amongst us which she was really proud of, taking a really long nap on Master's lap after she did so.

As for that Feng Xian guy, what everyone else knew was that he had decided to return to his home country, leaving Diao Chan here.

I will admit, none of us was very receptive about Diao Chan at first. But when she became the first one to pass through our Redemption Trial with a smile on her face, we knew we had found another sister.

I had thought she would be especially proud of her flawless skin to see it scratched, but she had taken everything with a smile while chanting Master's holy name.

She would go far as a High Priestess.

Speaking of which, Diao Chan is standing in front of Master within his courtyard's pavilion now.

Master took a sip from the tea that Manami had made for him, the three of us standing behind him while he sat at the table with Cai Hong on his lap.

"Umu, I have heard from Elder Qing that they had chosen to leave the Sect instead of staying and they caused no problems within this one week. Since I didn't say they had to stay, you have completed your punishment, Diao Chan."

Diao Chan twiddled her fingers nervously, "Does… Does that mean?"

Master nodded, "Pack your things and move to my disciples' building tonight. Lessons will start tomorrow."

Diao Chan brightened, immediately getting on her knees, "Disciple Diao Chan greets Master!"

"Umu, you may go first," Master nodded to her.

She got up on her feet, giving Master a perfect bow before scurrying off.

"What do you girls think about her?" Master asked, turning around to face us.

"I think she's ok, Master," I answered. "She did work hard to fulfill Master's expectations."

Manami nodded beside me, her tails swishing in the air, "Fufufu~ I am of the same opinion, Master. She's just a girl who had made a mistake in a moment of panic, she did just arrive from a different country after all."

"I also think she would make a great sister, Master," Eris supplemented.

Cai Hong looked up at Master, "Cai Hong also thinks she is nice…"

"Umu, very well then. Although it's a bit surprising that the other four men had chosen to leave, I think it's a good chance for you girls to mingle with the other students."

"Master, you trouble yourself too much for us," I bowed my head in reverence.

Master reached out to pat my head, "Nonsense, this is nothing. Just be nice to the other students and make some friends ok?"

"Of course, Master," Manami bowed as well.

A low growl emanated from Cai Hong's belly.

"Cai Hong hungry… Papa cook?" Cai Hong asked, looking up at Master with pleading eyes.

Master smiled helplessly, "Alright, alright. Eris, come. I have a new dish to teach you."

"Right away!" Eris answered enthusiastically.

(Diao Chan POV)

Master accepted me!

Ahhh~~ I can almost feel the imaginary chain locking itself around my neck now… So good~

During that week of punishment, my sisters had dropped in on me to check on how I was doing and they felt rather pleased at the play I had devised.

For my performance and plans in making Feng Xian's life miserable, they were willing to accept me as their fellow sister.

But they had stated that I still need to go through a Redemption Trial because of my initial disrespect for Master before they accepted me as one of them.

I had accepted to go through the trial without a second thought.

Anything to allow me to stay with Master.

They instructed me to meet them in their room in the middle of the night before Manami teleported us to another dimly lit room.

Within the room, they taught me the words of the Holy Text and enlightened me to the Divine Being that is Master.

After I had comprehended Master's greatness, my trial began.

As a person who had sinned against Master, I had to be punished first.

My sins were great, I had only been the second to anger the most benevolent being that is Master. Such a fact was enough to warrant my death a million times over.

But because of Master's kindness, I just had to pass his Redemption Trial to clear my sins.

First to go were my fingers, then the hand, the lower arm and finally the entire arm.

Then came the whipping and carving, the four of them working together with such efficiency as though this had been performed a hundred times.

I felt more liberated for every mark they made against my body. It felt like my spirit was soaring higher and higher with each time they struck, getting me closer and closer to Master.

No doubt had Master been the one doing this to me, I would have climaxed with his very first strike.

I imagined Master as the one with me, pushing me down and pinning me to the floor with his hand at my neck, choking me.

The pain would be glorious.

Too absorbed I was by my fantasy, that I didn't know the trial was over until Lian Li slipped a pill inside my mouth, making my entire body recover instantly.

She had mentioned it was a pill that only Master could make, a godly divine pill of such capabilities were definitely not of this world and yet she had more. Only Master could be giving it away like they were pieces of candy.

All of them welcomed me as a fellow sister after that.

I can't wait for Master to punish me!

Chapter 50 - Of Course If It A School Arc There ...

(Manami POV)

"Alright class, we'll be having new students today," the Elder announced to the small group of ten Practitioners standing in front of us.

The ten students were Inner Core Practitioners like us, most of them being in their thirties.

Eight of them were Male who had not stopped staring at Lian Li and I ever since we walked into the Grand Courtyard alongside this Elder.

"Elder Gong, aren't they Master Lin's disciples?" One of the two females asked.

Elder Gong stroked his beard, "That is correct. These three are Master Lin's disciples and his adopted daughter. They're here temporarily because he was tasked by the Sect Master to take care of a' Special case student. They will be your fellow students for some time so treat them as you would each other."

The group began whispering amongst themselves.

"Master Lin'"

"The strongest Master'"

"They must be geniuses'"

"They probably just got lucky'"

"Really envious'"

Elder Gong clapped his hands together to silence their discussion, "Alright, let's just start with a self introduction shall we? Starting with you, miss."

Lian Li nodded to his gesture and took a step forward, doing a curtsey in front of them, "I am Lian Li, Master's first disciple. It is thanks to Master's grace that I can stand before you today, I owe Master my life. Thus, I will not tolerate anyone speaking ill about him behind his back. My speciality is Lightning quarks. I will be in your care."

Fufufu~ Lian Li just can't resist praising Master even in her self introduction.

"U' Umu' Ermm' Next then," the Elder stuttered.

I did a slight bow, "Good day, my name is Manami, a former resident of the fox youkai village in the nearby mountains. Yes, my tails and ears are real. No, I do not like to have my tails or ears touched. No, I will not tell you what the fox says. My specialty is fire. Please take care of me."

The Elder cast a side glance at me, "Hmm' Yes, and the last one?"

Cai Hong raised a hand, "Cai Hong is Cai Hong! Cai Hong likes Papa! Papa is the greatest!"

One of the males raised his hand, "Elder Gong, why is she here? This class is for Inner Core disciples."

The Elder scratched his neck, "The Elder that was supposed to teach the class she was supposed to be assigned to got called away to fulfill a Sect Request. I volunteered to take care of her in the meantime and introduce her to the rest of the Sect."

"So long as she doesn't get in the way'"

The guy beside him smacked his head, "Don't be a prick, Lan Niao"

The same man walked up to Cai Hong, crouching down to reach her height before sticking his hand out, "Hello Cai hong, I am Lian Tong, you can call me Big Brother Lian Tong."

Cai Hong hid behind me, "Big sis Manami' Bad man'"

I patted her head, "Sorry fellow brother Lian Tong, Cai Hong is not comfortable around strangers without Master around."

"Aww' I understand, how about a candy?" He presented a candy from within his pocket casually.

This person is dangerous.

Cai hong stuck her tongue out at him, "You're not Papa! Cai Hong only likes Papa's candies!"

Such a good girl.

"So cute," the Lian Tong fellow said as he stepped back. "Cai Hong can come find big brother to play anytime, ok?"

Cai Hong puffed her cheeks and looked away.

"Ok, ok. You can stop now you damn lolicon," another man stepped up, pulling him away.

Elder Gong finally decided to make his presence known again after enjoying the little show, "Since we have new students today, why don't we have a sparring session to get a better grasp of each person's skills?"

One of the males immediately stepped in front, his height towering over everyone else. He had an extremely muscular body with biceps thicker than a normal man's thighs and chest muscles comparative to Lian Li's bust size.

In short, he looked more like a Tank than a Practitioner.

"The name's Butch."

Of course.

"I had witnessed both of senior sisters' fights during the Festival. Please give this junior guidance," he bowed with cupped hands.

Ara? How polite of him. I had almost expected him to start trying to show us up with his big size.

"Hey, Butch, you can't be serious right?" that Lan Niao fellow asked from behind.

"Lan Niao, you were away for a Request during the Festival. You did not see either of them fight so keep your mouth shut."

I noticed a bead of sweat rolling down his face.

Hmm' It feels like he might have been coerced into challenging us. Or was it a matter of pride?

"Very well, who do you want to challenge?" I asked.

He made another bow, this time directed towards me, "If you would allow it, could I trouble senior sister Manami to exchange pointers?"

I let a small smile grace my face.

"Ara ara. No trouble at all, shall we?"

"Many thanks!"

I walked a distance away from him, stopping at one corner of the Grand Courtyard while he took the opposite end. The other students had already vacated the space under Elder Gong's direction.

"The safety Technique inscribed is active, you may begin when ready!" The Elder called out.

The muscle man immediately punched his fists together, casting a technique on himself.

"Giant's Growth!"

Ara ara' Another noob that shouts out techniques, how disappointing.

"Oh! That's Butch's strengthening technique! It doubles his physical stats!" That Lan Niao fellow shouted.

His already huge body began expanding, growing up to twice his original size.

I could have stopped his transformation anytime I wanted, but I was curious as to why he was so adamant in challenging me.

He gave a loud roar before slamming his palms together in front of his chest.

"Behemoth's Protection!"

Ara, ara' Could you stop your shouting? It's hurting my ears. I could already tell what you were going to cast the moment you moved your hands anyway.

The technique made his body glow red, his skin gaining a metallic shine.

"Oho! Butch's strongest physical buff! It increases his defense to the utmost limit!" The stupid fellow shouted again.

Butch slammed a foot on the ground, his fists brought down to his sides.

"Dragon's Aura!"

A red, translucent aura covered his entire body, the air around him seemed to be getting heavier by the second.

"Damn! That's Butch's--"

"Will you shut up?" Lian Li interrupted. "No one asked for a bloody commentary here. You're being really noisy right now."

It looked like that stupid fellow was going to argue with Lian Li but Butch's sudden acceleration towards me shut him up.

I stretched out my right arm to the side, a small orange glow encompassing my body before one of my tails shot forward at lightning speed.

That huge fellow was unable to stop his momentum and ran straight into my tail, skewering himself on it.

A split second passed before he was dumped outside the area of the technique, the man breathing hard and clutching his previously pierced chest.

I walked back to the class with small steps, ignoring the looks of disbelief the others had on their faces.

"That was a little overkill," Lian Li commented.

I gave her a sideways glance, "Ara, ara? I had given him time to cast all his techniques. I think I was already quite generous with that?"

The muscle man recovered surprisingly quickly, bowing in front of me again.

"A splendid battle senior sister! Thank you for the instruction!"

I hid my smile behind my sleeve, "Fufufu' Think nothing of it."

He then stretched out a hand as though asking for a handshake, "Senior sister! This battle has confirmed my feelings! Ever since seeing you at the Sect Showcase Festival, I had fallen in love with you! Please go out with me!"

Ara ara?

Chapter 51 - The Real Steal

(Eris POV)

Elder Xu led me to an open field within the Sect, a sheathed sword in his hand.

"By my understanding, Master Lin has begun instructing you in the way of the sword, yes?" He asked, stopping in the middle of said field.

"Yes, Master has taught me the basics," I affirmed.

"Umu' We can skip the basics of the basics then. Now observe, I will demonstrate my form."

I remained where I was as he unsheathed his sword, standing there with his eyes closed and sword held loosely by his side.

My eyes were trained on him, analyzing his stance and his form.

He waited for awhile until a gust of wind blew past me, the Elder finally moving with his robes and beard billowing in the gust.

He lifted his sword in a slow arcing motion, his other hand pushing out in the opposite direction.

His right foot slid away from his body into an archery stance, dropping himself into a low crouch.

The pose was held for a few seconds before the Elder stood up on his right foot, swinging the sword above his head. His free hand was slowly drawn towards his chest, the index and middle finger sticking out while the rest curled into a fist. At the same time, his left foot was lifted off the ground, the base of the foot resting on his right thigh to be perpendicular to the ground.

What' Is this crappy old daft doing? [Bait]

Warm up' Perhaps' [Laverna]

This one humbly thinks it's a ritual. [Denna]

But' It's such a cringe to watch. He even waited for the wind to blow before starting it' [Eris]

I told ya something felt off when the bozo still wore the stupidly flowy robes! Master would'a changed out of 'em! [Bait]

Underclothes' [Laverna]

This one would like to refrain from watching him strip' [Denna]

Hey' Speaking of stripping-- [Bait]

Stop. [Eris]

No' [Laverna]

Don't. [Denna]

But I did'na say nothing yet! [Bait]

We all know what you want to say. [Eris]

Well excuse ya! I think Master stripping himself that night was the best thing to happen, period! [Bait]

Mmm' [Laverna]

Why must you remind this one' [Denna]

Must not think about it' Must not think about it' [Eris]

Heh heh, remember how he slipped his robe off his shoulders? The way the cloth just slid off of him? Mmm' Quality schlicking content right there. [Bait]

Stop' [Laverna]

Oohh~ Someone's getting hot and bothered now, is she? [Bait]

This one' Admits she is' [Denna]

Oh! And remember what Master whispered in our ears that night? I told you jumping on him was the best option! [Bait]

' I hate to admit it, but you were right. That was truly the best night' [Eris]

Uh-huh, and then-- [Bait]

"That's the first move set of the sword style 'Dancing Crane', now it's your turn to try," The Elder interrupted us.

This old fag' Can't you read the damn mood?! [Bait]

This one is more concerned that he was actually serious about those silly moves being a sword art. [Denna]

He even expects us to perform it' Do any of you remember the moves? [Eris]

Eh, I remember the front parts. [Bait]

The middle' [Laverna]

This one remembers parts of the end. [Denna]

Alright then, let's just get this done and over with, I'm guessing this may be just a small test of his to see if we at least know how to use a sword. [Eris]

Makes sense, none of those moves woulda been any bloody use in a real fight! [Bait]

I unsheathed my own sword, taking the pose that the Elder had started off with.

I repeated through the process that the Elder had shown, my body twisting and turning through the motions without any error. I had even sped up the motions to make it look more practical in a fight, though it wasn't by much, honestly.

I finished his so called 'Dancing Crane' with a sword thrust, balancing on a foot with my other leg raised in the air, parallel to the ground. The pose was as silly as it looked in a practical fight.

The Elder nodded, "Very good. I can see why Master Lin took you in. You have an enviable talent in sword arts."

I turned to him, awaiting his next instruction.

"But you were moving too quickly. The way of the sword is more than just completing a set of motions quickly. One must feel and breathe the way of the sword."

I squinted at him, not believing his words.

"Then I shall show you the second move set," He announced, lifting up his sword again.

He continued from the thrusting pose, holding it there while he waited for another gust of wind to blow.

Is this guy serious? [Bait]

Enviable talent' He said' [Laverna]

This one also thinks he has no idea what he's talking about. [Denna]

Everything we know is all because of Master's guidance. [Eris]

Uh-huh. Did'na even know how to hold a sword before that! What the hell kinda talent is this bozo talking about? [Bait]

Faker' [Laverna]

You think so too? [Eris]

This one is also of the same opinion. [Denna]

Yep, this guy definitely isn't the swordmaster he claims to be. [Bait]

"Elder Xu..." I called, interrupting him in the middle of his extra slow downwards swing.

He returned to a neutral stance, "What is it? Something you're not sure about?"

"Yeah, here's the deal ya see? We already got the basics down. Master has us engaging in sparring practices already, so we did'na need these slow ass wavy thingy poses no more."

ÂThe Elder scrunched up his eyebrows, "Wavy thingy poses? This is the 'Dancing Crane' swordplay style, regarded as the most sophisticated and unrivaled sword art in this country! Just because you could go through the first set of motions after seeing it once doesn't mean you're good, young one. There's over fifty move sets for this style alone!"

I frowned, "Fifty sets' Impossible'"

"Hmph, now you know how difficult the sword style is, you should--"

"This one does not understand how a useless style like this has more than fifty move sets."

My words startled him into silence.

"Useless?"

"Yes, it is not practical at all. Master has taught us to be practical in sword arts," I stated calmly.

"Practical?" The Elder scoffed. "Master Lin only practiced swordsmanship as a hobby. He has still yet to understand the intricacy of true swordsmanship! Someone as young as him is still playing around with the sword, not a true swordmaster."

'

I'm sorry, did this guy just insult Master? [Eris]

Affirmative' [Laverna]

This one does not understand. Why? [Denna]

Yes, why?! WHY, WHY, WHY, WH-- [Bait]

WHY?! I DOn'T UNDeRSTAND?! WHY IS EvERYONe ArOUND OUR gLoRIOUS, MOST BEnEVOLEnT MaSTER SUCH INgRATES? SHOULD i HAve THEM SENT TO THE ABySS?! THEY WouLD JuST KEEp POPPInG UP evERYWHerE IF WE LET THESE goOnS COnTINUE THEIR HERETICal ACTIONS! YeS! LEt THESE HyENAS KNoW THE CONSEQuENCES OF LOOKING dowN ON OUR MOST nOBLE MASTER! [???]

I pointed my sword at him, "Raise your sword."

"What?"

"I said raise your damn sword! No one insults Master and gets away with it!"

The old geezer raised his sword slightly, "Listen young lady, what I said was true an--"

I twirled my blade around his blade, disarming him in one fluid motion.

He stood there, staring at his fallen blade with a dumb look on his face.

I lowered my sword, "Pick that up."

The walking corpse made no movement.

"I said pick up your damn sword! I'll show you what Master's sword arts is like!"

He scowled at me, picking up his sword and settling into a stance, "Very well. I'll show you the difference between us!"

He lunged forward at me in that stupid pose with one leg in the air.

I sidestepped the blade, smashing my sword handle on his wrist and disarming him before sweeping my left leg under him.

The geezer fell on his back, utterly shocked.

I took a step backwards just as he leapt on his feet, his face red with rage.

Picking up his sword once more, he yelled, "You brought this upon yourself!"

His sword was pointed at me, his hand glowing slightly as he channeled lightning quarks through his hand.

"Piercing Lightning Lance!"

A bolt of lightning shot out from his sword towards me.

I leapt forward, sliding on the ground just as the lightning bolt reached me, deflecting it off to the side with the flat of my blade.

Using the light from the lightning as cover, I slipped under his guard, my left hand grabbing his outstretched wrist while my right hand slammed my sword hilt into his gut.

He keeled over, his chin immediately meeting my knee the next moment.

I released my grip on his wrist and let his body soar upwards, crashing onto the ground a short distance away.

"Get up," I ordered. "I'm not done instructing you on who exactly is the better swordmaster in existence!"

It was a very fruitful lesson.

Chapter 52 - First Flick

(MC POV)

I stared at the girl in sitting in a seiza position in front of me.

Moments ago, she had a very calm and cool expression on her face, but the moment I told her to sit in front of me her expression morphed into one of excited anticipation.

Deciding it's probably her chuuni side acting up, I just ignored the change.

"Before we start, I need to let you know that you are the first Witch that I have ever taught. Most of the things I know are what I've discovered on my own."

Diao Chan nodded attentively.

"I have already explained to you the difference between Cultivation Point and Mana Core to you, now we'll start with how to use your Mana Core."

I stepped behind her, causing her to sit a little straighter.

"Now, as I've mentioned before. You are the first Witch I've taught, anything I'm going to teach you will be applicable only in theory, understand?"

Diao Chan shivered from my words, most likely in fear and I don't blame her for it.

Although I think I did hear her mutter "I'm Masters guinea pig!" under her breath but that's probably my imagination.

I placed a hand on her back, "I'm going to use my Pure Elemental quarks to stimulate your Mana Core, recognise the feeling and remember it. Are you ready?"

Diao Chan nodded after taking a deep breath.

I circulated my quarks, directing it into her body.

She tensed as my quarks filled her body, rushing straight to her core.

The energy filled up her Mana Core, she should be feeling a rush of energy and heat there.

"Did you feel it?" I retracting my hand from her back.

"Ugeh? Ah! Umm' I'm sorry! I didn't get a good feel of it! Could' Could Master do it again?"

I placed my hand on her back again, the first time probably came as a surprise for her so she could not catch the feelings properly. I've already prepared myself to repeat this multiple times for her to get the feeling down so no surprises there.

My quarks entered her body again, I made sure to send even more of it this time to amplify the feeling.

Diao Chan made a weird voice when the quarks filled her core, but I thought nothing of it.

"Did you get it this time?"

"Haa' Haa' Haa' Yes! This' This feeling' Diao Chan will remember it!" Diao Chan turned to me with determination burning in her eyes.

Oh? Only two times? That's quite impressive, honestly.

"Umu, good. You should now be able to feel your Mana Core easily now. Can you?"

Diao Chan wiped her mouth clean of a clear liquid that had escaped the side of her lips, returning her face to the cool beauty type.

"I will try, Master."

She closed her eyes while I focused my senses on her.

I think I should mention at this point that everything I said about me knowing only the theory about Witches is a whole cartload of bull.

Being the personal practice target, oops, I mean practice partner of that Witch Matriarch was a very' Enlightening experience.

Ever wondered how I knew exactly how different the Cultivation Points and Mana Cores are? It's because I was 'granted' the opportunity to very closely examine the difference from two very 'willing' subjects.

I also learned a lot of things beside Cultivation Points and Mana Cores that day but I digress.

It wouldn't be wrong for me to claim credit for that Witch Matriarch's eventual rise to be known as the Witch Queen.

Was she grateful for my help? Most definitely not.

Heck, she didn't even care that I was still being treated like trash by everyone else there.

Why else did you think I chose to ascend even further to the Cloud Plane?

But now that I think about it' If I had to choose between the Witch Queen and that psycho Practitioner, I think I'll stick with the Witch Queen instead.

What about revenge?

Ain't nobody got time for that.

Why focus my energy on making other people's life miserable when I can think about making my own life comfortable instead?

No, this isn't me believing the saying 'an eye for an eye makes the world go blind'.

This is me dedicating my time to myself.Â

I don't get people who dedicate their life to seek vengeance. I mean sure, the feeling is good, but after doing it, what then? Your whole life revolved around getting back at someone who pissed you off somehow and probably doesn't even remember you.

Then you kill them off and your vengeance is done.

Yay, roll credits.

Except you probably don't know what else to do now. Congratulations.

I'd rather just make myself comfortable in my little house and let the world sort itself out.

As I've said before, don't make your problems into my problems and we'll get along swimmingly.

But start busting down my house fence and I won't hesitate to give you a good beating before tossing you out.

You want vengeance? Then just go and do it. If it's going to take you a few hundred chapters to do it then you're probably wasting your life.

"Ehehe' Master's essence is filling me~~"

I heard something weird coming from Diao Chan's direction.

"What is it, Diao Chan?"

"Eh? Umm' I think I got it, Master!" She squeaked.

Oh? That's quite fast, could she also be another genius? Even normal Witches would have to spend at least a few weeks before they could properly sense their Mana Core and use it.

What's with my luck though?

Lian Li is a heaven sent genius with innate Divine Lightning quarks.

Manami could have all her quark proficiency at Advanced or even Master level had she not been crippled.

Cai Hong is a damn Myriad Colours Dragon, albeit a really adorable one. Need to give her more headpats.

And then Eris is turning out to be the next strongest Swordsmaster I've ever met.

I wonder what is keeping these girls together?

From what I witnessed, most Masters and Elders have complained that their disciples constantly bicker and fight amongst themselves.

But my girls seem to have gotten along extremely well despite the rocky start every time someone new came in. Just what methods are they using to make peace with each other?

Oh well, guess it will remain a mystery to me for now.

"Now, I'll demonstrate a Spell. I want you to try to cast this later."

Diao Chan nodded her head quickly.

I took a deep breath, "'Giver of life and maker of waves, this song does request you to behave. Oh formless one, your will is spun; by my right as your Summoner, I bid you to stir! Water Ball!'"

An orb of water the size of a ball formed in front of me. I let it hover in the air for a few moments before letting it splash on the ground.

I passed her a piece of paper with the spell written on it.

"Now try to maintain that feeling within your Mana Core while chanting this. If you lose your concentration for even a second, the Spell will not take effect."

"Is it necessary to memorise the words?" She asked.

"If you wish to cast the desired spell, yes. Once you've learnt all the fundamentals, you can start creating your own Spells to cast. Most of the advanced Witches make their own spells using existing ones as base. Using their own chants will hide the spell they are trying to cast from their opponents who are unfamiliar with them."

Diao Chan's eyes widened, "Spells can be created? I thought there might be some kind of fixed system in place that all Witches have to follow."

I nodded an affirmative, "You'll be surprised at how easy it is when you get proficient enough. Now try casting this spell."

She read the paper once before closing her eyes, her arm stretched out in front of her. A few seconds passed before a rather perverse smile materialised on her face, ruining her cool facade.

Before I could wonder what it was about, she had already begun chanting.

"'Giver of life and maker of waves, this song does request you to behave. Oh formless one, your will is spun; by my right as your Summoner, I bid you to stir! Water Ball!'"

I felt the air shift and the energy level spike, showing that her cast had been successful.

A water ball the size of a boulder appeared in the middle of my courtyard.

Damn, on her first try? This girl is going places.

Before I could praise her, the orb of water began to bubble, its surface expanding in all directions at an alarming speed.

It seems like she had lost her concentration on maintaining the ball's shape.

I flicked my arm, instantly freezing the ball into ice.

Clenching my fist, the ice ball shattered into millions of pieces before disintegrating into diamond dust.

"Very impressive for a first try," I praised.

She smirked at me.

I flicked her forehead, "But don't get cocky, you lost your concentration on the last part. If I hadn't done what I did, this whole courtyard would've been soaked."

Her cool facade shattered again, "Yes Master! Please punish me whenever I make a mistake!"

I flicked her again, "Stop talking nonsense and try again."

"Ehehehe~ Yes!"

What a weird girl...

Chapter 53 - Of Course The Bath Scene Is Mandatory

(Lian Li POV)

It was sunset when we returned to Master's courtyard, having met up with Eris on the way back from our first lessons with the other teachers.

When we entered the courtyard, we were greeted with a rather interesting sight.

Diao Chan was tied up and suspended upside down with a rope under a tree, her face an expression of pure bliss.

Just under her was a hand carved sign board that read 'Take her down when you girls return'.

I looked around the courtyard, finding no traces of Master around.

Manami had went ahead to release Diao Chan from her 'imprisonment', lowering her onto the ground with a soft thud.

"Diao Chan sis bad girl?" Cai Hong asked at the side, watching Eris untie her..

"Guhehehehe~ Master punished me for my mistakes~~" she explained, her face still plastered with a rather perverse expression.

I extended my senses to find that Master was not present in his room, he couldn't have abandoned us because of this person right?

I turned to the still drooling girl, "Where is Master?"

With her hands freed, she took a moment to wipe off her drool with the back of her hand, returning her face to the impassive mask she usually wore.

"Master had gone to the baths.," she explained in a flat tone. "He has been gone for awhile now so he should be returning shortly."

Ah' Missed opportunity.

Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

"So what did you do to Master to end up being tied to a tree? This one is curious..." Eris asked, a hint of longing in her voice.

Her impassive mask cracked and her weird smile resurfaced, "Hehe' I almost ruined Master's courtyard six times in a row'"

I narrowed my eyes at her, "I don't much care for your fantasies, but could you not bring trouble for Master? If he starts to dislike teaching us, I'll throw you out myself."

Diao Chan turned to direct her perverse smile at me, "Oh no, you misunderstand. This was a self imposed punishment, you see? Master hadn't wanted to punish me at all! I just pleaded Master to do this to me since I've made such mistakes."

Manami chuckled, "Ara ara, only into your first lesson and you're already having Master indulge in your fantasies? How very daring of you."

Diao Chan giggled, "Ehehehe~ I was never someone known for holding back."

At least she's honest.

Cai Hong sniffed the air, "Papa back?"

We turned towards the entrance collectively.

Less than a minute later, Master appeared at the doorway with a towel hanging around his neck.

"Papa! Papa!" Cai Hong immediately ran for him, her arms stretched out.

She hugged Master's thigh before looking up at him, "Papa, huggies?"

Master lifted her up, carrying her back to us in his arms.

"Master just out of the bath' Hnng' Must save this picture later'" Manami muttered beside me.

"How were your lessons?" Master asked.

"It was hella lot of fun!" Eris declared enthusiastically with her fists clenched in front of her.

Master smiled at her, "I take it that Elder Xu was a good teacher?"

Eris frowned, "Actually, not really' He made me realise how much better Master was at teaching me. But he did make a great targe-- sparring partner."

"Oh? But he has been training in sword arts longer than I have though?"

Eris tilted her head at that information, "This one thinks with the long amount of time spent lead to his sword arts being more archaic in style. It is just this one's humble opinion however."

"Hmm' I guess that is possible. What about you girls?"

"The other students were' Interesting," I reported.

"Fufufu~ One of them even confessed to me, Master."Â

Master raised an eyebrow, "Did you now? Who was it?"

"Ara ara? Master does not need to worry~~" Manami giggled. "The only mate I will ever accept in my life is Master."

Master smiled wryly at her, patting her head, "Oh, I know that. I just wanted to know the hero who tried to pick you up on the first day of your being a transfer student."

"It was a big, big fellow!! Big and tall!" Cai Hong exclaimed, stretching her arms wide to emphasize her point.

"Ah, Butch was it? He was my dorm mate back when I was still an Inner Core Practitioner, he was pretty chill guy. Never talked much. So what did you say to him?"

Manami stepped towards Master, pushing herself against his arm, "I rejected him of course, the only one for me is Master~~"

The sly fox took the opportunity to plant a kiss on his cheek, wrapping her arms around his and entwining their fingers together.

Cai Hong pouted, "Cai Hong wants kissies too'"

Master brushed the loli dragon's bangs aside with a hand, planting a kiss on her brow which made Cai Hong giggle in delight.

"What about you, Lian Li?"

I recalled back our lesson, "Umm' The students were interesting enough, but it felt like we were doing more of the teaching than the teachers."

Master raised an eyebrow, "Wasn't Elder Gong supposed to be the one teaching you?"

I nodded, "But when he found out about our skills in Cultivation Techniques, he asked us to give the class a lecture about it."

"That is odd'" Master pondered. "Was that a one time thing?"

"I do not believe so Master, he did not seem well-versed in what we had taught the class."

Master pursed his lips, looking towards Diao Chan.

Realising what he was thinking, I quickly added, "Ah! But we're not asking Master to trouble himself again! We know you will be busy with Diao Chan for the following few days and it's also a good chance for us to know the other Sect members! Not to mention that we could use this time to review our skills!"

"I see' That puts me at ease, thank you Lian Li," Master patted my head.

Ahhh~ This is the feeling I live for~~ Mmmm~~ Master's hand is so warm~~

I almost dived straight into Master's embrace but I must restrain myself. Maybe if I'm good enough, Master will let me wash his back!

"Alright, you girls have yet to bathe so go ahead, all of you can have free time after this. I will be in my room if you need me."

Master let Cai Hong gently on the ground, giving the dragon loli another head pat.

"Have a good rest, Master," We bowed.

Master nodded to us before disappearing into his room.

The five of us gathered our toiletries from our room and headed towards the communal baths. This would be our first bath time with Diao Chan.

"So' Do we always bathe together?" Diao Chan asked, clearly just to strike a conversation.

"Mostly'" Eris answered stoically.

Cai Hong's eyes lit up, "Cai Hong likes bathing time!"

"Fufufu~ That is because bathing time is also our sharing time~~" Manami chuckled.

Diao Chan tilted her head, "Sharing time?"

"Indeed, it is the time that we share Master's virtues, where all the believers gather to listen to Master's greatness," I stated proudly.

Diao Chan's expression showed that she did not understand.

"Don't worry ya little head about it," Eris clapped her shoulder. "You'll find out soon enough."

We entered the female side of the bath house, stripping out of our clothes quickly.

As soon as we entered, a small crowd of the Sect's female Practitioners gathered around us.

"They're here!"

"Big sister Manami!"

"Big sister Lian Li!"

"Big sister Eris!"

"Ahh~ Little Cai Hong is here too!"

"What pictures do we get today?"

"What about today's sermons?"

I clapped my hands together, silencing the mob.

"Before we begin, I would like to introduce our newest sister," I gestured behind me. "Sister Diao Chan was accepted by Master as one of his apostles."

"Welcome, big sister Diao Chan!" The crowd greeted.

Diao Chan blinked, glancing at me with confusion clear in her eyes.

"Fufufu~ We shall start with the pictures first today, I have a few of Master fresh out from the bath~"

The girls screeched and immediately surged towards Manami's direction, giving us some breathing space.

"You're' Distributing Master's pictures?" Diao Chan asked, a little shaken.

"The flock requires objects of worship, and we provide them with the means to spread his greatness," I explained.

"Does Master know about this?"

"No."

"When did you guys gather such a crowd of followers?"

"Last week, while monitoring you. Talked to a few other Student Practitioners and got them to see Master's light."

"He would be angry if he finds out, right?"

I shrugged, "Master does not need to spread the word of his own greatness, it is our duty as his apostles to do it for him. We will make sure Master gets the respect he deserves no matter the method. If Master feels we have done wrong, I will accept his punishment."

"I see' I will get punished if Master finds out'" She pondered, just before her face revealed a perverted smile. "Guhehehe~ Where do I sign up?!"

"I shall be leading the sermons today which you might do tomorrow, the flock requires the guidance of Master. Come, I will teach you how to preach as one of us."

And thus began our latest sharing session in the women's baths.

Chapter 54 - Extracurricular Lessons

(Elder Gong POV)

I knew Master Lin was a heaven sent genius from a very early stage, our entire Sect had celebrated his talent when it became evident. It was because of him that our Sect finally managed to break out of our fifth ranking and straight into the top of the list.

There were definitely a few of us who were envious of his talents, but the fact that he never flaunted his position and skills around helped keep those kinds of people few in number. It was a better idea to get in his good graces so we could all learn and make use of his knowledge after all.

At least, that's what we thought we could do.

Sect Master Long had seen his talent very early during Master Lin's student days and had issued a Sect decree that we were to protect him as much as possible. Anyone who possessed a speck of ill will towards him will be severely punished.

Though some of us had protested such a favoritism at the start, the Sect Master had turned out to be right in the end when Master Lin showcased his unrivalled abilities.

His talent was just simply God-like. Blessed with a perfect memory and an incredible learning capacity and speed, there was virtually nothing he could not do.

People like us were unable to replicate it and could only watch as he soared higher and higher.

Sure, he helped us in comprehending all the secrets of Cultivation while he was an Elite Practitioner, but the fact that he can complete what takes us a decade to do in less than a year was still insurmountable.

The Practitioners within our Sect managed to improve their proficiency steadily but none of us were able to soar like Master Lin did.

When he was granted the position of Master and participated in the annual Sect Showcase Festival, that was when our Sect rose to the undisputed top.

And now, after mostly keeping himself within his own courtyard to train for the past two years, he finally came out to accept new disciples this year.

We had been a little disappointed that he had taken a seemingly talentless girl under his wing instead of any of the talents, but we had brushed it off as Master Lin looking for a servant.

But things changed when he returned from his little trip and his disciples showcased their talents during the Festival.

He had claimed to receive an incredibly fortunate encounter in the form of a divine spirit while fulfilling the Sect Request at the fox village, enabling him to soar even higher and grant the servant girl an incredibly profound talent.

Apparently the two of them had gone through an extremely gruelling trial in an astral world where time did not exist, fighting thousands of battles and defeating hundreds of experts.

He had also claimed to have picked up his second disciple from there, a fox youkai who had been the guardian of the village but had fallen prey to the spirit's machinations.

A nine-tailed fox youkai was an extreme rarity. It is no exaggeration to say that a normal person might have a better chance at finding a Phoenix Ember than meeting a nine-tailed fox youkai.

A few of us had travelled to the fox village to look for said spirit but none of them had found the village, much less the divine spirit. Apparently without a fox youkai as a guide, uninvited guests would not be able to enter the village on their own.

Though the small girl with multi-coloured hair and the bob-haired one had yet to show any incredible talents thus far, we had no doubts that they will turn into powerhouses in their own right under Master Lin's guidance.

I had expected that to be extremely far into the future though.

At that point in time, I had thought that I was still above Master Lin in terms of teaching proficiency. Sure his disciples were strong, as evidenced by their stellar performance during the Sect Showcase Festival, but I at least knew more about teaching students than he did, right?

But that day when Master Lin's disciples came to me for their first class was the day I realised how insignificant I was.

When Master Lin had approached me to request that I assist in teaching his disciples for a few lessons, I had foolishly believed that he had approached me because of my experience and knowledge.

For their first class, I had suggested a little sparring session for the students to get to know each other. Nothing was better than knowing where you and your peers' strengths and weaknesses lie so you can aid in each other's growth after all.

Butch, the most cool-headed of my students, was unexpectedly the first one to step up.

He was one of my top students, having spent some time with Master Lin as his room mate allowed him to learn more things than others.

If all goes well for him, he should be taking the advancement test to be an Elite Practitioner by the end of this year.

But even with his talent, that fox youkai still defeated him easily.

Not entirely unexpected.

These two were able to defeat Elite Practitioners at their level after all.

What surprised me was Butch confessing to that fox youkai so earnestly.

But she had just turned up her nose at him and rejected him without a second thought.

"Ara ara~ You can't possibly think I'm not taken already can you? Fufufu~ This big sis has already found her destined mate so I'll have to turn you down."

Butch retracted his hand and bowed even lower, "May I at least know who has taken your heart?"

"Ufufufu~ You may not. Lest the others'" She glanced towards the other students' direction. "Bring trouble for my mate."

I felt the silent threat behind her words.

Butch had raised his head, "I understand, please allow me to at least be acquainted with you at least."

"Ara ara? How gentlemanly. That is fine with this big sister."

With that little drama over, I tried to resume the class once more, gathering them together to do an analysis on the spar.

But unfortunately, I had no idea what that fox youkai did to bypass Butch's supposedly impenetrable defense.

"Ara ara? You don't know? How interesting'" The fox youkai laughed, tilting her head upwards at me.

The girl with golden hair had crossed her arms then, "Are you not aware of the applications of Space and Astral quarks?"

I blinked at her, "I do. But what do those two quarks have that allows her tail to stretch so far and fast while also piercing through his defenses like paper?"

"Muuu? Old man don't know? Papa taught Cai Hong'" The little girl commented while sucking on her finger.

"Fufufu~ The Space quarks are used to extend my tail while imbuing them with Astral quarks lets it bypass defenses that are only skin deep," The fox explained with obvious disdain in her voice.

My eyes narrowed, "But' But there aren't any Cultivation Techniques that allows anyone to do such a thing' Unless'"

"Ara ara? You catch on quite fast. Yes, they're Original Techniques."

My jaw dropped, "Master Lin has you girls crafting Original Techniques?!"

"Yes, Master has instructed us on how to do so," the golden haired one added.

Do they even know how proficient one needs to be before they can craft their own Original Techniques?!

One has to have a complete understanding of the Elemental Quark they are trying to create a Technique from!

Just because you know that fire is hot does not mean you could create an Original Technique so easily! There's much more to fire than just heat which would take decades of study to understand!

There's a reason why old Cultivation Techniques are so widely used as it paves the way for Practitioners to understand the circulated element more easily!

I only knew of two Elders who have crafted their own Techniques and both of them were well beyond two hundred years old!

And right now, these girls are telling me that under Master Lin's guidance, they are already able to create their own Techniques under a year of study?!

I gulped, "Is' Is Master Lin also crafting his own Techniques?"

"Hmm? Of course!" The golden haired one affirmed indignantly. "Master had already created quite a number already you know?"

"Ah' I see, I see' In that case umm' Could both of you teach what the intricacies are for the elements you are familiar with today?" I chanced.

"Ara? Shouldn't the Elder be teaching us?"

"Oh ermm' This is to test whether you truly know your elements as you say you do. See this as a way for me to understand your abilities and how far Master Lin has taught you."

The golden haired girl narrowed her eyes at me, "Hmm' Very well then. As you know, my speciality is Lightning'"

I learnt a lot in that lesson.

It seems that Master Lin has me beat at everything after all...

I might even need to bow my head to his disciples at this rate'

"Anyway, since I'm already teaching'" The golden haired girl paused, fishing out a thick leather bound book from within her robes. "I might as well also teach you guys about our Lord and Saviour."

What?

Chapter 55 - Of Course There A Festival In The School Arc

(MC POV)

"End of year festival?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

I was seated in Sect Master Long's courtyard, drinking tea with him on a clear, sunny day.

"Yes," Sect Master Long nodded. "You remember we do have a celebration at the end of every year, right?"

"I know that... But isn't it just an event where you say a few words of thanks? At most we might have a few visitors from the nearby Minor Sects and villages to celebrate the new year with us' But I don't remember it being a festival?"

The Sect Master took a sip of his tea, "That would be the case in the past, yes. But because of you and your disciples' performance during the Sect Showcase Festival, there's quite a number of Grand Sects that have sent a request to attend our New Year celebrations. So I thought it might be a good idea for us to organise a larger form of celebration this time."

I nodded, "Alright then, if that's the case, what do you need me for?"

"Before that, how is that Diao Chan girl doing?"

"She's fine. It's already been three days since I've officially took her in as a disciple and she's adapting well."

"Umu' I take it she shows just as much potential as your other disciples?"

I tilted my head slightly at him, wondering what exactly he was looking for.

"She's very strict of herself in her studies," I told him after pretending to think for a moment. "She wants me to punish her for every mistake she makes and she learns better because of it."

"Really? A very studious student indeed'" He commented while picking up his tea cup. "So she's actually a Practitioner as well?"

Ah I see, he's probably interested in knowing what made her special in the first place.

But unfortunately for him, since he had called me just before I was going to take my afternoon nap, I'm not in the mood to give him a thorough explanation about Witches and what not.

"Hmmm' Her situation is a bit special, but I suppose she could be considered one."

Sect Master Long paused in his action of taking another sip of his tea, "Oh? I'm very interested in hearing about this special situation of hers?"

I feigned an innocent smile, "I'm not very sure of it myself, she just has a little more difficulty in manipulating Elemental Quarks than others."

"Hmm' Why don't you tell me what you know? As unqualified as I may be, I might still be able to provide Master Lin with some insights to her condition?"

I want to go back to bed already...

"Ah, I shouldn't trouble Sect Master with this, I can handle her on my own."

"Ahahaha! No need to worry Master Lin, I'm quite free today."

Then go suck some duck eggs or something! Just because you're free doesn't mean I am, you know?!

"Oh, I'd rather not comment on something I am not entirely sure of yet. Besides, I believe we were talking about how the new year festival will be organised? Are you planning on assigning me as the organiser?"

Sect Master Long shook his head, "Oh no, I know Master Lin is quite busy--"

Then why are you bothering me?!

"-- so I already have some other people managing it. I just wanted to let you know about the event since I have no doubt you will be approached by members of other Sects during that time."

You interrupted my afternoon nap and brought me all the way here just to tell me this?

Couldn't you have just sent a note to me saying 'Big New Year celebration this year. Go and network.' instead?!

"Oh I see," I nodded, pretending to be unperturbed by him.

"Though I say that, I think the people in charge would still approach you to ask about event ideas, hahaha!" He laughed, as though he didn't just push the problem on to me.

Damn it. I could already see them coming to me and begging for ideas to make this event successful. There's less than two weeks before the deadline after all.

Oh whatever, I'll just throw them some ideas that I've seen in the festivals of the other world at them. Whether they can make it or not will be their problem.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for informing me, Sect Master."

"Umu, it's no problem at all. Then--"

I gasped and interrupted him, looking down at my empty wrist, "Oh would you look at the time? Time really flies when you're not paying attention! I apologize Sect Master, but I really should be going. I need to make lesson plans for my disciples."

"Huh? Eh? Oh, umm' I see' Very well then, I'll see you out."

"Oh no need, Sect Master. I wouldn't want to trouble you so much, I'll just see myself out. Thank you for the tea!"

I made an exaggerated bow before speed walking out of his courtyard. As soon as I was out of sight, I teleported myself into my room, crashing straight into my bed.

Phew. Good thing I managed to run out of there before he pushes even more responsibilities on me. I have a feeling if I had stayed there for even a second longer, he might even ask me to put on a performance as an opening event or something.

Whatever, time to sleep. I still have another lesson with Diao Chan later.

Her progress in learning is really astounding though. I guess she wasn't lying when she said she learns better with the carrot and stick method, only that she would like it that there was more stick than the carrot.

Well, whatever works for her I guess, I'm not one who would judge another person's learning methods.

Just as I was getting comfortable in bed, a knocking sound rang out from my door.

"Master Lin? Are you there? It's Kou Riar, I've got a few messages for you."

I sighed heavily, debating with myself if I should just pretend I'm not home.

"Master Lin? There's a number of important letters here I need to pass to you'"

I cursed under my breath as I got out of bed, making my way towards the entrance.

I pulled open my doors, staring down at the messenger boy.

"Ah, Master Lin! I've been looking for you, got some letters I'm supposed to deliver, your hands only."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "You could've just left it in my mailbox."

"Mailbox?"

"Ah sorry, forgot we didn't have those, gimme them."

Kou Riar handed me the letters enthusiastically, "I guess that's it, gotta go."

The messenger sped off out of my courtyard.

Weird guy.

I sat down at my table, resigned that everything is out to keep me away from my siesta today.

The first letter was from Elder Xu, telling me how talented Eris's swordsmanship was and how honored he was to be able to teach her.

'EriS is a vEry good studeNt. She is very Determined and a Hard worker in training hEr sword arts. I am pLeased to be able to teach her and you do not have to worry about anything. Rest assured, she will be very ProficieNt in her swOrd arts When she returns. I am ProbabLy learning juSt as much as she is as well.'

I noted the rather shaky handwriting on the letter. I attributed the cause to be muscle cramps from training Eris, she can be quite a wild one when she goes all out. I know that from personal experience.

I guess I'll send some muscle ointment to him after the week is done as thanks for taking care of her.

Still, I wonder why he went out of his way to send me a letter about this?

The second letter was from the Fiery Flames Sect. Apparently it is just an announcement they had sent out to all the other Sects announcing about the deaths of two of their Sect Members. They are demanding for the perpetrator to step forward and admit their crimes while asking the other Sects for aid in seeking justice.

I scoffed, as if the killer would just step forward and admit that they killed them. I'm pretty sure with the bodies' memories wiped they won't be able to prove whoever they accused did the deed unless they have other concrete proof.

Do they think the world is that convenient?

These people are weird.

The third letter was from the Golden Auction house back in Jin city. Apparently they had a change in management and was just writing to inform 'important clientele' about it.

I promptly chucked the letter aside under 'spam'.

The last letter was just a blank piece of paper with two large words written in blood.

'WE KNOW'

Huh, didn't even have a hand print on it for aesthetics.

The paper joined the pile under 'spam' before the entire pile disintegrated into flames.

I can't believe I lost all this time for my afternoon nap because of these useless letters! What important letters? They're nothing but inconsequential stuff!

If I see that Kou Riar again, I'll make sure to strangle him.

"Papa..."

I looked up to see Cai Hong standing outside my room, rubbing her eyes sleepily while hugging the spare robe I gave her so long ago.

"What's wrong Cai Hong?" I asked, gesturing for her to come closer.

She stepped into the room, stretching her hand up towards me pleadingly.

I picked her up to sit on my lap.

"Is something wrong?" I repeated my question.

"Cai Hong miss' Papa..." Cai Hong muttered before promptly falling asleep in my arms, a hand clutching on my shirt tightly.

I sighed, resting my back against the table while cradling Cai Hong.

I suppose I'll just have to deal with the back pains from napping in this position later.

Chapter 56 - The Students Become The Preachers

(Lian Li POV)

"And thus, Master is truly the greatest being in existence and we, unworthy as we are, shall cleanse this world of its impurities for Master."

I closed the book reverently, "All for Master."

"All for Master," my small class repeated with the same level of reverence.

I looked up from the book to see the new believers sitting in front of me.

With the exception of Butch who was being used by Cai Hong, Manami and I as a chair, everyone else was seated in front of me with their hands clasped in prayer.

When I first started extolling the virtues of Master, most of them hadn't been especially receptive to the idea.

Nothing surprising, we've converted people even more blind than they had been so it was just a matter of time and effort.

Butch had been the first to convert, soaking up every word Manami had preached to him like the good little boy he was.

Now he has found his place as Manami's little pet and a firm believer of Master's divinity.

The two girls were next, they weren't even that hard to convince either.

I had introduced them to our little bath time sharing session and they ate up the words of our God like good little girls. It also helped that we had especially nice content that night to share among them.

The other boys were just business as usual.

A little bit of whipping here and maybe a little bit of Cai Hong's ball busting technique there got most of them singing Master's praises like canaries.

That Lian Tong guy became Cai Hong's personal gofer, catering to the loli dragon's every whim with a contented smile on his face.

The two main problems were Lan Niao and the Elder himself.

We had expected the most resistance from the old geezer naturally. He had been entirely uncooperative even after we've beaten him black and blue.

Cai Hong had wanted to eat him at first but having an Elder disappear was more complicated than having a few nobodies disappear.

But as soon as we extolled Master's infinite wisdom to him, he fell for it like everyone before him.

It seems he has a desperate thirst for knowledge.

The only one left was that little prick, Lan Niao.

For someone as dumb as he was, he put up a surprising resistance against being converted. I suppose the dumbest idiots are usually the last to comprehend anything, even if the facts are presented on a silver platter to them.

We would be in the middle of preaching Master's virtues to him and he would just constantly scream about letting him down from the ceiling.

Even when Cai Hong used her ball buster, he just screamed even louder while thrashing about like a dying fish, not at all willing to listen.

Too bad Eris isn't here to help cut him up a little bit, so we had to improvise.

I have to admit that Butch was very helpful in beating the screams out of him.

Seems like Manami found a really good pet.

His size was even big enough to accommodate all three of us to sit on him.

Honestly, it wasn't even our idea to use him as a chair. But during one of our lessons while we were preaching to them, Butch had got down on all fours and begged to be used.

He claimed that it wasn't right that we were standing while they were seated during our preachers.

An image of Diao Chan doing the same thing crossed my mind. No doubt that girl would get excited from being a chair for Master, though we have yet to tell her about such an arrangement.

Really, that masochist is probably having the time of her life right now, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little envious at all.

Having Master focus all his attention on you' Mmmm' How wonderful...

I stood from my 'chair', keeping the Holy Text within my robes, "Are there any questions for today?"

One of the girls raised her hand, "High Priestess Lian Li, when will the rest of the world know of Master's light?"

I smiled, "Soon, dear follower. The plans are already in motion for the people of this land to realise Master's greatness."

Lian Tong looked up at me, "High Priestess Lian Li' I have tried to convince my fellow brothers to see the light. All but one has accepted Master's grace, what should I do?"

I shook my head sadly, "There will always be such people who choose to remain blind' But we shouldn't give up on them. Try the next method to guide him and if it doesn't work, send him to us."

"As you will it, High Priestess Lian Li."

The other girl raised her hand, "High Priestesses, do you think' Any of us could be graced with Master's presence?"

"Ufufufu~" Manami giggled. "Once the world is cleansed, Master's presence will be felt in all of us."

All of them gasped in joy at her words, their faces brightening up.

"We will definitely work hard for Master!"

"The world will know of Master's greatness!"

"Please continue to guide us!"

"Fufufu~ Of course. Now, remember your roles my dears, there's a lot of work to do before we can finally cleanse this world of its filth."

"Yes, High Priestess Manami!"

"We will work hard, High Priestesses!"

"We must cleanse this world for Master!"

I nodded at them, "Now go forth and spread Master's holy words. Next sermon is the same time tomorrow."

"All for Master," They prayed before dispersing.

Manami got up from her pet while carrying Cai Hong in her arms, "You may go now, little Butch."

Butch stood up on his feet before bowing to us, "Thank you for your hard work today, High Priestesses."Â

I nodded to him as he left.

Manami walked to my side, "How are things now?"

I tapped a finger on my chin, "We just managed to replace the Golden Auction house's proprietor with one of ours a few days ago, so things are going quite well."

"And the staff?"

"All converted. Those who refused were released from service."

Manami gave me a wide smile, "Very well. Is there anything else we should know?"

I nodded, "Do you know about this year's New Year Festival?"

"What about it?"

"I heard from our' Little insect, that the Xi Family is attending as well."

"Ara? Such an opportunity! We should not let this pass!"

"My thoughts exactly."

"Ufufufu~~ I'll have a look over the guest list later, we should be able to arrange something."

Cai Hong sucked on her finger, pulling on my sleeve, "Meet Papa?"

I patted her head, "Master should be done by now, we should return to Master's courtyard."

"Yay~~ Papa Play!"

I wonder if Master would be open to us bathing with him? I guess I'll have to ask him when I have the chance.

Chapter 57 - Do You Even Logistics?

(MC POV)

"Master Lin, we do hope you could give some ideas on what we can do for the coming event."

Well, as I expected. The very next day, a group of Elders had approached me and asked for ideas for the New Year Festival.

Honestly, throwing this event on some people to organise within two weeks of the actual event is an impossible task. Does the Sect Master even understand the logistics and manpower involved with making such an event?

Putting aside logistics since, if forced to, we would still be able to create some materials utilizing our quarks and our summons could do the heavy lifting in building the necessary equipment. But the people manning the event and entertaining guests can't be automated summons you know?

Not only would it depreciate the celebrative atmosphere, it will make our Sect look empty in the eyes of other Practitioners.

Normal summons don't actually make good entertainers because of their inability to think for themselves after all.

I passed them a piece of paper, "I kind of expected this to happen, so I went ahead to prepare this ahead of time."

One of them picked up the paper, "What is this?"

"A proposed list of activities we can do," I explained, taking a sip of my tea.

"Food stalls' Game stalls' A live performance' There's even details to the games and recipes for the food? Did Master Lin come up with all this yesterday night?"

"Of course."

"This' This could work, but' The manpower? Our Sect members won't be enough to cover all of this."

I shrugged, "That's the only problem. Short of hiring the nearby villagers, I don't see how else we can staff all these activities. But if we choose to cut down on the proposed plan, it won't be as grand as needed to impress the visitors."

"That won't be a good idea' We won't be able to teach them how to man the stalls in time. Could Master Lin offer another solution?"

I gave the Elder who asked a wry smile, "I think I've already given enough aid with that piece of paper alone, haven't I?"

"Ugh' That is true' But we really are at a loss here' Had those Sects sent out their participation requests earlier, we would have had more time to prepare'"

I sighed, "There's nothing much I can do either. If I knew a way I would have already offered it."

An Elder lowered his head, "Please Master Lin! We really are at our wits end for this!"

The other Elders followed his example and bowed their heads, "Please Master Lin!"

Ugh' These people' Do they think I'm some god-like being or something? There's no way I can just solve all their problems with a snap of my fingers you know?!

But with all the Elders bowing their heads to me like that, I can't just flip them off so casually. I don't want our first big New Year Festival to be a flop either.

Don't get the wrong idea, I'm not doing this for them, I'm doing this for my cute disciples. They deserve a good new year celebration after what they did for me for our little 'Christmas'.

That was the first time anyone went out of their way to actually plan an event for me and if I can't do the same for them, what kind of Master am I?

I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Alright, alright' I'll figure something out for the manpower issue. But you guys need to at least prepare the event's equipment according to what I stated."

The Elders looked at one another, giving the list another read through.

"That will be done. Then we shall take our leave first, Master Lin."

The Elders left my courtyard, leaving me to solve this damn thing on my own.

I sighed, wondering how would I even begin to solve this problem.

Sure, I know a summoning method that might solve the manpower issue, but I would rather not use it here in case it brings up too many questions.

And thanks to being a recluse, I don't have any contacts I can call up to help me in this either...

Just as I was still wondering about what I could do, Manami walks in with a tray and a teapot balanced on top of it.

"Ara? Are the Elders already gone? I already made some freshly brewed tea here."

I smiled at her, presenting my empty tea cup to her, "I'll gladly have some in their place."

Manami refilled my cup obediently, "Is something troubling Master?"

I sighed, "Am I that obvious?"

Manami placed the teapot gently on the table, taking a seat on my lap.

She cupped my face gently with her hands, "I would be a terrible mate if I wasn't able to tell my own beloved's mood."

She moved in to kiss me gently on the lips.

"Now, tell this big sister what ails my beloved so?"

I sighed again, "You know about the New Year Festival, right?"

"Mmm' I am aware of it, yes."

"I had the unfortunate luck of having the responsibility for sourcing out manpower. The event this year is quite grand so our own Sect members is inadequate to staff all the stalls and activities required to entertain our guests."

Manami tilted her head at me, "Oh? So it's just a matter of finding people?"

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Well' They have to be adept at entertaining, I can't just hire the nearby villagers to staff this event either since we don't have time to teach them."

I reached into my pocket and passed her a copy of the same piece of paper I had shown the Elders.

Manami quickly read through it, her eyes glancing through all the activities planned for the event.

She placed the paper aside before tapping her chin with a finger, "In that case' I think I can help, Master."

"Oh? You know where to get these kinds of people in time for the New Year Festival."

Manami kissed my cheek, "Oh Master, why do you think we fox youkais have such good relations with people? Have you noticed how most fox youkai find themselves working in the entertainment sector? I just need to pop back to my village and ask for volunteers. In fact, I think Lian Li might have some connections she can pull back in Jin city. I can get the other girls to help as well."

Huh' That's incredibly convenient...

"Can I leave this to you girls then?"

Manami shivered in my embrace, "Is that Master's Divine Order?"

I laughed at her little joke, "Ahahaha, I would rather call it a request but I guess you could see it that way."

She stood up and bowed to me, "Then we shall not fail your Divine Request, Master. Just wait for our results."

She quickly left my room, heading straight for the disciples' chambers.

Yep, this is what I got disciples for. I don't need to fret over all these issues myself anymore, my disciples can help me with them while I sit back and enjoy tea.

Manami would get the other fox youkai for the performance, but I wonder what kind of people Lian Li would be able to rope in?

If my initial hypothesis about her being a former noble is true, she might even be able to rope in some especially skilled people.

Oh well, I'm just glad that this problem is going to take care of itself somehow.

Lucky me, I guess.

--

A/N: If you haven't noticed by now, there has been a few extra content in the author's note section. I'll be doing these from time to time as mini side stories so look forward to them.

And if you see no author's note this whole time then obviously you're reading from a pirate site that has stolen my work. I only post this story on Webnovel so please read it there.

I don't intend to lock my chapters behind a paywall anytime soon as I do have a paying job to feed myself with for the moment so you don't have to worry about that. But it would still help me a lot in the motivation department if you would just hop on over to Webnovel to give my book a vote with your powerstones if you like what you've been reading so far.

I don't think I can reach the very top anytime soon but hey, an author can dream right?

Let's get the Yandere Sect up there together! Spread the Yandere Sect to the masses!

Join Yandere Sect today! We have meat pies! Ignore the dead body in the corner!

Chapter 58 - When A Yandere Is Yandere For A Yandere

(Manami POV)

I looked up at the tall torii gate that marks the entrance to our village.

Before I was crippled, I had a Cultivation Technique inscribed on the torii gate that took me about a half a decade to perfect and finish.

Without the village guardian or the leader's permission, the village will remain hidden behind an illusion. Of course if someone strong enough were to come by and knew the exact location of the village, they could still dispel such an illusion with enough effort.

The bear monster that had attacked us before had an excellent sense of smell which allowed it to locate our village and attack it. But normal humans should not be able to see through it.

I stepped through the gate boundary, letting the illusion fade and the village appearing before me.

A few of the foxes who had been close to the gate stopped in their tracks when they saw me.

I made sure that all my tails were on full display as I sauntered into the village, giving those who had shunned me that little faceslap.

One of the girls ran up to me, her six tails trailing after her.

She was a little shorter than me and her waist length hair was a dark maroon colour. Her tails matched her hair colour and unlike me who prefers wearing kimonos, she wore a simple robe and pants.

"Manami! You've returned!"

I glanced at the girl without slowing my speed, "Yes Shizuri, I have returned. Is there something you're after by coming to me?"

"Hmm? Can't I just welcome my fellow sister back?"

"Ara? I do not remember us being sisters."

She pouted at me, "How mean, Manami! Do you not remember the fun times we had together?"

"I most definitely do not remember having fun with a rabid dog."

"Ehehehe~ You're making me blush."

I spun on my heel, my palm shooting out to stop her hand from coming closer to me. Gripped tightly within that hand was a knife inches away from my abdomen.

"Would the rabid dog mind not disturbing me? I'm on a very busy schedule today and have no time for putting down useless things like you."

"Ehehehe~~ But I really, really, really like you, Manami. Won't you bleed a little for me?"

"You really should have that head of yours checked. Last I remembered, you had not even bothered to help the village leader when she was captured."

"Hmmm? Why should I care about her? I'd very much rather you had went there and gotten yourself mauled by those monsters. It would have been such a beautiful sight!" She exclaimed, holding her flushed cheeks with both her hands.

Yes, this girl has an extremely weird obsession with bleeding me. She's a psycho, basically.

I turned back, resuming my approach to the village leader's house.

"Eh~~ Are you ignoring me Manami? Don't be so mean! I want to know about your destined mate! Let's talk abou--"

My tail pierced through her chest, flinging her against the wall nearby.

Her body slid onto the floor when my tail retracted back, slumping down on to the ground lifelessly.

Ugh' I'm going to have to wash my tail thoroughly later.

I pushed open the door to the village leader's house, finding a girl smaller in size than Cai Hong with pure, white hair sitting on an elevated platform at the end of a spacious room. Her single tail straightened up behind her back when she saw me enter.

She put down the book she had been holding in her hand, "Welcome back Manami' How is your mate?"

"Master is as well as he can be, thank you for your concern, Shiro."

"Think nothing of it, I do owe him my life. I assume that you've come back here for something you need?"

I sat down in front of her, tucking my legs under me, "Yes. Heaven Sect will be holding a New Year Festival soon, we need girls to perform."

Shiro raised an eyebrow at me, "You are thinking of'"

"Indeed, it's a good chance for the girls to find their mates, they will surely jump at the opportunity."

Shiro scratched her chin in thought, "That would certainly benefit us' Could I know what the festival entails?"

I fished out the list of activities Master had planned for the event, passing it to her.

She glanced through the list quickly, nodding her head at the contents, "This is indeed quite an event. I am unaware that the famed Master Lin has such an ability in entertaining the masses."

"I had been unaware of this fact as well. Master is truly a Divine Being beyond our understanding."

She raised an eyebrow at me, "Don't you think you're overpraising him a little?"

My tails waved in the air behind me.

"Point taken," Shiro sighed.

While I hold no enmity towards her, I am not exactly cordial towards her either. With how she had abandoned me when I was crippled, it was hard to maintain a friendly facade. She is well aware of that fact too, another reason why she had let me go so easily, even if it meant losing the strongest village guardian in our village's history.

When I was crippled, I had to live outside the village in a cave some distance away in the blistering cold.

Shizuri was placed second in terms of strength in the village after me but she also possessed a certain special constitution unique to her.

When I still had my full strength, I could still fend off her crazy advances easily enough. But after I was crippled, no one would help me stop her or protect me from her.

Most of the other villagers had also turned to scorn me for my mistake as well.

Of course, things are different now after Master had restored my tails.

For the one who had pulled me out of my half a century of misery, Master can only be my god.

"I will inform the other girls of this and send them your way. You can take them to wherever you need to then. Please try not to be too harsh on them."

"Ara ara? Since when have I been such a brute to my fellow sisters, Shiro? I don't abandon my sisters."

Shiro bowed her head to me, "For what it's worth Manami' I really regret not being able to help you in your time of need' For that, I am deeply sorry."

"Fufufu~~ It's all water under the bridge now, little Shiro. After all, it was because of this that I've met my destined mate and I will never give that up for anything in the world."

Although I say little, she's at least a few decades older than I was.

"I must also mention that if Shizuri were to choose to go' I won't be able to stop her."

"Ufufufu~ Let her come then, I'll kill her as many times as I need to."

She said nothing to my mention of killing her, raising her head back to stare at me silently.

"I shall stay at my old cave for a few days," I stated, standing back up on my feet. I did not want to stay here longer than I have to.

"Do send the interested girls to me, won't you?"

Shiro nodded, "Please send my thanks and regards to Master Lin."

I gave her a backwards wave before stepping out of the room, walking straight into Shizuri who was looking up at me fondly with her robes stained red with blood. A pair of knives were grasped in her hands, ready to stab at me.

"Ehehehe~ Are you done with the meeting already, Manami? Could we perhaps play no--"

I sliced my hand across her neck, the Astral blade that formed cutting her head clean off. That should take her a few hours to come back from.

Ah yes, an explanation.

This demented fox had received a 'gift' from some similarly demented god at a birth, making her unable to die permanently. She's an undead, basically.Â

No matter what happens to her, she would reform back wholly intact after some time.

I have tried dismembering her and tossing her body parts in several different locations, but she just reforms up all intact at where her head had been, the other limbs disappearing from their thrown locations.

Unfortunately, she uses this to her advantage to constantly bug me which I could do nothing about.

I shouldn't have accepted her request back then to please each other.

She had bitten me during one of her climaxes and apparently got hooked on the taste of my blood.

I'm just glad that she hadn't known I returned back to the village for the Sect Request with Master on that day.

Though the thought of consulting Master about her curse had crossed my mind, I felt it was inconsequential and Master shouldn't trouble himself with such trivial matters.

Oh well, now I just need to keep this crazy little girl away from Master if she decides to show up for the festival.

Unlike before, I can take care of her myself now.

Besides, I have more important matters to attend to right now.

Chapter 59 - Of Course Elves Are Mandatory In A Fantasy Story

(Lian Li POV)

Manami had told us about Master's Divine Request.

This is a holy mission that we must not fail.

While Manami was going to recruit the fox youkai from her village, I will be looking for a different group of people.

Manami had dropped me off in the outskirts of Jin city along with Eris and Diao Chan, letting us make our way into the city.

Leading my two sisters towards a deserted alley, I pushed aside one of the boxes and removed a small brick in the wall, revealing a concealed lever on the other side.

I pulled it without hesitation, the action causing the wall nearby to rotate open and revealing a hidden staircase that led downwards.

With the other two girls flanking my sides, we descended the staircase just as the walls rotated back into place behind us.

Two men were waiting at the end of the staircase, guarding an unassuming metallic door.

"High Priestess Lian Li, High Priestess Eris, High Priestess Diao Chan. It is an honour," one of the men greeted with a reverent bow.

"Cut the formalities," I waved my hand. "Is Alpha in?"

The other man bowed, "Yes, High Priestess. Priestess Alpha is currently with Priestess Delta in the Cathedral for today's sermons."

I nodded to him in thanks, "Perfect. Keep up the good work. All for Master."

"All for Master."

We continued through the doors, moving through the torch-lit passageways to our destination.

An intricately decorated stone door lay at the end of our destination, its presence so out of place in this dimly lit tunnel.

I pushed open the doors without hesitation, revealing what seems like the interior of a church to us.

Rows upon rows of pews sat facing towards a grand altar, where a picture of Master reaching out his hand towards the masses was painted on the wall.

A young woman with long, flowing silver hair stood at the head of the altar, spreading her arms wide with her head tilted up in prayer. She wore a black dress that stretched to her ankles, her long sleeves reaching past her wrist.

A black silken cloth acted as a blindfold was tied around her head, looping behind her distinctively long, pointed ears that accentuated her sharp features.

She was Delta, the currently appointed Head Preacher of our Church.

"And thus, Master is truly the greatest being in existence and we, unworthy as we are, shall cleanse this world of its impurities for Master."

She clasped her hands together in front of her large, pilowy chest, the masses mimicking her actions below.

"All for Master."

"All for Master."

The three of us echoed, joining in with the prayer.

Another woman who had been standing to the side walked up towards the elven girl, whispering something in her ear. She was dressed similarly to Delta with the exception of the blindfold.

Her hair was midnight black that ended just past her shoulders, a pair of wolfish ears poking out from the top of her head. That was Alpha, the current official second in charge of our little group of believers.

Delta nodded her head and Alpha stepped back behind her.

The elf raised her arms to gather everyone's attention again, "Today is a blessed day fellow believers! Rejoice! For the direct apostles of our God has graced us with their presence!"

As one, the masses stood and turned towards us, all of them gasping out in surprise and joy.

"It's High Priestess Lian Li!"

"High Priestess Eris as well!"

"Even the new High Priestess Diao Chan!"

I greeted the ones near us alongside my fellow sisters, moving along the aisle towards the altar at the end of the hall.

"High Priestesses, we bid you welcome," Alpha greeted, bowing her head low.

Delta mimicked her actions, though her bow was slightly off to the side, "High Priestesses, we thank our Master for this honour. Is there something we can do for you?"

"Divine Request'" Eris stated plainly.

Alpha's eyes widened, looking towards me for confirmation.

I nodded at her.

"Is' Is it true?" Delta asked, her head leaning towards me.

"Yes Delta, it is true. Diao Chan, if you would?" I gestured towards the altar.

Diao Chan stepped up towards the altar, lifting her arms high up into the air, "Hear me dear believers of our most benevolent Master! Our Master, who we so worship, has heard our prayers and issued a Divine Request for us!"

There was a moment of stunned silence before the entire hall filled with a thundering cheer, every one of them bursting out in celebration and joy.

Why wouldn't they?

To have Master make a Divine Request for us is like receiving a Commandment from god. It is a testament to his will and his acknowledgement of our prayers for him.

For he who has already given us so much that we could never dream to repay him, we must do our utmost best to spread his holy name.

Diao chan waited for the cheers to die down before continuing, "Heaven Sect will be organising a New Year Festival soon and our most glorious Master has seen fit to grace it with His ideals and presence! What He lacks now are the devout believers who would campaign in His Name!"

The crowd cheered even louder.

"I will go! Let me spread Master's name!"

"Let us go! We will not fail!"

"Glory to Master!"

"We will teach the unenlightened!"

Diao Chan raised her hand to silence them, "We have but less than two weeks to send the best of the best to participate in the event. Both Eris and I will be in charge of tutoring you in the art of entertainment and only those we think qualified will be sent there."

Eris stepped up to the altar, "This is Master's first order to us, we must make sure to give our very best!"

The crowd cheered.

"For the next few days, this one shall use all of this one's humble skills to tutor you. Expect nothing but the best from yourselves, for we must not disgrace Master who has placed His trust in us."

Now it was my cue to step up to the altar beside them, "Remember, Master will be present there. You will have to put your best foot forward if any of you wishes to bask in his presence."

The roar from the crowd was deafening.

"Now prepare!" I thrusted an arm forward, pointing towards the door. "We will begin our training right after your interlude! All interested parties should gather at the Divine Hall after this, I will see you there!"

I watched the believers stood up to leave after offering another round of prayers.

The numbers we have right now were few, at most a scant two hundred believers in total that were spread out within the city. But these numbers were more than enough to staff the event that Master had proposed.

"High Priestess Lian Li?" Delta asked from behind.

I turned towards her, "Yes, Delta?"

"By any chance' Could I participate as well?"

I reached up to caress her cheek, staring straight into her blindfold where I knew a pair of lifeless eyes lay.

Elves were a rather lucrative commodity amongst the more unfriendly youkai. They have exceptionally high Elemental Quark concentration within their bodies which makes them extremely desirable as cultivation materials. It was an open secret that elves were freely traded around within the circle of some youkai communities.

The poor girl had gotten herself embroiled in a Dark Sect's attempt to summon some kind of demon.

Her village had been raided by a Dark Sect when she was just a baby, her entire village being taken to an underground facility for the Dark Sect to conduct their ritual.

They were trying to use the elves as catalysts to summon the demon. But because the information on the ritual they had on hand was incomplete, they had to go through many tests in their trial and error to get the ritual right.

Delta had been the last one.

It was with her that the Dark Sect managed to summon the demon.

But instead of doing their bidding like they had wanted, the demon had instead possessed Delta's eyes, giving her the power to turn any living thing she saw into dust.

She managed to use her new power to escape from her decade long prison, using her instincts to survive in the wild.

We found her alone in a cave during our trip with Master when we went out for a stroll by pure luck.

She had been living near Jin city and surviving on her own for another decade, using a blindfold to hide her eyes' curse when meeting with people.

But as she knew about her value as a cultivation material first hand, she was quite reclusive and never had many outside contacts.

Manami had been intrigued by her, spending several days to slowly coax her out of her cave before extolling Master's virtues to her.

With nothing to hang on to, she took our gospels with reverence, clinging on to us as her new sisters.

We accepted her as one of our own, taking the time in between our lessons with Master to teach her how to worship our Master properly.

We had also baptised her with a new name, joining the ranks of the new group of Cardinals that we had formed to spread Master's name to the masses.

We had asked Master if there was a way for someone like her to have her sight restored and he had answered, "It is difficult, but not impossible. Demons are extremely troublesome things, believe me. But if one has enough faith, even the darkest of places will seem bright."

With that belief, she took our lessons with absolute devotion, memorising all the contents from the Holy Text we had read to her.

She believes that if she worshipped Master enough, the demon could be expelled from her body.

As to her question if she could participate.

"Of course, Delta. Master's benevolence extends to all of us."

She got on her knees, "Thank you' Thank you' Praise be to Master'"

I patted her head before turning to look at Alpha, "What about you Alpha?"

She showed a sad smile, "I'm afraid I have to stay behind to tend the flock, High Priestess Lian Li' We just had another batch of believers joining our group and if Delta is going, I'll have to stay."

"Pity'" Eris sighed. "Another time'"

Alpha nodded, "I will make sure I am fully worthy of being graced by Master's presence then."

"Mmm' Work hard for it and you shall be rewarded," Diao Chan clapped her shoulder encouragingly.

With that, Master should be able to get the personnel who will man the stalls and provide security, all we have to do is train them to a satisfactory level within the week.

I would say we have our work cut out for us.

Speaking of which' Manami had suggested we prepare a performance of our own as well.

Diao Chan was already quite well-versed in the arts of entertainment from her time as a retainer while Manami was a natural crowd pleaser.

Eris has multiple 'minds' to speed up her learning process and I have my own experience in entertaining.

As for Cai Hong' Well, she's a cute dragon loli. Who doesn't like cute dragon lolis?

Double workload for us but it's going to be worth it.

Chapter 60 - And Here The Festival Arc

(MC POV)

I looked around the Grand Courtyard that had once been empty now filled with rows upon rows of food stalls, merchant carts and game stalls. There was even a giant stage at the far end set up for the performances.

Since it was still a few more hours before the official start time, most of the staff are still busy with the final set ups for the event.

Such a grand event has never happened before.

Previously, all our New Year celebrations just involved the Sect Master giving a small talk on a small stage which I already think is a waste of time. The nearby Minor Sects would come and visit, bearing a few gifts which they will exchange with us.

Normally I would find a reason for myself to be excused from such trivialities.

In fact, had this year's been the same, I would have just fabricated a reason for my disciples and I to be absent. No need for them to be subjected to such unnecessary torture.

But now that it has turned into such a big celebration, of course I'll let my cute disciples enjoy the festivities.

Honestly, I had wanted to opt out of participating in the event and just let my girls go on their own, probably the remnants of my past self who preferred to coop himself in his room.

Thankfully, my girls were there to look at me all teary-eyed, asking me to accompany them to the celebration.

Even Cai Hong had pulled at my sleeve and said, "Papa? Go?"

How could I say no to that?

So here I am, in the Grand Courtyard a few hours before the festivities officially start and surrounded by my disciples who were busy admiring the sights around them.

The girls were all dressed up in kimonos that Lian Li had personally sewn for each of them.

"Mmm' Not as good as Masters'" Lian Li commented after taking a bite of the Candied Hawthorn she had gotten from a nearby stall that was serving snacks to early birds.

"Fufufu~ It is true that the food here is a little lacking compared to Master's personally made ones," Manami agreed, her hand holding a small piece of Peanut Cake.

Cai Hong was holding on to my hand, currently busy stuffing her face with a big roll of cotton candy I had made for her.

She had been disappointed that the food currently available here were below her expectations, even going so far to state that the pocket candies I give her taste better.

Well' I only gave them the recipes, their skills were probably still not good enough to reproduce the quality yet.

To soothe that pouting face, I just grabbed a fist full of sugar and used my Fire quarks to melt it before spinning it into strands on a stick with my Air quarks.

I also managed to procure a few fruits to squeeze their juices into the sugary strands, creating different flavoured cotton candies.

Of course I made one for everyone, it's just that the cotton candy Cai Hong was holding was already her third serving.

"Papa! Yummy?"

She offered her cotton candy stick to me.

I patted her head with my free hand before plucking a small piece to put in my mouth.

"Master' Taste'" Eris offered an oblong shaped pastry with chocolate icing on top.

"Oh? You managed to make the Eclair I taught you?"

"Mmmh'"

I let her pop the pastry into my mouth.

"Mmm' Sweet. It's good," I complimented her.

Her smile was so bright I was almost blinded.

"Master," Diao Chan called out from behind. "Masters Leizhui and Taoyan of the Xi family are ahead. They used to be from the Heavy Sky Grand Sect that is ranked fourth in our continent and those two were the top ranked Masters. Now they work as enforcers for the Xi Family."

I looked ahead, spotting the two afore-mentioned Masters looking at my direction. Both of them looked wiry and thin. Leizhui looked to be in his early forties while Taoyan had a wrinkled face that made him look to be in his late sixties.

I sent Diao Chan a quick nod of thanks.

She had been studying hard.

With her supposed experience in court intrigue, she had voluntarily studied up on our Beiyang continent's Sects and influential people in her free time. She is scarily adept at this part to the point she even knows about their hobbies, pastimes and even their likes and dislikes.

Don't ask me how she knew, I'm pretty sure the history books I gave her said nothing about that.

I had tried asking her what my standing was and she just blushed and looked away, unwilling to answer.

The two Masters approached me when I got near.

"Oh! Isn't this Master Lin of Heaven Sect?" Leizhui called out dramatically.

"Yes, I wonder if Master Lin knows about us two lowly Practitioners?" Taoyan asked, stroking his beard slowly.

"Master Leizhui, Master Taoyan. Well met. I wonder if the two former top Masters of Heavy Sky Sect is enjoying our little celebration?"

The two seemed taken aback, surprised that I even knew about them.

"Oh' Ermm' Yes. It is quite adequate," Taoyan muttered. "Nothing as grand as our Xi Family's New Year Celebrations, of course. The city's festival would be funded by our Xi family which would fill the whole street with food and wine. But I suppose this is good enough for a Sect that is way out in the middle of nowhere."

I nodded at his words, "Yes, it is such a shame that so many Grand Sects and families had sent a last minute request to be able to join our festivities that this event was organised in a rush. We are but a humble Sect, you see. Putting up grand celebrations has never been our thing."

"Oh? Is the Heaven Sect too poor to afford a grand celebration every year?" Leizhui asked.

I chuckled, "Hardly! Our Sect just prefers to be more practical, that's all. We would just rather spend the new year with people we care about rather than going somewhere far to butter up others."

A vein popped in Leizhui's forehead, "What? Are you suggesting that we are shamelessly buttering up to Heaven Sect?"

I gasped, feigning surprise, "Oh? Did it come out that way? I assure you I did not mean it like that. I was just stating what our Sect believes in."

Taoyan nodded, "But of course, I apologize for Leizhui's outburst. The long journey to this extremely backwater place got to him, we're weren't even sure we were at the right place with all the peasants roaming around."

I laughed, "Yes. Isn't the natural beauty of this place astounding? Away from the hustle of the city and fully immersed in nature, definitely the perfect place to cultivate. I have no doubt it is because of such an environment I was able to reach where I am today."

They scowled at me, clearly my words had irked them. Before they could say another word, Diao Chan had stepped beside me.

She curtsied, "Well met Master Taoyan, Master Leizhui. The festivities will start in a few moments. Please proceed to the Grand Hall as Sect Master Long will be making a welcome speech. It will not do well for either of you to show up late."

The two of them looked at her up and down, their faces carefully schooled in a poker face. But unfortunately for them, I could see the edges of their lips curling upwards slightly.

"Hmph' We shall carry this conversation later," Leizhui scoffed.

The two left, flicking their wrists in perfect synchronization.

We watched them leave in the direction of the Grand Hall, neither of them sparing a glance back.

Cai Hong turned to me, "Papa? Bad men?"

I patted her head, "No' Just some silly men. Did they scare you?"

Cai Hong shook her head, "Cai Hong not scared because Papa is here!"

So cute~

Oh well, those two will probably be the first batch of visitors I'll have to face.

It's kind of obvious to me they're just trying to upsell themselves in front of my disciples.

You gotta try harder man.Â

They're not going to just buy into your sales pitch so easily.

You want us to visit your Family as guests so you can profit off us? Dream on.

Especially since your Xi young master is there too. No way am I going to get myself entangled in that kind of messy business.

I turned to my girls, "Now, you girls should go listen in on Sect Master Long's welcome speech as well."

"Do we hafta?" Eris whined.

"Yes, you do." I rebuked. "Now why don't you girls run along there first? I need to talk to some of the organizers about some things before I join you."

"Yes, Master."

The girls bowed before making their way towards the Grand Hall, leaving me alone in the centre of the Courtyard.

I circulated my quarks, forming the Technique that teleported me across the Sect to the giant peach tree.

A group of four Practitioners were huddled under the tree, all of them dressed in black robes that hid their features.

One of them was trying to uncork a vial filled with a poisonous looking purple liquid.

Didn't need to be a genius to figure out they were trying to poison the tree.

I had already sensed this group of people entering here with ill intentions a mile away.

Ok, that was a lie.

Remember that little 'WE KNOW' note I burnt? I had cast a tracking spell on it when it burned that allowed me to know who had sent it to me.

And right now, that person is right there uncorking the bottle.

"Alright, I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum," I called out. "And guess what, there ain't no bubblegums in this place yet."

The group of Dark Sect members stood up in a panic upon hearing me.

I cracked my knuckles.

"Maybe next time you shouldn't send a stupid note written in blood before doing whatever you plan on doing. Not that there will be a next time after I'm done with you all."

Also, no one messes with my peaches.

Chapter 61 - Playing Hard To Catch

(Cai Hong POV)

"And of course, we must not forget the efforts and contributions that our fellow Elders and Masters have made for this humble event of ours."

Cai Hong feels sleepy, this old man talks too much…

Muu… Cai hong misses Papa…

Cai Hong wants to cuddle...

Cai Hong pulls Big Sis Lian Li's sleeve, "Big Sis Lian Li… Papa where?"

Big Sis Lian Li patted Cai Hong's head, "Master is busy, he will join us later. Be good for Master, ok?"

"Mnn... Cai Hong will be good for Papa!"

Yes, if Cai Hong is a good girl, Papa will give Cai Hong headpats! And huggies! And candies!

And if Cai Hongs is super good, Papa will even give forehead kissies!

Mmm… Cai Hong wants some more 'Cottwon candy'...

Will Papa give more 'Cottwon candy' to Cai Hong later? Cai Hong feels happy when Papa eats from Cai Hong's 'Cottwon candy'!

"For all the representatives of the Sects that have graced our little celebration this year, I hope that you will be thoroughly entertained by what we have in store for all of you."

Boo… The old man is still talking. He's so noisy…

All the noisy men gets punished by Cai Hong.

Cai Hong likes punishing noisy men.

Big Sis Manami says that punishing noisy men will make Papa happy.

But the noisy men Cai Hong should punish are the bad, noisy men that keeps saying mean things about Papa.

Papa is the best!

Papa gives nice huggies~~

Mmm? Cai Hong smells 'bad man juice'? Papa's smell is also coming from there…

Papa must be punishing bad men!

Muuu… Cai Hong wants to watch Papa punish bad men.

Papa was really cool during the 'Fwestivwal', punishing so many bad men.

Cai Hong even learned Papa's 'Bwal bwusting'!

But because Cai Hong is too small to kick, Cai Hong can only punch bad men's 'bwals'

Mmm? Bad men smell is gone.

Mmm?! Papa smells close?

Cai Hong got lifted up into the air.

"Papa!" Cai Hong hugged Papa.

"I'm back, had to help throw away some trash. What I miss?"

"Ara? Welcome back Master. Sect Master Long is just finishing his speech," Big Sis Manami answered, surprised at Papa's sudden appearance.

"Oh, nothing much then." Papa smiled. "He says almost the same thing every year. You heard it once, you heard them all. Don't tell him I said that though."

Papa turned to look at Cai Hong, "Was Cai Hong a good girl?"

Cai Hong nodded, "Cai Hong was good! Cai Hong waited for Papa properly!"

"Umu, good girl, good girl."

Papa patted Cai Hong's head, then fed Cai Hong a candy.

Yay! Cai Hong got headpats and candy!

Papa is the best!

(Manami POV)

It took another five minutes before that old geezer finally finished his speech. I couldn't even snuggle up to Master because of all the people watching.

With the old geezer's speech over and the festival officially in full swing, we could finally continue our little group date with Master.

Ufufufu~~ I hope no one notices how much my tails were wagging around behind me.

Mmm… But if this is a date, we should really be holding hands.

Unfortunately, I am not shameless enough to suggest such a thing yet.

Cai Hong is a different case of course.

Ufufufufu~~ Just looking at her reaching up to grasp Master's hand with her left hand while her right is occupied with a candy apple on a stick is enough for me.

The Sect Master had openly declared that most of the food and entertainment ideas had came from Master himself during his speech, an obvious ploy to hype the festival up.

I wonder how our believers are doing in the festival right now?

"Master? What are those?" Lian Li asked, pointing to a stall that had a small water tank in front of it.

"Ah, it's fish scooping," Master noted with a smile. "One of the games I suggested for them. You use a small paper scoop to try and scoop the fish into a bowl. It's basically a test of speed and dexterity. Want to try?"

All of us agreed.

"Master Lin!" The stall tender called out. He was a rather young man that looked to be in his twenties, his face was rugged and scarred, his moustache and goatee neatly trimmed.

"Are you interested in trying out the fish scooping?" He asked, already handing out the catchers professionally.

"Umu, my disciples would like to try. How much per game?"

"Hahaha, Master Lin need not pay at this one's humble stall! This festival wouldn't be possible without Master Lin after all!"

Master shook his head, "That won't do, it would feel I'm taking advantage of you. I believe two coppers a person would be good right?"

The stall tender shook his head hurriedly, "Master Lin is too generous! This one is unworthy of such generosity!"

"Nonsense, here," Master drop a stack of coins on the counter. "This is but a small pittance."

Master then took five of the catchers and handed it out to us.

The man stared at the coins in shock, unsure of what to do. He glanced up at Lian Li who gave him a curt nod when Master was not looking.

The man teared up before picking up the coins reverently, "Master… Is truly benevolent…"

"Papa? How play?" Cai Hong asked, tilting her head at Master while tugging on his sleeve.

Master crouched down, guiding her towards the edge of the pool while holding her hand that had the catcher in it.

"Cai Hong needs to use this little scoop here to bring the fishies into this little bowl here. But the paper breaks easily so Cai Hong needs to be careful, ok? You win when you get a lot of fishies in your bowl."

Cai Hong looked at the small fishes that were swimming around in said pool with a glint in her eyes.

"Nn! Cai Hong will try!"

She dipped her catcher into the pool, aiming to catch a red coloured fish.

But the moment she had lifted the catcher out of the water, the paper on the catcher broke, allowing the fish to slip back into the water.

Master patted her head, "It's not that easy hmm? Don't worry, Cai Hong can try again."

Master placed another stack of coins on the counter, "Keep the nets coming boss. And don't stop until my girls are done."

The man sputtered, "B-b-b-boss?! I-I-I wouldn't dare!"

"Don't worry about it, just keep the catchers coming you hear?"

The man saluted, "Right away, Master Lin!"

Master looked towards our direction and beckoned, "Come now girls, don't be shy."

"Ufufufu~ Could the disciple who catches the most fish have a wish granted by you, Master?" I asked.

Master thought for a moment, "As long as I can do it, why not?"

Ara ara? I was only kidding you know? But now you've gone and made this serious…

One full day of fluffing with Master here I come!

My sisters and I shared a glance.

Ufufufu~~ No hard feelings indeed.

We took our spots around the pool, our eyes scanning the pool of water for potential targets with our weapon of choice prepared in our hand.

My eyes settled on a small unassuming fish that was floating near the edge of the pool. It was unmoving except for the occasional bubbles coming out from its mouth.

My hand struck out, the scoop heading straight underneath the fish to toss it back to my bowl.

It was an extremely smooth motion even if I say so myself.

The other girls had also struck at roughly the same time I did, no doubt already scooping up fish of their own.

I smirked, this will be a true test of our abilities which I won't lose!

I scanned the pool for my next target, my bowl ready to receive any fish I scoop up.

Ara?

Why does that fish look so similar to the one I just scooped up?

I shifted my sight to my bowl, only to find it completely filled with nothing but water.

Perplexed, I glanced back at my other hand to find the catcher's net sporting a gaping hole in it.

"Another one!" The five of us yelled out at the same time, waving our broken catchers at the stall tender.

Once the catcher was in my hands, I did not hesitate to strike at the same fish again, churning up waves in the pool with my lightning fast motion.

I stared at the once again torn catcher in my hand.

"One more!" All of us yelled, snatching the catchers from the stall tender's shivering hands.

This time, I waited. The fish must have bitten a hole through the catcher before I could scoop it up, making it some kind of profoundly skilled fish. What a devilish game this is!

So if I scooped it up from this angle from its back, it shouldn't be able to bite through it… I just need to wait for a prime opportunity…

As though sensing my intentions, the fish turned around to face me, looking up at me with its tiny little eyes.

Ara ara? Taunting me now are you?

But I have you now!

My hand dived straight towards it, as though trying to scoop it up from straight underneath.

But that was just a feint!

I had already passed the catcher to one of my tails that is heading straight from your blind spot!

Ufufufu! Even if you swim now, it'll be too late!

My tail came in from its back, plunging the catcher under the fish and flicking it up in one smooth motion.

With that, the fish should be launched airborne into my waiting bowl.

Except… There was no flying fish and only another torn catcher.

The other four seemed to have similar problems too.

Ara, ara? Could this be… A setup?

All of us stood and clutched the stall tender's collar firmly.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lian Li asked.

"Fufufu… Thinking yourself better now that Master has given you recognition, is it? How… Interesting..." I laughed.

Cai Hong puffed her cheeks, "Cai Hong will 'Bwal Bwust' you!"

"WHy IS SuCH A dESPICABLE THING ALLoWEd TO EXisT?" Eris threatened.

"A thousand cuts… Nay, a million cuts of the flesh might suffice for a start," Diao Chan smiled at him.

"Hahaha, it's no fault of his, girls." Master called out. "This game isn't as simple as it seems, come look."

We turned to watch Master hold a catcher in his right hand and a bowl in his other, crouching down to take up my previous spot.

His face was of a serene calmness as he gazed into the pool, unfettered by the number of fish before him.

He lowered the catcher slowly into the water, just below the one that I had been trying and failing to catch.

With a deft flick of his wrist, the fish ended up inside his bowl and the catcher still entirely intact.

He gave us a beaming smile as he showed the contents of his bowl to us, "See? It is possible, come here and I'll teach you."

That smile of pure innocence and unadulterated happiness...

Ahhh~~ Master, I take back the day long fluffing! This is already reward enough! Show us more of that face please!!!

I crouched down in front of the pool and Master took position behind me, pressing himself against my back as he took hold of my hand to guide it towards the pool.

"Now, keep your hand steady and slowly put it in…" Master whispered into my ear softly.

This is the best day ever!!!!

Chapter 62 - The Prelude

(Lian Li POV)

Unfortunately we didn't catch any fish in the end. Not due to a lack of trying but we had just been so distracted by Master's beaming smile that we couldn't go on to compete anymore.

I'm sure the pictures Manami will make later will be the best ones we've ever created.

I wouldn't be surprised if this batch became even more popular than the bath ones.

Master had also released the ones he caught back into the pool, giving his thanks to the stall tender for the time before leaving.

I volunteered to gather the catchers to return to the stall tender while they waited just ahead of the stall.

"Good work," I nodded as I passed him the catchers.

"All for Master," he prayed, his tone of voice holding more reverence than ever before.

"Anything to report?"

"None at the moment, but all of us are in position."

"Very well, report to us immediately if anything amiss comes up."

"Yes, High Priestess."

"All for Master," I prayed.

"All for Master," He echoed.

I rejoined the group and we followed Master to view the other stalls.

The Courtyard was more crowded now as more people joined in on the festivities, tasting the stall food or participating in the game stalls.

Quite a number of them stopped when they saw Master, exchanging New Year greetings with him.

Cai Hong was still holding on to Master's left hand while his right hand remained empty.

Needless to say, the four of us wanted to hold that hand too but we weren't thick-skinned enough to ask if we could hold it.

Cai Hong tilted her head back, spotting us staring at Master's free hand wistfully.

She smirked at us before looking up towards Master, her face one of pure excitement, "Papa! There's a lot of people!"

"Mmhmm… It's a big festival after all," Master laughed, nodding to a few Sect members who waved at him.

"Muuu… Will big sisters get lost?" Cai Hong asked innocently.

Master turned back, watching us squeeze our way through the crowd while making sure our eyes were directed elsewhere.

He stretched his free hand towards us, "Come closer now, wouldn't want any of us to get lost in this crowd."

I felt my heart skip as I grasped his hand, Master's warmth coursing through me from the touch.

Manami immediately went for his arm, wrapping her own arm around his.

Cai Hong then clambered up Master's side, settling herself on top of his shoulders and leaving his other hand free for Eris and the arm for Diao Chan to hold on to.

"Ok… This wasn't what I had in mind but I guess it works," Master commented awkwardly.

"Papa! I'm tall!" Cai Hong exclaimed.

"Yes, yes. Now sit properly or you might fall."

"Okies~~"

I entwined my fingers with Master's, enjoying the feeling of Master's touch.

We waded our way through the crowd, gathering stares from all around us.

The number of people stopping Master to give New Year greetings significantly lessened.

"Master… Stage…" Eris asked, pointing a finger towards the large stage near the centre of the Courtyard.

"Ah, there should be a performance going on now, do you girls want to watch?"

We nodded in unison.

Master altered his path to head towards the stage where a large crowd had already gathered to watch.

We found a spot nearby that granted us full view of the stage, just as two fox youkai entered the stage with two stringed instruments.

"Ah, the shamisen. A classic," Diao Chan commented fondly.

They sat down at the corner of the stage, taking their time to tune their instruments while another fox youkai stepped onto the stage, this one with maroon hair and six tails.

"Ara? That rabid dog is the last one I expected to perform a kabuki…" Manami commented.

I raised my eyebrow at her but Manami just shook her head in response.

The musicians stummed their lute and the girl began to dance and sing in very deliberate slow motions.

Almost everyone became captivated by her voice and movements, watching her closely as if in a trance. Even I could not help but give my full attention to her performance as she swayed to the slow, haunting tune.

She sang of a poor village girl who loved another within her village, yet despite all her love and efforts, the other had shunned her love.

But even faced with the rejection, she continued to shower them with love and care, heedless of how the others had told her it was a fruitless venture.

She sang of how her loved one had caught the eye of a tyrant one day, the tyrant spriting them away to his palace and separating the two of them. The audience cursed at the tyrant, even I felt anger at how the two had been separated apart so unjustly.

The village girl cried her heart out, but yet she was powerless to stop it from happening.

But she had not given up on rescuing her loved one.

The song reached its climax when civil war broke out within the country, the village girl inciting a rebellion to overthrow the tyrant.

The crowd leaned in as the battle reached its apex, the rebels storming the tyrant's castle and the village girl breaking down the doors to the tyrant's room herself.

There was an epic duel to the death, the village girl having grown into a skilled warrior over the course of the war.

The girl had slipped during the fight, the crowd gasping in response, all of us were at the edge of our seats. But in a stroke of luck, the girl had thrown her sword, impaling the tyrant in the chest and slaying him.

All of us believed it was a happy ending, but alas, the girl had found her love dead in a pool of blood. The tyrant had slaughtered them as an attempt to spite the village girl's rebellion.

We cried alongside the girl, lamenting over the unfairness of the world and the loss of her love.

The song then concluded with the village girl burying her love back at her village, having been crowned the new queen of the land.

She ruled justly, swearing to be the best ruler in honor of her love's name.

The song ended on its last note, the fox singing her last tune as the village girl turned queen joins her beloved in the afterlife after dying of old age. All of us remained silent even as the song faded away into silence, contemplating on what we just witnessed.

That was when Master made a smacking sound with his lips, awakening me from my stupor with the sound of ringing bells in my ears.

"Hmmm… Truly without a doubt, this kind of magic would allow fox youkai to slingshot themselves to stardom easily," Master muttered.

"Ufufufu~ As expected of Master to see through her immediately," Manami giggled, snuggling her face into Master's shoulder.

"Ma… Magic, Master?" I asked.

"Umu… She's quite a mischievous one. She used Air and Astral quarks to send out minor suggestions to her audience's psyche, making them more receptive to her performance and painting the scene directly into their minds."

I shivered, unsure of what this entails since I fell for such an insidious Technique so easily.

As though sensing my unease, Master tightened his grip on my hand, "Don't worry so much, I have yet to teach any of you how to defend against such skills so there's nothing to fret about your lack of experience. I suppose I'll move such a lesson up in the schedule now that an example has presented itself."

Ahh~~ As usual, Master is always looking out for us~~ What have we done to deserve him?

Life returned to the rest of the audience as the spell faded, the performers having long exited the stage.

"Still… Did you know that such a thing would happen, Manami?" Eris asked.

Our fox sister tilted her head, "Mmm… I did not know that she would be performing. Usually only foxes with more than four tails are capable of such a complicated technique. But we all learn the simple ones that just makes us seem more appealing when performing from a young age."

I caught on to her words, "You are familiar with that six tailed one?"

"Unfortunately," She nodded. "She's just my stalker, really."

"Ehehehe~~ Sister really knows how to make me blush~~" A voice echoed from behind us.

"Go away, Shizuri," Manami told the voice off coldly, not even turning to see who said the words.

"Aww~~ Don't be so mean, Manami," The maroon coloured fox appeared from beside me. "Why don't you introduce me to your friends?"

Manami sighed, gesturing to each of us in turn to introduce, "Master, this is Shizuri, my stalker. Shizuri, this is my Master and destined mate. The others are my fellow sisters, Lian Li, Cai Hong, Eris and Diao Chan."

"Hehehe~ Well met, sisters and… Hmmm… Manami's mate? I am Shizuri, her long time frie--"

"Stalker," Manami interrupted.

"Hehehe~ Manami is really cute when she is shy~~"

"Fufufu~~ I do not remember being very friendly with you, Shizuri."

"Ohohoho~ Manami really is shy! You can call me Shizu if you want, you know? Mimi?"

I noticed a tick mark forming on Manami's forehead, "Ara? I most definitely did not allow you to call me that."

"Ehehehe~ Mimi is so cute~~"

Shizuri tried to poke Manami's cheek but the latter just recoiled from her, avoiding the appendage like it was toxic.

"Alright, that's enough," Master stepped in. "I'm sure you're tired from your performance alrea--"

"Huh? Am I talking to you?" Shizuri's face changed suddenly, her previous joyous expression replaced with one of pure hate. "I was talking to Manami, who do you think you are to sto--"

Manami waved her arm in a circle, lighting up the ground beneath Shizuri before the maroon fox got teleported away.

"Huh… That was… Interesting," Master commented, looking at the place Shizuri had been.

"Forgive me, Master. I've shown you something unbecoming of myself…" Manami bowed.

Master reached out and patted her head, "It's alright Manami. Would you like me to call you Mimi from now on?"

I could see the steam coming out from Manami's ears.

"Umm… Please… Hngh… Please do it when we're alone…" Manami pleaded.

"Speaking of which… I think it should be our turn now…" Diao Chan commented.

Master raised an eyebrow at her words, "What do you mean?"

"Cai Hong and big sisters prepared a 'swuprwise' for Papa!" Cai Hong exclaimed proudly.

As if on cue, the emcee who also happens to be a fox youkai stepped onto the stage, "And now, may we welcome the lovely girls of Master Lin's on stage to present to us their captivating performance!"

I kissed Master's cheek, "Watch us, Master."

All of us proceeded towards the stage, ready to entertain our Master and bring him even more glory.

Chapter 63 - Thousand Cherry Blossoms

(MC POV)

I watched the girls ascend proudly on to the stage while wondering when did the girls plan for this?

Don't tell me they managed to prepare all this within these two weeks?

Hell, even Cai Hong is participating too.

I can only assume the girls had planned, practised and perfected their performance within the short time frame that I've given them to source for more staff.

If that was true, then that's some God-like skills right there.

Putting that aside, the fox youkai's performance was also quite interesting. Because of the fact that I've rarely been out of my room in the past, I was absolutely clueless on the entertainment of this world.

I'm a little ashamed to admit that I had zero interest in such things like music back then.

That Shizuri girl was also quite interesting.

I had noticed that her magic had managed to charm even some of the Masters that were present.

Even if they were inexperienced, they should have at least felt something was off and tried to protect themselves from it.

I was unaffected by it since I had recognised the magic she had tried to conceal behind her singing before hand and prepared a counter for it.

Seeing that there was nothing malicious about it other than increasing her performance's appeal, I didn't outright stop her either.

But I also noticed that Manami was quite displeased by her performance for some reason.

Putting aside the tragic ending and the various plot holes like how the village girl's love never once loved her back, making the village girl more of a creep than some tragic heroine, I thought the performance was rather well done.

And the way that fox girl suddenly changed her tone when I talked to her was intriguing too.

I can't be too sure but… I can bet my money that Manami has a yandere on her hands.

I'm still not sure if Manami is aware of that fact yet though, but I suppose it would be prudent of me to at least keep an eye on her. Wouldn't want her to shank anyone of us because of a misunderstanding after all.

Yanderes are scary, you know?

If I had a yandere girl chasing after me, I don't know what I would do.

What?

My girls?

What's wrong with them? They're the cutest girls there is! Just look at them setting up on the stage for their performance, they're just so cute.

The incident with the fish scoop stall tender?

Bah, it was their first time playing fish scooping, it can't be helped that they thought the stall tender was scamming them in some way after their catchers broke thrice in a row, you know?

There's no way my cute disciples can be yanderes.

Even if they are, are you telling me headpats are what is keeping them from going crazy? Ha!

I admit to the divine power of headpats, but I doubt I'm good enough to be able to stop a crazy person using headpats.

Do I need to remind you that Lian Li is a possible world ending calamity?

And hey! I've already managed to pacify her using the compassionate bandit strategy already!

One hundred percent effective!

No doubt, no doubt, no doubt.

Oh, it looks like the girls are done setting up.

So Manami is on the instruments while the other four will be performing a dance I suppose?

The girls doing the dance had lined themselves up in order of height, Lian Li took front stage while Eris stood slightly hidden behind and followed by Diao Chan after her. Cai Hong stood to the side of the stage as the shortest, probably waiting for her cue to walk in.

When viewed from the front, only Lian Li was visible among the three girls with the tip of the other two girls' heads just barely poking above Lian Li's frame.

Wait.

Manami is surrounded by a whole lot of instruments…

I'm seeing a Shamisen on her left, two flutes that I surmised to be a Nohkan and a Shakuhachi, two small Taiko drums with a Tsuzumi beside them and a Koto strings on her right.

How is she going to play all that by herself?!

Just as that thought entered my head, her tails began shifting themselves towards each instrument while her own hands picked up the Nohkan flute.

There should be a limit to your tails' dexterity you know?!

Too overpowered!

The girls shared a glance and a nod, the four girls on stage taking out a foldable paper fan from within their sleeves while Manami picked up the Nohkan flute towards her lips.

A second passed before a high-pitched whistling sound blew out from the flute.

That was the cue for Cai Hong to start moving towards the group of three, her bare feet gliding across the stage with the fan held firmly at her side.

Cai Hong did a twirl when she reached the space in front of Lian Li, bringing the other girls to life as they slid into their posing position, their fans flushed open and on display.

Manami began her beat on the Tsuzumi with her tail, giving the dancers a four-tap beat to follow.

At the end of the first double tap of the Tsuzumi, Manami quickly switched out the flute in her hands for the Shamisen, strumming it without hesitation.

The girls on stage leapt to the sides, forming a horizontal line as they began their dance in earnest. Their kimono sleeves flared as they swayed side to side, their faces full of smiles and their eyes staring straight at me.

They twirled again, tucking their paper fans in their obi just as two of Manami's tails started their beat on the Taiko drums and another two began strumming the Koto's strings.

The girls moved faster and faster, their every sway and step in sync with the beat.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any better, Manami had lifted the Nohkan to her lips with her tails and blew a whistling tune into it, all the while still strumming the Shamisen in her hands.

I'm pretty sure most of the audience's jaw had dropped to the ground by now. Either that, or they were too captivated by the dance to notice Manami's little performance there.

As though passing over a baton, the moment Manami's lips had left the flute, the girls on stage began their own singing, enrapturing the audience with their voice. Meanwhile, Manami had switched the Nohkan for the deeper sounding Shakuhachi flute as accompaniment.

The girls sang of a nation with thousands of cherry blossom trees and how it has changed through the fires of war.

There were the laments of the traditionalists who wished the centuries long traditions would stay, but yet, the nation still chose to move forward and abandon its traditions in favour of more modern cultures.

They sang of how the nation changed so much that it was as if a new being had taken its place, already unrecognizable by the old timers who were there since the nation's founding.

Their movements became faster and sharper, signifying the traditionalists last attempts in trying to preserve the cultures of their forefathers. The song matched their pace and energy as Manami switched to the higher pitched Nohkan again.

The girls twirled and sang, showing the discourse within the nation as the people rejected the change before gradually accepting that the past was something that had to be left behind, most of the people coming to embrace the change.

The song then gradually slowed down once more, the girls' dance also slowing down to match the tempo.

Manami once more showed her talents as she switched between the Nohkan and Shakuhachi quickly without pause, her tails expertly manipulating the flutes while still playing the other instruments.

In the song, the people were slowly adapting to its newfound identity in an alien place. But even in such a time, they found a way to mix tradition and modernity together, forging an even newer identity for themselves that they could all accept together.

The song sped up once more as the people celebrated their uniqueness in the new world, dancing and singing under the thousands of cherry blossom trees.

The song ended with the girls posing in the middle with their paper fans spread open and Manami plucking the last string on her Shamisen.

Their eyes had been on me the entire time, as though only my opinion mattered to them.

I gave them a nod and a smile, bringing my hands together for an applause.

The crowd was awoken from their trance by my clapping, all of them joining in to turn it into a thunderous applause.

A full faced smile graced each of their faces. They stood back up to line up on the stage and give a deep bow to the audience, leaving the stage while the applause still continued long after they left.

I, myself, am quite speechless at their performance too.

It was nothing short of extraordinary, no doubt this performance would be in the minds of every visitor today.

But I wonder just when and how they managed to come up with something like this?

While deep in my thoughts, I felt a presence creep near me.

I turned around to see the six tailed fox from before standing behind me, a knife wielded in each hand while a disconcerting smile was on her face.

"Ehehehe~~ You shouldn't have turned around~~"

Chapter 64 - Hunter Becomes The Hunted, But Who Really Was The Hunter Anyway?

(Diao Chan POV)

"It seems Master was really pleased by our performance," I commented.

"Fufufu~ Indeed. I wonder if Master would reward us?" Manami fantasised.

Eris stretched her arms, groaning, "I guess our hard work paid off! All we need now is to find somewhere secluded around here with Master and… Heh heh heh…"

Cai Hong tilted her head, "Papa happy?"

Lian Li patted her, "Yes, I'm sure Master is very happy with us now."

"Yay!!" Cai Hong cheered.

We made our way back to Master who had remained at where he had been from the start.

"A spectacular performance, girls," Master praised, welcoming us back with open arms.

Cai Hong immediately dived into his embrace.

"Papa! Papa! Did Papa see Cai Hong? How did Cai Hong do?"

Master patted her head, "Cai Hong was very cute."

"Ehehehe~~ Papa, huggies!"

Master lifted her up in his arms before turning to us, "All of you were stunning on stage as well."

I felt my heart soar at his praise, no doubt the others were feeling the same thing as well.

"Ummm…If Master wills it, I… I wouldn't mind to a… Private performance for Master…" I suggested while poking my fingers together.

"Ufufu~ This big sister does not mind as well," Manami agreed, hiding her smiling face behind her sleeve.

Eris nodded, "Yes, it will be nice if Master would watch us perform again. This time just for Master alone."

"Mmm… Would Master be open to such an idea?" Lian Li asked.

"Hahaha, I do not mind," Master laughed. "It was a treat for me to watch as well. You girls must have worked hard to prepare for this. Well done."

We were still basking in his praise when Manami spotted something, "Ara? Master? Is the grass patch under you… Singed?"

All of us looked down at Master's feet.

True enough, there was a patch of grass at where his left foot was that seemed to have been burnt recently. There was even the slight smell of cooked meat in the air, but that could have been from the nearby stalls.

Master smiled at us, "Ah, don't mind it. It was a bit chilly so I used a little fire to warm the air around for a bit just now. Also, another stall owner came by with a meat skewer for me to try, it was quite nice. I'll bring you girls to his stall later."

As expected of Master's ingenuity, I would not have thought of doing such a thing to warm myself. Meat skewers also sounds rather nice right now.

Lian Li grasped Master's hand, taking up her previous spot, "Should we continue our umm… Date, Master?"

Master nodded, letting Cai Hong sit on his shoulders again before stretching out his other hand towards us, "Shall we?"

Eris and Manami immediately clung to his arms, leaving me with Master's hand to hold.

I was just about to join them when I saw one of the Festival's staff waving at me from the side of the stage, beckoning to me with a finger to his lips.

"Ah… I'll join you all in a while. I should go help them clear the stage," I gestured to the staff that were currently trying to move Manami's instruments away.

Master raised an eyebrow at the scene, "Hmm? You can just leave it to the staff though, they're trained for this aren't they?"

I hesitated, "Yes but… I just feel bad for leaving it to them."

Master smiled at me, "Ah, they asked for your autograph didn't they? I understand, we'll wait for you here."

I don't know what an autograph is but I wasn't about to question Master about it now.

I bowed to Master in thanks before scurrying off back towards the stage, looking for the staff who had signaled to me.

I spotted him trying to move the taiko drums from the stage.

"Here, let me help," I offered, picking up one side of the drum.

The man wiped the sweat off his brow, "Oh, many thanks Missus, ma back ain't what it used ta be m'fraid."

I helped him move the drums to a storehouse where they kept the unused instruments, a distance away from the stage and out of prying eyes.

I glanced around, making sure there was no one in sight before chanting, "'Wistful Spirits I summon thee, bend this plane to suit my need. My words are sacred, they shall not be stripped naked; With your veil you shall aid, hiding from all who seek to parade. Wind Veil!'"

Nothing seemed to happen, but I knew the spell had taken effect and any sound made within a two meter radius from me will not escape out of the boundary.

The man was surprised from my actions.

"Ummm… May I ask what happened?"

"Just making sure there's no eavesdroppers," I stated casually.

The man nodded in understanding.

"We can talk now, what do you have for me?" I asked, pretending to be busy with unhooking the drum from its stand.

"Ah, of course, missus. I have a report from our contact that he has found proof that the Xi Family is colluding with Dark Sects."

I clicked my tongue in distaste, nodding at him to continue.

He glanced around furtively, "We've already dealt with all of the Dark Sect members that have infiltrated into the Festival, so you can rest assured that the coast is clear."

"So it's true then… The rumour that some heretics are trying to harm our Master."

"Yes. But we have yet to figure out what they plan to do."

"Tch… We need to expand our information network. No matter, keep the ones we captured aside, I want to torture some information out of them."

"Of course, missus."

"Double the watch, make sure no Dark Sect member gets away with having thoughts on hurting our Master."

"It will be done."

"I want them strung upside down, whipped to within an inch of their life and all their tendons cut. Both arms should be broken and a chain of thorns wrapped around their torso."

"Ummm… Right… Right away…"

"Is there anything else?"

"Er… That's it on my side… But… May I consult you in some matters?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "What is it?"

"Die."

His hand stabbed towards me, a knife with a greenish blade in his grasp.

My hand was already there to stop him, holding his wrist with a vice-like grip.

"Sub-par acting, I'll probably only give it a one out of ten. The one point being that you actually tried to look busy when talking to me," I scoffed.

The man tried to pull the knife out of my grasp but his hand wouldn't budge.

He clenched his other hand into a fist and punched towards my face.

I caught his laughable attempt with my other palm, my fingers curling around his fist.

"Tch! How did you know?!" The man yelled indignantly.

"Ahahaha! Did you think we have no idea who our believers are?" I laughed. "You didn't even address me by my title nor made any praise to Master, did you think I will fall for your stupid disguise?"

I twisted my hand, breaking his wrists with an audible snap, the knife dropping to the floor with a loud clang.

His screams filled me with pleasure.

"Ehehehe~~ Your attempt at acting was third rate at best too, couldn't even control your facial expressions well."

The man glared at me with hate.

"Mmmm~~ Those are nice eyes~~ I'll properly break you in~~ Let me think of what role I want you to play~~"

He lifted his leg to kick me but my foot was faster, stepping on his knee and kicking it back with a snap. I wonder if I could get him to learn how to walk with a backwards facing knee?

"Ugh… How did you know we know?" He asked in that little pathetic voice. If it wasn't because of the fact I was still holding him up by his wrists, he would have collapsed on the ground already.

"Ehehehe~ You think you can send a threat letter to Master without us finding out? How naive~ Well… As much as I would like to stay and slowly torture you to my liking, I have a date I need to get back to. So I guess I'll get back to you later."

I tightened my grip on his broken wrist, forcing another delicious scream out of him.

My body shook involuntarily.

Ahhh~~ I wish Master would inflict such wondrous pain on me one day. Maybe I could ask that as a reward from him? Ehehehe~~

Ah, must not get distracted, "'Eternal gates that crosses voids, I seek a connection to exploit. Cast ye a gate to cross, deposit my charge without a loss. Sling them across the voids! Through time and space to mine hearth, a journey with the distance scarce. Send them forth with chains that bind, unbreakable bonds that imprison their minds! Slingshot Teleport!"

The man's body glowed before blinking out of existence, my Spell having teleported him to our interrogation cell within our base.

The Spell would also render him unconscious for a while, giving time for our warden to take care of him.

I stretched my arms, at least I know that there are still a few rats like him wandering around. Dark Sects really are quite irritating.

And the Xi Family… Well, we already knew about that little info from the insect some time ago. But how the Dark Sect figured out we knew was another question I needed answers to.

Oh well, that's all secondary.

I should not keep Master waiting any longer.

For making him wait this long… Maybe he might give me a smack on my behind?

Ehehehe~~

Chapter 65 - And Just A Pinch Of Salt

(Eris POV)

I don't know, but I would add a little more salt to this. [Eris]

Naaah. You know what this thingy needs? More meat! [Bait]

Distasteful… [Laverna]

This one does not think adding meat to salted popcorn would make it any better. [Denna]

Ha! You're not thinking big enough! Imagine! Bacon wrapped popcorn bits! Heh heh heh! Gotta write that down! [Bait]

Sweet is better… [Laverna]

Hmmm… This one would bake it with salted caramel, maybe a dash of butter as well… [Denna]

I would like to try something more simple next. [Eris]

Oh! Could we get something more meaty after that? I want something with a little more sauce and kick! [Bait]

"Ah, Master Lin. We meet again," A voice interrupted my train of thoughts.

I turned to see the two Masters from before standing there with sticks of food in their hands. What were their names again?

Taoyan and Leizhui… [Laverna]

Oh yeah... Totals forgot about these little pieces of trash. Are we doing anything with them? [Bait]

This one isn't sure either. [Denna]

I guess we'll just wait and see for now, Master will decide. [Eris]

"Ah, Master Taoyan and Master Leizhui, I see you two are enjoying the Festival?" Master greeted.

Leizhui took a bite of his chicken skewer, "It's adequate I suppose."

Taoyan also bit into his own steamed bun, "Yes, barely acceptable by our standards. I don't understand why you bother, Master Lin."

These guys talk a lot of crap while stuffing their face with Master's food. Can I punch them? [Bait]

Trash will only know how to talk trash it seems. [Eris]

This one thinks having them die is too easy. [Denna]

Quiet… [Laverna]

Master laughed, "Ahahaha! I am glad to hear that this hastily organised event was adequate enough to satisfy fellow Masters' extremely high standards!"

"Hmph… I only said it was adequate, not that I was satisfied," Leizhui scoffed, still stuffing his mouth with his skewers.

Taoyan nodded from beside his partner, taking another bite from his bun, "Indeed, if this is all the festival entails to, our own celebration is much, much better."

"Oh, but we have barely even started!" Master exclaimed. "There will be a big competition at the main stage later that I think you two would very much like to participate."

"Ha! Why would this great one be interested in some festival game?!" Leizhui laughed.

"The top prize is a single petal of a Phoenix Ember," Diao Chan informed helpfully.

The two Masters' jaws dropped, turning towards Master for confirmation.

Master nodded his head, "Yes, it's true. I've come across a Phoenix Ember during my travel and I've donated one as a prize for the Festival. Though now… I guess you two aren't interested in such a festival game like ours."

Taoyan gulped, "Wha… What kind of a… Competition is it?"

"Oh, it's a very simple and family friendly one," Master laughed. "It's just a simple quiz show where every question you answer correctly gets you a point. The one with the highest points wins the prize."

The two Masters stepped forward with an intense gaze, my hand drifted towards my hip where a blade lay hidden.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the other girls also stepping forward slightly, ready at any notice of danger to spring forward to protect Master.

"Wh… When is this… Competition?" Leizhui asked, his entire body shaking.

Master tilted his head slightly, "Hmmm? Aren't Master Taoyan and Master Leizhui absolutely uninterested in our Sect's festival?"

Taoyan stuttered, "This… This and that are two different things! Since we're already here, we might as well take part, right Leizhui?!"

Leizhui nodded enthusiastically, "Ye… Yeah, that's right. Now what time does that competition start?"

"It'll be late into the night, about an hour before the official end of the year," Master informed.

Taoyan breathed, "Whew… We still have time then. That gave me a scare there."

Leizhui took a step back as well, "Huh indeed. To think such a desolate--Ahem-- such a precious thing would be given away as a prize. How generous of you Master Lin."

"I am unworthy of such praise."

"But to think Master Lin would spend the time to engage in such… Frivolous activities. Tsk tsk."

Master raised an eyebrow, "I'm afraid I do not understand?"

"Oh come off it," Taoyan scoffed. "You have your disciples clinging onto your arms like that already, it's obvious what you do with them when the lights go out."

Oooh~ If only he knew about what we did in Master's courtyard the other day! [Bait]

Shut up. [Eris]

Hey, I'm just sayin', no need ta be sooo touchy. [Bait]

Master smiled at them, "You couldn't be suggesting something rude, could you?"

Taoyan crossed his arms, "Hmph! We aren't even suggesting, it's prac--"

"Master Taoyan, Master Leizhui, what are you doing over there?!" A voice called out.

We all turned to see the insect of the Xi Family calling out to them.

"Father has been looking for you two! Do I need to tell him you're slacking off?"

The two hurriedly bowed to the insect.

"Not at all young master Xi! We were just speaking with Master Lin here!"

"Yes, not at all young Master Xi! We will take our leave first then, Master Lin."

The insect watched them leave before nodding his head towards us, leaving the scene quietly.

Hmph, rabid dogs that only know how to bark. [Bait]

This one thinks we should move up our plans for the Xi family even earlier. [Denna]

Ready… [Laverna]

Yes, the others have already made the preparations. We also know that they're connected to several Dark Sects already so their fate is sealed. [Eris]

Speaking of which, isn't Delta suppose ta join that little quiz comp or what's it? [Bait]

Ah, that's right, she will be there. [Eris]

Go… Support… [Laverna]

This one agrees, we should suggest it to Master. [Denna]

"Master, could we see the competition later?" Lian Li asked.

Ah, seems like Lian Li beat us to it. [Bait]

Well, they are quite close after all. Delta spent a lot of time learning about preaching under her. [Eris]

Mnn… Same… [Laverna]

Yes. Everyone here is tied together with our love for Master. [Denna]

Master took a moment to turn his sight away from the departing Taoyan and Leizhui back to us, "Why not? You girls can go find a space to sit first, I need to go help set up the fireworks first."

"Fireworks, Master? Are those the lightshow things you told us about?" I asked, still not entirely sure of what they were.

Master gave me a toothy smile, "You girls will love it. Sit somewhere with a clear view of the sky. Now then, I'll meet you all later."

Master placed Cai Hong back on the ground before moving to leave.

"Papa... Come back fast?" Cai Hong pleaded, pulling on Master's leg.

Master patted her head, "I will, be a good girl ok?"

"Nnn!" Cai Hong nodded.

Master turned to us, "I'll be back fast, just need to tell the fireworks people some things."

"Take care, Master."

We saw him off with a bow.

Master turned to leave, passing by a security staff on the way and wishing him a happy new year while thanking him for his hard work before moving on.

The staff was visibly shocked by Master addressing him and hurriedly offered his own greeting in return.

As soon as Master was out of sight, the insect returned.

"High Priestesses," He greeted. "I assume you already know about my family's dark connections?"

Lian Li nodded, "Yes, we are proceeding as planned. What about the list?"

The insect pulled out a list from his sleeve, "This is the list of people I found who are clean. Everyone else… Does not deserve Master's benevolence."

"Fufufu… Good work, you can go back now," Manami made a shooing motion with her hand.

The insect left immediately without a second glance back.

If nothing goes wrong, we can move on to phase three soon.

Chapter 66 - Then I Saw Her Face, Now I A Believer

(A Believer of Master's Church POV)

Humans are trash.

That was what I've come to learn as the truth of this world.

I used to be a slave for the syndicates of Jin city.

My parents had racked up a massive debt with them to fuel their gambling habits, going as far as to sell their son just to get more money to gamble more.

"Take him," They had told them, pushing me towards three burly looking men with scars all over their bodies. "He can be useful, do whatever you want with him. Just give us like, two silvers, that's not too much right?"

I was ten at that time, all naive and innocent. I didn't even know what was happening then.

I believed my parents' words when they told me, "Mom and dad are going to leave you with these nice people ok? Then we will go get rich and take you back ok?"

I just nodded at their words and went along with the men, letting them put me in this cramped room with several dozen other kids.

The lucky ones who showed some degree of skill were let in to become runners or thieves. The less lucky ones like myself were forced into the mines to dig for gold.

We could only be fed if we brought them gold. If I had failed to bring them any gold, I would go hungry on that day.

Of course some kids learned that you didn't need to actually mine for gold when you can just beat up the scrawniest kid and steal their gold, forcing them to work for you with scraps in return.

I lost my childish innocence there.

I learnt the cruel reality of the world where all humans are trash.

It didn't matter what I did or what I say, there will always be the scum of humanity who will seek to take advantage of others for their own benefit. Even if you keep your head down and keep to yourself, there will be those who see you as a target regardless.

The constant torments from my captors, the bullying I faced from even my fellow prisoners. It was so laughable how humans can turn on each other so easily.

The worst are the ones who show a smiling side to you before ruthlessly stabbing you in the back moments later.

No matter how much I lamented my fate, nothing changed. Everything felt so bleak and hopeless.

But I still held a little hope that someday, someone will come to save me. Be it my parents having a change of heart or even just the law enforcement.

I prayed every night before I returned to the small corner of the sleeping quarters, trying to hold up the little amount of faith I still had in life.

And just as I reached the eighth year of my imprisonment, God himself had answered my prayers.

His apostle had stormed into the syndicate's headquarters alone, bringing down Divine Punishment on my past tormentors.

She pulled us out of our hell, introducing us to the one true God of this world.

He had been the one to direct his Apostle to the hideout with naught but a word, saving us from our hell.

When I had been in the deepest pit of despair with no one caring about my suffering, Master had been the light that shone on me, banishing the pain and despair away.

The others who had been suffering under the syndicates' hands were also brought in, none of us were discriminated against under His light.

She taught us how to properly worship our Master, guided us patiently in seeking his Divine Light.

In time, we would also save the others who had been cursed with darkness by delivering his Holy Light to them.

With everyone forming a bond in worshipping Master, all of us felt that we had finally found a place we could belong.

It was there where I felt warmth for the first time in my miserable life.

The apostles had preached to us lost lambs the benevolence and love of their God, speaking about a world devoid of suffering and hate for their fellow people that He had envisioned.

It sounded absolutely wonderful.

And thus, Master's Church was formed.

We were all united in our worship for Master.

Yes, such a divine and benevolent person like Master could only be loved and praised.

But that was when I learned of an even more horrible fact.

There still existed people who would seek to harm and ridicule our divine Master.

Humans truly are trash.

Without a divine being like Master to guide them, they have strayed so very far away from the light.

Thus, our High priestesses announced our Holy Mission: to cleanse this world of the heretics and create a new, perfect world just for Master.

Master deserved nothing less.

For Master who has given this new life to me, I will work hard in His name.

And this was how I found myself as one of the security staff members chosen to participate in Master's event.

It was there where I first laid eyes on our dear Master himself.

Before this, we had only seen His glorious figure through pictures and paintings.

As divine as he looked in them, those images could not capture the divinity he exuded in person.

I had the opportunity to walk past him, expecting that such a divine figure like him might not even acknowledge my pathetic existence.

But I was proven wrong.

"Happy New Year, thanks for the good work," he called out to me.

It took me a moment to fumble out a response to which he just smiled and nodded to, continuing in his way past me.

That action alone had affirmed my absolute faith in Master.

There were other religions in this continent of course, but all of them were rather minor in belief.

Even though the High Priestesses had preached that we should never put down another's belief in favour of our own, I could not help but feel a little more prideful then.

Could any other worshippers of those faiths boasted what I could? That the being of their worship was walking amongst them and even greeted them for the New Years?

I thought not.

And thus, this was why I had no mercy to give when I came across several Dark Sect members that were trying to infiltrate into the Festival.

I drew my blade, glaring at the hooded group of four Dark Sect members.

We were facing off a distance away from the Sect on a large open field dotted by shrubs.

"You should step down, you don't know what you're going up against," one of them warned me.

I sneered, "You think I'll just let you do whatever you want when I know you're planning something against Master Lin?"

The cloaked person shrugged before pointing a finger at me.

"Death Poke."

I took a step towards the side, letting the invisible death ray pass by me harmlessly.

I leapt forward, startling the cloaked person at my sudden acceleration.

The finger was repositioned back towards me.

"Death Poke!"

I slid low on the ground, the death ray sailing over me.

My blade flashed out as I slid past him, a severed finger flying through the air in my balde's wake.

To the Dark Sect member's credit, there was no panic in their actions as the finger on the other hand was pointed at me.

"Death Poke!"

I stabbed my blade into the ground, stopping my movement and pushing myself into the air. The death ray passed underneath me as I flipped myself back over the Dark Sect member, my blade cutting off the other finger as I passed by.

I landed on my feet, facing them.

The one with the missing fingers backed off, clutching their fingers.

"How… You are but a mere guard…"

"I have been trained by the High Priestess and Cardinal Gamma themselves. I am overqualified to deal with trash like you."

"Damnit… He's one of them! Get him!"

The other three who had been spectating joined the first one, looking none too bothered.

"We'll end you quick and painless," the first one announced, revealing that his hands had healed.

I swiped my blade clean of blood, "I can only promise the opposite. Your deaths will be slow and excruciatingly painful."

"Hmph! Big words for someone who is standing alone!"

I smirked, "When did I ever say that I was alone?"

On cue, three others leapt out from the shrubbery's shadows, all with their blades unsheathed.

I pointed my sword at them, "As a High Inquisitor of Master's Church, I shall begin the cleansing."

I made true to my promise.

Chapter 67 - What A Festival Without Some Friendly Competition

(Delta POV)

I sat at the side of the stage, having been led here by a staff member in preparation for the competition later.

"You are Delta, right?" A feminine voice called out from my side.

I turned my head to the direction of the voice, "Yes?"

"Ah, just checking, no worries. The competition is starting soon so if you would just follow me?"

I stood up, my cane grasped tightly in my right hand.

"Here, you can hold my arm," the woman offered, her arm pushing up towards my free hand.

"Much appreciated."

She led me towards the direction of the stage, my cane tapping on the ground all the way.

"Be careful, there are stairs," She cautioned, slowly guiding me up.

I nodded, taking my time to test each step as I ascended on the stage.

While slowly ascending the stairs, the staff made sure to stay close to me, waiting patiently as I ascended step by step.

"Master is already in the audience alongside the High Priestesses," she whispered.

I nodded my head slightly.

She led me to a small podium, making sure I was settled in properly before leaving the stage.

Using a quick miniature burst of Pure Elemental Quarks, an image of myself standing near the back of the stage was sent to my head.

Around me were fifteen other contestants, their own podiums in front of them which, when coupled with mine, formed an arc that has the inside of the arc facing the audience.

Extending the range of my senses, I notice a bright golden light at the very edge of my mind's vision.

The light was warm and soothing, filling up my soul with nothing but a comfortable sense of wholeness.

There was no doubt that the light was Master in the flesh.

I steeled my resolve to clinch this victory for Master.

The emcee for the competition stepped up onto the stage, her two fox tails waving in the air proudly.

"Welcome everyone to our New Year Quiz Competition! I hope all of you have been having a blast at this event so far! For this event, I will be asking the contestants a few simple questions prepared by our very own Master Lin! All the contestants have to do is to hit the bell in front of them if they think they know the answer and the first one to get it right wins a point!"

My fingers groped around the podium until I felt the mentioned bell and a small hammer to ring the bell with.

"Contestants can only ring the bell with the hammer provided and must not touch it until the question has been fully read out! The first one to ring the bell will get the first chance to answer! If they get it wrong, the question is up for ringing again!"

The rules sounded simple enough.

"Now without further ado, let's start with the first question! What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?"

I picked up my hammer to ring the bell but I was a second too slow.

"And the first one is Master Taoyan of the Xi Family! What is your answer?"

"Dedicated Cultivation."

"Whoops, that's incorrect, Master Taoyan! The question is up again!"

This time I managed to ring it before anyone else.

"Ah! The elf visitor who didn't give a name! What do you think is the answer?"

"Forty-two," I replied without hesitation.

"That is right! One point to the blind elf!"

"Hold it! Why is that the answer?!" An enraged voice yelled from my right.

I could hear the emcee snicker quietly to herself before answering, "I'm sorry Master Leizhui, but I only have the answer here on my cards, not the explanation. These questions were supplied by Master Lin himself so you will have to ask him about it. Surely an expert like him can't be wrong?"

That Leizhui fellow gnashed his teeth so hard I could hear it from here.

"Anyway, next question! How many times can ten be subtracted from one hundred?"

That Taoyan guy managed to ring the bell first again.

"Ha! An easy one! Ten times!"

"Nope, that is incorrect!" The emcee announced. "Anyone else?"

I thought for a moment before ringing mine, "Once."

"That is correct! Another point for our dear elf!"

A loud bang resonated from my side.

"This is bull! Explain how my answer is wrong!"

I turned my head towards Taoyan's direction, "It's because after you subtract ten from a hundred, the second time you'll be subtracting ten from ninety, not a hundred anymore."

I didn't need my sight to know he was glaring daggers at me.

"Moving on!" The emcee joyfully called out. "A Practitioner grows a Peach tree in his garden which he harvests to sell to the other nearby Sects. The tree has fourteen branches, each branch has twenty twigs and each twig bears two pieces of fruit. Assuming he keeps a quarter of it to himself, how many plums can he sell?"

This time another Practitioner on my left rang the bell first, "Five hundred and sixty!"

"Nope, next!"

The Leizhui fellow rang the bell, "Four hundred and twenty!"

"Still nope, next!"

I rang my bell, "Zero."

"And that is correct! Our little elf is killing it!"

"You are making a joke out of us!" Taoyan protested again.

"The question asked about the sale of plums, but the Practitioner grew a peach tree. It's a test of paying attention to details which you are apparently not adept at," I explained without even turning my head this time.

"For a nameless blind elf you sure are arrogant."

"For someone who still has all his senses, you seem to have less sense than I."

"YOU--"

"Alright dear contestants, no fighting, ok? It's only the first few questions after all!" The fox youkai called out cheerfully.

"Hmph! I was under the impression that the questions would be asking about our understanding of the Practitioner world, not these small trick questions used to fool children!" Leizhui scoffed.

The fox clapped her hands, "Then you're in luck, Master Leizhui! For the next question is this! How would one expel the Energy quarks that have been forcefully imbued in a body?"

There was a ripple of murmurs from the crowd, drowned out by Taoyan's shout, "This is outrageous! Everyone knows that it is impossible to remove--"

I tapped my bell lightly with my hammer, "Imbue your own fist with equal or greater Energy quarks and send it to the body's Cultivation point through blunt force impact, revolving your own Energy quarks in an anti clockwise direction."

The stage fell silent with all eyes on me.

"The revolution of your own Energy quarks will force the other Energy quarks to spiral out of the body, expelling itself outside without harming the host."

"Hmph… Such a silly answer," Leizhui scoffed. "If it is so simple, I'll run around this whole Sect naked! Truly you are--"

He was silenced by a single applause that came from the direction of Master.

That sound alone filled my entire world.

"And another point for our missy elf here!"

I turned to him, "You don't need to run around naked. I'm blind and wouldn't want to see it anyway."

Chapter 68 - Baby You A...

(Manami POV)

As expected, Delta had won the competition with ease.

Hearing those two idiots of the Xi Family complain so incessantly was rather annoying though.

But since Master had been occupied with brushing my tails, it made the whole thing bearable at least.

They had watched on in envy when the Phoenix Ember petal was passed to Delta, the elf waving towards our direction with a beaming smile.

"Interesting girl, friend of any of yours?" Master asked while braiding Cai Hong's hair, the loli dragon seated comfortably on his lap.

"We met her back at Jin city," Lian Li explained. "Manai was quite sympathetic to her situation and we made friends with her."

Master smiled at me, "I see. I take that as the reason why she got almost all my questions right?"

I bowed my head low, "I apologise Master, should we not have tutored her?"

Master waved his hand quickly, "Oh no, that's not what I meant. I'm proud that you girls had already spread your knowledge to others, it is not good to hoard knowledge after all. As long as you trust who you're teaching, I am fine with that."

Master… Your benevolence is truly boundless…

Any other Practitioner, any other Master will want to keep their own secrets to themselves. Yet Master is spreading his knowledge around freely without asking for any payment.

"So… A blind elf hmm?" Master wondered aloud.

"She's not actually blind though," Eris commented. "Her eyes were cursed."

Master raised an eyebrow, "Cursed? By chance, is she the one with the cursed eyes that you girls had asked me about curing?"

We all nodded meekly.

"I see…" Master nodded, patting each of our heads in turn.

Ufufufu~~ Master even gave the back of my ears a scratch~~

"Well, I would like to listen to her story, but that will have to be for later. I need to go and prepare for the start of the fireworks."

"Cai Hong go?" Cai Hong asked, reaching out her hands to Master.

Master patted her head, "Mmm… You girls can just stay here and watch. It's the best spot to watch the fireworks. I'll be back once it's over."

"Okies~~"

We watched Master wave his hand in the air before disappearing from his spot, teleporting away in a flash of light.

I looked back towards the stage, finding Delta being led away by one of our staff members.

Ah, I remember Lian Li had prepared Delta a place to rest during the Festival, she must be going there I presumed.

(Delta POV)

"Cardinal Delta…" A voice whispered near me. I tilted my head slightly to indicate the person to continue. "They have delayed the start of the fireworks."

I pursed my lips, "Why? Won't this disrupt the schedule Master set out for them?"

"Ah, no. They delayed it because Master is going to be in charge of the fireworks and he insists that the first one to be lit exactly at midnight."

Ah, then their actions made sense.

"I see. Indeed, everything else is inconsequential as long as Master is there. Thank you for telling me."

"Also… High Priestess Lian Li told me to inform you that we vacated this small room with a view of the sky for you. You can remove the blindfold whenever you want. We will return after the fireworks are over."

I trembled upon hearing those words.

"To have the High Priestess think so far for me… I am truly honoured. Please offer my sincerest gratitude to them."

"It will be done."

I clasped my hands together, "All for Master."

"All for Master."

I heard the footsteps recede from the room, a soft click indicating a door being closed on my far right.

Right now, I was seated in a small unused building in a deserted corner of the Sect. The High Priestesses had secured this building for my use alone, the honor of such an action was not lost on me.

My hand reached to my right, fumbling around until I felt the familiar feeling of my cane in my grasp.

I made my way towards where I remembered the window to be, my cane making tapping sounds as I maneuvered around the furniture.

I felt something solid at the end of the stick, confirming that it was a wall by dragging it along its length.

Placing my free hand on the wall, I began feeling for the opening that would signify the window's position while moving towards the right.

My fingers traced along the wall's smooth surface, the smoothness ending on a rough surface abruptly after a few seconds which I identified as wood.

With one hand on what I assumed to be the window frame, I slowly guided myself towards the opening.

The breeze of fresh air confirmed my assumption of my location.

Leaning my cane on the window frame, I slowly undid the bindings on my blindfold, unwrapping it layer by layer.

As the last of the cloth fell from my face, my cursed eyes were revealed to the world once more.

I blinked my eyes quickly, adapting my eyes to the light that it was denied from for so long.

Just as I managed to look outside the window without hurting my eyes, a loud whistling sound echoed from the distance.

I shifted my eyes towards the sound just in time to catch sight of a small trail of red light streaking up into the sky.

I watched in fascination as the light exploded into a giant red flower, filling up the sky with a reddish hue.

Before the light faded away, three green coloured streaks joined it in the sky, exploding in a shower of sparks to form the stalk of the flower and a single leaf sticking out from the side.

Five white coloured balls of light crawled upwards when the flower faded into darkness.

The balls exploded in a brilliance of white, prompting another five orange streaks to join them in the sky.

There was a secondary explosion from the white ones, each one forming a flower petal that surrounded the orange streak to create an image of a lily flower.

The orange lights then exploded, each of them highlighting the brilliance of the lily flower flawlessly.

The display was simply gorgeous beyond description.

I was enthralled by the fireworks, the knowledge that Master was the one who was behind this beautiful art piece made me was especially humbling.

Just then, a cool breeze blew through the window, snatching the cloth away from my hand and sending it back into the room.

I grabbed at the air, trying to catch the end of the cloth before it flew too far away. It proved to be a fruitless effort with my eyes partially blinded by the bright fireworks, ending up with nothing in my hands.

Sighing, crouched down low on the floor, closing my eyes to readjust to the darkness of the room.

Even after a few seconds had passed, everything still seemed so bright in the near-darkness of the room to me.

Grimacing at these accursed pair of eyes while I used a hand to cover over my eyes and shield myself from the light.

While my other senses were tuned to the maximum, I heard a soft creak coming from deep within the room.

I immediately forced my eyes open behind my hand, ignoring the pain that came with it, "Who's there?!"

Silence.

"I know you are there! Who are you?!"

"Tsk… To think a blind little elf like you actually caught me…" A voice whispered in front of me.

This voice… That Taoyan fellow huh.

I kept a hand over my eyes while the other hand gripped my cane tightly, "What do you want?"

"Don't worry about it little elf thing, just know that you have something we want."

I stood up to my full height, "I take it you are an enemy."

He scoffed, "The eyes hurt don't they? There's always that burning sensation at the back of your eyes, isn't there?"

"How did you… I see, you're part of that Dark Sect…"

"That obvious huh? Not that I really care anyway since you won't be able to do much in a few moments. Anyway, long story short, we need those eyes of yours and I think I've monologued enough plot away at this time so I'll have to take you now."

I released my hold over my eyes, scanning the room for my assailant.

But just as my eyes regained their sight, a black stip of cloth was wrapped around them from behind.

"You didn't think we were not aware of your eyes' powers did you?" Another voice said from behind me.

"Tie it tight, Leizhui, wouldn't want her slipping out of it easily," Taoyan commented, stepping closer to me.

I struggled in their grip, but I was no match against two Master level Practitioners.

A cloth was placed over my mouth to prevent my shout of alarm, which also resulted in me inadvertently inhaling the sleeping gas that had been soaked into the cloth.

I fought to try and stay awake, but it was a hopeless cause as I felt myself slowly growing weaker and weaker, my limbs starting to feel like lead.

"Now come on, get that Phoenix Ember off of her as well. We'll have to do this alone since every other team got stopped by those damn meddlesome church of theirs," Taoyan ordered.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get this done and over with."

My legs gave way as I collapsed onto the floor, unable to muster any more strength to stay awake.

Master… I seek your light again… I pray so…

Chapter 69 - I Am Inevitable

(Lian Li POV)

Everyone around us were marvelling at the fireworks in the sky, gasping as each one formed various objects and shapes with their dazzling light.

Anyone who had been within sight of the fireworks were transfixed to their spots, all of them unable to tear their eyes away from the light show in the night sky.

Even we were stunned speechless by the gorgeous display of light and sound.

There was no doubt that these fireworks will definitely be part of a new tradition from now on.

As expected of our divine Master.

When the fireworks display ended, the people around us began murmuring amongst themselves.

"So that was the 'fireworks' huh?"

"I wonder how they managed to create such a thing?"

"Ah, I heard most of this Festival's ideas came from Master Lin himself."

"Damn, that guy again? He got us beat on all fronts…"

"Yeah, but I think he's personally in charge of the fireworks segment."

"No wonder… That guy really is a monster, huh? If only someone can take him down a peg or two, we wouldn't be so overshadowed by him."

"Hey… Watch your words, we're not in our Sect now. What if someone hears you?"

"Bah… It's not like they'll do anything about it. I'm speaking any lies. I don't think anyone wi--"

"Sorry sir, I would need you to come with us."

"Huh? What? Why? Wait! What are you doing?! Unhand me this instance! Don't you know who I--"

"Be silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you."

"What are you talking about?! Hey! I'm not done here! Where are you taking me to?!"

I watched dispassionately as a few of our people pulled the blabbering idiot away.

Eris sighed beside me, "Some dumbasses just can't keep their stupid thoughts to themselves, huh? ... This one humbly suggests to throw that one to the enlightenment chambers."

"Ufufufu~~ The unenlightened will remain clueless until we teach them after all. This is why we are here, is it not?" Manami giggled.

"Cai Hong no like mean people…" The loli dragon pouted cutely.

Diao Chan tapped her chin, a smile that stretched to her eyes materialising on her face, "Kukuku~~ I wonder… Maybe if I start off with the skinning first, then the breaking… Or should it be the other way around? Ahhh~~ So many possibilities~~"

"Ara? Is something wrong Lian Li?" Manami asked me.

I turned back from where I had been staring at, "No, it's nothing. Just… I have a bad feeling that something is going to happen."

Manami glanced at where I had been looking at, "Ah, Delta is it? Didn't you already get a few people to cordon off the area? I think she should be fine."

"Mmm… I hope so. It's just that there's this little prickle at the back of my neck… Like there's some--"

"Papa!"

My words were interrupted by Cai Hong's shout, the loli dragon having rushed forward to hug Master when he returned via teleportation.

"Did you girls like the fireworks?"

"Papa's 'fwirewowks' are pretty!" Cai Hong exclaimed, burying her face into Master's chest.

"Beautiful…" Eris complimented.

"Fufufu~ This big sister was also entranced by Master's performance, it gave me… Shivers," Manami moaned, slipping her arm around Master's

How sly!

I wrapped my own arm around Master's other arm, "Master's fireworks has outshone our own little performance, forgive us for our arrogance."

"Mnnnn~~ Master should punish for our undeserved pride!" Diao Chan suggested, breathing heavily with flushed cheeks. "For us to be proud of only enrapturing a small group of people within the Festival while Master captured the entire region's attention… Could I suggest a spanking?"

"How could we repay Master for this heavenly gift?" Eris asked.

"Ahahaha! Seeing you girls enjoying yourselves makes the time I spent thinking on the performance worth it already," Master laughed. "Besides, it is I who owe all of you for the Christmas party you girls organised after all."

"Ufufufu~ You shouldn't have, Master. But we thank you all the same," Manami kissed Master's cheek.

I mirrored Manami's actions on the other cheek, "Thank you Master, we could not have asked for more."

"Mmm, as long as you girls enjoy the festival, it can be considered a success," Master nodded. "Speaking of which, what happened to that elf?"

Just as I was about to answer, a large explosion ripped through the space on a hill at the edge of the Sect.

Everyone immediately turned towards the commotion, seeing a giant black coloured lightning striking the top of said hill.

That was the hill where Master's courtyard was.

Before I could even begin to analyze the lightning, another explosion eradicated the area around the hill, throwing up smoke and debris all over the place.

I raised my hands, my body glowing a golden hue as I summoned forth my lightning, disintegrating the debris flying towards us.

Manami swiped her hands in an arc, a gust of wind blowing away the dust cloud that had been thrown up by the explosion.

Eris frowned, "What… The hell is that?"

"A demon… Summoned forth from the depths of hell…" Master muttered, his eyes serious.

Within the smoke, a giant, bald humanoid was crouched down low with a knee touching the ground. Its skin was a fiery red and its size easily dwarfed the hill that its summoning had destroyed.

The demon stood up, reaching over fifty meters in height, its ankles just slightly above our eye level.

It unfurled its arms slowly, the appendages numbering four in total with an extra pair sprouting from its shoulder blades. The demon's eyes were also closed, as though it was asleep.

That thing's only clothing was a strip of loincloth tied around its waist, it would have looked funny if it wasn't so terrifying.

I prepared a lightning bolt to throw at it, only for a hand to reach out and stop me.

I turned to look at Master in confusion.

Master pointed a finger, "The elf… She's embedded in the demon's chest. It seems like they had used her as a catalyst for the summon."

I looked at where Master had pointed and sure enough, Delta was stuck in between the demon's ribcage, her limbs embedded within the demon's body leaving only her torso and head sticking out.

Her blindfold was noticeably missing, the girl hanging there with her eyes closed.

"HAHAHAHA! Behold our power Heaven Sect and various other insects!" A voice shouted out from the demon's shoulder.

Right there, standing on each of the demon's shoulder and laughing arrogantly was Taoyan and Leizhui dressed in Dark Sect robes.

"For the elf with the curse of Abaddon to show up here herself is truly your undoing!" Taoyan laughed. "And for there to be an area with such a high concentration of Elemental Quarks too… Too convenient!"

"Yes, convenient indeed!" Leizhui bellowed. "Those fireworks also served as a sufficient enough distraction for us to complete the ritual to too! So thanks for that, Master Lin!"

The two gestured towards the demon, "Behold! Abaddon of the Abyss! This demon shall be your--"

The two were interrupted when two spears of ice streaked through the air towards them, shattering against an invisible shield.

"Tsk… They already erected a shield huh…" Master clucked his tongue.

"You… Damn you Master Lin…" Leizhui spat. "Of course you would try to kill us with such underhanded methods!"

Master raised an eyebrow at them, "What? You were expecting me to listen to your monologues when I could've just taken you out? I really don't care about your reason for doing this crap, you destroyed my house, ruined a perfectly good festival and both of you are wearing Dark Sect robes. That's reason enough for me to take you down."

"Grrr… Very well then! With this demon under our control, we shall eradicate all of you!" Taoyan declared, snapping his fingers.

Delta's eyes opened, a sinister red light emitting from her irises.

She let out a scream as the demon's eyes began to open as well, the same light showing underneath its eyelids.

No need to guess what they were trying to do.

I turned to Master in a panic, "Master! Her eyes--"

"Turns all living things to dust, I know." Master interrupted. "That's the original power of Abaddon of the Abyss… If you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. But in this case, you'll be scattered into the darkness as dust."

Master stepped forward in front of us, "I'm sorry, girls. The demon can only use that disintegration sight once a day if he has a big enough target and he's invulnerable while using that skill. But once used, he'll be greatly weakened for a time so that's your best chance. I'll stop that skill from affecting everyone, but you girls will have to help me clean up the rest."

His figure disappeared, reappearing high up in the sky in between us and the demon's line of sight.

Master slammed his palms together, his body glowing a divine light before suddenly expanding to an immense size to cover us from the demon's sight.

The light made him appear to be a god protecting us from a demon and for a moment, I thought Master would be unaffected by that demon's gaze.

But in a few seconds, the light had faded from Master's body. His back started to turn grey and the colour quickly spread to the rest of his body.

The tips of his fingers began eroding away into dust, the degradation spreading quickly up his limbs

It didn't even take half a minute before the entirety of Master's body had completely dusted away, revealing the demon to us once more.

"MASTER/PAPA!!!"

Chapter 70 - The First Blasphemer

(Taoyan POV)

I have to admit, seeing Master Lin suddenly expand to such a gigantic size got me worried for a second there. Perhaps he even had a Technique that allowed himself to be immune to Abaddon's disintegration eye skill?

I mean, for someone who could face off against a hundred other Elders and Masters without so much as a scratch is abnormal no matter how you view it.

But my worries were soon washed away when I saw the disintegration eye take effect, turning even the famed Master Lin into dust.

To be honest, it was pure luck that we had found this elf girl here. She was the key to summoning Abaddon ever since the last group of Dark Sect members inflicted her with the disintegration eye curse.

We had thought it was a failure at that time since Abaddon had possessed her eyes with his curse instead of appearing like he had now.

It was only later when we discovered the rest of the information about Abaddon that we realised the summoning was incomplete. There was a second ritual that was needed to be performed on the curse holder within an area of high Elemental Quarks concentration alongside a single petal of a Phoenix Ember.

We searched high and low for this elf to no avail, it was as though she had ceased to exist after that incident. And since there was only one Abaddon in existence, we could not just do the first ritual again on another elf either. We would know that since we tried.

It was really our good fortune to find her here, alongside a conveniently located Phoenix Ember petal for us to finish this ritual on top of this conveniently located hill with a high concentration of Elemental Quarks. Really abnormally convenient, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

I was surprised to learn that she was part of what we had come to call 'The Church' as well. They were a group of fanatics that rose out of the gutter somewhere, worshipping some unknown deity and being a general pain in our sides.

We knew they had placed people within the Xi Family to spy on us but we have yet to find out who.

We had originally planned to use the demon to dust everyone here to hide our involvement in this demon summoning but Master Lin just had to use himself as a shield to protect them.

Had there been no witnesses, we could have hidden Abaddon away as our secret weapon that we will use on our enemies in the future.

Oh well, taking out the most powerful Practitioner in history should be good enough. Besides, I don't think there's anyone here who can stand up against a demon anyway.

We'll just make use of Abaddon's other skills to wipe out everyone here.

"MASTER!!!"

Numerous screams of despair filled the Sect.

Huh, it seems like Master Lin was more liked than we had thought.

I glanced towards the group of females that Master Lin had taken in as his disciples.

I licked my lips, I had felt that it was a waste to dust beauties like them but since we will have to wipe the witnesses out the hard way now, I'd like to capture them and keep them for myself if I can.

I let out a laugh at the thought of what I would do to them.

"Y̴̧̰͉̪̳͗͑̋Ő̶̧͔͎U̶̸̫̝̞͇̪̹̔͂̑̀̐̉̚̕D̴̥͇́̎Ä̴̬́̇́Ṙ̴̻̥͍̱̔̊̓͆È̶̸̜̣̪͈̫̯͉͔̎̽̋͑̚H̸̨̯͙͛̿͝Ą̵̬̳͓̗̑̌̐̾͛R̷͖̗͎̆M̸̵͇̺̓̾̍̅͠ͅͅF̶̳̠͎̟̾Ã̵͖͠T̴͇͉̋H̷̬̐͝Ȩ̸̉͜R̶̫͑͗̓̈̕?̶̳͍̝̞̉!̷̱̿̓̈́̇̒"

Eh?

Wait.

Where did this dragon come from? It's as big as the demon we summoned!

I've never seen this kind of dragon before either. The colour of its scales were constantly shifting, like the hair of that little girl?

I didn't have time to confirm such a thought before the dragon punched its fist towards Abaddon's crotch, the 'crack' sound so loud it echoed through the entire area.

What made it worse was that our control over the demon had shattered from that strike.

The demon howled out in pain, keeling over to fall on his knees.

Both Leizhui and I were thrown off the demon's shoulders, forcing us to recover ourselves midair and remain floating by using Air quarks.

But even before I could survey the damage Abaddon caused, a streak of golden lightning struck me in the centre of my chest, bypassing all of my defenses.

I cried out in pain as I crashed back down into the ground, Leizhui crashing a distance away from me after enduring a hit from a fiery explosion.

I could just vaguely make out the dragon lifting Abaddon into the air before slamming him back down, causing the earth to quake from the impact.

"I am Abaddon of the Abyss! A mere fledgling dragon dares harm ME?!"

Abaddon tried to use a fist to punch the dragon, only for said dragon to bite into the wrist and rip the arm off its socket. The dragon then silenced Abaddon's screams with another punch to his face.

Footsteps echoed from the distance, getting closer to me by the second.

I stood up on shaky legs, wondering which expert had decided to show themselves in front of me.

I was greeted by the sight of two of Master Lin's disciples, all of them wearing smiles on their faces that did not reach their eyes.

"Unforgivable… Unforgivable… Unforgivable…"

"dAMN HiM TO HeLL… dAMN HiM TO HeLL… dAMN HiM TO HeLL…"

It seems like they intend to take revenge for their Master.

It's a shame but I'll have to kill them before the expert with the lightning arrives.

The golden haired girl stretched out her arms to her side, summoning forth golden streaks of lightning that arched off her fingers.

Divine Lightning?!

And with that level of control?!

She's practically at the apex of an Elite at this point!

The girl threw her hand forward, sending a bolt of lightning streaking towards me.

My body's battle senses kicked in, summoning forth a water stream to catch the lightning. I redirected the stream in an arc around me, throwing it back towards her mercilessly.

Not even the slightest bit ruffled by my counter attack, she just lifted her fist before punching towards it, sending an even bigger blast of electricity towards it.

Fearing the worst, I immediately hit the dirt, throwing up a defensive Astral shield around me.

The lightning bolt hit my water stream, immediately disintegrating it with impunity before flying straight above my head with a thunderous roar, my shield barely able to deflect it off course.

Just when I thought I was safe, something had stabbed itself into my hand, drawing an agonising scream from me.

"Painful… Isn't it?"

I looked up to see the girl with the bob cut hair staring down at me with an impassive face.

I was about to retort her when she suddenly leaned her head close, her face screwing up in rage, "YOU WON'T fIND ANY kiNDnESS FROM THIS gIRL, dEFiNITeLY NOT!"

She slammed her foot down on my head while twisting her blade into my hand, sending another wave of pain into my body.

"USElESS PiECE OF gARBAGE! TRASH! FEEL mY PaIN!"

I gritted my teeth to tide against the torture, lifting my other arm up in an attempt to blow her away from me.

My hair stood on end as I felt the sudden surge of static.

A rod made of lightning pierced through my free hand, pinning it to the ground while electrocuting me.

"You think we'll give you a quick death?" The golden haired one strutted up to me, a manic smile on her face. "We will make sure you'll be wishing for the sweet release of death by the time we're done with you."

These girls… I'm not the former top rank of Heavy Sky Grand Sect for show!

I gritted my teeth, enduring through the red haze of torment to circulate a blast of air, sending the two girls flying backwards from me.

I stood hurriedly, swallowing a healing pill that brought my body back to top condition.

The two girls recovered from their flight a short distance away, Abaddon and the dragon still engaged in a heated brawl in the background.

I furrowed my brow, "To think Master Lin had already taught you girls to this level… Truly frightening. I'm glad we managed to get rid of him before he got any more dangerous."

"Eris," the golden haired one called out. "I think we should change his punishment from 'torture to death' to 'eternal agony'."

"I am of agreement, Lian Li."

These two are still looking down on me? Hmph! Very well!

While you girls were talking, I already finished circulating the quarks I needed to cast my Technique! It's a wind blade that moves near supersonic speed that can cut through virtually anything! You two wouldn't even know what it you before you died!

"Whistling Blade!" I yelled, waving my arm towards them.

A metallic 'clang' sound reverberated through the air.

The Eris girl had moved to the front, her blade drawn in front of her.

I hadn't even manage to see her move.

Don't tell me she stopped the blade with her own?!

"So naive," the girl commented, lowering her sword to her side. "Have you not noticed you've already been cut?"

Huh?

A sudden wave of agony wrecked through me as blood spurted out from the numerous cuts that had appeared around my body.

I collapsed onto my knees, finding a pair of feet at the edge of my vision.

I looked up to see the Lian Li girl glaring down at me.

"And just for good measure…"

She lowered a hand with her index and middle finger outstretched in front of my face, electricity sparking off the appendages.

Before I could blink, The two fingers were plunged straight into my eyes.

I screamed as the pain overwhelmed my senses, clawing away at her hand to pull her out.

She remained where she was, holding me down with just those two fingers alone.

"Save your breath. We've already sentenced you to eternal suffering after all."

What the hell is wrong with these girls?!

Chapter 71 - The Second Blasphemer

(Leizhui POV)

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse with the dragon showing up out of nowhere, a golden lightning bolt just hand to blast Taoyan out of the sky.

I cursed under my breath, looking towards the direction the lightning came from before an explosion blasted me out of the sky as well.

I crashed face first into the dirt, leaving an imprint of my face in the ground.

The ringing in my ears was deafening, blocking out all sounds as I tried to stand back up on shaky legs.

Two figures entered the edges of my vision.

I shook my head to clear the ringing sound before turning towards the newcomers.

"Fufufu… Ufufufu… Ufufufufu…"

"Skin him… Kukuku… Skin him… Kukuku…"

Ah, it's the fox youkai and the foreign girl from the Dong country.

I suppose they're here to avenge their Master or something.

Quite daring of them I must say.

If I remember correctly, the fox is but Inner Core Practitioners is she not? And the foreigner is just a new student of Master Lin's as well. They're just seeking death if they think they can stand up to a Master Practitioner at their current level.

I guess I should just give them a warning first, they are still beauties after all and it'll be such a waste if I killed them.

Oh, maybe they're here to seek me as their new Master? In that case I'll--

Something slammed against my abdomen, sending me crashing towards a nearby building.

I groaned as I pulled myself out of the debris, still wondering what had hit me to bypass all of my defenses.

Just now, I had only managed to catch sight of something that looked like fur at the edge of my vision hurtling towards me before I was sent flying.

"'... and all agony of hell; with my wrath and my ire, I command thee to sear. Take mine enemies' psyche and fear, torment them as their death draws near. My pain and sorrow shall fuel my sire; so take them all and set them on fire! Burning Agony!'"

The foreign girl chanted before waving her hand towards me.

I wondered what possessed her to recite a poem now of all places, a final goodbye to her departed Master perhaps?

Just as I was about to comment on that, I felt a searing pain erupt from deep within my very core.

I choked on my own words as my entire body lost its strength to stand, collapsing in a heap while blood poured out of my pores.

It felt as though thousands of needles were stabbing themselves into my body repeatedly while my insides were being cooked over a slow fire.

My vision clouded over as blood poured out of my eyes as well.

This felt exactly like one of the heavenly tribulations I had to face in the past.

It was even the trial of Eternal Heaven, where the number of Practitioners who passed it could be counted with the fingers on one's hands.

Passing that trial had shot me all the way to the top of my Sect back then, the trials gifting me with the most profound knowledge and heavenly Cultivation Point I had ever seen.

I had been proud to be among the people who passed the trial and no way would I be brought down by some girls who are still wet behind the ears!

I had even joined a Dark Sect to seek even more power! My body was refined through the numerous sacrificial rituals we had performed!

I will show them the difference between us!

Focusing on my Dark quarks, I forcefully expelled whatever that had been causing the pain.

I jumped back to create some distance from them, taking the time to swallow a healing pill.

They made no move to stop me from doing so.

While waiting for the pill to take effect, I attempted to talk to them to stall for time, "You two… Are Master Lin's disciples, yes?"

"Ara ara? This insect… No. This useless piece of filth can talk? I'm not hearing things, right? Diao Chan?"

"Kukuku… I don't know what you're talking about Manami. All I hear are the squeals of a pig about to be strung up and butchered."

"Ufufufu~~ I see, it was just my imagination then."

What.

Have these girls gone mad?

"To think that you girls look like world shaking beauties on the outside and yet have such crazed personalities… I guess it truly suits that monster that is Master Lin."

Crack*

Hmm?

I glanced at the floor to see a human arm that had been cut at the elbow rolling on the ground.

The pain hit me a few moments later as I clutched at the stump of my elbow, biting back a scream before it slipped out of my mouth.

"Ara… My hand slipped…" The fox youkai giggled, wiping the blood off the tip of a tail.

"Kukuku… What a coincidence, mine did too…'Winds of avarice, taketh all that are nice; rip them off from mine foe, seize everything including the dough. Essence Drain!'"

My right arm suddenly shrivelled up in size, as though everything inside it had been sucked out by an unknown force, leaving it to hang uselessly by my side.

I cursed, using Air quarks to ingest another of my healing pills. This damage will take even longer to recover from.

To buy time, I slammed my foot on the ground, creating a dome of fire that covered me from the outside.

I immediately settle my focus in absorbing the pill, returning vitality into my drained arm while the stump grew out another arm from where it was cut.

Just as I was feeling confident in my protection, a side of the dome had split apart without warning.

The fox pried a hole through my barrier with her tails, ripping the fire wall apart.

"Ara ara? Is the little piggy hiding inside here? Ufufufu! There you are, would little piggy like to get out here SO I CAN RIP YOU APART?!"

One of her tails wrapped around my neck, pulling me out of my barrier and slamming me on the ground.

I was then immediately bound and gagged at an impossible speed, my limbs tied behind my back and the ropes digging uncomfortably in various places.

The foreign girl hoisted me up a tree, hanging me upside down like some sort of punching bag.

I tried to circulate my quarks to free myself from this predicament, but a knife had embedded itself in between my legs before I could do so.

"Kukuku…" The foreign girl giggled, licking the blade of another knife she pulled out from her sleeve. "Bad boys get punished… A lot."

The fox youkai stepped up beside her, "Ufufufu~~ That is quite correct. And you… Have been a really bad boy."

The gag muffled my screams as the fox drew her extra sharp nail along my arm, tearing the skin and muscle beneath it.

"We've got all the time until Master returns after all. Ufufufu~"

"And we'll make sure you get the full course!"

How many knives does this girl have?!

Chapter 72 - And The Unfortunate Bystander

(Cai Hong POV)

"PAPA!!"

Cai Hong had shouted after Papa disappeared.

Big demon make Papa gone?

Papa… Gone?

Papa is… No.

Cai Hong can still feel Papa! Papa is still there! Papa feels small but… Papa is getting bigger slowly? Cai Hong doesn't understand, but Cai Hong knows Papa is still here!

"Papa is still here!" Cai Hong shouted.

All my big sisters looked at me.

Big Sis Lian Li wiped away her tears, "Is… Is that true, Cai Hong? Is… Master still… With us?"

Cai Hong nodded, "Cai Hong can feel Papa! Papa is small now, but Papa is getting bigger!"

"Master… Is getting bigger?" Big Sis Manami asked.

"Nnn! Cai Hong can still feel Papa! Papa will come back!"

Big Sis Manami pushed herself off the ground, "Fu… Fufufu… Ufufufu! Of course! For someone as divine as Master, there's no way something as INSIGNIFICANT as this stupid demon could kill him!"

Big Sis Eris pulled out her sword, "Then… When Master said to have us clean up the rest…"

"Kukuku~ Master wants us to take care of all these piggies before he returns~~" Big Sis Diao Chan giggled, a weird light in her eyes.

That was when the noisy old man flew in front of us, "Ah, Master Lin's disciples, I see you are prepared to avenge your Master. Fret not, all the Elders and Masters are ready to help--"

"DON'T YOU DARE BUTT IN ON THIS!" We screamed at him.

Big Sis Manami pointed a finger at him, "You stay out of this, Sect Master Long. These pieces of trash has made it personal and if any of you dare butt in, we'll treat you as an enemy too."

The noisy man backed off, "Wha… I… Er…"

Big Sis Eris pointed his blade at him, "We're serious."

"Er… Hm… I understand… I'll tell everyone not to interfere."

Big Sis Diao Chan smiled at him, "Oh, and we would very much appreciate that you keep silent about our… Involvement. Or we might not guarantee this Sect's safety."

The old man narrowed his eyes at us, "Are you threatening me?"

Big Sis Manami giggled, "Oh not at all! It's just that Master got dusted to protect everyone here and we didn't see anyone preventing that. I think Master has done way more than he should have, yes? We might resort to some drastic actions, is all we're saying."

The noisy old man looked at the demon and then us before nodding, running off quickly after that.

Big Sis Lian Li clapped her hands, lightning appearing in her hands "Then let us begin punishing these heathens for hurting our Master."

Hurt Papa?

Ah.

Papa was hurt right?

Papa got hurt…

Papa got hurt to protect Cai Hong.

PAPA GOT HURT?!

"Y̴̧̰͉̪̳͗͑̋Ő̶̧͔͎U̶̸̫̝̞͇̪̹̔͂̑̀̐̉̚̕D̴̥͇́̎Ä̴̬́̇́Ṙ̴̻̥͍̱̔̊̓͆È̶̸̜̣̪͈̫̯͉͔̎̽̋͑̚H̸̨̯͙͛̿͝Ą̵̬̳͓̗̑̌̐̾͛R̷͖̗͎̆M̸̵͇̺̓̾̍̅͠ͅͅF̶̳̠͎̟̾Ã̵͖͠T̴͇͉̋H̷̬̐͝Ȩ̸̉͜R̶̫͑͗̓̈̕?̶̳͍̝̞̉!̷̱̿̓̈́̇̒"

These damned insects! Who do they think they are to hurt Father?!

Cocking back my fist, I punched it straight into that little shit stain's crotch with a satisfying crack.

That piece of trash howled in pain before collapsing on his knees in front of me.

The two insects that were thrown off the demon immediately got stuck down by an explosion and a bolt of Divine Lightning.

Leaving those two small insects to my sisters, I cracked my knuckles in preparation to discipline this little trash on what happens when someone hurts Father.

I have to be extra careful since Delta is still lodged in that piece of trash's chest.

The demon was still shaking himself out of the pain, kneeling pathetically on the ground with two hands clutching his crotch.

I reached forward to grab him by his ugly bald head, bringing it down to have my knee impact against his nose, my wings lifting me up to increase the force.

I watched his body soar through the air to crash on the outskirts of the Sect with satisfaction.

Not wasting time, I leapt towards him, using my wings to glide above my target.

Just as his eyes opened to glance above him, my wings folded in, allowing me to drop down right on top of him with my elbow planted right into his face.

The demon roared out in pain, his four hands clutching at his broken face.

Unperturbed by his screams, I picked him up by the top of the head and braced myself before slamming the demon down repeatedly.

With a final slam, I toss the demon away from me, smashing him into the mountain.

The demon pushed himself out of the rocks, "I am Abaddon of the Abyss! A mere fledgling dragon dares harm ME?!

He rushed towards me, pulling back his right fist for a punch.

My head snaked out to bite his fist, crushing it between my jaws. Bracing one of my claws on his shoulder, I reared my head back, tearing the arm out of its socket.

That Aba-what's-it howled in pain, but a quick punch to his face silenced his screeching.

I spat out the arm from my mouth, letting it crash into the nearby plains.

"For you to have hurt Father, I will rip off your arms and stuff them down your throat!" I declared.

"I will kill you, Dragon!"

The demon leapt towards me, his arms outstretched in an attempt to corner me.

I whirled around, swinging my tail in an arc to whip across his chest.

He managed to catch my tail mid-flight, but the strength behind the tail-whip was obviously above his expectations since he was still sent flying up into the air.

"Accursed Dragon! Take this! Abyss Shot!"

A dark lance-shaped projectile shot from his hand towards me.

Circulating my Fire quarks like how Father had taught me, I let loose a concentrated blast of fire from my jaws, incinerating the projectile mid-flight.

When my fire died down, I was surprised to see him directly in front of me, his left fist sailing towards my abdomen.

I immediately caught his attack with my claw, right before he tried the same thing with his right fist which only ended with the same result.

With both my claws occupied, the second left fist that came from my blind spot caught me off guard, my vision blurred when he slammed it against the side of my head.

I roared as I reared my head back, barely avoiding another punch from the same fist.

I slammed my own head on his, forcing him to recoil from the impact.

Bracing a foot on his chest, I shifted my grip on his fists to his wrists before kicking him away.

There was a loud 'crunch' as his two primary arms were ripped out of their respective sockets while the body was flung away.

I leapt up into the air, my wings propelling me forwards with the ripped off arms still held by my sides.

Just as he was trying to push himself up again with his last arm, My right claw had lashed out, smacking him across his face with his dismembered arm like a bat.

"You damn fledging--"

I smacked him across the face with the other arm.

"I will kill--"

My claw returned in the same arc, backhanding him across his cheek.

"Gravity We--"

I slammed my claw downwards, the dismembered arm hitting him square on the top of his head.

"I am Abaddon you damn--"

Another backswing caught him at his temple, splattering blood.

"Wait you damn--"

I swung again.

"No, wait--"

And again.

"Wait, pleas--"

And again.

"No… I…"

And again.

"Sto... Stop..."

And again.

I alternated my strikes repeatedly, always aiming for the head with as much force as I could until the two limbs were nothing more than slabs of meat.

Tossing the useless meat sticks away, I took hold of his last arm, the demon now barely breathing at this point.

How weak, I can't believe that an insect like this dared to hurt Father!

Bracing my foot against his shoulder, I ripped his last arm off unceremoniously. Careful of Delta who was still stuck in his chest, I reached my other hand down to force his mouth open.

Without hesitation, I shoved the end of the arm down his mouth, pushing it in as far as I could before stepping on his face, smashing it even deeper down his throat.

With a flap of my wings, I took to the skies once more, hovering just a bit above the half-dead demon.

Remembering the feeling of Father within me, I circulated my quarks just like how he had taught me with his memories, concentrating them deep within the back of my throat.

I reared my head back before thrusting it forward, my jaws opened wide to let out a golden gout of flames that completely engulfed the weakling's head, incinerating it into nothingness.

Once the head was completely gone, I landed back down on top of his headless body, inspecting Delta who was still stuck to his torso.

Unfortunately, I do not know a way to extract her out of there without harming her at the moment.

From what I can see, it's more than just her body being stuck in there since her soul seems to be linked to the demon's as well.

Father should know a way to save her.

My other sisters joined me after a while, having already finished with the other two insect's punishment.

Now, all we had to do is to wait for Father to return to us.

N̴̢̢͇̼̗̼̓͊̈̾̄̔̊̚o̷̵̡̧̭͓̦̜̼͓̜̹̐͑̆̒̿̋̈́͘ỡ̷͙̼̦̫̰̖̆̿͂̕͜͠ͅǹ̵̮͇͐̇͌͂́͘͠ě̷̶̳̝͓͔̠̳̈́͌͛̀̆̚̕h̵̢͔̹̜̓͆̔̽̐͝û̸͖͙͖́͌̈́̃̽́ͅṙ̴̯͛̃̀̽͠ẗ̸͚̘̣̲͙̟͐̉̓͆̉͘͠ͅs̶̸͉̥͓̤̬̲͇̲̭̰̹͆̇͂̑͐̐͊̚͝F̶̢̫̞̦̣̮̿̉̈́̚à̵̘͑͋̂̄͛ţ̷͙͇͈̑̏̉̍h̴̺̥̤̫̜͉̆̿͑͜͝ͅȇ̴̳̪̄̎́̊̋͝r̷̭̭͈̲͉͋̋

Muuu… Cai Hong hopes Papa will come back soon…

Chapter 73 - I Found A Founder

(MC POV)

My consciousness drifted in a space completely devoid of light.

In order to exploit the fact that Abaddon weakens after using his disintegration eyes to dust a fairly large target, I had placed my body in his way as a sacrificial target.

First, anchor my soul using the Immortal Projection Cultivation Technique with Space, Astral and Spirit quarks that I've thought of way back in the first chapter.

Then, swallowing a pill that was similar to the Rage pill I had seen back at the Sect Showcase Festival, I expanded my body to two hundred times its size, making sure to place myself in between the demon and the rest of the Sect.

Just for experimentation purposes, I covered myself with a layer of Divine Light Armour. It should be able to negate most types of attacks but I don't really expect such a thing to hold up against this demon's unique skill.

The armour covered my entire body, radiating a visible layer of light that surrounded me.

As soon as Abaddon's eyes opened, I felt the full brunt of the skill hit me.

As expected, the armour was useless against the skill. My body had already stiffened up and the glow from the armour had dimmed away upon first contact.

My body slowly disintegrated into dust, a surprisingly painless process I had to admit.

Once my body fully disintegrated, I found myself waking up within a dark space, my body completely unscathed albeit in an ethereal state that was glowing with a bluish hue. A single translucent line sprouted out from my chest, linking me towards something in the far distance which I surmised to be my anchor to the living.

It was a rather bizarre feeling, but since this felt identical to the time when I had first been killed, it kind of proves my initial hypothesis on the soul side of things.

Self-five.

Now, all I have to do is to use another Technique to regrow a new body to get out of here I suppose.

But before I carry out my plan, another spirit wandered up to me with the same ethereal hue. It had the look of an aged old man wearing the robes of a Sect Master of Heaven Sect.

"Hoh? Quite an unusual sight this is. You are a soul that still has his consciousness right?" The spirit asked me.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Who are you then?"

That old spirit actually tutted at me, "Tsk, tsk. Young people these days... Do you even call yourself a disciple of Heaven Sect? Don't you know it is common courtesy to introduce yourself first to your seniors?"

Hmmm… This guy might be some powerful Practitioner in the past or maybe a malicious spirit seeking revenge on someone who wronged him? If it's the latter, I have to be careful in case he decides to try and possess me for that reason.

You can never be too sure about these things after all. Some spirit might look like some friendly grandpa and the next thing you know, he's already possessed your body and cucked your harem.

I cupped my hands together in greeting, "My apologies senior, I must still be disorientated after my body's death. I am Master Lin of Heaven Sect, well met."

"Oh ho? A Master? Ahahahaha! It seems like you are quite the interesting one! How old are you?"

"Fort-- I mean twenty-two," I replied.

The spirit stroked his beard, "Ah… To die at such a young age, what a shame. Well, at least you seem special enough to still retain your consciousness I suppose, though that might very well be a bad thing for you in a way."

"I'm sorry, I still don't know who you are, senior," I reminded him.

The spirit gasped, "You mean you don't even know who I am and yet you claim yourself to be a Master of Heaven Sect?"

"Should I?"

The spirit scoffed, "I am the founder of Heaven Sect himself! Shang Di!"

Kind of explains your arrogant attitude I suppose, but who am I to judge?

"Ok… And?"

The old spirit looked at me as though I had grown a second head, "And? And?! Aren't you going to pay respects to me?"

Pay respects? To a dead spirit? Oh, I guess must be a thing spirits do. Well, they do say when in Jin city, do as the Jin people do.

I cupped my hands together once more, "My condolences to you, Shang Di."

He frowned at me, "What are you even talking about? First you lie about being a Master and then you can't even pay your founder the respect he deserves? Are you perhaps a new disciple?"

I tilted my head at him, confusion clear on my face, "I did not lie about me being a Master though?"

"Ahahaha! A little twenty year old brat like you who's still wet behind the ears couldn't possibly be a Master! Even a heaven sent genius wouldn't reach there at such a young age! If you want to lie, young one, perhaps saying you are an Inner Core disciple would be a little bit more believable!"

Ah, he's one of those people. I kind of feel sorry that our Sect has this kind of ancestor in that case.

He continued his ranting, "Also, since I suspect you to be a newly inducted disciple, you should always pay respects to your betters! Do you not greet your teachers in the Sect at all?"

Honestly? Not really.

I mean, I was given the green light for self study before I was even fully familiar with everyone in my class after all. But something tells me if I had told him that, he wouldn't believe me anyway.

Anyway, I'm not going to spend the time and effort to try and convince someone about this when I'm probably only going to meet them once anyway.

I guess I'll just go along with it to make him leave me alone, then I'll just form my new body and be out of here.

With the entire Heaven Sect and all the other visitors for the New Year festival to back my disciples up in subduing the demon, he shouldn't really pose a problem in his weakened state. Those two Dark Sect members shouldn't be able to stand up against so many experts as well so the situation should be resolved.

I doubt Masters Leizhui and Taoyan would be able to handle that many enemies by themselves so I'm expecting to return without any issues.

Sighing to myself to get this done as soon as possible, I cupped my fist for the third time, "Disciple Lin of Heaven Sect greets Founder Shang Di."

"Umu, umu. Good, good. Since you show potential, I shall accept you as my personal servant in this Spirit Realm. Feel honored! Your first task shall be to--"

I held up a palm to stop him from continuing, "Apologies founder Shang Di, but I have no intentions of staying here. I have people I need to return to."

"Hahaha! Don't we all? If the spirits of the dead can just return however they liked, the whole world will be thrown into chaos! If you haven't realised yet young one, you are dead."

I shook my head, "I sent my spirit here voluntarily, so technically I'm not dead."

He sighed, "Such a stubborn boy. You should start learning the hierarchy of this place if you don't wish to suffer eternal torment."

This guy is really annoying…

"Come," He gestured to me. "Since you're going to be my servant, I shall teach you some godly Cultivation Techniques! Don't say that I'm not good to you!"

He passed several books to me that had appeared out of thin air.

I glanced at the titles of the books.

"Profound Killing Lightning, Phoenix Sky Bolt, Spirit Bomb…"

"Yes, they're all very profound techniques," Shang Di nodded to himself.

"I er… I already know them though?" I informed him, these weren't even that good of Techniques.

"Hmph! How preposterous! I had only managed to gain these Techniques because of my good relations with the various other Sect Masters! Not anyone can learn them you know?!"

"Ok… Remind me how long you've been gone from the Sect? Because I don't recall our Sect being chummy enough with those Sects to freely exchange Techniques like that. For all I know, these might be outdated."

"Ungrateful brat! If you don't want them, then give them back to me!"

I made no move to stop him from swiping the books away from me.

"To think the only Heaven Sect member who managed to come here without losing their sense of self after so long is a brat like you, I fear for my Sect's future," He sighed dramatically. "Now, this doesn't change your situation, you should follow me to my place, I will teach you what you need to do as my servant."

I rolled my eyes at him, "I already told you Founder Shang Di, I am not staying here."

He shook his head, "Young people… Really, really stubborn. Fine, I guess you leave me no choice but to beat some sense into yo--"

A loud crack of thunder interrupted him as a giant ball of fire exploded into existence behind me.

I turned just in time to see the giant form of Abaddon appear from within the flames.

Ah, it seems like they've successfully dealt with him.

"Ab… Abaddon of the Abyss?!" Shang Di yelled in fear.

He grabbed my wrist, "We must run! He's not someone we can deal with on our own!"

He tried to pull me away but I stood rooted to the spot, my eyes scanning the demon. I noticed a very thin, translucent line that was linking his chest to somewhere else in the distance, a line very similar to what I have as well.

"He was killed, but I can still see a Soul Link that is stretching out from him…" I murmured. That Soul Link was proof that both of us were still anchored amongst the living and not truly dead, thus allowing us to return should we wish to as long as we had a body to possess.

"Ugh… Damn that dragon… I will repay that favour when I return, I swear on it," The demon cursed.

He noticed Shang Di trying and failing to pull me away, "Oh? What a nice find, I'm just in the mood to devour some souls."

"Hieeeee!" Shang Di screeched, collapsing on the floor in fear.

I, on the other hand, was calmly pondering over what had him anchored in the living world.

I smacked my palm with a fist "Ah… That elf girl of course. She's your anchor to the living isn't it?"

He growled at me, "So you were there? Those stupid mortals dare bind me to her! I will return and possess her after regaining my strength! Then the world will be mine to devour for putting me there!"

I shook my head, "Yep, can't have that. Sorry but I'm sending you back there and getting rid of you from possessing her, my disciples seem quite close to the elf after all."

"You arrogant little--"

I snapped my fingers, causing the entire area to rumble.

The dark area around us was lit up from above with a blinding orange light.

Both Abaddon and Shang Di looked up to see a huge meteorite twice of Abaddon's falling straight towards him.

Abaddon only had time to gape before he raised all four of his arms to catch it, barely stopping its descent with his inhuman strength.

The demon laughed, "Kuhahaha! You… You are definitely not normal! But if you think this is enough to get rid of me, you're in for a surprise!"

I nodded, "Mmm… that is quite impressive, but what are you going to do about the second one?"

A second meteor similar in size to the first crashed on top of him, instantly flattening the demon into paste. His form dispersed into light particles before travelling along the Soul Link out of the Spirit Realm.

Now that that was done, I should return back soon, I wasted enough time here already.

I snapped my fingers and my soul was pulled along my own Soul Link, my body having already formed a few moments ago in the living world.

Only when I disappeared from the Realm did I remember about the Shang Di I had left behind.

Shame I didn't managed to see his expression when I left.

Now I have a slight nudging feeling that it won't be the last time I will meet him.

It took a moment before I felt myself entering a solid body, all my senses returning all at once.

I jerked awake, finding myself resting on something soft.

In front of me were four pairs of eyes belonging to Lian Li, Eris, Cai Hong and Diao Chan.

A pair of arms were wrapped proactively around me alongside several fox tails that made up a bed of fluff for me to lie on. I guess Manami should be behind me then.

"Master/Papa!" All of them called out at the same time.

"Umu… I'm back," I reassured them.

I stretched out my hand to pat them, but…

Why is my hand so small?

Chapter 74 - A New Toy!

(Shizuri POV)

I groaned as I opened my eyes, feeling every part of my body ache.

It's been a while since I had to feel pain when coming back from the dead. As an undead, pain was almost like a foreign concept to me.

The only time where I do actually feel pain is when my body is in the midst of regenerating after a 'death'. That's why I created a Soul Link to my body that allows me to remain anchored to the body while my soul is in the Spirit Realm.

This would give time for my body to regenerate while my consciousness wandered elsewhere without having to go through those torturous death cycles, not that I actively seek to end myself all the time, mind you.

That Soul Link took me about a decade of research and practice before I perfected it, so I am actually quite proud of it.

As for I ended up in my current situation… Let's just say that just before I came back some crazy spirit summoned two really big meteors that crashed near where I was in the Spirit Realm, forcing me back into my body when it was only partially reformed.

Like really, my 'body' was just a lump of wriggling, burnt flesh when I returned to possess it.

I spat curses as my arm pushed its way out from my burnt stump, the skin slowly regenerating back to its usual colour instead of the charcoal black.

Right now, I was lying down on my back on the grass where I was burnt into ashes by my dear sister's 'mate'.

I thought I caught him off guard when he had turned to look at me with that stupid face of his, but I only had time to raise my knives before he had just snapped his fingers without changing his expression. A black coloured flame had sprang out from underneath me immediately, consuming me from my legs up.

That bastard then turned his attention away from the scene, like he didn't even care that I was burning to ashes just two feet away from him!

For Manami to be captured by a guy like him, there can be no other reason than that she was brainwashed!

I will definitely save her from that piece of trash! I will make him bleed! I will drain him dry! Then Manami will finally return my affections for me!

I cursed again when my legs started regenerating as well, the bone and sinew melding together causing an immense jolt of pain to travel up my spine.

I briefly considered suicide to stop the damnable pain since I'm basically immobile during this time anyway, but I decided against it since the crazy Practitioner in the Spirit Realm might still be there.

Who knows what else might happen there?

Speaking of which, I don't hear the sounds of festivities anymore, how long had I been away?

I could still see from my vantage point that some stalls and the stage were still there so it couldn't be that long, it seems like the people that were part of the festivities were all gone though.

I pushed myself up with the stumps of my elbows, my arm still a while away from reforming. Sitting up on my haunches, I looked around the place, finding it devoid of any life.

Debris were strewn about the Courtyard in several places, a few of the stalls having been the unfortunate victims of such debris, crushed beyond repair.

I could smell blood in the air, but none of it smelt intoxicating to me so sister Manami should be completely fine.

What a shame.

Would it hurt for her to at least lose an arm or something?

Ehehehe~ I want to taste Manami's blood again… I miss the time where I had her strung up in my room with her just completely drenched in that crimson elixir of hers.

Such a shame she managed to escape when I had been away, I had so many more things I wanted to do with her.

I had initially thought she was still hiding within the village somewhere and limited my search to within said area, who knew Manami had actually moved herself outside the village?

Well that's all in the past, I should focus on the present where my darling Mimi is being brainwashed by that stupid man.

She calls him her destined mate but I'm pretty sure that's just the drugs talking.

It was another few minutes before my legs were steady enough to be stood on, I was unfortunately still bald but at least my tails had regrown.

Well, the hair should grow out soon so it's not that important to wait around for it.

Deciding it was high time I get my fix of my dear Mimi again, I began searching for her.

I followed the trail of destruction, noticing several of the Heaven Sect members cleaning up the mess.

I overheard their conversations as I neared them, "So what happened actually?"

"No idea, all I knew was that a giant figure appeared in the sky before turning to dust. Then some dragon started beating up the demon and those two Dark Sect members got struck by lightning and fire."

"What about the team of Practitioners the Sect Master formed to fight them?"

"I heard Sect Master told them that a few experts had handled the Dark Sect members, so there was no need for them to get involved. As for the dragon, it seems like they were supposedly mortal enemies or something, that's why it appeared out of nowhere to kill the demon."

"Doesn't that reflect badly on our Sect though? Letting other people solve this for us?"

"Oh, I heard those experts had a personal grudge against those two so everything was well."

"I see, that's very convenient huh?"

"Indeed, really convenient."

Convenient indeed. But I don't care about that, where is my Mimi?

Deciding that it might be faster to ask if they had seen her instead, I approached the small group of Practitioners wearing my best, fake smile once my hair had fully regrown.

"My apologies gentlemen, may I know where Miss Manami might be?"

They turned to regard me, surprised at my sudden appearance.

"An… Angel…" I heard one of them mutter under his breath.

It took them a few seconds to shake themselves out of their stupor to regain their cognitive functions.

"Oh er… Sorry miss… We didn't see you there. Who were you looking for again?" Another asked.

"Would any of you perhaps know who Manami is?"I asked again.

"Oh, yeah. Sure. Master Lin's fox disciple right? I saw her going towards that crater some time ago. Used to be Master Lin's house too."

I looked in the direction he pointed at where there was indeed a large crater filled with various pieces of greenery, probably torn up by whatever caused the crater in the first place.

I thanked them before moving on, ignoring their eyes that were so obviously locked on my behind.

I contemplated killing them, but their blood won't be as pretty as Manami's so I didn't bother.

It didn't take long to find them since they were the only group of people within said crater, all of them hovering around something that Manami was holding.

"So how long will you stay like this, Master?" The golden haired one asked. I believe her name was Lian Li was it? I have a hard time remembering names of nobodies.

"Mmm… This is a new Technique for me as well and it seems I have returned earlier than I should have. I'll probably be like this for a month or so, give or take a few weeks," A high-pitched voice sounded out from within their midst.

"Ara? That shor-- I mean… That doesn't sound so bad," A voice I recognised as Manami's answered.

I got closer and found her sitting on the ground, hugging something… No, someone, to her chest with her tails wrapped protectively around it.

How envious! I want to be wrapped up in Manami's tails too! Especially when she is bleeding out from all her pores!

I shifted myself to get a better angle of who it was, only to see a little boy sitting on Manami's lap, dressed in a tunic too big for him.

He was even smaller than the little girl next to him that was calling him 'Papa', probably no more than seven years old.

My body had started moving on its own the moment I laid eyes on him being smushed in Manami's bosom, rushing towards the group as though my life depended on it.

I specifically moved at the exact moment when Manami was handing him over towards the golden haired one.

Some of the girls had moved to intercept me, but I was just a little bit faster.

I snatched the little boy from Manami's grasp, holding him in front of me at eye level as my tails moved towards him.

"Mine," I whispered.

Chapter 75 - Shota Power

(MC POV)

So apparently I found out a flaw in this Technique.

I had grown a body out from its infancy stage and returned to the body too early, resulting in me being trapped in this child's body for the time being.

The body is still going through an accelerated growth rate so I should theoretically be able to return to my normal form in just a month or so.

Theoretically, that is.

But in the meantime…

Manami hugged me closer to her, "Ufufufu~~ Master, is it too much to ask you to call me Manami Onee-chan during this time?"

"Umm… It will feel quite weird for me so I would refrain from doing such a thing," I refused.

Cai Hong tilted her head, "Then… Should Cai Hong call Papa 'Big Brother'? Umm… But Papa looks smaller than Cai Hong now… Maybe 'Little Brother'?"

"As weird as it may sound coming from my current form… I would like Cai Hong to continue calling me Papa."

Eris played with my fingers, "My… Master's fingers are really soft… Addicting… This one humbly requests to be allowed to address Master as 'Little Brother'… No, 'Lil Bro' would be a better choice don'cha think so, Master?"

"No."

"Kukuku~ Master, could you try erm… Spanking me over your knee later? I just want to know the difference in the feeling…" Diao Chan requested.

I flicked her forehead, ignoring the surprised scream from her, "Don't joke like that with me."

Lian Li wiped the drool from the side of her mouth, "Slurp… Erm, Master… There aren't any bad side effects from this form, is there?"

I shook my head, "I'm still keeping the Technique active so I'll just be experiencing a sudden growth spurt later on. I guess I'll have to do some revision to this Technique."

"Ara, ara… For Master to devise such a Technique so easily when we had been researching for one such Technique for so long without success… We are once again humbled," Manami sighed.

Well, I did die once before after all. So I guess I had more advantage in creating a Technique that dealt with the life and death side of things.

But I'm still exceedingly proud to hear they had already been doing research into Techniques on their own without my prompting, such diligent disciples I have.

I stroked her tail to console her, enjoying the feeling of being able to sink my entire body in the fluff. I guess that's an advantage to being small.

"Once I perfected the Technique, I'll share it with you girls," I decided.

"Ara ara, to give this big sister a chance to be the little one for once, I thank Master from the bottom of my heart."

Hmmm? I was referring to the Technique of anchoring of your soul to this world though? Eh, whatever.

"Umm… Manami, could I hug Master now?" Lian Li pleaded.

I'm being treated like a plush toy right now aren't I?

Well, can't say this is the weirdest experience for me though.

And since the girls seemed to have managed to take down the demon and the Dark Sect members, I decided that I should just let them do whatever they want for now as their reward.

Within reason of course.

Manami was in the midst of passing me over to Lian Li when a figure blurred into my vision, lifting me into the air with them.

I was greeted with the sight of a mass of maroon hair and a pair of half-crazed eyes partially hidden behind those bangs.

Ah… It's the yandere fox I had burned to nothingness some time ago… It seems my hunch about her not being able to die was right when I sensed her cursed soul.

How did she return so fast though?

"Mine," She had muttered, though loud enough for all of us to hear.

A sword pierced through the air, the fox spinning away with me in order to dodge it.

Eris pursued her, her blade stabbing towards her side.

The maroon fox swiped her tail in an arc, parrying her thrust while still staring at my face.

"Unhand Master this instance, Shizuri!" Manami demanded, her hands outstretched with a multitude of fireballs hovering around her.

"Ehehehe~ Oh Manami… Why didn't you tell me your mate was like this?" The maroon fox laughed. "We could have had sooooo much fun together! So much fun… So much blood…. Delicious, sinful blood…"

Lightning sparked off Lian Li's fingers, her face scrunched up in rage, "Harm a hair on Master and I will make sure you die a very painful, agonising undeath."

Wow, I never knew Lian Li was that protective of me.

Or is it because I'm currently in this body that she's so protective? Ah, must be the girls' motherly instincts, understandable.

"'Burden of the sky, weight of the world; imprison the heathen that dares to be so bold. Restrict their free will, with naught choice but to be still. Divine Chains!'" Diao Chan chanted.

Chains sprang forth from around us, enclosing around the maroon fox in an attempt to restrict her movements.

Or at least, that's what it must look like to them.

"Ehehehe~ How interesting, I've not heard of such a Technique before," The maroon fox giggled, watching the chains wrap around a nearby tree.

Manami growled, "Be careful, she is able to use her Technique to mess with our senses, confusing us to her real location."

My fox disciple snapped her fingers, a shrill ringing sound resounded through the air that released the girls from their disorientation.

Cai Hong dashed up towards her, surprising both the fox and I with her sudden speed.

She latched onto the fox's leg with her mouth, chomping down on her leg.

"Let'mmf mm'Papa go'ff!" Cai Hong demanded with her mouth still latched on her leg.

So cute.

The fox clucked her tongue, annoyed that her confusion Technique had been dispelled so easily by Manami. She summoned a wall of air around her, pushing Cai Hong back to where she had came from.

Deciding it might be a good time to defuse the situation, I tried to circulate my quarks to expel her Technique and force her to release me.

Eh?

My Cultivation Point… Is not there? I can't feel any Elemental Quarks as well. This… Why?

I was still pondering the situation when Eris had lunged forward with her sword again, aiming to impale the fox at the end of her sword.

Instead of dodging like I thought she would, the fox had placed me in the path of the sword with a manic smile.

"Yes, let's see how your blood tastes like. It must be simply divine!"

Eris gasped, her free hand punching towards her sword wrist and dislocating it, redirecting her thrust to the side that barely missed me by several inches.

The maroon fox sighed in disappointment, placing a finger nail at my cheek, "You wouldn't cut him? Then let me do it then—"

A tail wrapped around her wrist before she could carry out her plan, Manami pulling her wrist away from my face.

"You cut even a single hair off Master and I will let you burn for the rest of eternity, Shizuri!"

My captor giggled, "Ah Manami~~ As much as I would like to play with you, I found myself a new toy here, so would you mind?"

There was a loud crack as Manami broke her wrist with her tail, the maroon fox only giving a roll of her eyes as a response.

"Always the serious one, Manami. I remember back when we were both young and innocent. Why can't you stay that way, hmm?"

Young… That's right. Since my body regressed, so did my mastery of my Cultivation Point and Elemental Quarks.

I remember that I only set off on the road of a Practitioner in my early teens, which means the current me should have no experience in handling Elemental Quarks.

Crap...

Well, that doesn't mean I'm helpless though.

But what I can do now is limited since knowing my captor is an undead, she probably doesn't feel pain…

I looked towards Eris, the swordswoman just managing to pop her dislocated wrist back into place.

I gave her a nod towards the maroon fox's arm to which her eyes widened before nodding back.

"Hey, Shizuri was it?" I spoke.

She looked down at me, the manic smile materialising back on her face, "Yes, toy?"

I flung my head back, smashing my head against her nose and sending her head tilting backwards.

Eris dashed past us, her sword flashing out to cut the muscle under the arm that held me and loosening her grip.

Manami immediately wrapped her tails around me, pulling me back into her embrace while Diao Chan recited her binding Spell again, this time successfully binding her in place.

Cai Hong then rushed up towards her again, this time leaping up to punch her right between the legs and sending her flying upwards.

Lian Li took the opportunity to let loose the lightning she had charged in her fist, sending it forward to strike the airborne fox away and into the distant mountains.

The five of them immediately crowded around me.

"Master! Are you hurt?!"

I waved my hand to show that I'm alright but it still took a good five minutes before they were finally convinced I was alright.

"Well, I think it's time to address the big issue now, though," I announced.

They tilted their heads at me.

"Well, I believe the elf is still stuck in Abaddon's chest right? And I just found out that I can't circulate my quarks in this body so things have gotten a little bit complicated for her now."

The girls gaped at me.

I narrowed my eyes at them, "Don't tell me you girls completely forgot about her just because I turned small, did you?"

They refused to meet my eyes.

Chapter 76 - Nothing To See Here

(MC POV)

"... And so, the demon's soul is using her as an anchor to this world where he should have been bound to hell. In order to sever the connection between them, I need to go into her Mind Realm and cut it." I explained, finishing my diagram on the board.

Where did I get the board?

Details, details.

Lian Li raised a hand, "Wouldn't one of us going into the Mind Realm to sever the connection be a better idea than having Master risk himself?"

I shook my head, "Unfortunately, I have yet to teach any of you the intricacies of a living being's psyche so there's a high chance you girls might cause irreversible damage to her mind if you're not careful. You girls have taught the elf before, right? Then she should be able to banish Abaddon from her mind with my help and her home ground advantage."

Manami's tail shifted, "But Master… What if something happens to you again?"

"Umu, the worst that could happen is for Abaddon to possess my body as well, but I highly doubt he would be interested in a body that has yet to unlock its Cultivation Point anyway."

"This one still fears for Masters safety…" Eris protested. "This one humbly suggests having another accompany Master."

Diao Chan immediately stood up, "Yes! I volunteer for this task, Master! For my impudence, please punish this one before allowing me to follow you!"

I flicked her on the forehead, "It's much more than that. Her mind is only supposed to house a single consciousness and yet it holds the burden of two right now. Adding a third is already risky and I don't want to imagine what she might become if she has to deal with four."

I noticed the girls turned to look at Eris who promptly looked away, whistling to herself.

Wonder what that was all about?

Cai Hong pulled my hand, her height now slightly surpassing mine so she didn't have to tilt her head upwards to look at me anymore, "Papa… Won't disappear again?"

I admit having her call me her Papa at our current forms is a little weird, but I shan't budge on the little brother no matter what!

I fear something night awaken if she were ever to call me that, and I don't mean anything related to myself.

I patted her head, "No, Papa will come back after beating the bad guys. Cai Hong will be a good girl, right?"

"Nnn… Cai Hong will be good… Come back fast?" She nodded.

Too cute.

"Alright, Lian Li will send me into the elf's consciousness and I'll get to work," I announced, jerking my thumb to the giant demon's corpse behind me. "The rest of you can just watch over me and make sure that demon doesn't decide that possessing a kid suddenly seems like a better idea to him."

They nodded.

I relaxed my stance, "Now, ready when you are, Lian Li."

Lian Li pursed her lips and nodded, "Please take care, Master."

She closed her eyes and pointed her palm at me, perfectly executing the technique I had just taught her mere moments ago.

Did I mention she's a heaven sent genius? Because she's a heaven sent genius.

My body started to glow, a string of light connecting me towards the unconscious elf.

I only had time to give the girls a short nod before darkness engulfed my vision.

A sense of vertigo hit me as the scene changed right before my eyes, the grassy plains switching to a scene straight from the burning depths of hell.

The area was akin to a plain with various trees, bushes and rocks dotted around, albeit all of them being dead.

Oh, and the entire area was also burning in a sea of fire, even the rocks were burning somehow, thought I should mention that.

This wasn't really out of expectations since the demon probably changed the elf's mindscape to be more familiar to him.

What I was not expecting was the elf to be standing over what seemed to be a shrunk-down, human-sized version of Abaddon, the demon cowering underneath her foot.

Her eyes seems to be completely fine now considering how she's glaring down at the demon.

"Thought me to be a helpless little elf hmm? I didn't survive out in the wild for so long just for show you know? How does it feel like to be the weak one now?"

Abaddon groaned, "I'm… I'm just weak now because I got hit by two meteors…"

The elf pushed her weight on the leg stepping on him, "And you think I couldn't have taken you on when you were at full strength?"

Abaddon trembled, "You… Er… You got taken by those two--"

The elf kick him in the sides, "Those buggers caught me when I was distracted by the most dazzling display of fireworks by the Master himself! Do I look like I'll be taken out so easily to you, huh?!"

"No, no. Definitely not… Please don't pull out my fingers again…"

The elf returned her foot back on top of Abaddon, pushing him down further on the ground, "Now, are you going to tell me how to get rid of you? Or do I have to pull it out of you, huh?"

The supposed demon of the abyss whimpered. Like, actually whimpered.

"That… You'll need to separate my Soul Link to you… But since I don't know how the Dark Sect did it, I can't separate it myself even if I wanted to…"

"Tch… Even more useless than a hammer made out of glass..." The elf cursed, biting on her finger. "When I get my hands on those two… Hmm… Will killing you do it?"

The demon gulped, "I would prefer that you don't… I er… I might cease to exist if you do that…"

I was quite surprised that he actually admitted to that fact.

Well, I guess I should make myself known then.

Stepping up towards them, the two of them finally noticed my presence.

"Perhaps I can help?" I gestured to the demon.

The elf narrowed her eyes at me, "Who are you, then?"

Oh right… How should I convince her to my identity? I'm not dumb enough to think she will just take my word for it.

For all she knew, I might be another demon attempting to take over her body.

But before I even needed to convince her, she had just suddenly got on a knee and bowed to me, "Ma… Master… Master Lin! F-F-Forgive my rudeness! I… I didn't know it was you!"

I raised my eyebrow, "How in the world did you know? I haven't even said anything yet?"

"Your aura!" She explained enthusiastically. "I didn't notice it before since it's more faint than usual but there's no mistaking it! That light can only belong to you!"

What the hell is she talking about?

Is she high or something?

Oh, maybe her eyes became more sensitive due to Abaddon's curse or something? Like those people who had all their other senses improved because one was lost?

Interesting… I should probably look into it when I get the chance.

"Umu… I am impressed by your sight, I assume it has something to do with experience?" I prodded, hoping she'll give more information about how she knew.

She bowed her head lower, "Thank you for your praise!"

Huh, the fact that she did not deny anything about her sight confirms that her senses were the ones to determine my identity.

Well, we learn new things everyday.

"Anyway, I suppose Abaddon here is compliant enough to want to leave peacefully?"

The demon nodded quickly, still kneeling on the ground on all fours.

"I didn't mean for all this to happen ok? They forcefully summoned me and bound me to this girl I didn't even know!" He defended.

"And the curse?" I asked.

He grimaced, "I wasn't the one who put it on her you know? They did this ritual like several years ago that placed the curse on her. It's like having someone come uninvited in your house, steal your doormat and running off with it…"

Huh, this makes things easier. If he did not give consent on this ritual, then I can only think of one way they could have formed a Soul Link.

"Then all you have to do is just visualise the link between the two of you and cut it together at the same time. It'll be a mutual cut which would expel you guys back to your own respective bodies. Though… Err… Last I saw, your body is missing a head, Abaddon."

He shook his head, "That's no big deal, I can create another one back home."

I noticed the elf gazing at him from below.

"And er… Fulfill my contracts that I may or may not have with other people around here…" He continued.

"Contracts?" I asked. "They aren't of a malicious nature now are they?"

He shook his head quickly, "Oh, no! No! No! Nothing that will hurt you at all Master Lin! I would never dream of going against someone who can… Er… Drop two giant meteors on my head, after all…"

"Oh, you knew?"

He nodded, "Even when your body regressed, your aura still looks similar."

Yeah, that's what I thought.

"Alright then, you two do just that. I'll go out to give the space you guys need and take care of your bodies."

The elf bowed her head lower, "I thank Master Lin for your benevolence!"

I just waved my hand to show it was no big deal before tapping an inscription on my wrist, I had Lian Li inscribe it on me earlier as a failsafe just in case I had to escape at anytime.

The scenery shifted again and I was back in my body, staring up at my disciples.

"She had it handled," I answered their silent question, removing myself from Lian Li's lap that I had been lying on top of. "You girls trained her well, I must say."

"You overpraised us, Master," Manami bowed her head.

I patted her head, "Well, she will still be unconscious for some time at least, so in the meantime, I have something to ask of you all."

They all looked at me expectantly.

"I can't circulate quarks while still in this form so I can't teach you girls properly, do you all still want to stay with me?"

"Of course!" They answered in unison.

"Umu… In that case, my house is destroyed and I'm quite useless at the moment… So I'm suggesting that we relocate back to my hometown while waiting for my body to return to its original form."

The five girls' eyes sparkled, "Master's hometown?"

Yep, it's time for the homecoming.

Chapter 77 - Start Of Childhood Arc... Wait, What?

(Lian Li POV)

I pulled aside the curtain to glance outside the carriage that our little group was seated in, watching the paddy fields roll past us.

When Delta had woken up, we had handed her over to a few of our people to send her back to our headquarters, the elf having already regained her sight. We made sure to swear her to silence about Master's current condition, in exchange for some… Future materials.

My younger brother… I mean my Master is currently seated on my lap, playing some form of clapping game with Cai Hong that was seated on Manami's lap across from me.

It had been an uneventful two days since we left the Heaven Sect for Master's hometown, a trading town on the other side of the mountain that Heaven Sect had been built into.

Master had approached the Sect Master to inform of his plans right after he had declared his intentions.

There was a little bit of confusion as to who the Sect Master was speaking to, but our presence quickly shut him up.

The Sect Master had just taken one look at us and promised that he would have his courtyard restored as soon as he could.

It was quite obvious he was afraid that Master was going to leave the Sect for good and that promise was just a poor attempt at retaining him.

Master had said it was not a big deal and to concentrate on restoring the Sect first. He said he would just be going to visit his family and would return sooner or later.

Of course only Master would be so benevolent.

And to further prove my point, Master had then hired a luxurious coach that would send us all the way to Master's hometown, ensuring we would travel in comfort.

Throughout this journey, the girls and I alternated having Master sit on each of our laps. He had rejected us at first, but Cai Hong helped immensely by climbing onto my lap and insisting Master did the same opposite her on Eris's lap..

I must admit, having Master in this form is both frustrating and incredibly alluring.

We get to pamper Master as much as we wanted and however we wanted. His expressions were just too cute to the point that I suffered multiple heart palpitations way too many times.

Manami already had an entire stock of the new pictures just focusing on Master's adorableness. We collectively decided that these pictures should only be circulated privately amongst us and never be distributed.

Except a private stock to Delta as promised, of course.

Sometimes Master would indulge in our selfish requests and call us big sisters when we ask for it, Diao Chan had passed out from excitement the first time he did it.

But on the frustrating side of things… Our night activities basically grinded to a halt, though there's admittedly not much to complain since Master still slept with us, letting us cuddle him to sleep.

All in all, it was the best days of our lives.

"Dear passengers, the village is just up ahead, we'll reach in another five minutes or so," The coachman called out from his little window.

I pulled the curtain further to view the front of the coach. Sure enough, just in the distance was a rather decent sized, walled town sitting at the end of the path.

Come to think of it, we've never thought of finding out Master's roots. We hadn't even known that he still had a family before this.

"Master?" I called out, letting the curtain drop back in place to cut off the interior from view.

Master paused his little clapping game with Cai Hong to look up at me with a tilt of his head.

Not good… Must resist desire to pinch cheeks…

"Umm… I fear this may be a little too late to ask this but… What is your family like?"

Master tapped his chin in thought, his other hand busy with patting Cai Hong's head, "A normal one I suppose? My parents run a small merchant company that trades with Jin city. The town here provides food from the farmland and raw materials from the mines behind the town in return for daily necessities and luxury goods. Their main trading partner is, of course, the Xi Family, though I suspect things would change soon since two of their enforcers have been outed as Dark Sect members."

I frowned at that little bit of information, if Master's family is important, we would need to alter our plans in destroying that little meddlesome Xi Family.

"Other than that," Master continued. "I have an older brother and sister alongside a younger sister I suppose."

"Ara? Master is not the only child?" Manami asked, a little surprised.

Master shook his head, "No, my brother is the eldest of us at twenty-five this year while my sisters are twenty-three and twenty-one."

Eris tilted her head, "Master left… Why…?"

Master shrugged his shoulders, "My older brother was set to take over the family business anyway and I didn't really have much going for me there… So I set off on the Practitioner path when I became of age."

I shared a glance with my sisters, the feeling of there being something more behind the story prevalent in the air.

"My older sister works in the family business as an accountant while my younger sister had just started learning under her when I left my home back then. I wonder how they're doing now?"

"Does Master not maintain contact with them?" Diao Chan asked.

"Mmm… It's the occasional letter during the special occasions like New Years and birthdays, but they were mostly just greetings and nothing more than that though."

I grew rather nervous, "Umm… Should we have prepared some gifts, Master?"

"I already got that covered for you girls," Master patted my leg assuredly. "Why else did you think I told Eris to bake a few more pastries than usual?"

Master… Did I say that you were the most benevolent being? I did, didn't I? Well I have yet to say it enough times yet.

Cai Hong pulled at Master's hand, "Should Cai Hong call Papa 'big brother'?"

Master patted her head, "Just stick to Papa, hmm?"

"Okies. Cai hong likes Papa!"

I smiled at the heart-warming scene just as we reached the gate. I heard the guards calling the carriage to stop while they moved forward to inspect us.

Master had warned us about this before since he wasn't about to start trying to convince everyone who he actually was.

"Too troublesome, and it just invites more unnecessary trouble," He had said.

We would have just eradicated any of the troubles though, but I suppose Master was just being his usual considerate self.

Master should be a little more selfish in my opinion.

The guards checked with the coachman first before moving towards us.

The door to our carriage was opened to reveal a lean man wearing a breastplate with a short sword strapped to his hip. He had a rather pretty face that was clean shaven and devoid of any blemishes.

I had half expected the guard to start ogling at us but he just had just leaned against the doorway noncommittally and asked, "Who are you and what's your purpose of coming here?"

"We're Master Lin's disciples," I explained, flashing Master's personal seal. "We're here to check on his family here."

The guard narrowed his eyes at the seal before giving a nod of approval, "'aight. Ain't gonna cause trouble for the number one Practitioner on the continent, his place is the largest building at the end of the road, can't miss it. Go on through."

That went way smoother than I thought it would.

The guard closed our door shut and shouted the all-clear to his mates, stepping aside for the coach to enter the town.

The coachman guided the carriage through the gates unmolested, continuing our way towards our destination.

A comfortable silence descended within the interior of the coach, the only sounds were the rhythmic clapping coming from Master's and Cai Hong's hands.

"He's gay," Master explained after a while. "He has a husband who works as a receptionist at the local Adventurer's Guild too."

Ah, that explains the guard's reaction.

"Should we prepare for anything, Master?" I asked, this was a town none of us has yet to visit.

Master shook his head, "For this one, let me do the talking. My family has a… Different… View on the world than others. As you might be able to see from the building itself."

I pulled aside the curtains to reveal a large ornate mansion at the end of the road, the coach moving slowly up a small hill to reach its gates.

The building itself was nothing that we've ever seen before, the walls were white and smooth and the windows had panels of glass embedded in them.

It didn't take long before the coach stopped in front of the mansion.

We disembarked from the carriage, thanking the coachman for his services before looking up at the wrought iron gates.

"Well, let's go then," Master told us cheerily, pushing open the gate to step in.

Right after that, a dozen or so people dressed in plate armour appeared all around us, half of them with blades drawn and the other half pointing strung bows at us.

"Stop right there, criminal scum!"

Chapter 78 - Meeting The Family

(Manami POV)

Ara ara? It looks like there's a lot of insects we have to get rid of later, I'll make sure to commit their faces to memory.

The only one without a bascinet on their head stepped in front of us, his long sword held at his side. He had a grizzled beard and short greyish white hair. A distinct scar ran across his forehead that stretched from his right temple to end just above his left eyebrow.

Everything about him just screamed of a knight.

"What do you want? This place is private property and you're trespassing right now."

Master waddled up to him, his actions beyond the limits of adorableness.

The guard looked down at him, his sword tilting slightly.

Eris had her own blade unclasped while the rest of us readied our own Techniques to strike the guard down should he dare to even move against Master.

"It's been awhile, Fred," Master greeted.

The guard raised an eyebrow, his sword moving closer towards Master who stood unfazed at the number of swords currently pointed at him.

"Who are you? Why do you know my name?"

Master smirked, "What? Already forgotten little old me? Weren't you the one who saw me off at the town's gate not so long ago?"

"Saw you off? What are yo--" the guard stopped himself, squinting his eyes to inspect our Master once more. "Second Young Master?"

"Hey, got it in one, not bad," Master nodded. "At least you're not going senile yet."

Ara? Even after Master has revealed his identity, the guards do not seem to be showing any signs of welcoming us?

"You should not have returned… There is no more place for you here, Young Master," that Fred guy frowned.

Master shrugged, "Yeah, but my current place got a little busted, so I thought I'll just come back here and crash for a while."

"You do not seem to have heard what I said, Young Master."

"Oh, I heard it well enough all right, and I frankly don't much care about what you think, really."

"Are you trying to seek entrance or are you looking to be thrown out of here after a good beating?"

"Would it surprise you if I said the former?"

"No," Fred motioned to the others to sheathe their swords, though his own remains drawn, "And should I ask what happened to you to result in your… Small stature?"

Master waved his hand nonchalantly, "Oh, just had to fight a really big demon that could have destroyed this entire town easily if it wanted to. Small price to pay, really."

Fred scoffed, looking at us once more.

"And these ladies are?"

"My disciples," Master answered plainly.

"Even the little girl?"

"Adopted daughter."

"I'm sure."

"Could I just go in now? I'd like to see father too."

"He is most definitely not your father," Another voice called out from behind the knight.

All of us turned to see a man strutting up to us from the mansion doors, dressed in what looked to be some colorful tunic with a pair of matching pants. Unlike Master who had black hair, his was of a dirty blonde colour and trimmed to a short crew cut. His face was more angular and rugged compared to Master's smoother features and his eyes were a distinct aqua blue compared to Master's brown pools.

Master seemed quite surprised to see him but quickly changed his face to a neutral one.

"Elder brother," Master greeted.

"You and I are not related," the man refuted. "Fred, get these peasants off our doorstep."

We were all prepared to move in to protect Master when he raised an arm to stop us.

"I have a way to help younger sister."

The guards stopped in their tracks at Master's words, looking at who we assume to be Master's 'brother'.

"You lie," He said simply, though there was a slight waver in his voice.

Master shrugged, "You can reject me here and know that you turned a potential help away or let me in not as your brother but someone who can help our younger sister."

The man had cursed under his breath, "Damn you! It's all because of you that younger sister is in the state that she is in now! Don't you act like it's none of your business after you infected her twelve years ago!"

I would have just pierced this little boy's chest with my tail if not for Master's earlier command of leaving everything to him.

"Isn't that why I'm here now?" Master tilted his head.

He glared at Master, "You really should not have come back here. Tell me the truth, why did you really come back?"

"I want an easy life. And since my house got destroyed by some Dark Sect people looking for trouble, I thought I'll just take the opportunity to visit you guys and take a look at sister while I'm at it."

"Easy life?" The man spat. "Your presence here makes everyone's life way more difficult than it should be! You have no right to wish for such a thing!"

With those words, the man turned on his heels and marched back to the mansion.

The Fred guy sighed before turning back to us, finally sheathing his sword, "I bid you welcome, Master Lin and his disciples."

He gestured to the guards who cleared the way for us, Master stepping through the gate without hesitation.

We followed after him, still confused about the exchange.

Right now it seemed like Master had parted on hostile terms with his mortal family for reasons unknown.

"So… Purge?" Diao Chan stage-whispered.

I shook my head, "We don't know Master's stance yet."

"Right. Delay purge, got it."

The guards returned to their positions while Fred trailed after us, no doubt as our guard.

"Master?" Lian Li started after we caught up to Master.

Master had just shook his head, "I know there's a lot of questions all of you would like to ask, I'll answer them later. For now, I should go and check on the rest of my family."

We nodded and concentrated on observing our surroundings instead.

I have to admit it was a rather bizarre place.

The area behind the front gate was a lawn that was planted with various types of greenery and flowers, all of them well cared for and properly maintained.

The building itself was built with a white, marble-like material and the windows were built with glass windows, something that I have never seen in any other town that I have been to.

The whole place just seems so alien to me, like it was a place that has its own different culture despite being so close to both Jin city and Heaven Sect.

Catching on to our surprise, Master asked, "Quite a sight isn't it? Not at all what you girls are used to right?"

"Why is it so, Master?" Eris asked.

"Influence from a different continent," Master explained. "Or at least that's what my grandparents insisted the answer to be all the way to the grave."

I tilted my head, "Ara? Is there such a thing, Master?"

Master shrugged, "It hasn't been proven that there aren't any other continents out there, so I wouldn't be so fast to say nay to that."

How interesting.

The existence of other continents? I guess we should form an expedition and baptise those lands if they exist. Ufufufu~~

Master reached the landing of the front entrance, both Lian Li and I moving forward to push open the double doors for him to enter.

The interior of the building was nothing like we've ever seen.

The entire hall was decorated lavishly, clearly a show of the occupant's wealth.

A grand staircase led upwards towards a landing before splitting off to both sides to reach the second floor. The floor was polished marble, its surface so shiny we could see our reflections on it without much effort.

Master said that his family runs a 'small merchant company' right? I don't think a small merchant company would be able to amass such wealth.

Master's 'brother' waited at the staircase landing with his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Come then… You should at least meet… Father first..."

He turned on his heel, ascending the rest of the stairs to the second floor without another glance back.

Master just smiled at us, "Well now, let's go. I'll introduce you girls to my father at least."

Ara? Is this what they call meeting the in-laws?

Ufufufufu~

You should have just said so Master, now I regret not wearing something nicer!

Chapter 79 - Family Reunion

(MC POV)

Honestly, seeing my brother dressed in what looked like a doublet surprised me. I didn't know that the town's technology has advanced to such a terrifying degree either.

Last I remembered, the town was still stuck in what could be equated to the early medieval ages that I had read about in my trips to the other world. But now, it seems like there were traces of them already moving to the early Renaissance era.

The speed of this advancement is really too fast no matter how you looked at it.

I followed my elder brother towards the mansion's study, taking the time to point out various parts of the house as well, though the place has actually changed quite a lot after I left.

For one, I do not remember there being electrical lights installed nor was my house more than one storey high. My family wasn't that well-off last I checked.

Brother knocked on the door to the study, only opening it after a curt "enter" echoed from behind the door.

"Father," He had called out in greeting. "I have brought the… Ahem… I have brought Younger brother."

We entered after he had said those words, my girls trailing behind me with Fred bringing up the rear.

A lean but muscular man sat behind the mahogany desk half hidden behind a few stacks of papers.

He shared my brother's rugged looks as well as hair and eye colours. But instead of being clean shaven like brother, he had chosen to grow out his beard just like Fred did. Place the knight and my father side by side and you might even mistake them for being related in some way.

My father placed the paper he was holding on top of another stack by the side of the table, looking up towards us just as Fred closed the door behind him.

"Son," He nodded to my brother before turning towards me. "And… You? What happened to you?"

"Body regressed, long story," I waved my hand. "How you've been?"

"Well enough after you left," Father scoffed, pushing himself back from his desk. "Why have you returned?"

I looked towards my brother who just looked away.

Really? I'm repeating myself here, you know? I should have just amplified my voice and announced it to everyone in the first place then. At this rate, I might have to explain myself to everyone I meet.

"Got bored, came back, end of story."

"Hmph, I'm sure."

Father pushed himself out of his chair, switching his gaze towards the girls behind me.

"And I suppose all of you are his so called disciples?"

My girls nodded.

"He isn't giving any of you weird ideas is he?"

They shook their heads collectively, though I could tell from their face their were holding themselves back for me.

"How rude. What do you take me for?" I protested.

He tilted his head down to stare at me silently.

I gestured around the room, "Don't pretend you guys didn't benefit from whatever you said I caused."

My brother clicked his tongue, "I would've preferred that they remained normal even so."

I raised my eyebrow, "They?"

Father sighed, "First it was just the little one… But your elder sister got infected too…"

Ah… That may kind of explain why everything changed so much so quickly…

"So you claim you can cure her?" Elder brother asked.

"Help, not cure," I corrected. "It's not a damn illness."

"Like hell it's not a damn illness!" Brother slammed the wall with a fist. "You should have seen the things they have drawn! No one in their normal state of mind will draw such things, much less do the things they do! And the state of this town… Argh!"

I grimaced, "It can't be that bad?"

"Your mother has even moved away after seeing the state of them," Father informed with a frown plastered on his face.

I scoffed, "Now that's just overreacting."

My brother gestured towards the door, "Please, do go ahead and fix what you have started and ran away from."

"You do realise I've told you time and time again I have no memory of what I did?"

"And I've refuted you time and time again that it doesn't matter if you remember or not because you still did it."

I shrugged, seeing no point in arguing about something that I have already tried and failed to argue about.

"Umm… Master has missing memories?" Lian Li asked from behind.

"Ah, they do speak," Brother said sarcastically. "I almost thought you were all mute."

"Be nice," Father rebutted. "Have I not taught you that at least?"

He then turned to my girls, "Sorry about that, he's quite stressed these few days with the Xi Family being outed as a Dark Sect supporter. But to answer your question… Yes, your Master has missing memories from a rather young age."

I nodded, "Yeah, never really told you guys about it, it's not really important anyway."

Manami frowned, "Was this caused by someone?"

"Hmm, a sharp one aren't you?" Father noted. "Yes, though we do not know who. But it was after your Master had infected his sister with… That ailment… Then we had no idea how to fix her because of that."

"Yeah, and then you guys just kicked me out because you thought that would fix her," I added.

"You wanted to chase those Practitioner fantasies of yours, we did not kick you out!" Brother protested.

I shrugged, "You did tell me I won't ever be welcomed here again, not like I was much welcomed here to begin with."

"You left of your own accord!"

I waved my hand, "Details, details. Anyway, I think I've spent enough time here being polite, where are my sisters?"

"Where your room used to be…" Father sighed. "You can go see what their conditions are and tell me if you can do something about it. I'll make sure your disciples are at least well taken care of here and away from all the trash."

Huh. Weird but ok.

"Oh well, I guess you guys can get acquainted with my disciples. They're good girls," I suggested, turning to leave the room.

My disciples bowed to me as I left while the others just watched me leave with dispassionate eyes.

Passing through some of the corridors that were still rather familiar to me, I stopped at an ornately decorated wooden door that had the sign "Keep Out" nailed on to it.

My door didn't use to be this decorated and I didn't hang the sign there either.

I pushed open the door without knocking, just in time to see a young girl posing with a leg on a chair and her right arm raised in the air with a stick in her hand. She had her black hair tied into twintails that hung to the small of her back, her pink, frilly dress a stark contrast to it.

"Fear not! For the Magical Girl Sarah will be here to save the day!"

Right opposite her was an older girl with similar features dressed entirely in black. I was talking about black eyeliner, black dress, black gloves, black shoes and even a black umbrella she was holding over her shoulder.

"Ohohoho~~ Does Magical Girl Sarah think she can fight against me? The all powerful, very charming and attractive Dark Mistress of Ebony Night?"

"Yes! You will fall to my spells today, Dark Mistress of Ebony Night!"

"It is you who shall fall to me today, Magical Girl Sarah!"

…

…

Now you know why I had pegged Diao Chan as a chuunibyou at first.

Chapter 80 - My Little Brother Can Be This Cute?!

(MC POV)

I looked around what used to be my room.

There were tons of pictures everywhere. They were on the walls, the floors, the furniture and even the ceiling.

I glanced at one that was particularly large near me, it was a drawing of a younger version of myself pushing my brother down on the couch, my face scandalously close to his.

I shivered, tearing my eyes away from the frightful sight.

My sisters were still doing their little skit, neither of them having noticed my entrance.

The two of them were in their exaggerated poses and facing each other. My younger sister had both her arms raised in a 'V' shape above her head while my older sister had her arms pointed diagonally upwards in the same direction in what you would call a 'dab'.

"Be ready for my magic, Dark Mistress of Ebony Night! For I shall use my special 'Love, Love, Rainbow Beam' on you!"

"Ohohoho! I shall counter that with my 'Eternal Torment, Blackest Night' spell!"

"What?! Oh no! My 'Love, Love, Rainbow Beam' was actually deflected? This cannot be!"

"You cannot defeat me, Magical Girl Sarah! Ohohoho!"

Is this a good time to mention both of these girls are in their twenties?

Yeah… I have no idea what happened to them. According to my brother and father, I caused my little sister to turn into a chunnibyou, then lost my prior memories after she turned into one.

Received a lot of flak for doing that so I decided to pack up my bags and leave when I discovered my potential as a Practitioner.

Really, if your own family isn't treating you well in your own home, why bother staying? I know a few people who are treated like dirt because they have crippled meridians or have no talent in what the family is good at, but if that's the case, why stay in such a cancerous environment?

Crippled meridians? Go find another thing you're good at for crying out loud. Painting, singing, writing or even blood suck— I mean practicing law, find something else to do with your life.

You don't need people who will only put you down at your lowest. Ditch the dead weights!

Scorned because you have no talent in cultivation? Well screw that too! Start your own damn business with blackjack and hookers!

Then milk those naysayers dry of their hard-earned Spirit Stones— I mean coins. No that's not right either, it's cash. Yeah, I meant cash.

Life's already hard enough, no need to make it harder than it has to be you know?

Just look at me, spent so much of my time seeking power and I still end up dead as a nobody.

And even now when I decide to live an easier life, I still got to deal with things like this.

Anyway, back to the thing about my little sister.

After she got er… Enlightened? Yeah, Enlightened.

After she got enlightened by the past me, she began coming up with all sorts of ideas to improve and fast forward our town's technology.

Back before I got constantly sent to the other worlds, especially with that psycho's 'truck-kun' stick, I hadn't understood my little sister's thinking either and thought something had infected her.

That made me stay far, far away from my family since I had been convinced she had turned into something quite out of this world. That, and I honestly didn't really care much about human interaction back then.

But it's obvious to me now what's going on with her so I thought I could at least talk to her. But seeing my elder sister being influenced to start embracing gothic Lolita fashion in addition to being a chuuni as well was a shock to me.

She was supposed to be the cool-headed one last I remembered? The prim and proper lady types you know?

Or is this her rebellious phase?

And what I hadn't expected at all was the fact that these two had also been creating all these… Do I dare say… Art? I think there's one pasted on the ceiling that was a depiction of a semi-naked stranger hugging an equally semi-naked version of myself from behind with roses drawn around the edges.

I stopped my line of thought before I end up crossing the point of no return.

I cleared my throat.

The two of them finally noticed me standing by the doorway and stopped mid-pose.

"Yeah, it's me," I answered, already anticipating their questions. "Got caught up in something and got shrunk. My place got wrecked so I'm here to crash for some time. Good to see you little sis, elder sis."

It took them all but a second to register my words.

"Ahhhh~ What is this?! What is this?!" My little sister rushed up to me, lifting me up to her face so she can rub her face on mine. "My Onii-sama has become my otouto?! This is a dream come true!!"

I pushed myself away from her, "Ok, who taught you the weeb speak?!"

Ignoring my question, she started patting my head, "Onii— No, Otouto-kun! Call me Onee-chan! Hurry, hurry! Haiyakuuuuu!"

What.

The.

Hell.

What the hell has gotten into her?!

"Ohohoho~ My little brother can't be this cute, can he?" Elder sis strutted up to me, twirling her umbrella behind her.

She stepped beside my little sister, pinching my cheek with her hand, "Ah, but he really is cute! Mmm… I need to draw the next set of art pieces! 'My cute Shota brother and the devilish CEO', it's definitely going to be a hit!"

No, no, no. Please don't. I'm starting to regret coming back already, they're worse than I thought.

"Wait, wait. I need to know what the hell happened to you girls when I was gone?!"

My little sister tilted her head at me, "Eh? Does that mean that Onii-sama has yet to regain his memories? But… That can't be true! You promised me your memories will return if I spread the knowledge of 'An Ney May' far enough! Does that mean a town is not enough? Does it have to be the world?!"

I held up a hand to stop her rambling, "What are you talking about?"

Little sis pulled me into her embrace, "No need to worry Onii-sama! This imouto will spread your teachings far and wide to recover your memories! The Gods of 'An Ney May' will watch over us!"

Deciding my little sister was probably a lost cause, I switched my gaze to my elder sister.

My mouth was in the midst of opening to speak before I saw her drawing on a stack of papers at inhuman speeds, the pieces of paper flying off to land on the floor after she was done with each one.

My eyes managed to catch sight of one of the pages, the drawing depicting my current younger form looking up at a half-dressed man with a bashful look, my character's hand lifting up the hem of my shirt to reveal a hint of flesh.

"NOOOOO!!" I screamed, reaching out a hand to try and stop her.

"Let it happen Onii-sama!" My little sis pulled me back. "Onee-sama is already an established 'Man gack kar'! She has already pulled in all of this town's Fujoshi to be her loyal followers! We will use the power of BL to influence the entire world!"

"That is exactly what I don't want you stupid sister!"

"Iyaaa~~ Onii-sama baka! We're doing this for your own good, you know?! Everything will be daijobu!"

"Let go of me right this instance you pervert sister! Stop pinching me!"

"Ehehehe~ Onii-sama Kawaiii~~"

"I said let go of me you damn chuuni!"

I'm seriously regretting coming back here now.

Seriously, what did I do twelve years ago that resulted in them being like this?!

Chapter 81 - *Taps Forehead*

(Imout— I mean Little Sister POV)

My name is Elaria, the youngest member of the Lindulf House.

I have an elder brother whom I love dearly, he always took care of me whenever he could, calling me his cute 'imouto'.

I didn't know what 'imouto' had meant back then but since he called me cute, I hadn't minded. It was really fun playing and learning from him.

I also had another elder brother named Dailus, but he was always busy with helping our father run the business so I never saw him much. He looked like a boring person too.

Then, there was also my elder sister, Odriana. I really liked her too.

She plays together with me and brother from time to time and taught me a lot of interesting things together with my dear brother.

I really like them.

Then one day, my dear brother told me, "Elaria imouto, would you like to learn about the great truth of 'An Ney May'?"

Interested in knowing more about what my dear brother knew and what exactly this 'An Ney May' was, I had told him yes.

My dearest brother had then brought me to a quiet room, placing both his hands on both sides of my head.

Light emanated from his body and a stream of knowledge had transferred from him to me.

I saw an amazing world where anything and everything was possible, the technology of the world an entire realm ahead of us.

I learnt of the sagas of various heroes and villains, many of them sharing the trait of dying from an insidious, fast-moving, metal carriage. They had found themselves in a different world after waking up, then moving on to make great advancements in the world they woke up in, changing them in ways one could never have imagined.

Not only that, there were also multitudes of people who led lives beyond their worlds, the stories written about them incredibly heroic and awe-inspiring.

A slime, a goblin, a skeleton mage, a young man accompanied by a goddess, a man who became a little girl, a one eyed boy who challenged God to get his loli vampire back and even a black haired swordsman swinging two swords in a battle against a giant bull-headed monster.

But it was not only limited to epics either. There were also stories of everyday people who lived everyday lives, some of them heart-warming while others incredibly heart-wrenching to watch.

The daily lives of three boys, a group of people forming a club to make friends, five friends helping a sixth to move on to the afterlife and a young man learning to take care of his daughter after losing his wife whom had dreams of joining a drama club in the past.

I was just in the midst of learning the mechanics behind magi-science when grandma and grandpa had entered the room, wrenching Onii-sama's hands away from me when they saw us.

A sudden surge of information had hit me then, overloading my senses and causing me to black out.

The last thing I remembered was hearing Onii-sama's voice, "Spread it, and I will remember..."

I hadn't known what he meant then, but I had woken up a week later to find out that Onii-sama had lost all his memories prior to that incident.

The House had blamed him for my coma which made him quite distant to everyone. Even after I had woken up, he was no longer as willing to spend time with me.

I had tried to convince everyone that what Onii-sama did was beneficial to me, but grandpa and grandma overruled me, stating he was a monster for doing whatever he did.

It was an unfortunate fact that our House was not exceptionally receptive of Practitioners, calling them freaks of nature instead.

Seeing that I had no chance in cracking open the stubbornness of my House, I decided to focus on returning Onii-sama back to his former self.

I believed that by spreading the wonders of 'An Ney May' to our town, Onii-sama will regain his memories and return to his former self again!

But in order to do that, I would need to raise the technology level of our little town, I can't believe how backwards our world was! How did we come so far without even a printing press?!

I began drawing all sorts of schematics and blueprints that will bring improvements to our world, showing them to people who I thought would be able to help me materialise them.

Everyone in my House claimed that I had finally awakened to my potential, but none of them had acknowledged Onii-sama's role in doing so.

No matter how much I told them that Onii-sama was the one behind all the ideas, Grandma and Grandpa had told others that the technological advancements were influences from another continent instead.

I still question why people bought that reason when no other continents have been proven to exist yet, I guess unenlightened people are just gullible.

Even more perplexing was why they were so adamant about denying Onii-sama's contribution, it was like they didn't want anyone else to know about his relation to our House?

I don't understand… It can't be that he is a possible Practitioner, right?

I had confronted grandma and grandpa about this multiple times, but they always said I was still too young to understand and told me to continue creating those 'technological wonders' of mine.

No one took the words of a girl barely ten years old seriously despite the fact that she's churning out things that were way beyond this world's technology.

Even after grandpa and grandma had passed away from illness, everyone still believed that some foreign people had inspired me to create all these wonders instead of my beloved Onii-sama.

Frustrated with their idiocy, I concentrated on trying to spread the wonders of 'An Ney May' to the rest of the town instead.

But I had been too late.

Just when I had managed to get the printing press up and running, Onii-sama had decided that he had enough of the mistreatment and left the town, seeking the way of the Practitioner.

He had even changed his name and assumed a new identity, effectively cutting off ties with us on his day of departure.

As much as I wanted Onii-sama to stay, I thought it was a better idea to help him regain his memories. Once I achieve that, he will remember our childhood promise and return naturally to me!

A fool-proof plan!

But I still needed help to spread the ideology effectively.

I thus sought out my Onee-sama, who had been just as equally distraught about Onii-sama's departure as I was.

It was not difficult to convince her to join me in helping Onii-sama and I proceeded to teach her everything that Onii-sama had taught me.

That was when she found her talent in being a 'Man gack kar', creating pure love stories between two pure boys.

Using our new printing press to produce her new book, it was quickly distributed to the town and it sold like hotcakes, the book's popularity skyrocketing within a few days.

But for some reason, elder brother Dailus and Father had vehemently rejected our ideas, even calling the pure BL that we came up with "disgusting and utterly unacceptable".

Hmph!

Our fans disagree with you!

A love between two boys is the purest form of love! How could they not understand that?!

Even elder sister agrees! Look at the love story she had written about Onii-sama and this young lord of a city! It was sold out within the first day!

That clearly shows the power of pure BL! Unenlightened people like him will never understand! But that's ok, we will just use this to educate the rest, spreading thepower of 'An Ney May' to the rest of the town.

Ignore the naysayers and concentrate on getting our town to understand the greatness of 'An Ney May' to return Onii-sama's memories!

Soon, I will introduce the versatile steam engine and trains will become a thing. Once the mining has become even more streamlined, I should have the resources to start industrializing this town and slowly build it up!

In just a few dozen years, the giant assault mobile exoskeletons will also become a reality!

Just wait for me, Onii-sama! I will fulfill this task that you have bestowed upon me!

Chapter 82 - His Background Circumtances

pαndαnoνɐ1--сoМ

(Lian Li POV)

There was a minute of silence when Master left the room.

The five of us stood in the middle of said room while the other three occupants, the father, the brother and the knight, contemplated on what to do with us.

"I suppose an introduction is due," The father sighed. "I am Gale Lindulf, current head of the Lindulf house. You've already met Fred, our head knight of the House and Dailus, my eldest son."

I curtsied, my sisters mimicking my action.

"I am Lian Li, Master's first disciple. Beside me are Manami, Eris and Diao Chan who are also Master's disciples. The little one is Cai Hong, Master's adopted daughter."

"Adopted daughter? Him?" The father gasped in disbelief.

Fred nodded, "He has claimed it true himself."

"Huh… Never thought that… No, never mind…"

"How long have you known him?" The brother asked before I could question the father.

"Close to half a year," I answered.

"Hmm… He hasn't given any of you weird ideas has he? Because that's what he did with my sisters."

Diao Chan frowned, "Master has given us nothing but the best we can ask for, we are forever indebted to him."

I nodded, "Yes, without Master's guidance and intervention, none of us would be where we are today."

The father raised an eyebrow at us, "And none of you find his current body's condition weird at all?"

Manami bowed her head slightly, "Master is in his current condition only because he had placed himself in danger to protect a lot of people. The regression of his body's age was the price he had to pay for such heroism."

"Hmph, that can't be what happened," The brother scoffed. "Before he left, he always did things for himself and spared no thought for those around him."

Master being selfish? That is hard to believe.

"Jealousy…?" Eris asked.

"Me? Jealous of him? Ha! That can't be further from the truth! If only you knew what he did in the past before he lost his memories, I had to fix so many things because of him!"

"Now, now Dailus," The father called out, returning to his seat at his desk. "It is true that due to his ideas, there has been some… Improvements… Made to this area. So we can't deny what he has contributed as well."

"But the price we had to pay? This whole town is a place of degenerates! I can't even go out without being harrassed anymore! Even mother… She..."

I raised my eyebrow at the family drama in front of me, "With all due respect, if you could stop with the pronoun game and actually explain what you're talking about, that would be greatly appreciated."

"Damn… And here I thought I could drag this on for a few more fillers or so without you noticing…" The father faked a cough.

Diao Chan dug a piece of paper out of her pocket, "Hmm… Nope, I do not see drama included in the tags, so if you would please just skip forward all the unnecessary drama and get to the point. I'm not directing any of this after all."

"Well, can't blame me for trying," The father shrugged. " I assume none of you had the chance to walk through the town yet?"

We shook our heads.

"Then let Fred guide you around for a bit," He waved towards the door. "It is better that you see for yourself than for us to explain. It's not something that we would enjoy talking about. Fred, if you would. And it would be best that they… Keep to the safe areas."

Fred bowed to him before opening the door and ushering us out.

With the door firmly shut, the knight gave a long sigh before addressing us, "Forgive my rudeness, but I have to ask again. Has your Master really not taught anything out of the norm to any of you?"

Cai Hong pouted, "Papa is not weird!"

I nodded, "Isn't Master rather well known at this point? All of you speak as though you don't know of Master's exploits."

"There's a good reason," Fred gestured towards the corridor, indicating that we should walk and talk. "Our House was never receptive of the Practitioner ways of this continent, preferring to focus all our resources and efforts in trading and management instead."

That is understandable. Practitioners were not really a common sight amongst the general public since they usually end up living most of their lives within Sects and have almost no outside contact. Mortals who do not have Cultivation Points usually don't care about the Practitioner side of the world.

"I should also tell you first that the Master you know is not the same person as the one from before he lost his memories. I shall show you how different this town is compared to others and you might have an idea of why we react to him like that."

We followed the corridor back to the main entrance, passing by several servants who greeted us respectfully.

Fred nodded back to them in greeting, waiting for them to be out of earshot before continuing.

"It is no secret to the more... Important people of the Lindulf House that our second Young Master, or rather, the current Master Lin, was an oddity," Fred continued. "He never cared for the nobility nor was he interested in the rigid rules of society. He was also exceptionally smart for his age and learnt things more quickly than others."

All of us nodded, that sounds like what Master would do.

"The only problem was his obsession with this certain thing called 'An Ney May', there were no ends to the troubles he caused due to that obsession of his. I assume that none of you have ever heard of such a thing?"

We most definitely haven't, so I told him so.

"Then that's the surest sign that he is no longer the same person as he was before," The knight sighed. "I'm not sure if that can be considered a good thing, though."

I shivered, the thought of Master suddenly changing himself did not sit right with me. Judging by how the other girls also showed signs of dissatisfaction, they were definitely of a similar opinion.

Master is already perfect, he does not need to change.

"Now, I assume you have at least been to a few other villages, towns and cities, yes?" Fred asked. "Maybe even the capital city of Jin?"

I narrowed my eyes, "What kind of question is that? We are not savages."

He shrugged, his armour clinking with the movement, "Never hurts to be sure. As a warning though, this town is vastly different to what you might be used to."

He pulled open the doors of the main entrance, holding it open for us to walk through.

Stepping through to the sunlight, we were greeted with the sight of the town spread out in front of us.

Since we had arrived in an enclosed carriage earlier in the day, we didn't have a chance to actually see what the rest of the town looked like before reaching here.

The mansion we had just came out of was built on this little hill overlooking the town with a paved road leading down to it.

Different from the greyish stone buildings that we have seen in the Sect and Jin city, the buildings here were leaning more towards the white-ish side of the colour spectrum.

Some of them even looked to be more than two stories high, a feature that I've yet to see anywhere else.

"Spent a number of years to tear down the old buildings and rebuild the town," Fred commented offhandedly. "The young miss insisted it was worth the effort and she had been right. Used something called 'Ro Men Kon Crit' though she had no answers to what the name actually meant."

We looked at him in confusion, how could the person suggesting these ideas not know why it was named such a way?

Noticing our obvious looks of confusion, he continued, "The ideas had apparently came from your Master. Only a few of us know about this... But the little miss was taught by your Master before he lost his memories in the past."

How envious… It seems like the little sister is Master's first student and she has already become so successful through Master's teachings, there is no doubt Master will be the greatest guide for the world.

As his disciples, we must definitely not bring shame to Master and spread his teachings to the world as well!

"Oh, and I think this would be a good time to tell you that your Master is actually adopted. We found him when he was a baby in the forest nearby and the former head of the House decided to take him in. His sisters and himself does not know about this so I implore you all to refrain from telling them."

"Eh? Why?" Eris questioned.

"It has something to do with his sisters. I am afraid I cannot say anymore than that. Please understand."

Deciding that it was better to follow the local rules, we obliged. Though if Master asked about it, I won't hesitate to reveal the truth to him.

Still, the fact that he was not born a mortal child just further proves Master's divinity!

Chapter 83 - Let Split Up And Look For Clues!

(Eris POV)

The first things we noticed upon stepping foot into the streets of the town was how differently the people dressed.

Everyone was dressed differently but yet they still seem to belong to the same kind of world. It was like the entire town existed in a different realm of its own.

People were walking around sporting a multitude of different hair colours that made Cai Hong's hair look normal.

The clothes they were wearing also look entirely different from each other and yet no one was batting an eye at each other.

There could be someone dressed in an overcoat with some kind of traditional robes underneath, walking alongside another person wearing nothing but some straps and a pair of underwear on his head and no one would comment.

Aside from the people, there were various decorations that we've only seen exist here.

All around the walls of the buildings were posters of various colorful characters, none of which I have ever seen before.

I also realised that some of the clothes that the townspeople dressed themselves in were similar to the ones the characters were wearing.

To put it simply, it was an extremely bizarre place.

I wouldn't have thought anything was weird about this town at the entrance since the guards that inspected us at the town gates looked completely normal.

So… Is anyone else kind of weirded out about the people in this town or is it just me? [Bait]

It is this one's humble opinion that everything here is weird. [Denna]

Perplexing… [Laverna]

Still… For Master's little sister to bring about such a change, it really is quite impressive. [Eris]

Hey, hey, hey. My eyes aren't playing tricks on me right? Look at that guy in the corner there! [Bait]

Is that… An old man wearing some sort of dress? No… It's a dress with a short skirt? [Eris]

He's wearing heels too! Ahahaha! What a riot! [Bait]

"Is this your town's way of celebrating the new year? How quaint," Manami commented.

The knight sighed, "If only that was the case. This is, as unfortunate as it sounds, the norm around here. Most visitors are quite… Well... Disturbed by it…"

"Lively…" I murmured.

Fred raised an eyebrow, "That's one way to see it I suppose but--"

The knight was interrupted when a young man had ran towards us from an alley, his body crouched low and his arms flailing about behind him.

We prepared ourselves for an ambush but the man had just leapt over our heads, somersaulting in the air before landing perfectly on his feet on the other side of us.

He then sprinted off to another alley screeching, "Reeeeeeee~~"

It took a full minute for us to recover from our befuddlement.

"What was that?" Lian Li asked.

Cai Hong tilted her head, "Muuu… Squealing pig?"

More like a running joke if you ask me, ahahaha! [Bait]

Groan… [Eris, Denna, Laverna]

Oh come on, I think that was rather good myself! [Bait]

"He's known as one of the 'ninjas' I believe…" Fred sighed, dragging his palm down his face. "There are quite a number of groups within the town and he's among the more normal ones…"

Diao Chan raised an eyebrow, "That's considered normal?"

"As badly as I want to deny it, but yes."

The sado-masochist girl licked her lips, "Are there perchance… Anyone around here who has a liking towards getting punished or hurt?"

Fred looked at her with a weird face, "You might be surprised, but yes, there is such a group."

I raised my hand slightly, "A place for swordswomen?"

"There's a group for both the swordswomen and the people who have an unhealthy liking towards them. I uh… recommend you to go to the Adventurer's Guild for the first one."

Lian Li turned her head towards the knight, "Then is there a group for people who likes being sat on?"

"Unfortunately... That group has quite an unbelievable amount of people…"

"And I suppose that person belongs to a group of people who likes foxes?" Manami asked, pointing to a fox-eared girl.

"Oh, no. That girl's one of our resident fox youkai. She's part of what we call an 'idol group' that has their own fan club actually."

Cai Hong looked up at the knight while she sucked on her finger, "Muu…'Loly kon'?"

Hearing that question, Fred suddenly collapsed on to his knees, burying his face into his hands.

"Yes… There is such a group… And I am ashamed to say my own son has fallen prey to them…" He sobbed.

Interesting… [Laverna]

Yes, it seems like the entire town is separated according to their interest. But why? [Eris]

This one humbly thinks it might be a form of town management of sorts, perhaps? [Denna]

Eh? Seems like a real chore to manage though? And it feels like they would compete amongst each other. Like rival gangs, you know? [Bait]

I wonder if there is a system in place to prevent exactly such things from happening? [Eris]

"Wouldn't the different groups promote conflict between them?" Lian Li inquired.

Fred wiped away the tears on his face and stood up, taking a moment to compose himself.

"Normally people would think that, yes. But all of these groups had stemmed out from the young miss herself, meaning she is the leader of all these groups and she has the power to disband and expel any of them she sees fit."

Manami frowned, "And everyone is fine with her having so much power?"

"Everyone in the town relies on her for work and entertainment. This might sound too far-fetched but she basically has everyone here wrapped around her finger, even the local lord here is not spared. A single word from her and everyone will move."

She has talent. [Eris]

Really, really good talent. Ya think she'd be willing to join us? [Bait]

Not sure what her stance is on Master though. It seems like most of the family has something against Master right now. [Eris]

This one suggest a round of preaching might help. [Denna]

Family… Difficult… [Laverna]

Uh-huh. I gotta agree with her on this one. If Master finds out and isn't happy about us involving his family, I ain't gonna know how 'ta explain. [Bait]

Perhaps we're getting a little ahead of ourselves, I would suggest that we learn about the rest of the town's views on Master first. [Eris]

Agreed… [Laverna]

What about this old one? [Denna]

Meh, ya heard what the old man said to him before we left right? He's just gonna be a bother. [Bait]

Ditch… [Laverna]

Yes, they seem to be quite bias towards Master anyway. He will just be a hindrance to our information collection. [Eris]

Guess we shoulda talk to the others yeah? [Bait]

Go ahead. [Eris]

"Heya, whadda you guys think about looking around the town ourselves?" I suggested.

The other girls looked at me, getting the hidden meaning behind my words with my subtle wink.

"Good idea, there shouldn't be any problems right, Fred?" Lian Li glance at the knight.

The knight took a second to look around the street, his gaze sweeping past a guy that was dressed in some kind of monster suit without pause.

"You should know by now this place is vastly different from the places you've been to…" Fred started, turning his sight back to us. "I would prefer that we return to the mansion now, in fact."

Yeah, that's not gonna happen. [Bait]

Dispose… Immediate... [Laverna]

Cai Hong pulled at the knight's hand, "Uncle?"

Fred crouched down, "What is it little one?"

The loli dragon chopped at his unprotected neck without warning, rendering him unconscious.

Diao Chan and Manami caught him before his body hit the ground, hanging his limp body between them to dump at a secluded corner later.

"Would this be a problem?" Diao Chan asked.

Manami giggled, "Ufufufu~ Nothing a little bit of illusion can't solve. He will wake up thinking he passed out from the afternoon heat."

"In that case, let's split up and look around town for information about Master's family," Lian Li suggested. "Since the Xi used to do business here, I'll go look into their former connections."

"I'll take the Adventurer's Guild then," I volunteered.

"I'll see how my brethren are doing," Manami decided.

"'Loly kon' group!" Cai Hong said cheerily.

"Then I shall look for the other like-minded people of mine, I might be able to get something out of them~" Diao Chan giggled.

The five of us split up, seeking out our respective targets.

Chapter 84 - The Advent

(MC POV)

Before I got involved with that psycho Practitioner, I had always thought my little sister to be exceptionally talented and smart.

That is… If you ignored her rather weird tendencies.

Like seriously, she had blueprints drawn up for at least ten different ways to harness natural energy before she was even of marriageable age.

No one even knew what the hell blueprints were back then.

But now I knew her knowledge came from somewhere else instead, more specifically, the world that I got sent to by that stupid stick.

Now, I'm not dumb ok? Anyone would be able to put two and two together by now to realise that the me from the past probably had something to do with the other world in some way or another.

There are quite a few possibilities right now, one of them being that this is not my first transmigration or reincarnation.

What I am more concerned about though, is who or what managed to erase away my past memories and for what reason?

You might think at this point I would make it my priority to get my memories back, but I'll just be honest and tell you that I frankly don't care about it.

I am who I am.

I already have one past life to deal with and that's already a pain in the neck.

All I wanted was to have a nice and easy life where I could just sit back, relax and let my cute disciples take care of me.

Instead of that, what do I get, huh?

My house got wrecked, my body got shrunk and now I find out my sister is a damn chuuni and a fujoshi at that.

Ok, the last part actually makes me want to regain my memories just to find out what I did wrong to make her like that, but... Nah, more trouble than it's worth.

Like I said, trying to regain back my memories would probably be just an arbitral goal that I set for myself. Then the idea will get shelved for as long as possible which would drag on for the next few decades or so until it becomes relevant again, the solution probably being some really conveniently located miracle cure or in the form of an otherworldly expert.

Ain't nobody got time for that.

I'll just live for the present, thank you very much.

Speaking of the present…

"Onii-sama! Onii-sama! Could you just please, please, onegaishimasu! Just pose like this panel here?!"

My little sister, Elaria, shoved a picture of a young boy in a heroic pose. You know, the standard hands on hips and looking up and away from the camera kind of pose.

"No," I responded almost immediately.

She then cackled fiendishly, throwing a card down on to the floor.

"You activated my trap card! With this 'Mind Trap' card, you have no choice but to obey me! Now, hurry! Hayaku!"

I don't even need to look at the card to know that it was nothing but a blank piece of paper.

"This card only applies to Practitioners which I currently am not. Also, you don't have enough mana to place down that card in the first place which means you played foul," I countered without even batting an eye.

She gasped, grasping at her chest as though something had physically struck her.

"As expected of Onii-sama! To see through my ruse so easily! Sugoi! This Magical Girl will grant you one wish for being so great!"

"Could you stop elder sister from restraining me then?"

She looked at our elder sister, Odriana, who was currently holding me on her lap. Her hand was stroking my head methodically while the person herself was ignoring everything going on around her.

"I'm sorry, Onii-sama. I'm afraid I can't do that," Elaria answered in a monotonous voice. "And don't ask me what's the problem because you know why."

I rolled my eyes at her answer, having already given up on trying to struggle out of my elder sister's unbreakable grip.

"So Onii-sama, you returned because you remembered right?" Elaria asked, her eyes sparkling.

"Didn't I already tell you my memories still haven't returned?"

"E… Eh? Uso... But… But… But you came back? That should mean you remember our promise right?"

I shrugged, "Nope, no idea what you're talking about."

Elaria scrunched up her eyebrows, "That's not right… It seems like spreading it to the town really isn't enough… I must spread the glorious 'An Ney May' to the rest of the world it seems..."

I had a feeling that correcting her about the name and idea at this point would be counter-productive.

"So… I see quite a lot has changed, huh?" I asked, trying to change the subject. "Weren't you training to be an accountant under Odriana?"

"Hmm? Does Onii-sama not know?" She tilted her head at me. "I've already taken over the company."

Huh?

"Wasn't elder brother Dailus supposed to take over the company from father?" I inquired.

Elaria nodded with a beaming smile on her face, "That was what was supposed to happen, yes. But with the knowledge that Onii-sama had granted me, I started up a proxy company outside of the family. With the new company, I introduced all the new inventions and products to the town and the capital city."

I narrowed my eyes at her, "And where did you get the capital to start up such a thing?"

Her smile turned a little devilish, "I might have commited a little fraud of some sort, but it's not like they know anyway, Onee-sama taught me how to hide my tracks."

I looked up at Odriana, discontent clear on my face.

She shook herself out of her stupor once she saw my unhappy face, "Hmm? Is something wrong? Is my cute little brother uncomfortable?"

"You've been corrupting Elaria, that's what. Teaching her how to commit fraud, what kind of respectable elder sister does that?"

"It's for the greater good!" She protested. "Besides, cute little Elaria did really well didn't she? She gathered all the bright minds together, created all the ideas that you have given her and controlled the population with new forms of entertainment to ensure the new products are more readily accepted."

Elaria nodded proudly, "Uh-huh! And with our complete monopoly over all the luxury goods and the newly introduced products, I managed to earn enough to buyout Father's company within three years!"

"And both father and Dailus were fine with it?"

"Ehehehe~ I bought them out with another proxy company that wasn't directly related to me! They suspected nothing until the whole process was completed! How is it?! Are you proud of me, Onii-sama?! Praise me! I want my mofu mofu! Hayaku!"

"Wait… So both Dailus and father…"

Elaria grinned, "They're both working under me of course!"

Their ego definitely took a lot of damage then.

I gulped, "And… What happened to all of those companies?"

"Did another buyout and combined all the proxy companies under one big conglomerate!" Elaria boasted. "Now we are collectively known as the 'An Ney May Conglomerate'! We may be limited to this town and Jin city at the moment, but since I know that I need to spread 'An Ney May' further for Onii-sama to regain his memories now… I will definitely make it known throughout the whole continent!"

"But people will reject such sudden changes, won't they?" I cautioned.

"Don't worry about it, Onii-sama! With my followers that I have gained with my 'An Ney May' Entertainment division, the people will eat up everything I tell them!"

"Followers?"

She giggled, "That's right! Sono tori desu! They all accept 'An Ney May' as the true calling of this world! It's all for you, Onii-sama!"

This girl is definitely dangerous! She's already created a cult didn't she?!

I miss my cute disciples already…

Chapter 85 - I Have The Power

(MC POV)

I was guided by the hand by Odriana and Elaria, both of them leading me through a small passageway that connected my former bedroom to what they dubbed 'The Workshop'.

The passageway had been hidden behind the largest painting that had covered an entire section of a wall back in the room.

I am quite ashamed to report that it was a painting of a younger me wearing an unbuttoned dress shirt and pants, revealing an exaggerated set of abs underneath the shirt. I definitely did not look like that when I was at that depicted age.

I had mixed feelings when my younger sister had skipped towards the drawing of me and started pressing the abs in a pattern, causing a section of the wall near her to open outwards.

Odriana then ushered me through the hidden door, guiding me down a spiral staircase with Elaria following closely behind.

Fluorescent lights blinked on when the wall closed shut behind us, illuminating a long passageway ahead of me.

With Elaria holding on to my left hand and Odriana my right, I was half-dragged, half-carried towards their destination.

"You'll love it Onii-sama! Maybe after seeing everything you'll finally remember!" My little sister declared cheerily.

I really doubt it will be that convenient but I wasn't going to tell her that.

But still… This whole corridor was rather unnerving and I'm already ignoring the fact that fluorescent lamps were inventions way beyond the Renaissance age.

Something tells me my little sister's scope of operations has been much bigger than I had initially thought...

The passageway ended at an unassuming brick wall, its look similar to the rest of the corridor that we were in.

I looked back to see if we might have missed a turn somewhere but there were no gaps in the walls as far as I could tell.

My little sister skipped towards the wall, pulling out one of the bricks to reveal it as a fake cover for a keyhole behind it.

My elder sister sauntered towards the opposite side of the wall at the same time, mimicking Elaria's actions except her side had two levers instead of a keyhole.

Pulling out a key from between her bosom, Elaria stuck the key into the hole and twisted it clockwise.

She glanced towards my Elder sister, "Pull the lever, Kro--Onee-sama!"

Odriana pulled one of the levers down.

Whatever I had expected the lever to do, a metal cage dropping down from the ceiling above me was not one of them.

I barely managed to roll out of the way when the trap crashed down at where I had been, missing me by a mere hairsbreadth. If it wasn't for my current smaller stature, it would have most likely caught me inside.

"Wrong lever!" My younger sister yelled indignantly, fussing over me to check if I was hurt.

"Oh dear… My deepest apologies," My elder sister apologised, pulling the correct lever this time.

There was a soft click and the brick wall in front of us pulled back and away before sliding out of sight.

Compared to the dirt ground of the passageway, the floor behind this hidden door looked metallic and smooth.

The clanking sound it produced when I stepped on it confirmed its metallic properties.

I had no time to inspect the ground any further as I was busy marvelling at the contents of the giant room in front of me.

Did I say giant? I meant humongous. Like, I'm pretty sure this entire underground complex took up the underground space of the entire town in fact.

The room was painted pure white, the walls and floors made up of individual white metallic tiles for what I assumed to allow for better maintenance.

Within was a vast array of electronics and machinery, all of them looking rather crude and ugly though I'd wager that's more because the creator focused more on functionality than making them look pretty.

There was a low humming noise from a big machine in the corner which I could only assume was the generator for this room. How it was made and what it was running on I have no idea.

Wires were connected from it to various machinery in the room, some I recognised and some I didn't.

I pointed to one of the biggest machines in the corner of the room, "Is that… A computer?"

Elaria nodded her head enthusiastically, "As expected of Onii-sama! Sugoi! Your memories are returning right?! I based that thing's design off the ENIAC that you showed me before!"

I most definitely do not remember showing her anything like that. I only guessed what it was since I saw the wires, blinking lights and what looked like a very rudimentary form of a circuit board.

"What is that generator running on then?" I asked.

This time it was my elder sister who answered while patting my head, "Fufufu~ Allow your big sister to explain this one my dear little brother. I'm sure everyone knows that monsters are a menace to everything in this world, yes?"

I shook her hand off my head, "Don't tell me it's as convenient as there being monster cores acting as power sources."

"Oh? Has dear little brother already looked into the Monster Crystals' usage? I expected no less of you, fufufu~"

No, it's because that's the standard for most settings isn't it? It's also the most convenient as well. Put monsters in the world and have them grow cores or something inside their bodies which can be conveniently used as renewable energy sources.

I'd think if humanity really found out about this, they'd already be hunted to extinction within the year.

"Ehehehe~" Elaria giggled. "I spent a good full year to understand the characteristics of the Monster Crystals, but it was all thanks to Onii-sama giving me an idea of other worlds that use them that I can think of such a thing so quickly!"

So it's still because of me huh?

She pulled me towards one of the machines where the corpse of a wolf type monster was laying. The whole setup looked like some sort of butcher's chopping board except it was more gruesome with all the blood-soaked medical tools lying around.

Elaria hopped happily to the table, picking up one of the knives in her hand, "You're just in time Onii-sama! I left this one around to experiment on since the 'An Ney May' Labour division would handle tasks like these. But here! Let me show you!"

Experiments? I must have heard wrong right?

I watched as my little sister plunged the knife into the belly of the corpse without hesitation, cutting it open in one smooth motion.

Holding the incision open with one hand, she plunged her dainty little hand into the corpse, digging through it for a bit before pulling a fist sized, black coloured crystal out. She was entirely unperturbed by the blood drenching her entire arm.

She crouched down and presented the fist sized crystal to me proudly, "Look, look! Elemental Quarks solidifies within monsters to become crystals a few days after their death! After cleaning and processing it, we can use it for power! The bigger the monster, the bigger the crystal! One that is of this size can power a house for a day right now, if only I can improve on the refining process it'll make it last much longer."

I am hesitant to even ask how many corpses she had to go through to refine this process.

Not to mention the fact that usually monsters that are killed would simply be used as food and materials or immediately disposed of to avoid attracting other monsters, probably explains why these 'Monster Crystals' haven't been found by anyone else yet.

"That's good and all…" I said, pushing her bloody hand away with a finger. "I assume you've released every new technology so far out to the public?"

Odriana chuckled, "Oh my dearest little brother really knows how to make jokes! Of course not! We reserve the best ones for ourselves while dribbling the outdated ones to the others and selling them at sky high prices. Once we drain out the nobles and the rich folk, we'll be able to establish ourselves as the head of any future endeavors without competition!"

I looked up at my elder sister with narrowed eyes, "I don't suppose you'll also be making the people reliant on your company's goods to gather support from the masses so no other business can touch you?"

"Ufufufu~ As expected of my most adorable brother to figure all this out! Totally unlike that dumb Dailus who fell right for our scheme to take over the family business~ In fact, we've already achieved that part of the plan already!"

This is beyond frightening…

A little sister that is a genius scientist with little to no morals coupled with an elder sister that is merciless in business… I fear for the future of this world.

Chapter 86 - And There Were Two

(Elder Sister POV)

I am Odriana, the first daughter of the Lindulf House. We were a rather respectable family of merchants ever since our grandparents' time.

Grandfather and Grandmother had started up the Lindulf trading company in their prime after migrating over from a place they had refused to tell us, stating it was better that we did not know.

We had just assumed they had crossed over the Death Mountains from Dong country and were just unwilling to talk about it.

From young, I had been closer to my younger brother than my elder one. It was no surprise since father had been grooming him to be his next successor ever since he was born while I was just an asset to be used by the House.

I had been initially betrothed to another man fifteen years my senior of a more wealthy merchant House. It was nothing more than an arranged marriage to help gain familiar relations with them for my House.

It was not a surprising thing since these types of arranged marriages were common between nobles and wealthy merchants and I had already accepted my fate.

But my younger brother, barely eight years old at that time, had helped me break off the engagement by exposing the nefarious deeds the other House had done to obtain their position.

Exploiting workers, backroom deals, scams and inflating prices of their sold goods were just some of what he had told me they were guilty of.

Normally, these kinds of things would be an open secret that everybody knew but could do nothing about since these noble Houses could literally buy their way out of trouble.

But younger brother had apparently made a deal that the local lord could not refuse and thus managed to incarcerate them without any problems.

That made him unpopular with the rest of the family since they had been counting on the other House's influence to push our own trade influence further.

As to what younger brother had offered for the lord, I had not been able to find out and neither did anyone else. The lord had resigned from his position soon after and left his son to take over, he himself moving out of town for places unknown.

That event made me determined to spoil my adorable younger brother as much as I could.

He has done way more for me than either father or brother ever did.

But unfortunately for me, since my usefulness as a bargaining chip had ran out at that time, I was pulled away to learn how the administration of the business world was applied to help out the House's trade.

I could only envy my little sister who could hog brother all for herself in my absence.

I even heard he had started tutoring her about the various truths of the world.

Oh, but it's not like I hate Elaria, mind you. It's not her fault that I was dealt these cards in life.

Besides, I could still come back and visit my adorable little brother on my days off, pampering him to the fullest extent while he soothed me with his presence.

I was no longer in danger of being married off since there weren't any 'respectable enough House for us to form familial ties with' according to father.

Things continued like this for the next few years.

I had thought this would be our routine for the foreseeable future but of course fate had other plans in mind.

I received the news that my most angelic little brother had lost all of his memories from someone's despicable actions one day, rendering him unable to even to recall his own name.

He became reserved and detached from everyone else where even Elaria had a difficult time approaching him, much less myself.

I only learned much later that the House had started ostracizing him because of something he had granted to our little sister, though I had no idea why at that time.

With how reclusive he had become, I barely had any opportunity to spend time with him anymore, making me resent the fact that I had been put in this position by my House.

I felt it was still bearable in a way since I could still see my brother from time to time, slowly trying to get him out of his reclusive new self and back to the old one. But the final straw came when my most innocent younger brother revealed his plans to leave the House in favour of starting his own journey.

It was only then that I found out about how the House had been treating my adorable little brother.

I had been tempted to follow after him as well, to just abandon everything I had and make sure he was safe in my embrace at all times.

But Elaria had approached me with a secret she had known.

She claimed to have heard dear brother's final echoes of memories, stating that if 'An Ney May' was spread widely enough, his memories will return naturally.

Elaria then recruited me, telling me of ideas that she had swimming around in her head that was waiting to be materialised, all of them implanted by our dear brother himself. She knew of the ways to make them and what they could do, but she needed help in spreading it to the masses.

She knew that with my experience in helping out the House's trade, I was familiar with the ins and outs of the business world.

For the sake of our brother returning to us, I had agreed to help her in a heartbeat.

Elaria then spent the next couple of months educating me on the wonders of 'An Ney May' and it was an eye opening experience for me.

Listening to how the people fought against their perceived fates, how they stood against the seemingly impossible odds to conquer them lit a spark in my heart.

Even when they were trampled on again and again they still believed in themselves and the power of friendship that was able to overcome all odds!

This so called power of friendship is truly terrifying.

But the best thing I learnt from her was the existence of this incredibly profound art.

Boy's Love.

It was indeed the purest form of love!

To see two pure boys gazing into each other's eyes as they held each other, their hands stroking at each other's faces ever so lovingly… It truly is a wonderful scene!

AHHH~~ I must draw this! I must definitely draw this!

No, it's not enough to just draw them… I must spread this love to everyone else! Everyone must know of this truth!

I can picture it now… My beloved little brother in the arms of a dashing young man…

Kyaaa!! Where is my pen and paper?!

Yes!

Recall the innocent face that my brother has! The slight tilt of the face when the man lifts his chin up with his finger!

The sparkles in both their eyes! The slow closing of the gap! The parting of their lips!

AHHH!

How can anyone deny the beauty of this?!

Ufufufu! I already have a story planned out! Once I draw it, I will definitely release them to the rest of the town and everyone will see the beauty of it!

With this, the people will be able to accept our other ideas more, then we can spread all of my little sister's inventions to them!

Ah, but if any guy actually does try to take my most adorable little brother for themselves though… I definitely won't allow it. Definitely not.

Little brothers belong to their sisters after all, ufufufu~

Just you wait my cute little brother! You big sister will work hard for your sake!

Chapter 87 - And Suddenly, There Kingdom Building

(MC POV)

So… I've come to the conclusion that both my sisters were beyond help, or rather, I was too late.

Elaria had revealed to me all the plans that they had implemented so far, showing me that she was already prepared to expand this town into the technological capital of the continent.

The only reason why this town has yet to expand into a city was because she was unsure if I would have preferred returning to a place I was still vaguely familiar with.

In her own words, "If I expanded this town too fast… Onii-sama might not like coming back to such a big place…"

Yeah, she just totally ignored the fact that even if I did come back because I regained my memories, the town was already vastly different from the past because of all the technological advances she introduced.

Basically, size matters to her.

I honestly don't know if I should stop her or not.

On one hand, I see an advent of a technological apocalypse waiting to happen. A scene of Practitioners, Monsters, Youkai and the new 'Techies' engaging in an all out war due to ideological or political differences came into mind.

On the other hand… There's self flushing toilets and heated toilet seats…

Alright, toilets win. Hands down.

I'll let future problems be solved by future people instead.

Who knows? I might not even stick around long enough to see that happen anyway, so just enjoy the benefits this will bring me for now.

Elaria was in the middle of showing me how she processed Monster Crystals to power her generators when one of the machines nearby started beeping.

All three of us turned towards where the sound came from.

A rectangular machine with various wires connected to it was making the beeping sound quite audibly.

Three short beeps, three long beeps then three short beeps again.

Odriana rushed towards the machine just as the same beeping rhythm started repeating itself in a loop.

Picking up what seemed like an earpiece, she plugged the wire into a socket and began scribbling a series of lines and dashes on it.

It took her a good minute of scribbling before she passed the paper to Elaria.

My little sister glanced through it before passing it back, her face growing grim.

Since I was way shorter than my sister in my current form, I wasn't able to see what was written in that piece of paper.

"Trouble?" I asked innocently.

Elaria turned back to me, her pupils reverting back to the sparkly ones from before.

"Onii-sama is worried about me? Ehehehe~ I forgot how it feels like to have Onii-sama pamper me already!"

She tried to reach for my cheeks again but this time I managed to side step her efforts.

Elaria pouted at me but I wasn't going to let her have her way with me just because I'm smaller now. I still have my pride damnit!

"So… What was that all about?" I asked again, this time directing the question to my elder sister.

"Ufufufu~ It's just some troublemakers showing up at one of our businesses, no need to worry about it. Your dear sisters will take care of this in a jiffy~"

Elaria nodded, "Mhm, Onii-sama can stay in our room while we handle this little piece of tras-- inconvenience."

Sounds shady but ok. I think getting involved less with whatever they're planning would be a better idea.

No wait… I should actually follow them right? To see how much they've influenced the rest of the town and at what stage of development they were at.

That way I can better prepare myself for the future.

If this town continues to develop accordingly as they had planned, I have no doubt that this place would become a powerhouse of its own that may overshadow Jin city.

In that case, this may be another way for me to secure my easy life!

Just invest in the businesses that are sure to succeed and I get a source of easy, passive income without even worrying about anything!

Can't believe I almost passed up on this chance!

"How about I follow you?" I suggested.

Odriana shook her head, "Oh, my sweet, dear little brother. You should just stay here where it's safer. No need to involve yourself with these trivialities."

"Yes, Onii-sama does not need to trouble himself! Your imouto shall take of things now! It will be daijobu!" Elaria agreed.

Already anticipating a rejection, I took a page out of Cai Hong's book.

I placed my index finger at my lips, bending my upper body forward slightly and tilting my head upwards to look at them with upturned eyes.

Forcing a little bit of tear to the corner of my eyes, I gave them the finishing blow.

"I can't?"

My sisters took a step back as though physically struck, their hands clutching at their chests while they stared at me with wide eyes.

Both of them immediately rushed forward to hug me.

"Ahhh~~ Of course my most adorable little brother can come! Let your big sister take you out to town!"

"Onii-sama! My most cutest Onii-sama! Please let your little imouto show you how our town has changed! In fact… Please don't leave your imouto again!"

Heh. Hook, line and sinker.

Well, there's a reason why I acquiesce to Cai Hong's request most of the time. Not that she gives me unreasonable requests anyway because she's such a good girl.

Yep, Cai Hong is just too cute.

As much as I want to go back to my disciples now, I should keep my sisters separate from them for the foreseeable future right now.

It would be absolutely terrible if my disciples end up getting influenced by them and get similar ideas about this 'An Ney May' of theirs.

I've even spent so much effort to ensure they remained as innocent as they can be when I took them in, making sure whatever they had was the best I could give.

And why wouldn't I give them the best anyway? They will be the ones taking care of me in the future, so doing the best for them equates to doing the best for myself as well.

And the fact that they had begun spreading their knowledge to others without my prompting increases the number of people I can rely on in the future.

Heh, maybe I might get a large group of followers without doing much?

What about the possibility of them using the knowledge I taught them against me one day?

Well, I did say I would give them the best, but I never said I would give everything.

Why else do you think I taught each of them separately?

I catered each of my lessons specifically for every individual disciple. So if another tries to use what I taught another for themselves, they would find it rather difficult to comprehend as compared to the disciple I planned it for.

I still highly doubt my cute disciples would turn against me, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

That's what I learnt during my time in the other two Planes anyway. After witnessing and experiencing all those damn betrayals and backstabbing you start to be extra cautious in life, ensuring you always have cards hidden up your sleeve at any given time.

Anyway, since father and Dailus were taking care of my disciples, I highly doubt they would get a chance to meet my sisters though.

Well, I'll just be following along to see the town anyway, what's the worst that could happen?

Chapter 88 - Pot Meets Kettle

(Elaria POV)

The three of us slipped out of the mansion without being seen, making our way down towards the town.

Both Onee-sama and I had Onii-sama between us, our hands entwined with his as we guided him towards our destination. Onee-sama had her umbrella in her other hand, protecting our dear Onii-sama from the afternoon sun.

My head is still fuzzy over the fact that Onii-sama has returned, I'm probably handling it better than I should be due to the fact that I still have yet to completely grasp that reality yet.

I'm pretty sure that by tonight, when I have time to actually collect my thoughts, I would most likely be paralysed by the realisation and all the fantasies that come with it.

Especially when Onii-sama has become so cute! This must be a gift from the heavens for what I've done for the world so far! I'm sure if I continue my work, I'll be rewarded even more in the future!

I have no doubts that the final reward would be Onii-sama regaining his memories and… And…

I wiped the drool off the side of my lips, schooling my face into an emotionless one when we reached the edge of town.

This was the face I usually used when in the presence of non-familial people which, honestly, is everyone else except Onii-sama and Onee-sama.

As much as I want to focus on pampering my dear Onii-sama today, there's a rather serious problem we have to take care of first.

Earlier, our telegram machine had received an SOS message from one of our agents within the town. Odriana had decoded the message before handing it to me.

'SOS - EMERGENCY - GUILD'

Seeing that whoever sent it had chosen to send a direct SOS message to me instead of the Security division, it should be an exceptionally serious situation that they cannot solve by themselves.

After all, our security team is trained to handle almost anything a normal business might face. That includes ruffians, scammers, spies, otherworlders and even a certain degree of divine intervention.

If they were unable to deal with it, I would probably have to utilise everything at my disposal to solve whatever it is.

Still, it was incredibly distracting to see Onii-sama marvelling at everything around us, clearly amazed at the town that we have built for him.

He asked a number of questions about the town and both Onee-sama and I answered him gleefully, taking pleasure in seeing his face of curiosity.

Ah~ To think there would be a day where I am the one guiding Onii-sama instead of the other way around! It really feels like my chest would burst from happiness today!

The three of us stopped outside a rather grand three storey building which looked like a cross between a tavern and an inn from the outside. A sign bearing a sword and bow behind a kite shield was hung above its entrance, the symbol of the Adventurer's Guild.

I wondered briefly on whether I should bring Onii-sama with me inside, the last thing I wanted to happen was for any form of danger to befall on him.

After finally reuniting with him since he left the House, I would hate that fate played an incredibly cruel twist by having the two of us separate again.

For all I know, Onii-sama will meet with some tragic event that will force him to separate with me again. Then I'll have to wait for another few decades before I can reunite with him again either through finding an ancient artifact or meeting him in some magical plane of existence somewhere else.

Nope, that's not going to happen if I can help it.

"Onii-sama?" I asked.

He tilted his head up at me, his most adorable visage burning its way into my retinas and causing my heart to skip.

"Ummm… It's a rather private thing we have to settle ourselves… So would Onii-sama mind waiting outside for us?"

A bright smile graced his face, almost blinding me with his radiance.

"I don't mind," Onii-sama eaved his hand. "In fact, I'll go look at some of the shops around here. Maybe I'll find something nice to buy."

I silently heaved a sigh of relief, hopefully I will be able to settle whatever emergency was inside and reunite with Onii-sama again.

I nodded towards my group of guards that were following us stealthily from behind before I released my grip on Onii-sama's hand.

Digging through my pockets, I handed him a black card without hesitation.

"This is a membership card for all the stores under the 'An Ney May' Conglomerate, use this whenever you find something you fancy, Onii-sama!"

He took it with both hands, raising an eyebrow at the card, "It wouldn't happen to have a hundred percent discount on all items now, would it?"

"Ehehehe~ Onii-sama really knows me so well! Of course it does!"

Onii-sama frowned slightly, "You don't need to you know? I have my own money."

Odriana patted his head with a warm smile, "Aww~~ Is my adorable little brother already an independent young man? Big sister is so proud of you!"

Onii-sama pulled himself out Onee-sama's grasp, "Come on, I'm already more than forty--twenty years old! It's just the body that regressed, not my mentality!"

Onee-sama giggled, "You'll always be my cutest little brother to me~"

Onii-sama sighed and shook his head, waving goodbye to us before leaving us, my guards following behind him a distance away.

Onii-sama shouldn't be any danger within the town itself but it doesn't hurt to make sure. As I said, fate can go shove itself a new one. Onii-sama won't be meeting any unfortunate incidents under my watch, you hear?

Now with Onii-sama's safety assured, I looked towards Onee-sama with a determined face.

"Shall we? Dark Mistress of Ebony Night?"

"Fufufu~ Of course, Magical Girl Sarah."

Pushing open the entrance, we prepared ourselves to what lay within.

But we were not ready for what we saw inside.

A girl with golden hair and another with a sword on her hip was standing over several collapsed members of the Security division. I even recognised a few of them who were especially talented fighters who were top ranked Adventurers within our local Guild.

The two girls looked completely unschathed, as though our Security division hadn't managed to touch either of them before going down. Right now, they seem to be saying something to the crowd, their backs facing towards us.

For these two girls to defeat members of the Security division without a single scratch… Either they were especially skilled or they had some tricks that allows them to subdue our men easily.

Looking at how everyone else was standing away from the girls and refusing to speak out against them, I would tag the reason as being the former one.

"First Lady Lindulf, Young Mistress Lindulf," One of the male Guild staff greeted us.

Onee-sama waved her hand, "Spare the formalities, little mortal. Get right to the point as to why we were called."

He nodded, "About an hour ago, the short haired one had came into the Guild looking for information on your House. The Security division confronted her about it and she had refused to cooperate. The golden haired one came in a while later and revealed herself to be the other's sister, backing her up in the confrontation."

"And things got violent but our Security guys got wiped instead?" I guessed.

The staff nodded.

"And what are they doing now?"

"They… They started preaching about some god of theirs… Saying how their god was the one true god that will guide us to salvation…"

Huh?

Wait…

What?

How… How dare they?! Trying to undo our work in regaining Onii-sama's lost memories?!

This… This cannot continue!

We must stop these heretics!

"Stop right this instance!" I yelled out, stomping my way towards the two blasphemers.

I shall not forgive anyone who tries to prevent Onii-sama from regaining his memories!

Chapter 89 - Could I Be A Child Star Too?!

(MC POV)

I'm being followed huh?

I don't sense any malice from them but it may just be my senses degrading after my body regressed in age.

Well, it's not like I'm completely defenseless if they decide to actually attack me, so I guess I'll just leave them alone for now. For all I know, they may belong to some kind of group around here that likes to follow little boys around and watch them or something.

Creepy, but harmless, probably.

I'd feel bad if I accidentally attacked some people who the past me might have known in his childhood.

Speaking of which…

Has the town always been like this?

This town is basically a cosplayer's paradise.

Everyone in town is cosplaying something or someone, I really wonder what my sisters did to make this the norm?

I'm pretty sure something like this was not easy to transition into, people are normally quite resistant to change after all.

Not to mention the fact that Elaria had managed to both initiate and complete the rebuilding process of the entire town within just a few years, that was already a feat that shouldn't be possible in this place.

I don't think there are any Practitioners here either, so that means everything here was made using tools and manpower without the aid of Techniques.

I should definitely invest in the construction company in this town, an obvious choice that one.

Speaking of which…

I fished out the black card that Elaria had passed to me.

I realised that when viewed straight on, the surface was completely black. But when tilted and allowed to reflect a little light, the surface turns into a neon green colour,

The surface itself was completely smooth without any hint of indentations on it, making the material used to make the card a complete mystery to me.

It's light and flexible to a certain degree, but it seems completely resistant to scratches as my nails failed to leave a scratch on it no matter how hard I tried.

The material was definitely not plastic and neither does it feel metallic. If they had managed to create or find a new material in this world it'll definitely be a big deal.

I entertained the thought of it being one of the mythical metals of fantasy but I highly doubt it would be that convenient.

Like really, what were the chances of this being made with Luminite of all things?

I was rather hesitant to accept the card at first since I intend to invest into the businesses that catch my eye without my sisters knowledge, but I realised that my current form may make that venture slightly difficult.

I could probably make use of this card to at least convince them to take me seriously if it's as legit as what my little sister says, probably using the excuse that I was a distant relative stuck with a shota curse or something.

Why don't I wait until my body returns, you ask?

Never a better time than now.

Especially since most of them are still local businesses. Judging by my sister's ideas, the town would definitely be an important landmark that will be known throughout the continent in the future.

It'll be quite difficult for me to enter the scene at that time.

I guess the first thing I should do is information gathering... Find out what's popular around here and get an idea of what I can buy into for some nice, delicious passive income.

I waded slowly through what I presume to be the lunch time crowd, most of them not giving me a second glance because of my small stature.

Spotting a mass of orange tails, I slipped to the side of the crowd just in time to see Manami waving goodbye to another fox youkai.

As if they were polar opposites, the other fox youkai had short, white hair with equally white tails and ears. What surprised me the most was that she also had the same number of tails as Manami.

I didn't get the chance to call out to her before she pushed her way into the crowd, looking to be in a hurry to get somewhere.

I shrugged, the girls were probably being given a tour of the town or something. I wonder how they were handling the town's weirdness?

Looking up at the building Manami had came out from, I realised it was the biggest one that I've seen so far with the exception of the mansion.

At three stories high with a domed roof, the construct took up the entire section of the street it was built on.

A sign with the words 'Kizz An Ney May' was etched on top of the entrance. The fox that Manami waved at was standing below it, leaning against the doorway and looking out to the crowd.

Curious to what the place was, I approached the fox youkai intending to ask her about it.

I pulled at her sleeve, "Miss? May I ask--"

She took one look at me before grabbing my wrist, pulling me inside the building with her.

"You're really cutting it close, the audition's about to end you know? You're lucky I just so happen to be outside or you'll probably miss your chance!"

I was halfway down the corridor before I shook myself out of my confusion, "Well… I think you've got the wrong person?"

The fox youkai smiled at me, "Method acting huh? I see you're quite the serious one. I'm sure the others will definitely pick you over the amateurs we've been seeing so far, quite the disappointing bunch I must say. I'm sure you'll be flying in no time!"

Flying? What the hell is she talking about? Does she know about my real form or something?

I tried to stop her from pulling me but my current form barely has any strength to go against hers.

"No, no, no… You really got the wrong person! I just wanted to ask you what this place was! Besides, the only way I'll fly is probably being blown upwards while holding an umbrella!"

"And you're even a fan of the book? Yep, they're definitely picking you now!"

This person really isn't listening at all, huh?

Oh! Damn it!

It's definitely because this whole town is filled with chuunis and weird people that she thinks I'm one of them!

Oh well… At least I could make a guess from what she's said so far that this place is a theatre of sorts? Though I'm not sure what kind of play they will be putting up.

Entertainment is a big thing everywhere after all. Judging by how many different cosplays I've seen outside, the number of stories that have already been circulating should be quite a significant amount.

I guess I can use this misunderstanding to my advantage.

First, I'll just take part in whatever audition this is and try to get past it. I still have my acting experience from the other Planes when I had to pretend to be people who I was not to get out of trouble after all.

If I pass the audition, I'll just see what they have planned and judge for myself if they were good enough for me to sink my cash into. It should be easier to get information by posing as one of their staff.

And in the event that I don't pass, I'll just ask to see the person in charge and negotiate investment options with them, so no loss either way.

Ideally, the first choice would give me better insight on how their business is run, but it'll take up more time and effort on my part.

The second choice would be faster but since I'm a 'foreigner', I wouldn't know how they do their things here and I might just be taken advantage of.

Either way, both have their share of advantages and disadvantages, but I'm already used to making the best out of any situation anyway.

I followed the fox girl to their theatre hall which was big enough to accommodate at least three thousand people. I'm not even sure if the entire town had that big of a population in the first place?

She handed me a script, pointing towards a line of boys my 'age' that were queuing up below the stage. Most likely they were all awaiting their turn to audition since another was on stage right now.

I mouthed a word of thanks before joining the queue, quickly scanning through the script.

The first few words of the script were exactly the same as what I had said to her just now, no wonder she had the wrong idea.

Oh well, time to put my skills to the test! I'm sure these kids never had to act with their life on the line before, unlike me.

This might be easier than I thought.

Chapter 90 - Start Of Something New

(MC POV)

I watched the boy in front of me step on to the stage, greeting the three youkai who were acting as judges for this little event.

One of them had a bluish gelatinous body that resembled the slime youkais native to mountain caves in the region. The form that she had taken was of a curvaceous woman with long, flowing blue 'hair' that hid her right half of her face from view, her full lips just barely peeking out from underneath.

Another judge had an extremely lithe body shape that settled into the theatre seats easily. The sharp ears sitting on top of her short, messy brown hair alongside her feline eyes and two tails peeking out from behind her chair clued me into her race as a nekomata youkai.

The last girl was the most surprising sight of all. Her long, green, serpentine tail was coiled underneath her seat with some kind of red coloured fuzz riding the spine of the tail. The two antler horns on her head of long, glossy, black hair revealed her species as a Ryu youkai.

This would be my first time seeing a Ryu youkai up close, in fact. They normally don't mingle amongst humans and some were even treated as deities for their weather controlling Techniques. It is said that they are Dragons themselves, but how anyone was supposed to classify dragons is up for debate, something I have no interest in at the moment.

From what I managed to gather during the short time here, the three of them plus the fox youkai from before were actually part of a currently popular idol group in this town. They had been seeking out a new life for themselves when each of them met in this town, fell in love with it, then decided to stay.

Apparently they had became fans of one of Elaria's works and was trying to create a theatrical version of her book. Since I have never read the book they were trying to emulate, I am actually at a disadvantage here compared to these boys.

But so far, none of them actually stood out.

At least to me, anyway.

I had a quick glance through the script and found it uncannily similar to the plot of a story I've read somewhere before, though exactly where and when eludes me at the moment.

Shrugging it off as a coincidence, I waited for my turn to be called on stage.

The boy ahead of me fumbled with his words, his actions as stiff as a block of wood and the way he articulated his lines sounded like fingernails being dragged across a chalkboard.

I must really give respect to the three judges for sitting through his entire audition without so much as flinching.

"Mmm… Thank you, Diu Lian. I'm afraid you're not who we are looking for though, but thank you for trying. Next one please," The slime youkai called out.

I placed the script under my clothes, stepping gingerly up onto the stage.

Judging from the script, I've come to realise that the character that I am auditioning for is a really eccentric boy who seems to be able to take advantage of any situation around him to appear 'cool'.

Another chuunibyou, basically. Not surprised that my younger sister created such a character, to be honest.

Oh well, guess I should just slip into character right about now.

I did a running slide towards the centre of the stage with my back facing the judges, surprising them with my unorthodox entrance. My left hand was stuck in my pocket while my right palm was pressed against my forehead with me facing towards the right.

I flicked my hair with my right hand as I opened my eyes to look at the judges with a sideways glance.

"Good day, ladies."

The three of them sat up a little straighter.

I spun on my heel to face them, whipping out the script in front of me and opening it like a book. I made sure to hunch my back a little, supporting my hand that was holding up the book with my other arm.

"I think you've got the wrong person… For I am Mark, who is but a humble student of this academy."

Waiting a second to give the judges time to comprehend my actions, I switched to my new pose of tilting my head back while pushing up a pair of imaginary glasses up my face with my middle finger, looking down towards the three women.

"For such a simple thing… I must humbly decline."

Why am I getting so into it?

Well, I believe if you're already going to do something, then just do it seriously. You never know what kind of opportunity you might have missed just because you decide to do something half-heartedly.

Besides, this kind of acting is much more simpler than the roles I had to take on back on those two Planes.

When how well you act determines whether you live or die, one tends to put on a very convincing act, even when you have to play that role for months on end without breaking character.

A group of cultists going around killing men indiscriminately? Crossdress and seek shelter in a female-only Sect, tricking both the cultists and the Sect at the same time until they move on.

Some random Sect Elder trying to take advantage of you? Act arrogant and pretend to be an influential Sect's young master to dissuade him from messing with you, then keep up this act for the following two months while desperately searching for a way to escape from him. The fact that I doomed that particular Sect's young master I was emulating after my escape was beside the point.

The Matriarch of the Royal Spiritual Family Sect holding you captive because of your intelligence? Fake an accident and start acting like your mental capacity got affected to the point of retardation, then escape when she starts losing interest in you.

Unfortunately, the last example didn't go so well as she got even more interested in me, even going so far as to do experiments on me to find out how and why I changed.

It did, however, make her drop the guard around me which allowed me to run off one night when the guards were especially sloppy.

Well, all of that is in the past (future?) now, it gave me the experience and skills I need to start my new life here so it's not all for naught anyway.

Like how I'm using it for this little audition right now.

I'm like the eight year old with forty years of experience, ain't no way I'm not getting hired.

I went through a few more lines and was just about to move to my fifth pose when the Ryu youkai slithered out of her seat and clapped her hands twice.

"I think that is enough, isn't that right girls?"

"Uh-huh, uh-huh!" The nekomata nodded enthusiastically. "I knew we'd find someone that fits the bill absolutely! Boy, you're perfect!"

The cat girl gave me a thumbs up.

The slime youkai gestured for me to come closer, "What is your name, dear?"

I crossed my arms and shifted my weight to one leg, tilting my head slightly upwards and sideways, "You… May call me Mark."

"Absolutely perfect! Nyaahahaha! Boy, you're a genius!" The neko girl laughed, her tails swishing in the air.

The Ryu youkai wrote down something on a piece of paper, "Rehearsals start here tomorrow morning at dawn. Don't be late."

"Yes, I really do look forward to your performance, Mark," The slime girl stated simply, a smile gracing her lips.

I made an exaggerated bow, "I thank the ladies for giving my humble self a chance. I shall take my leave, for now."

"Nyaahahahaha! This boy's simply perfect!"

Hey, maybe I could even form my own idol group?

Chapter 91 - Slash And Preach

(Lian Li POV)

I stepped out of the small building that had the sign 'Xi Family Branch House' above the entrance, joining the crowd on the street.

I sighed, feeling rather disappointed to find that almost every associate of the Xi family had already vacated the city.

Most likely they had already been recalled back to the main branch to try and tide over the revelation that they were Dark Sect supporters.

The only person I found here was a servant boy they had left behind in their branch house, he was rather arrogant about that fact for some reason too.

"Who the hell do you think you are coming in to my house?!" He had screeched at me when I entered.

I had even calmly reminded him that he was nothing more than a servant boy of the Xi family and didn't have the right to take that tone of voice with me.

He went on to claim that since he was the only Xi family member around, he would automatically be assigned as the acting head of the current branch house.

I decided he wasn't even worth talking to and proceeded on to the interrogation.

It didn't take much for me to have him start singing like a canary.

The first three fingernails I pulled out were already enough actually, but I gave him the full course since I was quite frustrated by what he said.

Of course, I made sure that he prayed to Master before ending his miserable life.

With no where else to go, I decided that joining one of my sisters would be a good idea.

Since the Adventurer's Guild was just down the road from my current location, I should probably start with Eris.

Entering the guild, I was greeted with a rather interesting sight.

Eris stood near the entrance, her back facing me and her arms crossed. In front of her was a group of eight swordsmen, all of them sporting a displeased look on their faces.

Surprisingly, these group of people were dressed rather normally in their leather armour instead of all the weird clothing I've been seeing out in town.

"Eris? What's going on?" I called out.

Eris turned her head, her eyes lighting up when she saw me.

"Sister Lian Li! These infidels are being a nuisance to me!"

I looked towards the group of swordsmen, prompting one of them who I assumed to be their leader to step forward.

"You're her sister? She's been trying to dig for information that we have repeatedly told her she cannot access but she has refused to cooperate thus far. Could you ask her to come with us?"

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow. "And what information did she look for that is inaccessible and why does she need to follow you?"

"Any information pertaining to the Lindulf House is absolutely confidential and anyone looking for such information is to be brought in under arrest. That is the law here."

"That seems quite over the top, isn't it? We're visitors and currently guests of the Lindulf House as well."

The swordsman shook his head, "It does not matter. Especially since you are their guest, you should know that such things aren't tolerated here. If what you say is true and a member of the Lindulf House vouches for you, we will set you free then. But right now, she needs to follow us back to the police station."

"And if we refuse?"

He unclasped his sword, the blade glinting wickedly in the light of the Guild.

"We will have to resort to force."

"I see… Would it help to say that we are the disciples of Master Lin? The Young Master of the Lindulf House you speak of? We just wanted to learn more about his family since he is our Master after all."

"Master Lin? Is he one of those Practitioners?" The swordsman frowned. "I find it highly unlikely that any of those scheming Practitioners could be related to the Lindulf House. Please be informed that anything you say can and will be used against you."

Did this guy just call our Master scheming?

Oh, he did didn't he?

But just to make sure…

Eris had her sword unsheathed before I could say anything, pointing the sharp piece of metal towards the swordsman. To their credit, none of them panicked and unsheathed their own swords in turn, moving to surround us.

"Did I just hear ya call Master scheming ya wee little boy?!" Eris growled.

The swordsman held his sword firmly with two hands in between us, "Aren't they all? Using their so called Techniques to take advantage of honest people like ourselves."

I raised an eyebrow, "That's kind of narrow minded, don't you think?"

"Hmph! Isn't it true that Practitioners look down on normal people like us? Just because they can make something happen with a wave of their arms they think they're much better."

"What about the youkai that I know is living amongst you all?" I asked.

"For you to ask about them… It just goes to show how much you do not understand the world…" He sighed dramatically.

I tilted my head at him to show that I did not understand.

Looking back at us with pitying eyes he continued, "The young mistress of Lindulf House has discovered that youkais are beings of Pure Elemental quarks. It is fatal for them if they do not circulate it for an extended amount of time. But for humans… We suffer no consequences even if someone with a Cultivation Point does not seek the path of a Practitioner. Thus, youkais are Practitioners not by choice but humans are and the only reason why humans become Practitioners is to gain more power over everyone else."

"Not our Master, he doesn't." I objected.

He shook his head, "I'm pretty sure he just pulled the wool over your eyes. There is only one being in existence that can be that benevolent and I'm sure your so called Master isn't one of them."

"That's it! Imma be breaking you lot! Nobody talks about Master like that! Let me have them, Lian Li!" Eris yelled, lowering her body close to the ground.

As much as I wanted to break them with my own hands as well, I decided Eris deserves to let loose since I had my fill with the servant boy earlier.

I leapt away from their encirclement, startling them to my sudden disappearance.

"Where do you think you're looking at?!" Eris roared, dashing forward towards the leader while keeping her body close to the ground.

The leader's reaction speed was impressive as his sword flashed out just in time to parry her blade away from his chest.

But he was wholly unprepared for the shoulder tackle that Eris followed up with, throwing him off balance.

Without wasting a second, Eris had slammed the pommel of her sword in the side of his head, sending him crashing towards another swordsman who was trying to flank her.

Using the momentum of the strike, she swung her sword behind her back, stopping the sword thrust that was aimed at her spine with the flat of her blade.

Spinning on her heel, the swordswoman lowered herself into a crouch and flung her assailant's blade to the side, leaving him open for a slash across his vulnerable chest.

Eris silenced the man's yell of pain with an uppercut to his jaw, knocking him out cleanly.

"Together!" The leader yelled, dazed but still very much in the fight.

The remaining seven swordsmen lunged their blades towards her, their swords making a loud ringing sound when they met in the middle of where Eris had been, the girl suddenly disappearing into thin air.

Only one of them thought to look upwards and got a knee to his face for doing so.

Eris kicked the man away from her, his head crashing into the ground and leaving an indentation at where he landed. He wouldn't be getting up any time soon from the sound of that impact.

Eris flipped herself backwards in the air, landing on top of the shoulders of another swordsman.

The two men beside him immediately tried to stab her with their blades, missing by mere inches when Eris let herself fall backwards.

Both her legs kicked out at the last minute to strike against the head of the man she had been standing on, blocking the way of the other three.

Eris landed on her feet in a crouching position, her sword held by her side and eyes glaring straight ahead.

The two men who hadn't been obstructed by the wall of limbs lunged forward with their swords again, only to realise they had stabbed at her afterimage.

There were two flashes of steel and two slashes appeared on the chests of both swordsmen, both of them turning just in time to see Eris flicking the blood off her blade behind them.

The leader clicked his teeth in irritation as he saw half of his numbers go down so easily.

"Pair up and attack!" he ordered, his three companions spreading themselves to his left and right.

The one on the far left attempted a downward slash at her but feinting it at the last moment to stab at her instead.

"Futile," Eris had muttered, kicking him in between the legs with her left foot for his attempt.

His partner had rushed up from Eris's right side, slashing his sword out towards her flank.

She easily parried the strike away with a backhand wave, punching the man straight in the face with her other hand and leaving him with a bloody nose.

She was about to continue her attack when she suddenly ducked her head, letting the leader's blade sail above her harmlessly. It happened so abruptly that I'm sure another one of her had saw it coming and warned her.

The swordswoman took the chance to roundhouse kick the man who was still clutching at his balls in the head, knocking him out for the rest of the fight.

With two more swordsmen in somewhat peak condition and another with a bloodied nose, I don't doubt Eris would be able to finish them up soon.

"You three are so pathetic," Eris taunted. "Can't even handle one girl by herself? Bet the only joke your mothers can make are you guys."

The one with the bloodied nose rose to her provocation despite his leader's attempts to stop him.

He roared while lunging towards her, his blade easily pushed aside by Eris's own before she knocks him out with a haymaker to his chin.

The second man had rushed forward in a belated attempt to cover his partner's emotional rush, his sword flashing out in an underhand slash from his right.

His laughable attempt was easily stopped when Eris's palm reached out to catch the pommel of his sword, shoving the swordsman backwards before stabbing her own blade through his shoulder.

The leader had rushed up at precisely that moment, no doubt hoping that she would be defenseless with her sword still stuck in his comrade.

Unfortunately for him, Eris was also trained in unarmed combat by Master himself.

She immediately released her grip on her blade, side stepping the downward slash from the leader and delivering a palm thrust to his exposed chin, shoving him back from where he came from.

With the leader out of range, Eris reclaimed back her sword by twisting it out of the screaming man's shoulder, knocking him out with an elbow strike to the side of his head.

"Kuh… It seems I've underestimated you…" The leader groaned, massaging his chin. "I will fight you seriously no--"

Eris interrupted him by delivering two slashes on his chest before kicking him away.

The leader crashed into the wall, leaving an indentation on it before slumping to the ground, unconscious.

"You should have fought seriously from the start then," She spat, wiping her blade clean with one of the swordsman's clothes.

"Well done," I praised.

Eris shook her head, "I'm still not at Master's level yet. What should we do now? Preach?"

I looked at the crowd who had begun inching away from us.

I guess that would be a good way to start as any. It's only because these people aren't aware of the benevolent being that is Master that such things can happen, I'm sure once they know how Master is like and begin worshipping him, there won't be any more discriminations.

How wonderful would that be?

Yes, that is the only world that is fit enough for Master.

Chapter 92 - Civil War

(Random Adventurer's Guild staff member POV)

I had just been nothing but an ordinary citizen of this town.

When the young mistress of the Lindulf House began introducing all the new changes to us, she captured many of our hearts when her inventions began changing our lives for the better.

Paved roads, glass windows, water pumps and even heated baths were just a few of the things she has introduced to this town over the years.

As though that wasn't enough, she even brought the holy world of 'An Ney May' to uncultured people. Apparently, she had been granted the opportunity to see this world through the eyes of god himself and even learned all this 'Science' from him.

But that came at a hefty price as this benevolent god had met with a calamity that caused him to lose much of his divinity.

She was tasked to spread the wonders of that world to us, stating that if enough people were made aware of it and believed in him, the god would regain his divinity and we would be able to meet the creator of such a wonderful world eventually.

That prospect excited us immensely.

We believed that the god of such an amazing world can only be especially amazing himself.

To have granted us the opportunity to be a part of that world, we will do our absolute best to help our God regain his divinity!

But today, I learnt that there were other gods in this world as well…

A swordwoman had came in earlier in the day to try and seek information on the Lindulf House.

The moment she tried to get me to provide details on the Lindulf House's past, I had reported it to the 'An Ney May' security team that was posted within the Guild.

They tried to get her to cooperate and follow them in accordance to the laws the young mistress had implemented but she had vehemently refused to do so.

The law had been put in place after a horde of spies and saboteurs from multiple different companies had tried to disrupt their business on multiple occasions. Everyone in town are aware of such attempts by outside people and of course we will choose to stick by the young mistress!

A golden haired girl had shown up later, claiming the first girl as her sister even when they looked nothing alike.

The argument soon escalated into a fight between the swordswoman and the men of the Security division.

I had expected the security team to wipe the floor with her especially since they had her outnumbered eight to one. But contrary to what I and everyone else in the guild had thought would happen, she had struck them all down in a matter of minutes without a scratch.

The golden haired one had stepped forward after that, revealing themselves to be priestesses to some sort of godlike deity they refer to as 'Master'.

They spoke of his benevolence and how his magnanimity had saved hundreds, if not thousands of people from their darkest of times.

They claimed that their Master will be the one to lead everyone to a new world where there will not be any discrimination against people who worships him, a world where his believers will live in paradise.

I had initially scoffed at their idea, the only true God is the one who has brought the world of 'An Ney May' to us, not some random dude that had been going around being benevolent while spouting nonsense of a promised land.

But as they continued to preach to us of the world they sought to build in their Master's name, I saw a number of people looking at them with more than just a passing interest in their eyes.

This situation became dangerous now.

If our people's beliefs started swaying, our own God might not be able to regain his divinity and we shall forever be denied to gaze upon his glorious visage! I must stop them!

I rushed into the back room of the guild, unlocking the door that had five locks with a set of keys I had kept hidden on me that only a select few of us had access to.

Within the small room was nothing but a small device on top of a table.

The young mistress had called it a telegraph, allowing us to send messages across vast distances to the machine it was connected to.

This one in particular was our emergency telegraph, connected directly to the young mistress's own receiver meant only for emergencies.

I tapped in my plea for help, hoping our young mistress can stop this plague from spreading any further and desecrating our sacred plan.

It took around half an hour for my plea to be answered, the door swinging open for them to enter the guild.

"First Lady Lindulf, Young Mistress Lindulf," I greeted them respectfully.

I explained what had transpired to the two of them briefly, rage manifesting on their faces when they learned of what they were trying to do.

"Stop right this instance!" The young mistress roared, storming towards the two of them.

"What do you want?" The golden haired one rudely demanded.

"We do not tolerate the preaching of false gods here, please leave the premises," the young mistress scowled.

"How interesting… Our God most definitely exists and we have seen and felt him physically, how can you say that he is false?"

"There is only one true God in this world and judging by what you are preaching, it is most definitely not what he would have wanted for this world."

"Oh? And I don't suppose you know who the true God really is?"

The young mistress crossed her arms, "Of course, he is the one who has brought the world of 'An Ney May' and all the new technology to us. Only the true God could grace us with such wondrous things!"

The golden haired girl crossed her arms as well,as though sizing her up, "Only the true God would care for the masses more than himself! Could yours willingly sacrifice himself to save everyone?"

"He has already sacrificed his own divinity to allow us to advance our culture. If yours is so godly as you claim him to be, he shouldn't need to sacrifice himself."

"Hmph. Your 'god' seems more like a scheme by the businesses to control the people instead."

There was a ripple of gasps from the crowd.

"You take that back! He has done so much for us already! All we want is to help Him get His divinity back! I will not stand for such slander!" The young mistress said through gritted teeth.

The golden haired girl snorted with disdain, "And yet you yourself slandered mine own Master. I see now that the people who follow this 'god' of yours is truly blind. I shall take it upon myself to enlighten them all."

"You dare hinder our God's return to his divinity?!"

"If your little 'god' is as good as you claim him to be, his followers shouldn't be that weak then."

"You think us to be weak-minded sheep?"

"Oh? Seeing how they were so easily influenced to follow a trend, is that not true? And besides, for this 'god' to require his believers to worship him to regain his divinity… It sounds suspicious to me no matter how I see it."

The young mistress sneered at her, "And this 'master' of yours is some all-powerful being? But yet he still had to die?"

"He sacrificed his mortal body for us, but it was still an easy feat for him to return to us. I have no doubts that our God is way more divine than yours if he even exists."

"Ha… Haha… Hahahaha!" The young mistress threw her head back and laughed. "Very well then! You claim to be a priestess of your own 'god' right?! I will show you the power of our God!"

"Ahahaha! Very well, little girl! Let me see you do your worst!"

I clenched my fists when I saw the determined look on both their faces. I have already set myself on the path to return the 'An Ney May' God's divinity to him, I won't bow down to any other god or their believers!

If some other blasphemers dare to desecrate our God's name, I will not show them mercy.

This is war!

Chapter 93 - Shotacons VS Lolicons

(MC POV)

I sneezed.

I rubbed my nose with the back of my hand,wondering if someone was talking about me behind my back.

Knowing my brother and father, I won't be surprised if they really were talking bad about me right now.

Right after the audition, I had decided to do a little bit of walking around just to see if there was anything else that caught my eye.

I had been circling around what I assume to be the market district of the town for a while now, taking mental notes of how each shop was doing in terms of sale and how good their business looked.

Passing by a shop that looked to be selling sweets, a high-pitched voice caught my attention.

"No! Cai Hong only likes Papa's sweets! Papa's candies are better!"

I stopped in my tracks, running back to the entrance of the shop to peek inside.

Cai Hong was standing in the middle of three men, each of them holding different kinds of confectionary in their hands and wearing what looks like a very archaic form of T-shirt and short pants.

One of them even had the words 'Yes Loli! No Touch!' sewn on the front of said shirt.

"Little princess Cai Hong, why not give it a try? You might actually like it!" One of the men asked, presenting a multi colored lollipop to her. This guy was big and muscular, easily towering over everyone else around him with his hulking size.

Cai Hong turned her head away, "No! Cai Hong no want!"

"What about some chocolate?" Another offered, his small and scrawny frame a direct contrast to the first one.

"No! Cai Hong wants to eat 'loly kons'! Papa told Cai Hong about those! They sound yummy!"

The last one scratched his bald head before adjusting his glasses, "Oh… Er… They can't be eaten actually…"

"Boo! Then why are they called 'loly's? Papa's lollipops are yummy!"

"Erm… Those two are actually different things… Your er…'loly kons' can't be eaten..."

"Muuu~ Cai Hong no believe… Cai hong will go back now then."

"Wait, wait, wait!" The first guy tried to stop her. "We… Err… We can show you around the town!"

Cai Hong shook her head, "Cai Hong wants to go back to Papa."

She tried to walk past them but another of those men stepped in front of her.

"Wait, don't go yet little princess Cai Hong! We know a place where you can make a lot of friends! You like making friends right?"

"Cai Hong no care. Cai Hong wants to go back to Papa now. Go away please."

Really, right now you probably can't find a prouder Papa than I, Cai Hong is such a good girl.

I decided that this would be a good time to show myself.

"Cai Hong," I called out.

The scrawny one whirled towards me, displeasure evident on his face, "Who dares to call our little princess so familiarly?! Show yourself!"

The big guy cracked his knuckles, "Looks like I'll need to teach someone some proper manners! Now who is the--"

"Papa! Papa!"

Cai Hong rushed up and hugged me, almost toppling me over since I was just as small, if not smaller, than her now.

I patted her head while switching my gaze to the three men that were now staring at me dumbfoundedly.

The bald guy pointed at me, "Your name is Papa?"

I shook my head, "No, I'm her adoptive father."

"But… You look like you're eight…" The smaller guy pointed out.

"Hey, I've got good credit ok?" I protested.

"Umm… Ok, uh… Sure... Are you certain you're not little princess Cai Hong's brother or something?"

Cai Hong turned to look back at him with an irritated expression, "Papa is Cai Hong's Papa! How dare you be rude?! Cai Hong will bite you!"

The three of them immediately bowed their heads to her.

"A million apologies little princess! Please forgive our lowly selves!"

Oh… Wow.

Cai Hong turned back to me, giving me the 'praise me' look she usually showed me.

I patted her head again, making her purr in content at the contact.

"Well then, shall we go now?" I asked my loli dragon.

Cai Hong nodded enthusiastically, but before we could leave the candy shop, the big guy stepped in front of us once more.

"Wait! We er… We just want to hang out! Could… Could we follow along? It's err… It's dangerous for children to walk around unsupervised you know?"

"Yeah, yeah!" The skinny one chimed in, stepping up beside his groupie. "We can look after you until your guardians come back! It's a good idea, no?"

The bald one joined them, "Yeah, just er… Let us watch over you guys! Especially the little princess Cai Hong! Who knows what kind of evil people out there might want to do to her?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Evil people? Like you guys?"

"What?!" The big guy sputtered. "I'll have you know that we are all proud members of the 'Lolicon League'! It is our duty to appreciate and protect all the lolis of this world!"

Cai Hong pulled at my hand, "Papa…'Loly kon' yummy?"

Thinking she was probably disappointed by the lack of her favourite candy, I dug through my pocket to hand her one of her favourite lollipops.

She accepted it happily and immediately popped it into her mouth.

With my little girl satisfied for the moment, I turned back to regard the three men, "I thank you for your concern, but we will be fine by ourselves. I believe this town is quite safe, no?"

The big guy looked to his comrades, "Well… That is true… But…"

Just then, a group of three women walked in, wearing almost the same type of clothes as the group of men.

I noticed the one leading them had blonde hair with twintails that ended as drills. She was also wearing a shirt that read 'Shotas For Life!' on the chest area.

I felt a cold breeze at the back of my neck.

"Ara, ara? Are the degenerates of the Loli group being a nuisance again?" She chuckled.

"Tsk… What do you want? I bet you old hags are here to find for more little boys to coddle to as well!" The big guy accused.

One of the woman's friends immediately stepped up, a pair of thick spectacles adorning her face, half-hidden by her long and unruly hair that resembled a bird's nest.

"Who are you calling old hags? We're still young, blooming girls ok?!"

"Puh! Any girl that has gone through their coming of age are old hags!" The bald one announced proudly.

"Heh, heh… Seems like someone really wants to get smacked today!" The drill hair girl chuckled, pulling out a whip from behind her. "Now, I suggest you guys leave the loli you've been accosting alone or face the consequences!"

"Never!" The skinny one shouted with clenched fists. "You think we will just back down from you like that?! Lolis deserved to be loved!"

"Uahahaha! Your love is nothing but an act of perversion! Utterly shameless! Am I right Mariel? … Mariel?"

Everyone turned their gaze to the last woman of the group, a rather refined looking lady with black hair tied in a ponytail.

Her eyes were opened wide as she lifted a shaky hand to point towards me, "S… S… Sh… Sho… Sho… Ta… Shota… Shota!"

The two girls whipped their heads towards me, their eyes widened upon seeing me.

Oh no.

"SHOTA!" The three girls screeched, literally leaping towards me.

Before they could reach me however, the big guy stepped in front of them and intercepted their flight path, his hands reaching out to block the three crazies from going any further.

He grunted from the effort, slowly losing ground to the three hysterical girls as they tried to push him back.

Turning his head towards me, he grunted, "Run brother! Run and take the little princess with you! We will hold them off!"

The bald man rushed up from behind to support his friend, "Go! These old hags are crazy for kids like you, brother! Don't let them catch you or you'll have to suffer through their pampering!"

The skinny guy also joined in beside his comrade, "What are you waiting for?! Fly, you fools!"

Huh, I didn't expect them to be so valiant in the end.

I gave them a thumbs up, "Do not worry! I will protect Cai Hong!"

"Godspeed!" The three of them yelled in unison as I dragged Cai Hong out of the shop through the back door, seconds before screams of agony echoed out from the shop.

"Papa? Weird people?"

"Shhh… Just ignore them. Weird people will just be weird."

"Okies. Cai Hong likes Papa~" Cai Hong stated as a matter of factly, sucking on her lollipop.

So cute.

Chapter 94 - The Other Side Of The Coin

(Dailus POV)

I am Dailus, the Eldest son and supposed heir of Lindulf House.

Both my grandparents and parents had made sure that I was prepared to take over the house ever since I was born, putting me through various special lessons and training.

I had never stopped to question them since it was the only thing I grew up to know.

Even when it came to my sister Odriana, I had been taught to see her as nothing but a useful asset like the rest of the House did. Especially since we were still relatively new in the trading community and needed allies on our side.

Nothing as convenient as marrying off your family members to other larger families, then using the newly obtained familial relationship to take advantage of their resources.

So when Mother had came back from the forests behind our house clutching a baby in her arms, none of us had thought anything about it.

We had decided it would be convenient to have a child that was not related to the family by blood, allowing us to make use of him and disowning him if he screws up. Low risk, high reward.

What we hadn't expected was for him to be absolutely brilliant in a lot of things.

Even as a baby, he seemed to understand everything that was going on around him.

He had stopped crying after spending the first night within our House, as though a flip had been switched after he had slept here. Instead, whenever he needed something, he would use a little bell that we had dropped in his crib for him to play with.

It took us some time to realise that fact when the bell wouldn't stop ringing until we figured out what he needed.

He started flipping through books that I struggle to comprehend when he was able to crawl around on his own, though most of us had assumed he was only just playing around with the books back then and hadn't paid much attention to him.

It was only when he spoke his first words that we all realised how abnormal he was.

"Hey… You guys have 'An Ney May' around here? Kind of bored with the books already."

Grandmother and grandfather had tagged him as a demonic spawn, but we all agreed that he may yet still have his uses.

So we kept him around, always having someone watch him just in case he turns into some malevolent demon that sought to burn our entire House to ashes.

But everything changed when he walked in during my lesson with father one day, I remembered I was only six and he three years old then.

"Yo, thought you guys might want to make a business off selling this. We'll make a killing with this, trust me."

He then showed us the plans for making cheap sugar using the roots of a plant that everyone had seen more as a wild vegetable that the poor would eat.

We had been skeptical at first, but decided there was no loss in trying it out.

Lo and behold, it worked.

Being the only merchants producing this sugar brought incredible attention and prestige to us, something I couldn't have done in this lifetime.

Within a short four years, we became the largest exporter of sugar in the region, catapulting us into the richest few merchant Houses.

It even made the eldest son of the largest merchant House in these parts seek us out himself to ask Odriana's hand in marriage.

We agreed of course, ignoring my younger brother's protests over the matter.

Father had doubled the watch on him to make sure he couldn't cause any trouble.

Unfortunately, we still failed to take a seven year old seriously at that time.

He had came to us once again with our account records in hand.

"Heya, I realised you guys didn't have a double bookkeeping system so here, I made notes."

What he had introduced to us completely changed how we did our businesses, causing us to spend more time and effort to update our records than to keep an eye on him.

Thus, we had been too late to realised he had slipped out of the house.

The little kid had managed to expose the other House's dirty laundry to the public, calling them out on the various crimes they had been committing right under their very noses.

The court had ruled them guilty and swiftly punished them, completely removing them as a merchant House and denying them any future possibility of conducting businesses.

How he had even gotten the officer-of-law to side with him was anybody's guess.

We were enraged, of course. Our carefully laid out plans had went up in flames just like that.

The backroom deals, the under table agreements and the threats we had made using that House's name had to be retracted and repaid in full, almost setting us back to the days before our sugar trading.

All for what?

Just so that Odriana doesn't need to 'suffer' an arranged marriage?

How ridiculous.

Grandfather had banned the little prick from leaving the House then, only permitting him to step foot outside when he came of age.

That little boy had thus took up the role of tutoring my youngest sister.

We hadn't thought much of it, expecting Elaria to be more sensible than him since she was of our House's blood unlike him.

With both the sugar and the bookkeeping he had shown so far, we hoped Elaria would gain something from him that she could further improve our House's prestige with.

But grandfather and grandmother had caught him performing some form of unholy ritual with Elaria one day. They were convinced he had revealed his demonic form and was trying to possess Elaria when they saw him holding her head and emanating light.

They forced the two of them to separate, triggering a miniature explosion that knocked both Elaria and him out.

When he woke up three days later, he had lost all his memories prior to the event, not even being able to recall who he was.

It was only later that we realised that he had been imparting knowledge directly to Elaria's mind and the separation had caused the feedback to erase his memories.

Fortunately, Elaria seemed unaffected by that event.

Grandfather decided that him losing his memories was a better way to control him and issued the order that this event be kept secret amongst my parents and I.

He had, instead, publicised that my younger brother had been practicing some sort of dark ritual on Elaria, causing the rest of the House to alienate him.

When Elaria started churning out the genius ideas while crediting my younger brother, grandfather was quick to deny the credit and stated the ideas came from a different continent. It would not do us any good if something Elaria says triggers him to regain his memories.

Grandfather had hoped that by separating him from the rest of the House, he would be easier to influence when he started to approach him as the 'kind, understanding grandfather'. It was a long term plan to make him reliant on us and trust grandfather completely.

Unfortunately, both grandfather and grandmother had passed suddenly before they could complete their plan.

The doctor said both had passed in their sleep without any pain, which was the only relief.

And since he had been ostracised by the rest of the House including us, it was difficult for any of us to approach him then.

It came as no surprise that he chose to leave when he finally came of age, even going so far as to change his name.

Paranoid till the end, we even had Fred see him out of town to make sure he was genuinely leaving and not coming back to screw us over.

With his departure secured, both my parents and I could finally relax, thinking any chance of him screwing up our House's plans to be zero.

I had assumed that things would go according to how they were meant to be without him around.

Unfortunately, I never accounted for Elaria's new mindset in the following years.

It seems like the little prick still managed to screw us over without even being here...

Chapter 95 - And She Back

(MC POV)

I returned to the mansion with Cai Hong beside me.

I had asked why she was alone outside in town and she just tilted her cute head at me and said, "Cai Hong can't?"

I decided that asking the others would be a better idea since I had a chance of getting diabetes from her cuteness.

Since I was in my smaller form now, she opted to hold my arm like how her big sisters did instead of just my hand.

"Ehehe~ Papa feels warm~" Cai Hong muttered while snuggling my arm.

Too cute, have to give her head pats later.

I reached the gates of the mansion without much incident, the House should be preparing for dinner right about now.

"You're back huh?" A voice called out.

I looked up to see Dailus standing at the mansion's doorway, looking down at me from the landing.

"Yeah, our sisters took me out."

"I figured," he spat. "The squealing noises from your room stopped all of a sudden. I'm not an idiot, you know?"

Ah, that must be when we relocated to the 'Workshop'. But since he seems unaware of its existence, I won't comment much on it.

Now that I think about it, had my sisters insisted on rebuilding the whole town just so they could build that underground complex underneath it?

That's a really frightening thought, how far in advance did they even plan ahead?

Hold on…

Could they actually be the ones to destroy the world in the future?

I had only heard that this Plane was consumed by Divine Lightning, but for all I know, it might not be a Divine Lightning Technique that consumed this Plane and caused its destruction.

If my sisters began dropping nukes around the place, people might have thought of those things as Divine Lightning as well…

Ok... I guess I should take this situation more seriously now.

Nuclear weapons are a no go, especially when there's already objects and existences around that can potentially end the world.

Unless something like that appeared in this Plane which resulted in them launching nukes against it?

That would still be a no go. Wouldn't make sense to use doomsday weapons to end a threat that might destroy the world only to have the world destroyed from the fallout of said doomsday weapons.

"Anyway," my brother continued, breaking me out of my thoughts. "Where is Odriana and Elaria? I don't see them with you."

I raised an eyebrow, "Eh? They're not back yet?"

"What? Weren't they with you? Don't tell me you abandoned them for your little… Ahem... Your adopted daughter?"

I narrowed my eyes at him, not sure what he was about to say before he stopped himself. Brother or not, insult my little Cai Hong and I'll make sure you regret it.

"Papa saved Cai Hong from bad guys! Don't be mean to Papa!" Cai Hong pouted cutely at him.

I patted her head, the position a little awkward since we're now roughly the same height.

"Both Odriana and Elaria said they had something to do at the Adventurer's Guild and told me to leave first," I explained. "I walked around town for a bit before coming back here. I'd have thought they would be back by now."

"Well whatever," Dailus waved his hand. "Why don't you make yourself useful and go get them back for dinner?"

"I just got back from there."

"And? Do I look like I care?"

I followed Cai Hong example and pouted at him, "How mean. I'm now just a helpless little boy you know?"

"Same issue, do I look like I care? Or are you satisfied with shamelessly freeloading here?"

"Well last I checked, my sisters bought over this place and they're absolutely fine with it. So yes," I concluded, pushing past him to enter the mansion.

"Hmph, of course you would still act like you own the place even after you-- Ouuughhh!"

I stopped in my tracks, turning around just in time to see Cai Hong run up to catch up with me. Behind her, Dailus was on the ground in a fetal position with his hands clutching in between his legs, groaning in pain.

"What happened?" I asked Cai Hong.

Cai Hong sucked on her finger, looking back and tilting her head as though she just noticed the position Dailus was in.

"Weird boy?" She muttered, just as confused as I was.

Huh… Oh well, I don't really care about what happened anyway since it shut him up. He's probably just overreacting about something anyway.

I have other matters to worry about now after all.

It's almost dinner time and I have yet to figure out how to prevent my sisters from meeting my disciples. The last thing I wanted was for them to influence my disciples to join their little cult as well.

Maybe I could just bring them out?

I pushed open the doors of mansion, entering the hall with Cai Hong beside me.

One of the servants greeted me with a bow.

"Where are my disciples?" I asked.

"Sir Fred has taken them out to tour the town," The servant replied.

Ah… That confirms my initial hypothesis about the girls touring the town. Maybe I should have gone back after all.

I guess I'll just stay here and keep whichever group that comes back here busy so that they don't meet the other group. Or… I can just get Cai Hong to call my disciples back for dinner and avoid my sisters altogether?

Before I could decide which is the better option, I felt a tug on my hand.

"Papa cook?" My loli dragon asked innocently.

Ah, that's right. It's been quite a while since I actually made them a meal.

Nowadays, Eris has pretty much taken over me in meal preparations since her skills are pretty much good enough to work in any world class restaurants comfortably.

Well, since Cai Hong asked for it, I shall not disappoint.

I brought her along with me to the kitchens, finding it busy with all five chefs running around to prepare for the House's dinner time.

"Hey kids, you shouldn't be here! We're working here!" One of the chefs yelled at us.

I guess news of my arrival has yet to spread to all the mansion staff. They probably thought that I would never go to the kitchens of my own volition so the kitchen staff does not need to know about such things.

Well, if it was the me before being constantly hit by the 'truck-kun' stick, I probably wouldn't have came here either.

"Don't worry about it," I waved his concern away. "I won't be a bother, just need some of your potatoes."

"Ha?! Who the hell do you think you are, kid?!" The chef roared.

I looked around, finding the bucket of already peeled potatoes that they had left to soak. How convenient.

"Just a guest," I replied, already making my way towards the potatoes.

Since we're going to have dinner soon, I'll just make something light for both of us.

Picking out one of the potatoes, I inspected it to see it in perfect condition. Yep, the House definitely went for the good ingredients so I don't have to worry about quality here.

The chef came up from behind me, the knife he had been using to prepare the vegetables held in his hand.

"Hey, didn't you hear me, kid? I said guest or not, you shouldn't be here either!"

"Oh, nice. I needed that, thanks," I swiped the knife from his hand, giving it a one over to appreciate its sharpness.

The chef hadn't even notice his knife had been taken from him until I lifted it to my chest level, parallel to the ground.

"Hey… That's my knife… How did you--"

I interrupted him by throwing several potatoes in the air, the knife in my hand flashing out to cut the potatoes into thin pieces when they reached the apex of their flight.

All the chefs' jaws dropped.

Cai Hong leapt up and caught all the potatoes in a bowl without prompting. After spending quite a significant amount of time with me in the kitchen, she has learnt quite a bit on how to assist me in cooking well.

I would say the snacks I keep feeding her while I cook was a factor in her learning.

She looked up at me with sparkles in her eyes, prompting me to pat her on her head which made her purr adorably.

Now I'll just dry these pieces with some paper towels, then fry them in the pot of oil they had left heating on the wood stove.

I waited a few minutes, constantly checking if the pieces had turned soft.

Once they were, I scooped them out with a strainer, drying them on another paper towel.

I then turned up the heat by tossing a few more pieces of wood before throwing the potatoes back in again.

At this point, all the other chefs had stopped what they were doing so that they could see me work, obviously intrigued that an eight year old was using the kitchen so familiarly.

Once the potatoes were a golden brown colour, I scooped them out again to dry.

"Where's the salt?" I asked.

One of the chefs passed a container of the white granules without hesitation.

Pinching some of it in my fingers, I sprinkled it over the golden, straight-cut fries.

The chefs gulped down their saliva as I picked one up to much on.

Satisfied with their quality, I fed one of it to Cai Hong as well.

"Mmm! Papa! Yummy!" Cai Hong praised, quickly grabbing more of it to munch on.

I smiled at the sight of a dragon loli stuffing her face with fistful after fistful of fries.

A hand landed on my shoulder.

Turning around, I came face to face with the group of chefs who were looking at me with bloodshot eyes.

"Teacher! Please allow us lowly selves to learn from you! We implore thee!" The one who had called me out in the beginning pleaded.

Heh, conquering people's hearts through their stomachs is really effective even if I do say so myself.

Just as I was offering them samples of the fries, the wall behind me had burst into flames, the entire section crumbling down like melted butter.

All of us turned to see a Fox with Maroon hair and tails standing there with a serene smile on her face.

"Ehehehe~ Found you~~"

Chapter 96 - Taken

(Manami POV)

"So you left with him?" The white haired fox asked.

"Of course," I scoffed. "I've found my Master and mate, why would I let him go without following him?"

She frowned at me, "You stayed behind when I left the village."

I held her face with both hands, "Oh my dear little Kiyomi~ Were you lonely without big sister to take care of you?"

She narrowed her eyes, "Please don't treat me like a little girl anymore, elder sister. I have been out here longer than you have."

"Ufufufu~ My little sister has all grown up! I am so proud of you!"

She rolled her eyes at me, "We are twins, you are just a few seconds older..."

I ignored her and pulled her in for a hug, one that she did not return.

"Elder sister… Should I remind you that I'm working right now?"

"Ara ara? It's fine, isn't it? Just indulge in your elder sister for a bit~ I see you're now part of the Idol group here, how did you even make it in? I remember you were always the 'cool-headed little sister' back in town!"

She stared at me, "I learnt to act... It comes with the job."

"Ufufufu~ You really have grown up, Kiyomi! So, have you found a mate yet?"

"You know my stance on mates. They make me feel powerless and I don't like feeling powerless."

My smile widened, "Fufufu~ Well, perhaps you're just missing the right person? I'll introduce you to my Master next time. Who knows? He might be your destined mate too~"

Kiyomi scrunched up her face, "I doubt it… Don't you have other places to be? I told you I'm still working here."

"Fufu, well I'm here on vacation with my Master, so I--"

'Manami?'

My words were cut off when I received a thought transmission.

'It's Lian Li. We need to meet up, something's happened. Diao Chan and Eris are with me, we'll meet you at the town plaza.'

I sent back an affirmative before turning back to my sister, her head tilted to the side in confusion to my sudden silence.

I patted her head, "Fufufu~ Sorry Kiyomi, but something came up that elder sister needs to attend to. I'll come meet you again later~"

"Yes, yes. Do take care of yourself elder sister."

I waved at her before walking away at a quick pace, pushing my way through the crowd to the arranged meeting place.

It didn't take long for me to see the three of them waiting for me at the town's plaza, all three of them sitting around the fountain.

"Where is Cai Hong?" I asked.

"She said she was still busy with the group that she found, so we'll fill her in on the details later," Diao Chan explained.

Lian Li stood up and beckoned, "Come, I have a place we can use."

We followed behind her to a building nearby, I noticed the sign 'Xi Family Branch House' hanging above the entrance.

This must be where Lian Li came to look for contacts.

She led us to a room that I can only assume to be the personal quarters for the Head of this branch judging by how lavishly decorated it was.

That is, if you ignore the fact that there is a dead body hanging from the ceiling in the centre of the room, swaying slightly from the wind.

"There's no one else here and the room is soundproofed," Lian Li stated, taking a seat on the bed and ignoring the corpse entirely.

"Should I even ask?" I pointed to the body.

Lian Li waved her hand nonchalantly, "Just some idiot who did not know his place."

All of us nodded dropping the topic entirely.

"So, you mentioned that this was something pertaining to Master?" Diao Chan asked, taking a seat on one of the plush chairs.

Lian Li sighed, "Yes. Eris and I met with what I assume to be their High Priestess of the religion here. It seems the people of this town believe in a god of 'An Ney May' and they take offense to us spreading Master's greatness to everyone."

"God of 'An Ney May'? What has this god ever done?" Diao Chan frowned.

"Apparently everything that you see around us," Lian Li shrugged. "They said that by giving them all this, he lost his divinity and will only regain it back after enough people have been converted."

"Ara? So no chance of us coexisting?" I asked.

"Unlikely," Eris shook her head. "They've already declared war on us."

I let a few balls of fire gather around my hand, "War? Shall we burn them all down?"

Lian Li shook her head, "Not that kind of war. We both agreed that neither of our gods would want us to kill each other over something like this… They suggested we only compete in converting as many people to our belief while retaining our own believers."

I raised an eyebrow, "And you trust them to keep their word?"

"Not at all. We'll keep to this deal until they break it. In the meantime, we'll get our people to be more vigilant. Though I trust our people to be steadfast in their belief in Master, there's no telling what the other side might do."

"Wait, didn't you mention to me just now that there were a few people who tried to take Eris away? What happened to them?" Diao Chan asked.

Eris thumbed the hilt of her sword, "I dealt with them of course. They're good, but not that good."

I tilted my head slightly, "Ara, ara? And they let you all go even after you attacked them?"

Eris shrugged, "It's self defense. And their priestess told them to let us go because they couldn't handle us anyway."

I nodded my head in understanding.

"Well, we just have to make sure more people believe in Master than their so called 'An Ney May' god."

Diao Chan licked her lips, "Poaching the other side's believers is on the table right?"

Lian Li smiled devilishly, "Definitely."

"Kukuku… Because the group that I got in contact with have already realised who's the better one to serve~ Such simple people really~"

I chuckled, "Ufufufu~ We are on their home turf after all. We have the head start advantage while they will have to go all the way to Jin city if they want to poach ours."

"Yes, the Xi family is on their last legs as well," Lian Li stated, standing up from the bed to walk over to the hanging corpse. "We'll be able to take over them soon and gain all their connections to further our goals. The insect is finally proving itself quite useful."

"Ara? That is convenient. So what should we do, Lian Li?"

"Convert as many as we can while we're here and get the others back in Jin city to double their efforts. This is a trial we will not lose. All for Master."

"All for Master," We echoed.

We were just about to go further into planning when a thought transmission came in.

'Big sisters? Umm… Master got taken by the mean fox… Cai Hong needs help… Cai Hong is at the mansion kitchen...'

We were shook out of our state from those words.

"Go! Manami, now!" Lian Li declared.

Manami immediately invoked her teleportation technique, sending us to where Cai Hong was.

For such a thing to befall Master in our absence and in his current helpless form, this is an unforgivable oversight!

Chapter 97 - Aw Here We Go Again

(Cai Hong POV)

"Ehehehe~ Found you~~"

Muuu? The wall melted and some weird fox lady appeared.

Cai Hong thinks she has seen this weird lady somewhere before?

One of the chefs stepped in front of her, "Guards! Intruder!"

A group of ten big men rushed into the room, stopping in front of the weird fox lady with their swords drawn.

"Ah… So those were the guys following me huh?" Papa whispered.

Cai Hong turned around to look at Papa, "Following Papa?"

Papa patted Cai Hong's head, "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

Ehehe~ Papa's hands are warm~

Muuu? The other side of the room got cold?

"Huh? Who are you pieces of trash that dare to stop me from reaching my toy? Get out of the way."

"Tch… Hemdall! What does the scanner say about her Quark concentration?!"

One of the big men looked down at his wrist, gasping when he saw what was on it.

"Im… Impossible! Her Elemental Quark concentration level is OVER NINE THOUSAND!"

"What?! Damnit! Take them and run! We can't defea--"

The fox lady appeared in front of the guy, her hand stabbing through his chest to appear on the other side of his chest.

"I told you to get out of my way..."

This lady… Is dangerous? And she wants to get to Papa?

Cai Hong has to protect Papa… But Cai Hong was told not to let Papa know about her other form or else Papa might hate Cai Hong...

Cai Hong doesn't want to be hated by Papa…

"Kuh… You damn… Monster… Hemdall… Run… With..." The big man breathed before the fox lady cut off his head.

Papa covered my eyes with his hand.

"Look away, Cai Hong. You should not see this… Let's get out of here."

Yes, Papa should run! Cai Hong will hold her here.

Papa pulled Cai Hong towards the door but the door suddenly burst into flames, blocking the way.

"Ehehehe~ Is it a chase you want little toy? But I'm already here you know? It took me so loooooong to find you too, it wouldn't do for you to run away now!" she laughed. "Now be a good boy and wait for me quietly."

The fox lady waved her hand towards Papa, causing him to fall down suddenly.

Cai Hong managed to catch Papa before Papa hit the ground, but Papa seems to be asleep now?

The big men called Hemdall pointed at the weird fox lady, "Damn it! Just take her down!"

Eight of them leapt at her with their swords slashing at various parts of her body, the fox lady not even moving from where she stood.

But what happened next was really weird.

The eight men who looked like they were aiming to strike at her suddenly switched their swords' direction, stabbing at each other instead.

Their swords pierced each other in the chest, all of them staring at the one they pierced and the one that pierced them in confusion.

All of them fell down and stopped moving… Cai Hong wonders why they attacked each other instead?

"What… What did you do to them?!" The Remdall man shouted.

The fox lady looked at the men who killed each other like she just noticed them, "Oh? Did you not see for yourself that they killed each other?"

"You fiend! You clearly messed with their heads! Cursed Practitioners! I thought you youkais were better!"

"Better? Now what gave you that idea? Ehehehe~ I did tell you to step aside didn't I? I have something I'm after behind you after all."

Ah! Cai Hong remembers now! It was that disgusting fox lady that tried to take Papa away back when Cai Hong fought that giant bald man!

She tasted disgusting!

Bleh!

The Hemdall guy roared and charged towards her, his sword swinging towards her neck.

The fox lady lowered herself, kicking her leg towards Hemdall's outstretched knee.

Hemdall grunted in pain, falling forward from the sudden impact.

One of her tails stretched forward and wrapped around the wrist that held his sword, pulling him back up.

Hemdall cursed as he tried to punch her face with his other hand.

The fox lady stopped the punch with her left palm before thrusting her other hand into his chest and pulling his still beating heart out.

She let Hemdall's limp body fall onto the ground and turned her attention to the heart she held in her hands, sniffing it.

"Hmmm… Disgusting. Not even worth trying," she scoffed, tossing the heart over her shoulders.

"You… What do you want?" One of the cooking uncle asked, stepping in front of Cai Hong and Papa.

"Hmmm? Have I already not made myself clear? I'm here for my little toy~"

"They are just children…" Another one came up beside him.

The mean fox tilted her head, "Ehehehe~ So?"

"Damnit!" A third one cursed, standing up to join his friends. "If you want to get to them, you'll have to get through us first!"

"Yeah!"

"Me too!"

All five of the cooking uncles stood up to block her.

"Ok."

The five uncles' heads suddenly flew off after she did a slashing motion with her hand.

The kitchen became quiet with just the weird fox lady and Cai Hong left.

"So… Are you going to stop me too?" She smiled at Cai Hong.

"Is weird lady trying to take Papa away from Cai Hong?"

"Ehehehe~ Well, I'm only interested in my little toy and not you. So yes?"

"T̶͎̗̈̆h̷̗̀͝ẻ̵̗͔̳n̵̶̟̠͖̭̲͋̀͑̊̑̈́̕d̷̟͎͈̈́̚í̷̭̰͝ë̸̦̚"

"Oh? A dragon huh?"

I had transformed into a smaller form of myself to fit into the kitchen, there's no need to spread alarm to the rest of the city with my huge form at the moment.

My mouth opened wide for me to breathe out a gout of fire at her, enveloping the other half of the kitchen in flames.

"Scary, scary," I heard her mutter within my flames.

I shut off my fire to see her standing there with one of her palms stretched out, apparently to stop my fire from reaching her.

Her clothes were completely burned off while her hands and body were a bit singed, but even now I could see all the burns heal rapidly and fading away without leaving a mark.

"If I was any normal fox youkai, I would've already been burnt into nothingness."

It seems like I'll have to kill her with one move or she'll just regenerate.

I rushed forward, my claw thrusting forwards towards her chest.

"Ehehehehe~ How dangerous. Too bad I don't have time to play with you~"

From behind me?

The fox youkai disappeared as soon as my claw reached her, her figure dematerialising into smoke.

I turned my head around to see the fox youkai picking up Father's unconscious form in her arms.

"Ehehe~ You're just as cute as I remembered~ I'm going to have soooo much fun with you~"

I roared as I lunged towards her, my claws grasping smoke as she disappeared from right in front of me.

FATHER!

Chapter 98 - Get To The Choppa

(Diao Chan POV)

I blinked my eyes to adjust to the sudden shift in location, finding myself in a half destroyed room that still had parts of it burning.

It seems that Manami's teleportation Technique had sent all of us directly to the mansion's kitchen.

Several men were moving around the room, shifting rubble and dead bodies around.

Cai Hong sat on top of one of the rubble, tears evident on her face while the Dailus fellow was standing in front of her with his arms crossed.

"So you're saying that some fox youkai came in, killed everyone except you and took that… My brother away? That sounds unbelievable to me."

Cai Hong sniffed, "Cai Hong doesn't need to explain anything to you boy. Cai Hong isn't eating you now because you are Papa's brother. Go away."

"What? Boy? Eat me? Who do you think you are to speak to me like that you little rascal?"

The loli dragon picked up one of the pieces of rubble that was the size of an adult's fist, crushing it easily in her hands.

"Cai Hong said go away, boy. Cai Hong is not happy because Papa got taken and Cai Hong couldn't protect Papa… Cai hong will eat you if you disturb Cai Hong again."

He wisely retreated out of the room, not fast enough to be called a run.

We made our way towards her, only now did the others notice our sudden appearance.

"Cai Hong," Manami called out.

Cai Hong looked up and immediately rushed to her embrace, "Waaaahh! Big sis Manami! Cai Hong is sorry! Papa… Papa got taken!"

Manami patted her head slowly, "Calm down Cai Hong, tell us what happened."

"Sniff… Sniff… The weird… The weird fox lady came back… Sniff… She came back and took Papa… Cai Hong couldn't stop her… Cai Hong sorry…"

I tilted my head at her, "Weird fox lady?"

Lian Li frowned, "It can't be that crazy one from before right?"

"Manami... Memory..." Eris suggested.

Manami nodded, placing her hand on Cai Hong's head who was still sniffling quietly.

She reached out her other hand and a screen appeared in the air, showing the kitchen from before it was destroyed.

A few of the staff stopped what they were doing and looked at the screen as well.

We watched as the screen showed Cai Hong munching on something that Master had passed her, his visage occupying more than half the screen while a couple of who I assumed to be chefs crowded behind him.

Just seeing his face makes me tremble slightly, I wonder when it will be before I can get the opportunity for another 'punishment' session?

Ah, no good, must not get distracted… That thought alone deserves some punishment. Maybe another spanking session? No, no, no… Concentrate, concentrate.

Just as the chefs started talking to Master, the wall behind them crumbled away, revealing the crazed fox we had met back during the New Year Festival.

"Shizuri…" Manami spat out the name with contempt.

We watched on as the fox youkai slaughtered the guards who had appeared alongside the chefs without mercy.

She moved to Cai Hong, expressing her desire to take Master away from there.

After that, the memory whited out and became fuzzy before returning to reveal a kitchen engulfed in flames.

I guess Cai Hong had turned into her dragon form during that time but that fox girl must have managed to steal Master from her.

Manami ended the Technique before turning to me, "Diao Chan… Find Master."

I nodded, fishing out a pocket mirror from within my robes to cast my Spell.

"'Seekers of Void, Watchers of All, I seek you to heed my call; Show me what I seek, without letting us leak. The one most beloved of all, the one who shall stand tall. Mirror Scry!'"

The surface of the mirror rippled like water, showing us an image of Master currently bundled up in some sort of cloth on what I assumed to be the fox youkai's back.

Around them were trees and bushes, probably indicating that the fox had escaped to the forests towards the south.

"We have to go find them!" Lian Li hissed, standing up.

"No, wait," Manami cautioned, clapping her hands together once.

A ringing sound echoed around us and the image on the mirror shifted again, the trees and bushes fading away to reveal rocks and dirt, the scenery resembling the mountains to the north of us.

"Remember… She's extremely proficient in her Space quarks, even better than I am," Manami warned.

The fox turned her head, looking straight towards us as though she knew we were watching her even after I had specifically weaved a cloaking condition into my Spell.

She smiled at us, reaching behind to drag a finger across Master's cheek and drawing a line of blood, bringing the red liquid to her mouth to suck on.

I smashed the mirror on the ground in a fit of rage.

That piece of trash! She dared to hurt Master?! Master is only allowed to punish, not be punished! To touch him with those filthy hands of hers… How dare she?!

Even Master has yet to draw blood from me during our punishments, how dare this piece of trash dare, DARE to do that to our precious Master?!

I will make sure she suffers greatly for this travesty!

"Let's go find that little bitch and break her!" Eris roared, her sword already unsheathed.

Lian Li snapped her fingers, "Cai Hong… Manami will put an invisibility Technique on us, fly us over to the mountains."

Cai Hong wiped her face clean of tears and nodded resolutely.

Manami closed her eyes in concentration before waving her hands towards us, turning all of us translucent. I know from experience that we can still make each other out vaguely but to others we have become totally invisible.

Cai Hong ran outside, leaping up into the sky to transform into her full dragon form to hover in the air.

The rest of us ignored the startled looks on the staff and immediately leapt onto her back, hanging on as Cai Hong gave a flap of her mighty wings, speeding straight towards the mountain region.

That fox may have had a head start on us in terms of distance, but she couldn't fly like we can.

"Disable her… Make sure Master is safe… Then we make her wish she was never born…" Lian Li said through gritted teeth.

"We'll have to get creative," Manami commented. "She doesn't feel any pain."

"Kukuku~" I chuckled. "Pain is not the only way we can get to torture her."

Yes… I will thoroughly enjoy making her suffer later!

Master, wait for us!

Chapter 99 - Taken 2

(Shizuri POV)

After I had been sent flying off by those girls and Manami, I found myself near the top of the mountain that the Sect of my new toy was built into.

It took awhile for me to regenerate enough to pull myself out of the debris and set right back into searching for him.

Upon returning to that Sect's grounds, I found out from a few helpful individuals that my toy had already left to head back to his hometown. It took a bit more searching and convincing before I managed to get someone to spill where that town actually was.

With my destination set, I made my way towards that little town on the other side of the mountain. Throughout the journey, I kept myself busy by imagining all sorts of things I would do to my little toy once I got him in my grasp again.

Preferably without interruption this time, of course.

I passed by a carriage about half a day away from the town, the coachman was very helpful in providing me details to his passengers' drop off point after a little persuading from me.

No one will miss him, I'm sure.

I managed to cover the rest of the distance in half the expected time, but I sensed no signs of my toy anywhere inside that mansion.

There was the chance that the stupid coachman lied to me but I doubt that was the case.

Possibly my toy just went out into the town below for a while and would come back later, so I just settled down to wait.

It's better to catch him here with less people to minimise the possibility of more interference after all~

I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I got too lost in thought on how I wanted to play with my toy and only noticed he had returned much later.

I descended to the back of the building where a sweet aroma was coming from, using a Technique to melt away the stupid wall that was blocking me from my toy.

For some reason, there's still busybodies around here trying to stop me from getting my toy, even that little girl from before too.

Oh well, I should just be glad that Manami isn't here or I might get distracted again, ehehehe~

It was a simple thing to get rid of the men and prevent my toy from running away since I sense no Technique protecting him, but I was surprised to find that the little girl was actually a humanoid dragon.

To think my toy had a dragon protecting him...

How interesting… My toy is getting more and more interesting!

Unfortunately, I am nowhere near this dragon's match, but my main goal has never been to take the dragon down anyway.

Besides, this dragon seems like a newborn without combat experience, so it was easy to take advantage of that fact.

She got easily provoked by me and attacked rashly, trying to burn me with her flames.

I immediately used my Air quarks to redirect the flames, but the heat from the fire still managed to burn me.

When the flames died down, I left an illusion of myself behind, slipping to the side of the room while I recovered from the burns the dragon's fire gave me.

My illusion goaded her on, prompting the dragon to rush forward in an attempt to strike me down.

I had moved towards my unconscious toy at the same time, picking him up in my arms.

His face was just as entrancing as I had remembered.

That pure, flawless, innocent face that could belong to nothing but the purest of souls.

Ehehehe~ I am going to have such fun with him!

The dragon roared and lunged at me, too bad for her I've already left the place with my toy secured in my arms.

Now I just need to find a place where I can play with him in peace…

Ah, the mountains of course! All quiet and deserted with no one around to bother me!

Just in case, I'll set an illusion around me to hide my surroundings while I'm travelling up there.

My precaution turned out to be of use when I felt something watching me. They tried to hide their presence but they forgot to hide the manifestation of their Technique or whatever it was.

It might have been enough to fool a normal Practitioner, but I'm no normal practitioner.

I guessed that it might be Manami and her sisters watching me so I'll just give them a small show for now.

Drawing a cut on my toy's face, I brought it to my lips to taste, making sure where I felt the presence from had full view of it.

The moment I did so, the presence vanished. No doubt that action has ruffled their little feathers.

But what I was not prepared for was the absolute mind-numbing pleasure that assaulted my senses.

Just tasting that drop of blood was enough to leave me collapsing on my knees on that mountain side, my body spasming in pleasure.

If I were to compare the blood that I've tasted so far…

The man from the kitchen smelled like milk that had gone bad and mixed with expired cheese. Manami's tasted like a savoury dessert wine that was a perfect blend of sweetness and sourness.

And then there is this.

The explosion of both smell and taste was too much for me to handle, it was like a six course meal prepared by the finest of chefs being condensed into a drop of water that released all its taste the moment it touches your tongue.

I had trouble stopping myself from cutting him right there and then to get more of that delicious liquid.

If Manami was with the people who spied on me, she would have seen through my illusions easily and directed them here.

Before that happens, I need to find somewhere to hide and enjoy my tasty little toy.

Heading further up the mountain on shaky legs, I found a rock face flat enough for me to carve a cave out of, settling myself within it.

I circulated my Space quarks once more and covered the entrance with the best illusion Technique I could conjure, hiding the entrance from view.

Placing my toy gently on my lap, I watched his sleeping face with fondness.

He was mine now… Mine to play and taste.

I poked his finger with a nail, watching the crimson liquid ooze out from the wound, the delectable aroma wafting through the air.

Reaching the limit of my self-control, I stuck the finger into my mouth, moaning as the wonderful liquid touched the tip of my tongue.

I lapped at the digit slowly, savouring every bit of blood that was oozing out of the wound I made, my mind completely lost in the taste.

So distracted I was that I lost track of time, only coming back to my senses when I heard the audible crack of something breaking at the entrance of the cave.

"That's enough from you, Shizuri!"

I looked up to see Manami glaring at me, fireballs prepared in her hand.

Standing beside her were all the girls I had faced before, all of them sporting similar expressions.

Such a pity, I was even starting to enjoy myself too.

Hmmmm... How should I escape with my toy now?

It doesn't look like they would let me escape though. What a predicament.

Chapter 100 - This Place About To Blow-oh-oh

(Lian Li POV)

I watched the fox's movements carefully, the lightning charged in my hands and prepared to set loose the moment she showed any signs of aggression towards our unconscious Master.

She smiled, releasing Master's finger from her mouth with an unnecessarily loud 'pop'.

"Well… Never thought the meddlers will show up this soon."

"Kukukuku~" Diao Chan chuckled. "I see you like to refer to yourself in third person?"

"Ehehehe~ You're funny," The fox giggled. "Any chance you girls would just leave me and my toy alone for a few hours? No, a few days? I promise I'll return him when I'm done… Maybe…"

"Master is not your toy, unhand him right this instance," I hissed.

The vixen turned to smile at me, holding Master a little closer to her chest, "Oh? But he is suuuuuch a darling. Surely he wouldn't look like this if not for me to play with?"

Manami stepped forward, the balls of fire around her flaring up, "Master is a divine being beyond your comprehension! Unhand him, Shizuri, or I will make you!"

The vixen looked down at Master's sleeping face, drawing our attention back to him. My breath caught in my throat when I saw his divine sleeping visage, the sight almost making me lose my focus on my lightning Technique.

Her hand stroking at his face made me come back to my senses, however.

The fox chuckled, "And what if I say no--"

My lightning hit her square in the face, blasting her towards the back of the cave.

There was no danger of hitting an illusion since Manami had already made sure all illusion Techniques had been dispelled, which was how we found this cave in the first place.

Eris immediately rushed forward to catch Master before he fell to the ground, Manami covering for her with a wall of fire when the vixen tried to blast our swordswoman back with a fireball of her own.

"Cai Hong! Take Master and go! We will take care of her!" I shouted.

Eris passed Master over to the loli dragon who promptly ran out of the cave with him in her arms. The sound of wings flapping echoed from outside the cave before a gust of wind blew into the tunnel, no doubt Cai Hong had just taken to the skies.

With Master safely escorted away, we now need to deal with this little heretic.

A figure stepped through the fire wall that Manami had summoned, heedless of the flames eating away at her skin.

"All of you… Why do you insist on getting in between me and my toy? I had even just realised how divine his blood tasted like, there's no way I can go back to all the trash from before!"

I seethed, for this person to dare make Master bleed, there is nothing else more unforgivable than that.

I thrusted out my hand, sending a streak of golden lightning crashing against her.

The vixen sidestepped at the last moment, though the lightning still caught her left arm and blew it clean off her shoulders.

"I won't stop until he's mine!" She screeched, her eyes glowing red in the darkness of the cave.

She charged towards us, a layer of purple miasma covering her remaining right arm while her left arm started to regenerate.

"'Burden of the sky, weight of the world; imprison the heathen that dares to be so bold. Restrict their free will, with naught choice but to be still. Divine Chains!'" Diao Chan recited her binding spell in an attempt to stop her.

The chain wrapped around her right leg just as she leapt towards us, it was just a matter of time before she would be trapped in the air by the chain.

But what we hadn't expected was for her to cut off the trapped leg without hesitation, allowing her to continue her leap towards us.

She stretched her right arm towards us, the miasma expanding outwards in a flash.

My body felt heavy all of a sudden, as though the entire weight of a mountain was pressing down on me.

I gritted my teeth and tried to push it off but something exploded near my chest before I could, sending all of us tumbling outside the cave.

Master's training kicked in and I immediately got on my feet, just a little slower than Eris who already had her sword unsheathed and glaring at the cave entrance.

The vixen stepped out, her left arm already fully regenerated while her right leg was still in the midst of restoring the skin that covered her exposed muscle.

Nothing needed to be said between us.

My body glowed a golden hue as I circulated my quarks while Manami had her tails fanned out behind her, summoning a fireball on the tip of each of her tails. Diao Chan was behind the two of us, chanting another of her Spells.

Eris was first to engage, rushing towards the maroon haired fox with her sword slashing towards her neck.

The fox intercepted the blade with her hand, catching the sharp metal mid-slash without any hint of hesitation.

Thrusting her other hand at Eris, an orb of darkness flew out from her palm, exploding on Eris's chest and sending her flying to the side without her blade.

The vixen pulled out the sword that was stuck halfway through her hand, throwing it towards Eris in an attempt to skewer her.

Our swordswoman barely avoided it by rolling away, her sword piercing through where her head had been.

Manami pointed a finger at her, sending nine balls of fire arcing towards the vixen.

The maroon fox raised her hand, the same purple miasma gathering in her palm.

Clenching her fist, the miasma exploded into a dome around her, causing all the fireballs to stop mid-flight and stay suspended in the air.

Manami snapped her fingers and the fireballs exploded, engulfing the vixen within the fire.

Our nine tailed fox turned to me, "Lian Li, now!"

I reached my hands up into the sky before bringing them down in one smooth motion.

A giant pillar of golden lightning struck down from the sky, engulfing the place she was at.

"Diao Chan! Do it!" I shouted behind me.

Our witch pointed her finger towards the dust cloud created by our attacks.

"'--return all to cinders and cast them into the abyss! Explosion!'"

There was a spark within the cloud before a giant explosion ripped through the area, tossing up an even bigger cloud of dust.

Eris returned to our side with her sword in hand, all of us watching the dust cloud cautiously.

"Hehehe… That was quite interesting…"

The dust cleared to reveal the vixen laying on the ground with only the top half of her body remaining.

I pointed my palm towards her, circulating my lightning quarks again.

"Not so easy," she chuckled, disappearing from our sights.

I let loose my lightning bolt, striking nothing but dirt.

The weight from before pressed down on us again, all of us struggling just to even remain upright.

She appeared a distance away from us, laying on the ground as she waited for her bottom half to regenerate.

Diao Chan began to mutter another Spell but the weight pressing down on us increased, forcing us on to the ground.

She laughed, "I wonder… Should I kill all of you? That way no one will disturb me anymore… Ehehehe~"

The weight increased again, breathing is almost impossible now.

I snapped my fingers, an electrical explosion triggering right in front of her and flinging her up in to the air.

The weight immediately dissipated, all of us getting right back to our feet.

She crashed on the ground nearby, this time looking even worse than before.

All of us stepped towards her in preparation to begin our little torture session on her.

But before we could, a whistling sound permeated from above us.

All of us looked up to see a shiny metal projectile falling straight towards our direction, passing above us to crash into the vixen's body.

Flesh and blood flew in every direction as her body literally exploded from the impact, instantly killing her

We only had the time to be a tad bit disappointed by the loss of chance in torturing her before finally realising what had happened.

What in Master's name was that?

Chapter 101 - The Anomaly

(Elaria POV)

After seeing those two heathens out of the guild, I called for an emergency meeting with all the other Heads of Division within the An Ney May Conglomerate.

We met within one of our underground bunkers on the outskirts of town, where our people could test our creations away from public eye.

"Should we take these heathens out?" My head of security suggested, his finger thumbing one of our revolver prototypes.

I waved my hand at him, "For now, we've agreed not to resort to violence… Just maintain the status quo for the moment."

All of them nodded their heads.

Onee-sama fingered the hem of her dress, "In the meantime, Intelligence division should look into them. Find out who they are, what their plans are and why they are here. They seem to know more about us than we do them, that has to change."

A woman with her hair tied into a ponytail pushed up her glasses with a hand, "It will be done, First Lady Lindulf."

I nodded, "Alright, now where are the reports for the trade--"

One of our security team members burst into the room, "Emergency! First Lady Lindulf! Young mistress Lindulf! Your brother has been taken!"

The entire room turned to look at us.

"You… You're talking about my beloved brother and not Dailus right?" I asked, just to be sure.

The guard nodded, "A fox youkai attacked the mansion, killing off the guards you assigned for his protection and the kitchen staff before kidnapping him!"

I felt my heart drop.

"Where?" Onee-sama demanded.

"The mountains… We have no means to catch up to her…"

I clenched my fists, it seems fate really wanted to make this scenario happen no matter what. I thought I was already prepared enough for such a possibility but apparently I had been too naive.

No, not yet.

There is still something I can do.

I turned towards the only man wearing a white lab coat in the room, "R and D division, how is progress on Alpha Romeo Tango Yankee one?"

He sat a little straighter, "That… It's still in its prototype stages, the testing phase was set to be a week from now."

"We're moving that test phase forward to right now! Get it ready!"

He spluttered, "But… But to use it right now without properly testing it, especially when the ammunition is so volatile…"

I slammed my fist on the table, "I will use your innards as its ammunition if you don't get it ready now!"

The man scampered out of the room to obey.

I cursed myself for underestimating the fate of plot. What was I thinking just assigning a few goons to watch over my Onii-sama? That's literally asking for some extraordinarily strong person to come around and wipe the floor with them before stealing him away!

It's literally the troupe of a strong antagonist beating up the mob characters to get to my important person!

Wait…

It can't be those girls from before right?

But how did they know Onii-sama is the god of An Ney May?

It's a closely guarded secret within our circle that not even the division heads knew.

Both Onee-sama and I agreed that the fewer people who knew about it, the safer Onii-sama would be until he regains his divinity.

No, it might all just be a coincidence, I should just concentrate on getting Onii-sama back first!

I stood up from the table, "Everyone, I'm declaring a red alert! If that youkai can assault my family mansion and take Onii-sama right from under our noses, there's no telling what she could do! Get back to your posts!"

Everyone gave a salute before marching out of the room.

I sat back down heavily on my chair, the memory of losing Onii-sama the first time weighing upon my head.

Onee-sama placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "Don't worry Elaria, our beloved brother will be fine."

I nodded, "Onii-sama has us now. He does not need to be alone anymore."

The head of our R and D division came back, bursting through the door.

"Young mistress! It is ready! We have also spotted the kidnapper!"

I leapt to my feet, rushing past him and out of the bunker.

Outside within the clearing was our newest prototype weapon, the thirty-six pounder long gun mounted on a hastily assembled wooden frame.

This was meant to be a side project that would pave the way for more advanced artillery pieces in the future, but it seems like we will get to see its use now.

One of the engineers pointed towards the mountain, "Right there, about two kilometers out. Cannon is already loaded and ready."

I looked in the direction he was pointing, just in time to see a giant pillar of lightning striking that area.

Using the spyglass he offered, I realised it was a fight between two groups of Practitioners. Unfortunately, they were too far for me to actually see if the two heathens I met before were there.

I could, however, clearly discern that there were two fox youkais present from their tails, both of them apparently at odds with each other.

Seeing no signs of Onii-sama there, I tossed the spyglass back to the engineer, "How do you know that's them? I do not see my Onii-sama there."

"There is a cave behind them, we suspect your brother is being held there by one of the two groups while the other one is a resident of the cave. We do not know which group is which though…"

"What should we do then?" Onee-sama asked.

I looked through the spyglass again, expecting to see the lone fox youkai to be easily defeated by the other group since she was outnumbered.

What I hadn't expected to see was for all of them to be prone on the ground, the lone fox seemingly pushing them down with some sort of Technique.

That was the deal breaker for me.

If she could handle being outnumbered without much effort, she must be the one who assaulted our mansion and took my dearest Onii-sama away!

"Set target to the single fox!" I ordered.

The engineer gave me an incredulous look, "With all due respect first mistress… We can't hit a target two kilometers out with such precision and this frame will break instantly upon firing…"

I cursed under my breath, none of them knew how artillery works yet, I'll have to do it myself!

I moved to the cannon, using the frame to tilt it upwards by a few more degrees and pushing it to aim at the direction of the target.

Checking wind direction and speed, I readjusted the cannon's tilt by a few more degrees.

"Pass me the linstock!" I yelled.

One of the engineers hastily handed over a stick with a coil of rope at the end, the rope already aflame.

"Backblast clear!" I cautioned, making sure no one stood behind the cannon.

I double checked the bearings one more time before lighting the quick match at the end of the cannon.

The fuse lit easily, the spark burning its way into the cannon's interior easily before a loud 'boom' was heard, the recoil from the cannon destroying the frame it was on entirely.

The six hundred kilogram gun flipped over to crash behind me a meter away, had anyone been standing there, they would have been flattened instantly.

I looked through the spyglass, watching my shot fly true.

The fox only had time to look up before the projectile landed on top of her, splattering her into a pile of bloody paste.

"Get the strike team out there now! I want that cave searched!" I ordered, shaking the shocked onlookers back to their senses.

Everyone scurried to obey while I wiped my hands clean with a piece of cloth.

After this event, I'm really going to have to speed up the rest of my plans…

Just as I was thinking about that, a ray of light descended from the sky, landing at where the cannon had been.

From within that light, a young man wearing what I recognised as a toga materialised before stepping out into the open.

"So you're the cause of the anomaly around here…" He spoke, his voice sounding like an orchestra. "I'm sorry but I will need you to disappear..."

Chapter 102 - Poof And You Gone... For Now

(MC POV)

I woke to the sound of ringing between my ears.

Cursing my carelessness in letting that fox use her Technique on me, I slowly opened my eyes in preparation to see the fox gloating at me.

Instead, the first thing I saw was Cai Hong's worried face looking back at me.

"Papa? Papa ok?"

I sat up, looking around me to realise I was seated in a clearing somewhere.

"What happened?" I asked. Did Cai Hong managed to escape the mansion with me?

"The mean fox took Papa…" she cried while holding my arm. "Cai Hong called big sisters and got Papa back…"

Ok… How long was I even out for?

I looked up to the orange-tinged sky.

Since the sun has yet to set, either I was only out for awhile or it had been more than a day since I was unconscious.

"How long was I out?"

"Ummm… A few hours? Cai Hong dunno…"

I patted her head, "And where are the others?"

"Umm… Big sisters stayed behind to stop the mean fox from following… She brought Papa to the mountains in some weird cave..."

Not good. Do they know that she's an undead? I doubt my cute disciples are able to kill a person in cold blood yet so the undead fox could just regenerate indefinitely if she isn't wounded fatally.

Bemoaning my current condition, I leapt up to my feet, fully intending to go to wherever my disciples are.

But before I could do so, a pillar of light descended down from the sky a short distance away from us. The light was accompanied by a distinct bell-like ring that was easily missed if you didn't pay attention to it.

The unfortunate thing is that I know this light quite intimately.

Within the other Planes there was an all-powerful group of people that oversaw everything that goes on within the Planes.

According to them, they made sure that the 'balance is maintained for the greater good of all.'

Everyone had believed them to be gods and for good reasons too.

Nothing could touch them, not even Practitioners using Legend tier Techniques could do anything to hurt them.

It's not that they're invincible, it's just that anything anyone throws at them seem to pass through them harmlessly like they were incorporeal. But yet, they could still affect the world around them physically should they choose to.

They never gave a name for themselves but everyone just called them 'The Celestials'.

Me? I call them the busybodies.

Like really, I've seen them appear out of nowhere, point out someone for doing something or even planning to do something that might potentially disrupt the balance of the world, then whisk them away to who knows where.

They don't even explain or state the basis of what they claim to be actions that will cause the imbalance.

For all we know, they're just taking away people that they deem to be an eyesore or something.

Furthermore, the people they point out aren't killed but rather spirited away by them to somewhere that no one knows. A few have speculated it to be hell or even some other world but no one was able to prove anything yet. We just know that the people they take away were never seen again.

Another reason why I don't see them as some godlike entities is the fact that I've met them multiple times in my past life before.

It's all that damn psycho Practitioner's fault.

That psycho is the only one I agree with that is a threat to the balance of the world.

The only problem is that even they couldn't handle the lunatic.

They first appeared in front of us when I was tied to the ground and being used in some extremely weird ritual.

They called the psycho out on being an imbalance which only prompted that lunatic in shouting in a weird language at them.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but that psycho does not seem to speak in any of the known human languages. Even those busybodies were stunned when they heard the words but they just ignored it and tried to send the psycho away.

But that maniac had invoked the ritual at that time and actually reflected the light ray back to them, sending them away to wherever instead.

That was my first encounter with them.

Over time they will keep reappearing again and again, saying the same things to us and trying and failing to send that psycho to wherever they planned to.

It was then that they really lost all sense of divinity for me, even when I heard about how mythical they were supposed to be from others.

Like seriously, a lunatic was running circles around them without even trying.

There was even once when one of them had just materialised in that ray of light and the psycho just did some weird hand signs before punting the guy in the balls.

A big middle finger to their supposed incorporealness right there.

It took them about a total of twenty or so tries before they straight up decided the psycho wasn't worth the effort, balance be damned.

And of course, I'm the poor soul who got stuck in between their little conflicts. So excuse me if I really can't see then as the so called 'Celestial' beings everyone else seem to think they are.

But enough about that. The problem right now is that I've never heard of one appearing within the Earthen Plane. I even thought the Earthen Plane was out of their jurisdiction since I doubt anything here might catch their eye.

Don't tell me they thought Elaria's rapid advancement of technology is a threat?

That is… Actually that's the only reason why they could possibly come here.

Damn it.

If Elaria gets sent away, she won't be able to come back! And the me right now won't be able to track her to bring her back either!

I do have some items in my storage ring that can bring me back here in the event I get sent somewhere else so...

"Cai Hong! Use the sling shot Technique I taught you that time and send me over there!"

Cai Hong jumped at my sudden outburst, "Muuu? The one Papa used to send things flying?"

"Yes! Now! Quickly!"

She must have sensed my urgency and quickly circulated her quarks, pointing her palm towards me.

I felt my stomach churn as I was slowly lifted the ground, mentally preparing for what was going to happen.

A second passed before I was catapulted up into the air, flying straight towards the landing point of the beam of light.

I started descending just as a man appeared from within, pointing his finger towards a girl I recognised as my little sister.

Not on my damn watch!

I crashed down in front of him just as his finger began lighting up, firing off a beam that was intended for Elaria.

The beam hit me straight in the chest and the next thing I knew, my vision had gone white.

Chapter 103 - And Here Is The Separation Arc

(Elaria POV)

I watched in horror as the thing I feared the most occurred right in front of me.

Onii-sama had used himself to protect me.

I was still distracted by that fact to even start to question how Onii-sama had appeared in front of me.

The beam of light fired off from the man's finger hit Onii-sama instead of me, disintegrating him into particles of light.

"Oh what?" The piece of trash gasped. "No no no… What just happened? Oh no… No no no no no… That's not good, not good at all. Oh no…"

I recovered my senses, pulling out a revolver that was strapped to my inner thigh before pointing it at the man.

"What did you do to Onii-sama?!"

The imbecile ignored me, opting to continue his own mumbling, "Damn it… I'm already taking great risks to come here… Then this just had to happen… We're just lucky they decided to do this out in the open…"

With my patience worn thin, I fired a shot at his leg.

The bullet passed through him as though he wasn't there, the trash not even reacting to what I did.

I emptied the clip on him but it yielded the same result.

Switching to my combat knife that I had strapped on my other thigh, I stabbed towards his head, stomach and groin.

The waste of space didn't even flinch.

"Not good… It's a random transport too… I must report this!"

A light ray descended upon him and he dematerialised again.

I threw both the weapons down, screaming out my frustrations at fate.

This is not over, I swear upon it!

(MC POV)

The whiteness began to fade and I found myself lying on an unfamiliar land.

There was sand everywhere, the highest sand dunes reaching almost as high as the mountains Heaven Sect was built into.

I got up slowly, dusting the sand off my back as I did so.

I do not remember anywhere on the Earthen Plane that has a desert as a biome, so either this is an entire new dimension I got sent into, or I'm on a different Plane.

Either way, both wouldn't be good news to me in my current form.

And I've seen enough things to know that under all this sand, there's probably some kind of monster crawling underneath waiting for some prey to appear above them.

That means I'm royally screwed right about now.

Just kidding.

I did say that I still have my storage ring with me right? So there's still things inside I can use in the worst case scenario.

Like, for example, a scroll for sending myself back to where I came from.

I know, I know. Usually this would be the separation arc or whatever, but I'm quite prepared for these kinds of things. Why else did you think I jumped in front of the guy without hesitation?

Well, first things first, I'm quite interested in where this place is seeing as how those busybodies would have sent my sister here if it weren't for my timely intervention.

I should at least get a lay of the land, so climbing that sand dune to survey the area sounds like a good idea for now.

Unfortunately, the task was more daunting than I first anticipated.

One was due to my smaller body that lengthened the time needed to climb it and the second was the fact that the dune was harder to scale than I thought.

The sands constantly shifted under my weight and a wrong step could lead to me sliding all the way back down to the base again.

After two long hours of climbing under the gruelling hot sun, I managed to reach the apex of that damn sand dune.

Looking around the area, I saw what I just about expected.

Endless piles of sand in all directions.

Well… Guess hoping for some kind of city in the distance was too much to ask for.

Oh wait.

There's a dust cloud that seems to be heading towards me from my left?

Ok, a whole entire empty plain of desert and yet this dust cloud is heading straight towards me? What are the chances huh?

Five gold that it's some underground monster coming for its lunch.

Well, I guess I'm on the menu now?

Yeah, thanks, but no thanks.

I leapt off the dune, sliding my way back down as I searched through my storage ring for something that I can use.

Yep, I can just use…

Oh no.

All of the items that could hide me from this incoming threat requires me to circulate quarks in order to activate them!

Crap.

Well… How the hell was I supposed to know that I would regress into a child's body and be unable to circulate quarks back then? Can't blame me for that!

Thinking fast, I laid down flat on the sand in the shadow of the dune before moving my body side to side, shifting the sand underneath me away to bury myself in it.

Soon, the only part of my body that was visible above ground was the upper part of my face.

No sooner than that, the wall of the dune above me exploded outwards, a giant worm appearing from within it.

The worm was half the size of the dune and its jaws were wide enough to swallow the entire Lindulf mansion with space to spare.

Yep, called it. Five gold please.

The worm dived into the sand in front of me, eating its way into the ground.

I'm not sure if my eyes were playing tricks on me, but I think there was something riding on top of it?

Before I could even consider if I had just hallucinated the whole thing, the worm exploded out from the ground again, this time spraying its black blood all over the place.

On top of its head was some really muscular guy wielding a giant sword at least twice his size.

He braced himself on one of the worm's scales with a hand and plunged his sword into the worm's head with his other hand.

The worm let out a screech of pain, rearing its head in an attempt to throw that guy off.

The guy pulled out his sword before using the worm's momentum to catapult himself high into the air, lifting his sword over his shoulder.

Just when I thought it couldn't get any weirder, his sword extended outwards before igniting from behind, propelling him downwards towards the worm.

The sword cut through what I suppose is the worm's head, separating it cleanly from the rest of its body.

He did the typical three point landing with his sword stuck into the sand, remaining there as the body of the worm crashed into the sand behind him.

"Booyah… I'm still the best! Wish the others could see that!" He chuckled to himself, standing up from his half crouch.

He turned around to survey his handiwork with a proud gait, both his hands on his hips.

"And that, is how you get the job done. Man, sometimes I impress even myself!"

Oh wow, he's actually talking to himself… Not sure if I want to associate myself with these kinds of people.

He left his sword behind as he stepped towards the dead worm, some sort of carving knife held in his hand.

"Heh heh, now let's see what I got from this--"

The guy never got to finish his words as another worm exploded out from underneath him, swallowing him whole before disappearing back underground again.

The only thing that proved the guy was even here was his sword that was still stuck in the sand.

Well…

Free sword I guess?

Chapter 104 - I Still Got It

(MC POV)

I stored away the sword in my ring, planning to inspect how it works later.

Hey, not like that guy is going to use it anymore, right?

Anyway, I think it's about high time I get the hell out of here. At least I know this place is inhabited not just by monsters but people too.

Judging by what that guy had been saying, there's likely a community formed here as well. So either they were natives and I was just a one time incident, or everyone who got sent away by those busybodies ended up here and formed their own little group.

Not going to stick around to find out, especially when I'm in this form.

Maybe I'll return later just to check it out after I got my original form back.

Now let's see here… Where did I put my scroll of return?

Ah.

I forgot.

I can't circulate my quarks to activate it.

Fuuuuuuuu….

No wait!

That dead worm is a monster right?

Then it should have a Monster Crystal or whatever the hell my sister calls it! I can probably just jury-rig it somehow to work with the scroll!

Yep, that can work, I've already seen Elaria show me the process of making it work like a power supply. Since the Monster Crystals are the results of Elemental Quarks crystallizing, I should be able to use it to activate the scroll.

But the only issue now is the fact that the crystallization process takes a few days and I don't have time for that…

I'm probably better off going around finding another monster that has been dead for a few days already then.

Well, if I'm going to do that, I should prepare myself at least. I could use my own sword but I doubt it could cut through those worms as easily as the other sword can.

I brought out the sword I got earlier to see how it worked.

Honestly to me, it looked like a sharpened block of metal with a handle welded into it. The surprising thing about it is the fact that it's more than four times my height and yet I could still lift it up easily as long as I use both hands.

I suspect that some kind of weight reduction Technique was inscribed on it, since wielding it with one hand doubled its weight.

I still can lift it, but no way am I swinging this around one handed.

There were also two buttons on the handle, one of it causes the sword to extend even further to six times my height, but the centre of balance still remained the same which was odd.

Most likely it's another inscription.

The second button was the kicker.

The back of the blade seems to be fitted with four rocket boosters connected to some kind of canister near the handle. As long as the button is held down, air is sucked into the canister and the rocket boosters are ignited.

The heat also seemed to be conducted to the blade, making it glow red hot to slice and burn through most things. Must be how it managed to slice through the worm so easily.

The first time I tried pressing the ignition button, I had not been expecting the sudden acceleration and got thrown face first into the sand dune, creating a human shaped imprint on it.

It took me a while to learn how to use it, it was simple enough once I understood how much force the rockets generated.

At least now I have a grasp on how to wield it, though I'm probably not able to utilize it perfectly due to my small size.

Hefting the sword over my shoulder, I proceeded on in a random direction to look for a monster corpse that suits my needs.

The good thing was, I didn't need to go very far to find one.

Just by walking in a random direction for around two hours, I found another sand worm corpse that looked to be at least a few days old in the valley of two sand dunes.

The bad thing was that it was almost sundown.

The worst thing was that an even bigger monster was sniffing it like it was its dinner.

This monster resembled a centipede with jagged armoured plating on its back, its mandibles numbered six in total with the biggest ones extending far outside its mouth.

Unfortunately for it, I'm not patient enough to find another monster corpse for the Monster Crystal when one is right there.

Guess this centipede will have to join the corpse party.

Unnecessary risk?

Please, I prefer to call it a calculated risk and last I checked, my math was still pretty good.

Also, I have a rehearsal I'm supposed to attend tomorrow too, ain't going to miss it if I can help it.

I keep my promises, ok?

I reached the top of the sand dune, positioning myself right above the centipede that was still inspecting the corpse.

Seeing my chance, I leapt off with the sword pointed downwards, aiming for what I assume to be its head.

Just when I was about to hit it, the centipede suddenly slid to the side, avoiding my strike and letting me sail past it.

I crashed sword-first into the sand below, it seems I have underestimated this giant centipede. Or was it already expecting a trap of some sorts from seeing the worm's corpse?

I rolled out of the way just as the a blob of greenish liquid splattered at where I had been, the liquid having been spat out from the centipede's mouth.

The sand beneath the spit immediately began to sizzle and dissolve, clueing me in on its acidic properties.

Well… Guess I'll have to do this the hard way.

My finger pushed against the first button, causing the sword's blade to extend to its full length.

The centipede screeched as it reared its head back, no doubt to spit another of its acid again.

I thumbed the second button, holding tightly to the sword as the rocket boosters activated and sent both the sword and I flying off to the side, the acid missing me by mere inches.

Using the momentum generated by the force, I angled the blade to be perpendicular to the ground before pressing the boost button again.

The rocket boosted me into the sky, my arms swinging with its momentum to cut off the centipede's two longest mandibles.

I grabbed on to the centipede's left mandible stump with a free hand just as it roared out in pain.

Taking advantage of the centipede rearing its head back in an attempt to get away, I released my grip on the mandible before grasping the handle of the sword with both hands, igniting the boosters again.

I couldn't help myself and felt it was quite appropriate to at least shout out something cool, I blame it on my little sisters' influence. Wait, that's not a good sign is it? Oh whatever.

"Ignition Impact!"

The sword swung upwards from below the centipede's head, slashing clean through the front portion of its face.

I spun around in the air, using the boosters once more to propel me forwards while I spun like a spinning top towards the centipede.

My sword cut through its body like butter, slicing through both its plating and flesh without difficulty.

Seriously, whoever made this sword is an absolute genius.

I did the three point landing like the guy before, I have to admit it really was quite thrilling to use this sword.

The decapitated corpse of the centipede crashed into the ground behind me a moment later, the head landing nearby a few seconds after that.

Damn I'm good.

No, no, no. Purge that thought, don't want to end up like that guy.

Let's just find that Monster Crystal and get the hell out of here with my new toy.

Chapter 105 - And Thus Ends The Separation Arc

(MC POV)

The sky was already dark when I finally found the damn Monster Crystal.

It wasn't easy to find it since the worm was so damn big.

I couldn't even make use of the giant sword since it wasn't good for precision cutting, so I'm forced to use a short sword I had instead and slowly search for that damn crystal.

The only consolation was that the crystal was huge so it was hard to miss it when I finally found it.

Cutting open what seems to be the belly of the worm, I pulled out… Well, more like rolled out, a crystal the size of a small boulder.

Well, for a monster the size of the worm, the crystal's quite small in comparison to be honest.

Now I just need to process this like how Elaria showed me.

I believe the steps were to first break open the rock hard outer layer to expose the softer jelly-like core inside. Elaria claimed that the hard layer were the impurities that could be further processed into other materials but that isn't what I need now.

The softer core would be the crystallization of Pure Elemental Quarks that I needed.

In order to use it to power her machines, Elaria would need to put that jelly core into some kind of purifying extractor that would store the energy in some sort of battery that she can use to power the generators.

The exact procedure to that process is lost to me since we got interrupted at that time.

Fortunately for me, I do not need to purify it into an energy source for my current needs.

Theoretically, I should be able to use myself as a conduit to activate the Technique inscribed on the scroll using the crystallised quarks. This should be possible since I am, or in this body's case, possess the potential to be a Practitioner.

With the flat side of the giant sword, I hammered away at the top layer of the crystal, cracking it in order to expose the thing I needed underneath.

With that done, I laid out the scroll I needed on the ground in preparation to activate it.

Now all I need to do is just to grab this little core and--

My vision went white the moment my hands grasped the core, a huge surge of Pure Elemental Quarks going through my entire body. My body stiffened up and I could no longer control any part of my limbs.

The surge of energy showed no signs of stopping and I feel like I've just eaten enough for four people.

Ok, not good, there were more quarks than I thought… If it goes on at this rate, I'll probably explode.

Thinking fast, I redirected the flow of quarks to where my Cultivation Point would be, perhaps some form of stimulation would cause it to form earlier than normal.

My entire body began to burn painfully, almost as though I was submerged in lava.

Gritting my teeth, I powered through the pain, knowing that it wasn't the worst I've felt in this life.

The quarks slowly gathered into an orb, the pain intensifying the longer I held it there as more and more quarks entered my body from the crystal.

The pain slowly subsided as I gathered all the quarks I could at one place, the burning settling down into more of a sweltering heat.

But just as I thought I managed to tide over the worst of it, another surge of energy washed over me from the crystal, the pain the double of what I felt just now.

I almost lost my focus in keeping the quarks stabilised, just managing to hold on at the last second.

The flow of quarks expanded the orb painfully inside my body, its size tripling in just a short few seconds.

My mind was going full throttle trying to find a way out of this predicament.

Just as I came up with a plan to redirect the flow out into the ground through my feet, I felt the stirring of something familiar deep within me.

A space just fit for the quarks to be stored was formed exactly at where I had directed the flow, apparently I was right that the stimulation will hasten the formation of my Cultivation Point.

The pain subsided again, this time the heat lowering into a comfortable warmth.

Just in case, I kept my focus up and watched over the quarks being absorbed into my newly formed Cultivation Point.

It took a good five minutes before the tide of Elemental Quarks ebbed, the stream turning into a trickle before shutting off completely.

The next half an hour was spent solely on stabilising the newly formed core.

It didn't take me long to realise that it was way bigger than it should be, like three times bigger than what I had normally and it's still growing in size even now.

Could this be a new discovery?

Stimulating prospective Practitioners' Cultivation Point with Pure Elemental Quarks to expand their Cultivation Point's size?

Could normal mortals also become Practitioners through this method?

No… Not anyone could go through that pain I did, especially not normal children at this age. The success rate will be lower than even null point one percent.

Can't deny that this is a groundbreaking discovery though, but you won't catch me starting experiments on people any time soon.

Still… Perhaps I could try to take in another Monster Crystal and see how that goes?

My vision cleared once the Pure Elemental Quarks have been fully absorbed, the area was totally dark now.

I looked down to the crystal, the jelly like core gone without a trace.

I focused my senses back inside me, the familiar and yet also alien feeling of my Cultivation Point resting securely within my body.

Fearing there might be some damage caused by the influx of quarks, I double checked all my meridians and Quark Veins, breathing a sigh of relief when I found them perfectly fine.

The only difference now is the huge Cultivation Point that formed inside me.

After fully stabilizing, it's a good five times bigger than before my body regressed.

Well this opens up a whole new avenue of things I can do, but I'll have to check on that later.

I flexed my fingers, circulating the quarks within me and watching my hands glow with energy quarks sparking off of them.

Yep. I am back.

What's even better is that proficiency in all the Elemental Quarks come from your soul and experience, not your physical skills. This means my Quark strength has returned completely to before I transformed into this child form and I didn't need to start all over from scratch.

Scratch that, it's even stronger now after my Cultivation Point expanded.

Looking towards the dead centipede monster just gives me another idea.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained right?

Since the Monster Crystals is the result of the crystallization of Pure Elemental Quarks within the monster's body, I am actually able to manipulate the body's quarks to speed up this process.

Placing my hand on one end of the corpse, I did just that.

My senses now tuned to the corpse's remnant Elemental Quarks, I moved those quarks to where I sense the monster's Cultivation Point is.

The area almost crystallised instantly with my manipulation, I didn't even need to search for it since I can sense it this time.

Just a quick slice of an air blade had the giant Crystal rolling out of the cut on its own.

I exposed the jelly core again with a punch and placed my hand in it.

This time there was no surge of quarks since I could control the flow according to my will.

My Cultivation Point immediately set to absorbing all the quarks I directed there, expanding even further until it was about two and a half times bigger.

Now I wonder if this was the way to actually expand a Practitioner's Cultivation Point? If this can work for any Practitioner it will be a really scary prospect.

Practitioners would become stronger easily and non-Practitioners would probably never ever stand a chance against them any longer.

This should stay secret for now.

At least, until I understand more about it. Only then will I decide if I should spread this bit of news or not.

Or… I guess my disciples should be an exception to that.

Anyway, I think I've wasted enough time here, my sisters and disciples must be worried right now…

Oh no... They probably already met by now huh? Especially with that giant beam of light that everyone would probably converge on...

Oh crap…

There's the issue of those busybodies as well, but I don't think they're that big of a problem since the Earthen Plane should be insignificant in their eyes.

And since I've already tried spreading my senses around the area and found no trace of a second transfer which might mean Elaria being sent over, they must have decided that fixing my accidental transfer was more important.

And I should probably get out of here before they come find me. Who knows? They might even be too busy searching for me here they might even forget about Elaria completely.

I stored the sword and the scroll back in my ring, using my own Quarks to activate the teleportation technique.

Since I already have an anchor in the Earthen Plane itself, it wasn't so hard to just send myself back through the Soul Link.

My body glowed a golden colour before my vision turned white again, signalling the transfer was successful.

I hope my sisters haven't given my disciples any weird ideas yet…

Chapter 106 - Integration

(MC POV)

The light faded away and I found myself standing at where I had blocked the teleportation beam for my sister.

Before, there was a crowd of people gathered around here doing god knows what. But now it was empty except for a small group of people standing under a tree.

My fears of them meeting came true when I saw my disciples and sisters standing there.

What surprised me the most was the fact that they seem to be discussing something quite seriously.

Cai Hong was the first to notice me, as usual.

"Papa! Papa!" my loli dragon cheered, rushing towards me with tears in her eyes.

I braced myself for the impact, catching her just as she reached me.

"Papa! Please no leave Cai Hong again! Cai Hong scared!"

I patted her head, "Sorry Cai Hong… Papa just wants to protect everyone."

"Master… This one humbly begs you not to put your honorable self in any more danger…" Eris pleaded, grasping my arm.

"O… Onii-sama… Is your Master?"

"Eh? Are you saying… Master is your brother?"

I looked up to see Lian Li and Elaria staring at each other with a bewildered expression.

I sighed, it seems I couldn't prevent them from meeting each other. Honestly, it was a rather impossible task to begin with considering we would live in the same house anyway.

I raised a hand to get their attention, "Yeah… Sorry for the late introduction. Never really got a chance to get all of you to meet."

I gestured to my disciples, waving my hand to each one as I called out their names, "These are my disciples, Lian Li, Manami, Eris and Diao Chan. Cai Hong here is my adopted daughter."

Turning towards my sisters, I did the same for them, "These are my sisters. Odriana is my elder sister and Elaria is my younger sister."

They looked at one another, then looked at me, before turning back to look at each other again.

Lian Li spoke first, "Is Master your…"

Elaria nodded, "Yes. I would assume Onii-sama is also your…"

"Indeed."

There was a slight pause.

"Well met."

"Likewise."

My sister and Lian Li shook hands.

It kind of feels like some kind of understanding got passed between them? Must be a girl thing I suppose.

"Master, what happened to you?" Manami asked, concern clear on her face.

I shrugged, "That guy was using a transference Technique and since Elaria here won't be able to come back if she got hit by it, I took it in her stead."

"Onii-sama… Protected me…" Elaria gushed.

Why are you blushing?

Odriana pulled me into her embrace, stroking my head with a hand while she cried, "Ahhh… My poor little brother! I'm sorry this big sister can't help you back then! Please rely more on this big sister in the future!"

I tried to struggle out of her grasp but someone pulled me away from her without any prompting.

My face was buried into two mounds of soft flesh while nine fluffy tails curled around me protectively.

"Ara, ara? Master can rely on me as well~ This big sister will also take care of Master~"

Diao Chan stepped beside me, whispering softly, "Ummm… Because I failed to protect Master as well… Could Master punish me later?"

My little sister raised an eyebrow, "Onii-sama? Are they really just your disciples?"

Sensing a slight disturbance in the force, I quickly tried to change the topic, "Oh yeah, I haven't eaten yet, what about you guys?"

The collective sound of seven stomachs growling simultaneously was quite the spectacle to behold to say the least.

Ah… But the mansion's kitchen is destroyed isn't it? We'll have to dine out I suppose.

(Lian Li POV)

Master's little sister took us out into town for a meal at a restaurant she recommended.

To think this god of 'An Ney May' was also our Master…

I am thoroughly embarrassed.

I could tell that the little sister thought the same too with how she had been averting her eyes from me.

After that stupid fox got splattered by whatever it was, we saw a beam of light descend to the ground a distance away before ascending again.

When Manami teleported us there, we found Elaria and Odriana staring at an empty spot on the ground listlessly.

I tried to approach Elaria to seek answers but she just lashed out at us, screaming at everyone to go away while she roared out her frustrations.

It took awhile for us to figure out the beam of light had supposedly taken away someone important to them.

That was when Cai Hong showed up while poking her fingers together, telling us that Master told her to slingshot him here but he had disappeared.

We feared that Master may have gotten himself embroiled together with their important person so we had begun discussing on how to get both of them back.

We knew from them that it was Elaria's brother who disappeared while they already knew it was our Master who we thought was sent together with the brother.

But Master had returned to us on his own and we were surprised to find out that we had been searching for the same person.

It wasn't hard to figure out that Master was both of our person of worship from there.

The dinner itself was nice and warm, as was the norm when Master is around.

Halfway through the meal, Master had excused himself to visit the washroom.

As though a switch had been flipped, Elaria and Odriana turned to us while we did the same.

Elaria was first to speak, "I am thoroughly ashamed of what I had said back at the Adventurer's Guild. I should have realised that Onii-sama is the only one capable of such generosity. For that, I apologize."

She bowed her head to us.

I mirrored her actions, "I offer my sincerest apologies as well. I had not suspected that another group of people had already seen Master's greatness. I take back all that I have said that time."

Odriana clapped her hands together, "Well, isn't it great that this misunderstanding is solved without bloodshed and complications?"

"Ufufufu~ indeed," Manami giggled. "I can't imagine the pain Master would go through if he finds out we have been fighting over him unknowingly."

"But still… You mentioned that Master lost his divinity?" Eris asked.

Elaria nodded, "Master had insights to another world of wonder that he sought to bring to this wretched world of ours. He had taught me all that he knew and even showed me a glimpse of it. Unfortunately, some meddlesome people came and disrupted us, which led to his amnesia and loss of divinity."

I bristled, "And those meddlesome people?"

She waved her hand, "Already long dead and buried, there's no use getting angry at them anymore."

All of us nodded in understanding.

"What about the regaining memory thing that you had mentioned? I remember you said something about Master regaining his memories after more people believed in him?" Diao Chan asked.

That seemed to trigger her as she suddenly stood up, her fist raised in the air.

"Yes! Just before Onii-sama had lost his memories, I heard a very clear voice in my head! 'Spread it, and I will remember'! It is definitely a call for help from Onii-sama! I will spread his An Ney May teachings to every corner of this world!"

I grimaced, "This…'An Ney May' of yours… Wouldn't involve dressing all weird and talking nonsensical stuff right?"

Odriana chuckled, "Fufufu~ It seems you have yet to know the true beauty of An Ney May. Should we spend some time introducing you girls to it? A lot of girls like the books we've been publishing~"

Cai Hong looked at her, "Umm… If Papa remembers… Will Papa change?"

"Hmmm? Of course! Onii-sama was way more glorious than he is now! He is the epitome of An Ney May that we have yet to reach! Only by returning him to his past self will we get to understand this world of An Ney May even better!"

Cai Hong pouted, "Cai Hong no want Papa to change…"

I nodded, "Master is already perfect now, why not just celebrate him as he is now instead of trying to return him to what he was?"

Elaria swung her arm in an arc dramatically, "You can say that, but you never saw how inspiring Onii-sama was and how magnificent the worlds I witnessed were!"

Eris tilted her head, "Master… Already magnificent..."

Odriana tapped her cheek with a finger, "That we cannot disagree with. My darling brother is always magnificent… But the past him was even more so."

Manami raised an eyebrow, "Ara? You've barely interacted with the current Master and yet you think so? Maybe the current Master is better?"

Elaria sneered, "The same goes for you as well, none of you know how Onii-sama was like in the past."

Cai Hong puffed her cheeks, "Papa is Papa… Papa does not need to change!"

"Little girl, what do you know--"

"Yeah, Master is already perfect I tell ya! So you can just stop--"

"That won't be possible, my dearest younger brother--"

"Ara ara? Is that what Master really thinks? Maybe--

"I wonder when Master will punish me--"

It seems like there is still something we cannot agree on even when we worship the same God.

I raised my hand before the discussion became more heated, "May I offer a suggestion then? I agree that we do not know how Master is like in the past but you do. Perhaps if you spent more time with Master you would be able to discern whether Master truly is better in the past or Master has become even more perfect after shedding his past self?"

Everyone stopped their bickering.

"Mmm… Master is only visiting here temporarily after all. We should be leaving after some time," Manami stated.

"Ah?! Onii-sama is not staying here permanently?!"

I shook my head, "Master is a Master Practitioner at Heaven Sect after all and he has already expressed his intent to return there after his body returns to its adult form."

Elaria bit on her thumb, "This… This can't be… Are we destined to separate no matter what?"

Odriana turned to me, "For us to spend more time with my dearest brother… Are you suggesting?"

I nodded, "Accompany us too, I'm sure Master would not mind if he treasures you two as you claim him to."

Elaria pumped her fists in the air, "Yosh! Sugoi! To accompany Onii-sama on his journey! I can't wait! Tanoshimi!"

Master entered the room at that exact moment, "Huh… Well at least you girls are getting along well."

Chapter 107 - Building Castles In The Sky

(MC POV)

I brought them back to the mansion grounds after our little dinner, intent on resuming my lessons with my disciples.

It's not good to leave them idling after all.

When my disciples had learnt of my intent, they gave me a look of incredulity.

"Ara? Has Master's Cultivation Point returned?" Manami asked.

Odriana looked at me with a disappointed face, "Does that mean little brother will become big again?"

I nodded, "Yes and no. The little trip I took actually gave me some benefits and the reformation of my Cultivation Point was one of them. Unfortunately, I will still be stuck in this form for a while longer."

Lian Li clapped her hands, "Congratulations Master!"

"Ehehe~ So Onii-sama will still remain as Otouto-sama for now~"

I ignored her and continued, "So let's resume lessons tonight. Delaying your lessons negatively impacts your learning after all."

Eris tilted her head, "Would Master spar with me in that form?"

I chuckled at her question, "Well, fighting enemies that are smaller than you can also be a form of training. Elaria, I'll be using the mansion's backyard."

"Umm… Could we come watch, Onii-sama?" Elaria pleaded.

I looked towards my disciples who all shrugged to show that they didn't mind.

"Alright, I'll be inscribing a protection Technique anyway so there shouldn't be any problems."

With that decided, I led them to the mansion's backyard, passing by the half destroyed kitchen in the process.

Apparently they were already in the midst of repairing the damages done this late afternoon, really efficient I must say.

"Should we help them?" I asked, pointing to the workers.

Odriana patted my head, "Oh don't need to worry yourself over it, my dear little brother. This is what they are paid for after all."

I shrugged, "If you're sure."

Elaria pumped her fists, "Yes! They'll have the whole place repaired by tomorrow!"

That's way too fast for a group of non-Practitioners. Must be a really efficient team of builders.

I brought them to the back of the mansion where I remembered seeing a rather large garden that would be a great location for lessons. They even had a pavillion of their own sitting in a corner, perfect for me to sit and drink my tea.

What? That's the most important factor ok? Can't teach well without my tea.

I gathered my girls around me, deciding it was high time for me to teach them how to defend themselves against mental attacks that undead fox seemed to be really proficient with.

Though that reminds me, what happened to her? I asked the girls if they knew.

"Oh, Onii-sama does not need to worry about her anymore, my cannon got rid of her!" My little sister announced proudly.

Right… Just casually announce that you've already invented gunpowder artillery here. No wonder those busybodies were onto you… It wouldn't surprise me if the world actually ended because she set off a chain of nukes to piss them off or something in the future.

Oh well, I guess it would be a good idea to keep a closer eye on her for now, just in case those busybodies come back.

"Alright, now I can finally teach you girls how to counter illusions and any other mental attacks. Deception is one of the keys to victory in a battle, after all."

The girls nodded at my words.

"Now, I'll just do a quick demonstration on illusions. I will cast an illusion Technique that will show you what your heart desires the most, try to break out of it on your own. Since I've already told you that these are illusions, it shouldn't be that hard."

"Could I join in too? Onii-sama?" Elaria pleaded.

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Umm… That's not really a problem, but why?"

"Ehehe… I… I want to see what my heart desires the most too?"

Why is it a question? Oh well, no harm to let her try I guess.

"In that case, could dearest brother include me as well? This big sister is quite curious on what she would see."

"Try not to spend too much time in your fantasy ok? I will cast it now."

I snapped my fingers.

(Diao Chan POV)

I waited for something to happen after Master's snap.

But other than the dying echoes of his snap, nothing else happened.

"Master?" Lian Li asked, looking around her to see if anything changed.

Master smiled at her, "Well it's already in effect. You just haven't realised it yet."

I narrowed my eyes slightly at Master.

No.

His figure just flickered for a moment?

Ah! The one that is sitting in front of us is the illusion! Then that means…

A light breeze blew behind me.

I tried to look behind me, but a pair or arms wrapped around my waist, stopping me from doing so.

"Not bad," Master whispered in my ear. "But don't tell them yet, let them figure it out."

I gasped "But Master…"

A hard slap impacted my bottom, my yelp muffled by his hand that had shot up to cover it just in time.

"Bad Diao Chan, aren't you listening to me? Do you want me to punish you?"

I gasped, "Diao… Diao Chan has been bad… Master needs to punish me!"

Master spanked me again, this time not even bothering to cover my mouth as I yelped out my pain.

"Bad Diao Chan, I'll punish you good!" Master growled in that deep baritone voice of his.

"Yes! Yes! Punish me Master!"

Ahhh~~ This is so wonderful!

(Cai Hong POV)

Papa snapped his fingers, but nothing happened.

"Hmmm? That's weird?" Papa looked down at his hand.

Cai Hong tilts her head at Papa.

Papa noticed Cai Hong and patted Cai Hong's head.

Ehehehe~ Cai Hong likes Papa's head pats.

Muuu? Papa is picking up Cai Hong to sit on his lap.

"Oh well… I think I still need some time to get used to the newly reformed Cultivation Point. In the meantime, let me pat Cai Hong for awhile."

Muuu~ Papa should focus on… Ehehe… Focus on teaching… Mmmm~

Papa's headpats feel so nice…

Cai Hong likes Papa's hugs...

Uuuu… Cai Hong feels sleepy now…

So warm...

Zzz…

(Odriana POV)

I made sure my eyes were locked on my little brother's cute figure even after he snapped his fingers.

If I was expecting something to happen, I would have been disappointed.

Only when I looked around did I realise that everyone else had fallen asleep.

My dearest, cutest brother turned to look straight at me.

"Oh? It seems you're unaffected Odri-sis?"

Ah?

How long has it been since he last called me by that nickname?

He stood up from his seat and hopped over to me, that action so adorably cute my heart almost melted from that alone.

Before I could even ask what he wanted, he had sat down on my lap without hesitation.

"Well… Since it didn't affect you and the others are going to be out for awhile… Why don't we play for a bit, Odri-sis?"

Eh?! Is this real life?! Or is this just fantasy?!

(MC POV)

I watched on with pursed lips at all of the girls sleeping in front of me.

The Technique I used should not be that hard to break out from, the more perceptive ones should have realised that something isn't right by now.

But as the seconds trickled into minutes, I started to get a little worried.

Unfortunately, this Technique only makes them dream of what they secretly want which I have no idea what they are.

If I had to guess, Cai Hong is probably dreaming about cotton candy, Diao Chan might be dreaming of her hometown like Eris probably is and Odriana should be dreaming of our childhood or something.

Manami could be seeing her time back as her village's Guardian, Lian Li should be seeing her time as a noblewoman and Elaria is most probably dreaming about her 'An Ney May' stuff.

Oh well, nothing to do but wait for now.

I guess I should also take this time to check my Cultivation Point, no idea how the larger Cultivation Point would affect my Techniques now.

It can't be that big of a deal right?

I closed my eyes and focused my consciousness back into my body, searching for the familiar feeling of my Cultivation Point.

The moment I found it, my vision shifted and I was greeted by the sight of stars.

Billions upon Billions of stars filled my vision, all of them blinking in unison as though to welcome me.

You know the feeling of going on a really long trip and finally coming back home to lie down on your own bed? That's the feeling that I'm getting right now.

What is this?

Chapter 108 - Waking Up To Fantasy

(MC POV)

The stars were pulsating now, mimicking my heartbeat.

I do not believe this is an event that is normal for Practitioners.

I mean... I have seen Practitioners who have a tree growing inside their Cultivation Point or even have some loli living inside of it, but I've never heard of an entire galaxy or universe inside a Practitioner's Cultivation Point.

Does this have to do with me absorbing Monster Crystals and forming my Cultivation Point earlier?

Is this only limited to me or does everyone also benefit from this?

Or is it just because of the specific Monster Crystals I absorbed?

So many questions, so little answers.

I should experiment on that when I get the chance.

Now I wonder what these stars are? The fact that they're pulsing in sync with my heartbeat is kind of disconcerting to be honest.

I reached my senses out towards those stars, which I'm not even sure if they are stars at this point.

The last thing I expected was for those stars to reach back to me, a stream of power filling up my body.

I opened my eyes and everything looked clearer than before.

It was as though before this I had been looking at the world through a veil and now the veil had finally been lifted.

I could hear the ant scurrying below the ground, see the small bead of sweat that was rolling down Diao Chan's cheek, and even smell the scent of leaves in the air.

The power that was coursing through my veins was so thick and potent I felt like it could tear up everything if I let it run wild.

I felt alive.

Ok, I'm pretty sure there's a price for this kind of power right?

Just as that thought came through my mind, a sharp pain came from deep within my abdomen, prompting me to spit out a mouthful of blood.

I cut off the link with those stars and the world returned to its original colour, the pain in my abdomen now a dull throbbing ache.

I spat out the rest of the blood that was in my mouth, using my Quarks to summon a blob of water to rinse it.

Can't say that I didn't expect that, but I guess I'll have to experiment a bit further to know its limitations and capabilities.

Sometimes I just wish there was a tutorial for these kinds of things… I want an easy life ok? This is almost no different from my past life if I have to do all this myself.

Oh wait.

I can just pass this off to my disciples can't I?

Yep, I'll just say it's for their training and push this research thing to them.

Oh! Since Elaria and Odriana are already researching about those Crystals, I can even say it's a joint training programme for them to better know each other!

Not to mention the fact that those busybodies have already set their sights on Elaria, I think it would be a good idea to steer my sisters back towards the cultivation side of things for now.

With this project, my sisters should become more interested in advancing Practitioners instead of technology.

That should keep the balance right?

Two birds with one stone.

Genius.

Speaking of which… It's been over two hours and none of them have woken up yet. What gives?

I ended the Technique and the girls began to stir, each of them extremely disoriented when they opened their eyes.

"Huh… Ah... Where are the ropes and candles?" Diao Chan muttered sleepily.

"Muuu… Papa… Huggies…" Cai Hong reached her hand towards the air.

"Odri-sis is coming… Eh?"

Soon all of them woke up muttering weird things which I promptly ignored.

"Ma… Master? Umm… Did you see?" Lian Li asked sheepishly.

I raised my eyebrow, "If you are asking if I saw what you saw within the illusion, then no."

All of them sighed in relief together.

Now I'm curious what they actually saw, it can't be that embarrassing right?

Shrugging since it didn't really matter to me, I moved on.

"Now… Did you feel anything was out of place when that Technique was in effect? Like people with two heads? Or flying mushrooms in the sky? Or maybe even giant monsters walking around in broad daylight?" I asked.

All of them looked at one another before turning back to me and shook their heads.

"Ummm… Cai Hong… Cai Hong just saw Papa patting Cai Hong's head… Then Cai Hong fell asleep…" My loli dragon reported while poking her fingers together.

Ok… That's simple. Can't really see much if you actually fall asleep in the vision.

Odriana twirled her hair with a finger, "I just… I just saw our childhood again. Nothing strange happened? Right?"

Why are you asking me?

Manami smiled at me, "Ara? I saw that we were already wedded, my dearest Master. I am ashamed to say that the vision looked too real for me to distinguish it from fiction. This Technique is leagues better than what Shizuri could pull off."

Eh? It's just a really simple Astral Technique though? Even Heaven Sect's Outer Core Practitioners who are specialised in Astral Quarks can cast it?

Lian Li coughed into her fist, "That… Umm… We were just doing our usual night activities… Though I suppose there might be a little bit different since… Er… Nevermind… Forget I said anything."

What did you even see…

Eris chose to remain quiet, looking away from me.

Elaria grinned at me, "Onii-sama! I saw you fulfill our childhood promise! Does that mean you remember your past already?!"

I shook my head, "No. I don't even remember what childhood promise I had with you and the Technique only lets you see what you desire most but the caster themselves would not be able to see it."

"Oh… I guess I will try harder then!" Elaria pumped her fists together, completely unfazed.

It's a little weird that all their visions were so vivid, the world they see would be rather distorted and weird which would immediately give the illusion away.

I guess maybe it's because of the fact that they have little resistance to mental Techniques now, which explains why they were so susceptible to that fox's Techniques.

That would make sense.

After all, I got my pseudo-immunity from going through countless mental torture from the Matriarch of the Royal Spiritual Family Sect. That woman really liked to mess with people's minds.

I meant that both literally and figuratively.

You do not want to know what she does when she's in a bad mood, trust me.

I have no doubt the only reason I survived so long under her 'employ' was because she felt I was more useful to her alive.

Well, that means I have my work cut out for me if I want to train my girls to have that same level of immunity without them going through some sort of trauma…

Guess I'll have to scrap all the other training plans I had for tonight and just focus on this for now, seeing as how it's their weakest part.

Well, it's my responsibility as their Master after all.

Oh well, I should earn my keep then.

I'll make sure no illusions or mental attacks will work on them by the time I'm done.

Chapter 109 - With Great Power...Comes A Greatly Unrestrained Advancement To The Human Race

(Lian Li POV)

I stepped through the hidden doorway that Elaria had opened. I was quite intrigued by the mechanisms involved in the pulling of a lever within a hidden compartment inside a wall.

Objects that I have never seen before in my life greeted me, the walls a shade of white that was an even purer shade than marble.

After Master told us about what he found in Monster Crystals yesterday, he tasked us to work together with his sisters in order for the two of us to know each other better.

He also said that it would be a good chance to see if we could learn new things by ourselves which may lead to Master giving us more opportunities to do such research alongside him.

It was another Divine Request from Master that we will not fail!

While we were busy with this new task, Master left for the town for some business he had, saying he would return tonight to see our progress.

Elaria and Odriana had then brought us down here, stating they had a stash of Monster Crystals stored within this workshop.

"What is this place?" Diao Chan asked, marvelling at the various oddities around us.

"This is my workshop," Elaria announced proudly, gesturing to the various metal things with a hand. "It's where I materialise, or at least try to materialise, all of Onii-sama's greatest ideas!"

"Master… Made these?" Eris goggled.

Odriana nodded with a proud smile, "My little brother thought of them all, yes. Then Elaria and I attempt to recreate them here before releasing them out into the world."

Master truly is a being out of this world, his greatness transcends even the world!

"Anyway, let me show you what a Monster Crystal is here," Elaria beckoned us over to a table where some kind of bear monster was strapped onto it.

She grabbed one of the knives lying around before cutting open its belly, "It usually forms after a day or two in the corpse and it's mostly located in the monster's abdomen. Just need to cut it up like so and…"

Elaria plunged her hand into the incision without hesitation, sinking her entire arm into the monster's belly.

We watched as she dug around for awhile before pulling out what seemed to be a diamond shaped crystal.

"And here it is!" Elaria showed it off proudly.

She handed it over to us with her blood soaked hand to take a look.

I held the crystal with both hands, the others gathering around me to inspect it.

"Yummy Candy?" Cai Hong asked, sucking on her finger.

Manami patted her head, "It's not a candy, Cai Hong. Don't eat it."

"Okies~"

"It feels… Like there's Quarks inside?" I muttered.

Odriana nodded, "Monsters are animals that have Elemental Quarks in the first place. So after they die, the Elemental Quarks crystallise into these Monster Crystals."

Manami prodded the crystal with a finger, "Master said that we should be able to absorb the Quarks within it… How?"

Elaria shrugged, "You're the Practitioners, not me. All I can do is tell you the process of making it possible to be used by our generators."

That reminds me, "Speaking of which, I realise Practitioners seem to be quite discriminated against around here. Why?"

Odriana crossed her arms, "Oh we all know how most Practitioners are like, we've seen the stories and case studies. The arrogant young masters, the self-absorbed old fogies and the so called 'elites' who throw their weight around the mortals and exploit them."

Eris scowled, "Master is not most Practitioners."

"Of course not," Elaria scoffed. "Onii-sama transcends the realm of mortal boundaries. Anything he influences is also above the judgement of mortals."

All of us nodded in agreement, such a thing is natural after all.

"Now, usually I would break the hard part of the crystal out to expose the inner core, so you might want to try that," Elaria suggested.

Eris unsheathed her blade and sliced the top part of it off in one smooth motion.

We peered into its interior to see a small jelly like core that sent out waves of Pure Elemental Quarks.

Was this what Master was talking about? It can't be that simple right?

"Eh… So what do ya suppose we need to do? Just stick ma finger in that?" Eris suggested, her index finger already extended in preparation to do so.

"Ara? I don't think it will have any effect on Eris though? Seeing as you're not a Practitioner," Manami pointed out.

"Hey, ya never know, you know?" Eris grinned, poking her finger straight into the jelly.

I sucked in a breath as Eris suddenly shivered, her whole body shuddering in place.

"Brrr… That's cold…" the swordswoman complained, pulling out her finger from it.

"Nothing?" I asked.

"Nothing…" She shook her head.

I frowned, poking my own finger in it.

It was as Eris said, the jelly was cold and I shivered slightly too.

But other than that, there was nothing else. No surge of power, no sudden clarity of the mind, not even any pain.

"Nothing?" Manami asked.

"Nothing," I repeated what Eris had said moments ago.

"Hmmm… Maybe ya need to er… I dunno… Stimulate it?" Eris suggested while wiggling her eyebrows.

I rolled my eyes at her, but taking a second to think about it, maybe she had a point.

I circulate lightning quarks within me, sparks flying off of me as I directed the lightning towards the palm of my hand.

The crystal glowed blue, then yellow before turning an angry red.

Lightning sparked around the crystal and a high pitched whistling sound began emanating from the crystal.

Sensing danger, I immediately shouted for them to get down before tossing the crystal high up in the air away from us.

Manami erected a hasty barrier around us and not a second later, the crystal exploded into multiple fragments, crystalline shards raining around the room and raining down on the barrier harmlessly.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Diao Chan asked, getting up from the ground and dusting her knees.

I pursed my lips, "I don't think so… I think I put too much lightning into it?"

"Oh! Could you do that again?!" Elaria exclaimed, grabbing my arm. "Just do it again but this time stop when it's yellow! I think we just discovered something really extraordinary!"

I looked up in the air where the crystal had already exploded into pieces, "Ummm… Unless you have a spare one lying around somewhere, I'm afraid--"

"Here!" She presented another Monster Crystal from Master knows where.

"Where were you keeping that?"

"Details, details… Now come on!"

I relented to her request, moving to hand it over to Eris to cut open when she held up a hand to stop me.

"Just do it as is, I don't think you actually need to break open the outer shell!"

Shrugging, I just did as she said so, directing my lightning quarks towards the crystal.

Once the crystal glowed a bright yellow, I passed it over to her.

Elaria held the crystal carefully with a hand, inspecting every nook and cranny of it with some kind of glass that she dug out from her pocket.

I wasn't even aware the dress she wore had pockets.

"Amazing… This… This crystal's output has increased by a hundred fold! Sugoi! Amazing! This is groundbreaking! Do you know what this means?!"

All of us just stared at her.

"We've essentially pushed forward our technology standards by more than a century's worth! Previously we needed at least ten of these to even power the generator for half a day! Now we only need one to power it for five days straight! Imagine what we can do with a bigger crystal!"

I raised my eyebrow at her, "Ummm… What does this have to do with what Master requested of us? About how we can use this to strengthen our Cultivation Points?"

She waved her hand, "Do you not get this?! Energy has been a big stopper for a lot of advancements! If we can even just have Practitioners recharge this, we'll have infinite power! From there, anything is possible! Practitioner armaments… Exo suits… External enhancements... As expected of Onii-sama to give me guidance even now!"

I don't really get it, but for her to be this excited must mean it's quite important?

I wonder if this is what Master was aiming for?

Chapter 110 - Down Another Foxhole

(MC POV)

Right now I was sitting on one of the theatre seats near the stage, waiting for the others to return. We had just finished a round of rehearsals and given some break time for lunch.

Fortunately I made my own so I stayed behind, finishing mine way ahead of the end of break time. I was taking the opportunity to try and understand the new going ons inside my body.

I know for a fact that the stars pulsate according to my heartbeat, but why it does so I have no idea. I can't even tell what they really are since trying to reach out to them will result in the same condition as the first time I tried.

With that reaching a dead end, I turned my thoughts to this little play that I'm currently part of.

So far, the script seemed rather tame to me.

The play is set in a fictional school where Mark, the character that I'm playing as, is attending for his studies.

Contrary to what I had thought would happen to a chuunibyou, Mark's 'coolness' actually made him rather popular in school. He's supposedly mastered the art of 'appropriate chuuni moments', using his normally cringy lines at the most opportune moments which makes him look cool and charming.

Like he'll stand by the window and say something dumb like "The wind… Is troubled today…" when the wind is blowing through the window.

But because the light was shining at just the right angle and the wind blew with just enough force to ruffle his hair, the guy would look cool instead.

But in reality, he's just a normal guy who fantasizes about all the random crap inside his head.

The interesting part about it was that the story revolves around him trying to get a girlfriend with his 'coolness'. Unfortunately for him, his 'coolness' backfires on him as everyone else thinks he's too cool and charming for them to have a chance with him.

I have yet to see the latter half of the script but I believe he's supposed to find love in the end, though I've yet to know how.

"You're a really good actor, you know that?"

I looked up at the person who was talking to me, finding the white haired fox girl standing a short distance away with her arms crossed.

Seeing no one else around, she must have returned ahead of the others. That, or she never went with them in the first place.

"Thanks," I nodded curtly to her. "You're not bad of one yourself."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

I shrugged, "This is the normal you right? The cheery one that dragged me in here on that audition day was a mask you wore."

A ghost of a smile graced her lips which promptly disappeared as soon as it appeared.

"And what about you? Am I talking to Mark or the real you which we still have no idea the name of?"

I ran a hand through my hair, "Well, that would be telling, wouldn't it?"

"I'm starting to wonder if you're really eight years old."

"I never did say I was eight, did I?"

She rolled her eyes at me, "Then what? Are you nine?"

"I'm actually over forty but I returned to the past, possessing my younger body in this timeline."

She sighed, "I guess you're really eight years old to even say that without shame. Can't believe I'm getting played around by one… If my sister sees this, she'll have a field day."

I perked up, "Oh? You have a sister?"

She nodded, "Twins, though she's a few seconds older. She's out there travelling the world right now with her mate."

Twins huh? Can't be Manami then.

I must admit that this girl looks familiar though I can't put my finger on where I've seen her before, definitely not in my current life though.

Still, I do want to know how she ended up in my hometown. Nine tailed fox youkais don't grow on trees you know? Not to mention the slime, nekomata and the Ryu youkai as well.

You would think the slime girl should be a common sight huh? It's true for Slime monsters but slimes that actually gain sentience and avoid becoming primal beasts are actually exceptionally rare.

The nekomatas are also really seclusive in nature and rarely move out of their own community, not to mention the Ryu girl is a pseudo-goddess as well.

This whole idol group is weird no matter how I see it.

"So how did a fox youkai like you end up in this town?" I asked.

She raised an eyebrow, "I know we may be colleagues now, but we're not that close are we? It's kind of personal."

Guess I'll have to try harder.

"Can't blame me for trying to get to know the idol group of this town better," I lied.

"I suppose not," She sat down to my right, an empty seat separating us. "I just want to get this silly skit done and over with."

I raised an eyebrow, "Not a fan of the book?"

She shook her head, "Not really into the BL thing that this town's females seem to be raving over and honestly, neither are the other three. We're just doing this for publicity."

Didn't know there was the concept of publicity here already…

Wait a minute…

"Wait, wait… This play is a BL?"

She narrowed her eyes at me, "I thought you were a fan of the book?"

"Again, never said I was. You just assumed I was just because I said one line from the book."

She frowned, "So why did you even audition for this? I'd thought only fans of either us or the book would try for it and I know for a fact that you weren't a fan of us then."

"Well, I thought it could be interesting, so I stuck around. It's no big deal, you don't really need to read too much into it."

Her frown deepened, "No big deal? Do you even know how many die hard fans we had to sift through before we got to you? I'm pretty sure every kid your age and beyond had turned up for the chance at our audition."

I smiled, "Just because they're fans doesn't mean they can act well, can they?"

This time her smile stayed, "You are… Interesting... I will admit that. I see why you got this role so easily. I had even suspected that the audition might be your attempt at trying to get benefits from us."

"Oh, am I not already getting benefits? I don't think anyone else can claim they are taking a break one seat away from one of the town's idol members?"

"Kukuku… You're also quite the cheeky one huh? I see you've already gotten over the fact that this play is a BL?"

"Ah that? I'm just trying to avoid thinking about it by concentrating on the good stuff. But just in case… There aren't any… Dangerous scenes are there?"

She looked away, "I guess you'll just have to find out."

Hmmm… Time to initiate secondary measures.

I puffed my cheeks and and looked at her with upturned eyes, throwing a Light Technique in to make my eyes sparkle as well.

"Won't big sister tell me, pretty please?"

She turned to look at me, her face impassive.

"No," She said simply before turning away again.

Huh, guess she doesn't like kids.

I reverted my face back to normal, "How mean, do you not like children?"

"Children are a liability, they are weak. There's a reason why I was not present for the auditions."

I raised an eyebrow, "I'm a kid though?"

She turned back to look at me with narrowed eyes, "You are… Different… I do not know why, but there's a different feeling from you. Most of the time I would sense weakness or cowardice in children, but not from you."

I'm guessing she has a real hard on for power, probably because she has felt powerless before?

Or it may just be the opposite where she was already strong from the start and looks down on those weaker than her? Honestly I can't tell which one she is.

Still…

Looking at her tails and how they're laid down comfortably, I can tell she is relaxed and at ease. Or at least, that's what Manami's tails would do when I let her sleep on my lap for me to clean her ears.

"I still don't know your name though?" I pointed out.

"And neither do I know yours," She shot back. "It's fine, we'll be going our own separate ways after this anyway. Just two more days of rehearsals and then it'll be the real thing the day after, really a waste of time."

I tilted my head at her, "You'd rather go back to doing your idol things?"

She glanced at me before heaving a long sigh, "You… No. Nothing. It's not something an eight year old like you would know."

I shrugged, figuring that she probably has her own problems.

Besides, once I get to know how well received this performance is in three days, I'll know how much to invest in them for that sweet, passive moola income.

Then I'll just have to lay back and let my disciples take care of me.

Heh, heh, heh… My easy life plan is coming together quite well!

Chapter 111 - You Have Received A New Quest!

(MC POV)

Unfortunately, my request of reading the second part of the play's script was denied, the nekomata telling me that it was to be kept secret for now.

Not sure why they wanted to keep it a secret from the actor, maybe they were afraid I would run off after reading it?

Or, more likely, they have yet to have it written out.

So far, nothing in the play suggested hints of BL yet so there's that I suppose.

I returned back to the mansion just as the sky began to darken.

Fred was at the gates to greet me.

"Second Young Master."

"Sup Fred," I raised my hand in greeting. "Heard they found you collapsed in an alleyway yesterday, what happened to you?"

He scrunched up his face, "I do not know. The last thing I remembered was meeting your father and brother. I think I was supposed to show your disciples around town but I do not remember any of that."

"Huh… If there's someone around that can knock you out and mess with your memories, they must be quite the expert."

"My thoughts exactly, I would think it might be the fox from yesterday."

Ah, the undead fox huh? She is quite the strong one and seeing as to how Elaria stopped her with a cannon for now, she might come back in the future. I should probably prepare for that eventuality.

I mean, I could just return my body back to its adult form now if I wanted to, but there's still quite a number of things I need to do with this body of mine.

First is the play that I am acting in which requires a child actor, ain't no way I can continue to act in it if I return to my adult form.

The other reason is the more important one.

The expansion of my body's Cultivation Point.

I am still not entirely sure if the Cultivation Point's expansion is only limited to children when their bodies are still growing or even adults are able to influence it.

That's why I am having my disciples test it out first.

If they aren't able to use the Monster Crystal to expand their Cultivation Point, then that most likely means this phenomenon only works on children.

I should see how much I can push this exploit as much as I can, I'm not dumb enough to let an opportunity like this slip past.

I'm pretty sure there's still a limit on how much it can expand. Most likely the limit would be the physical body itself, where if I expand it by too much I might face the possibility of exploding again.

Maybe some physical exercise would help expand the limit? They do say to train both mind and body don't they?

I'm also pretty sure my physical body is also limiting my usage of those stars that are inhabiting my Cultivation Point.

Most of the time my body is strengthened through Techniques so there wasn't really a need to train it physically much, perhaps I should try it for now and see how it goes.

"Hey, if you want, I can spar with you?" I suggested.

He shook his head, "With all due respect, Second Young Master, my honor does not permit me to draw my sword on children, no matter their mental age."

"That's a load of bull and you know it. You've whacked me plenty of times back in the past."

He smiled, "True, but that wasn't with a sword."

"Fine then, hand-to-hand."

He bent over while placing a hand on his back, "Ah… I apologise, Second Young Master, it seems my age has caught up with me. I don't think this body of mine can do anymore physical labour."

Why the hell is this guy trying to avoid me so much? Whatever, I can always just ask Eris or someone else who likes to bully kids or something.

"So… Anything I should know that happened today?" I asked.

He shrugged, "Your father was looking for you, not sure what he wanted since he walked off after he knew you weren't around. He did mention about telling you to go meet him when you're back, though."

Huh… What could he even need me for? Is he going to chew me out for something my sisters did again?

"Where is he now?"

"I believe he should be with the Young Master in the study."

I nodded and left Fred to his guard duties.

I made my way towards the study, greeting the servants along the way with a nod.

Entering the study room, I saw my father and brother discussing something at his desk.

Noticing my entry, father stopped what he was doing, "Ah, you've returned. I've got something I need you to do."

He gestured me to come closer, pulling out a letter from his drawer.

I stepped beside my brother, my head barely reaching past the table's height.

He opened up the letter and passed it to me, revealing it to be a letter of acceptance for a Guild Request.

I raised an eyebrow at him.

He steepled his fingers in front of him, "Our Adventurer's Guild issued out a Request a few days ago, some kind of monster subjugation I believe. We have a visiting adventurer team and they're lacking one person to fill a slot for that Request."

I raised an eyebrow, "And? What does that have to do with me?"

"Are you not listening, brother?" My brother rolled his eyes. "The adventurer team that took up this request is lacking a Practitioner to fill their last slot to complete the minimum requirement numbers to subjugate this monster. You are a Practitioner, are you not?"

I frowned at him, "I still do not see how that relates to me? Can't they have some Practitioner from the Guild to fill that slot?"

My father clucked his tongue at me, "Have you forgotten how our town's people think? Practitioners are not welcome here. What do you think is the likelihood of there being Practitioners around?"

I shrugged, "Be that as it may, I still do not see how this is my problem? I don't remember having some agreement with anyone that I will fill up slots for any Adventurer teams lacking a Practitioner?"

"Ah, but you wouldn't leave some mortals stranded without helping them right?" My brother wiggled his eyebrows at me creepily. "We already agreed to the Request in your place."

"Well, take the damn Request back, I don't have a reason to follow your silly little play here. Besides, didn't I mention the day I got here that I lost my Cultivation Point?"

"My people had overheard you telling your disciples that you got your Cultivation Point back yesterday night," my father tapped his finger on the desk.

I clucked my tongue, "Tch… Ok, but that still doesn't mean I need to do any of this. I'm out."

I tossed the letter on the table and prepared to walk off.

"Ah, but you don't even know the monster they're subjugating yet," My brother taunted, leaning back on his chair.

I gave him a sideways glance, "Does it matter?"

"Yes," My father nodded. "It's a dragon with scales that matches your adopted daughter's hair colour."

I froze.

"I mean… How often do you see a girl with that kind of hair colour?" My brother pointed out. "I mean sure, in this town there's tons of people with weird hair colours but I don't think she was influenced by them, was she?"

My eyes narrowed at him, "So? What are you suggesting?"

My brother stood up from his seat, "I'm just saying… Things might get a tad bit troublesome if the dragon knows of your…'Adopted' daughter's circumstances."

"Have you considered that maybe I can just shut you two up?"

My father smiled, "Look at it this way son, the dragon is a threat to the town your sisters are building as well. You do this little favour by making sure this dragon threat is gone, and no one needs to know you stole a dragon egg, hmmm?"

I stared hard at them.

What are they gaining by doing this? I doubt that this actually benefits them in any way? Was the dragon threatening their business? Or were they after the dragon materials after the subjugation? I don't think asking them will provide me with a forthright answer either.

I cursed inside my mind.

Seriously though, what is another Myriad Colours Dragon doing here? Did they know about Cai Hong?

Now that I know about this, I can't leave it be as well. This dragon might be looking for Cai Hong's egg and if it finds out about Cai Hong's current condition, destroying this Plane would be a simple matter for it to do.

I doubt it would be happy to find out one of its own was sticking to a lowly mortal like myself.

I'll have to do this without the girls finding out.

"Where is it?" I asked, snatching the acceptance letter from the table. I could probably track down this dragon myself but it'll take a long time since I don't even know its general direction.

My brother pointed at the letter, "Follow the Adventurer group, they will know. Keep the dragon as far away as possible you hear?"

"Uh huh, I'll just grab that info out of them and I'll be gone."

"Ah… What I meant was they would know because they have a really good tracker on their team. They don't actually know where it is exactly, either."

I considered committing both fratricide and patricide right there but decided against it. They still have their uses for now.

Fine, I'll play to their little tune for now.

I guess this is also a good chance to test how much I've changed too.

Now I'll just hop on down to the Adventurer's Guild and hopefully I'll have this whole farce done before dinner time.

Chapter 112 - NoobSlayer69420 Has Joined Your Party

(MC POV)

"You're the Practitioner that's supposed to complete our roster?" A rather handsome young man that looked to be in his twenties asked, two estocs strapped to his waist.

I nodded at the query, "Yes, pleasure working with you. This town has a lack of Practitioners so I'm all they have to send."

He turned back to look at the rest of his party, One was an extremely muscular guy that reminded me of the lolicon I saw back at the candy shop with Cai Hong and the other one was an elf with long flowing white hair.

The big guy had a giant shield strapped to his back with a mace clipped on his waist while the elf had an unstrung longbow resting inside a quiver full of arrows on her back.

No prizes to whoever guessed the big guy to be a tank and the elf to be an archer.

"This is a joke right? Are we really gonna take this little pipsqueak along?" The guy with the twin estocs asked, pointing a finger at me.

The big guy shrugged, "We just needed a Practitioner along to be able to accept this quest right? Just bring him along for the sake of it. It's just a recon Request after all."

The elf also nodded, "I'm sure he can at least help us with the Practitioner side of things. Worse comes to worse, he can just be a baggage carrier."

The estoc guy flailed his arms, "Whatever, but ain't now way I'm babysitting him! He's yours now Arza."

The elf crossed her arms, "Oh is he now, Lance? I'd thought as leader of this party you should be the one taking care of our new members?"

The Lance guy shook his head quickly, "Go to hell. I hate kids. Ain't no way I'm going to take care of him. You girls are supposed to be good with kids right?"

The tank guy bellowed in laughter, "Hahaha! And you wonder why you're still single, Lance!"

"Shut up Henry, nobody asked you."

"And I didn't ask to take care of a kid either," Arza called out.

Well, just a few minutes into meeting them and I'm already so looking forward to working with these lovely people.

I was being sarcastic by the way.

I faked a cough to get their attention, "I can take care of myself, thank you very much. Now, I only have half a day to track this dragon down and deal with it, so who's the tracker?"

Lance looked at me with narrowed eyes, "Big mouth for a small kid eh?"

Ignoring him, the elf stepped forward, "I am. But I will need to get in touch with my contact in the forest northwest of here to pick up this dragon's trail. Did you not read the mission details? This Request is estimated to take at least a week or two, maybe even more."

"He's a kid, what the hell does he know?" Lance scoffed.

"Hey, hey. I think he's cute at least," Henry commented.

I frowned, I do not have a week, much less two. And I definitely do not even want to spend a day more with how Henry is looking at me like that.

"Ok, that won't do. I have appointments to keep tonight, we're doing this in half a day whether you like it or not. Just tell me what you need to do and where you need to go."

The Lance dude huffed, "Listen here kid, this isn't a game you know? What do you take Adventurers for? If such a Request could be completed so easily, they wouldn't need to call in pro Adventurers like us."

Ignoring him, I pulled out a map from my storage ring and opened it to show the elf.

"Where do we need to go?"

She hesitated before pointing somewhere about fifty to sixty kilometers northwest of us, "My contact should be there, I'll have to track him down once we're there though."

I inspected the map closely, if we were to travel normally by the fastest route, it would bring us through a dense forest before passing through a valley. The valley would swerve towards the foot of the mountain before we have to follow a goat's path up the side to reach this plateau where our destination was located.

"Alright, stay close, I'll bring us there."

Lance stepped in front of me, "Did you not hear me you little kid? I'm the leader here, you listen to me you got that? This is why I hate kids."

Henry pulled him by his shoulder, "Hey, lighten up man… He's just a kid, it's our duty to show him the ropes right? Just calm down."

Arza came up to us, "Alright, alright. I'll just grab the kid and we can go right? Let's just--"

I completed the circulation of the required quarks, waving my hand in the air and forming a circle of light on the ground.

Before those three could voice out their surprise at the light, we had already disappeared from the place and reappeared at where Arza had pointed out to me.

"What… What just happened?" Henry asked, his shield and mace already equipped and ready.

Arza had a bow strung and an arrow nocked as well, her eyes scanning her surroundings silently.

"Kid! What did you do?!" Lance shouted, his estocs out by his side.

For them to react this fast to a sudden change in situation, I actually do have to applaud them for their quick decision making. Guess they weren't lying about them being top Adventurers.

Before I could answer Lance's question though, a male elf stepped out from the bushes, "Arza? Is that you? What are you doing here?"

"Dererei?" Arza gasped. "But… How? Where… Where are we?"

"The forest you pointed out to me," I explained. "Took awhile for me to find a person to teleport to but I guess I'm lucky he's the only humanoid person I can find around here."

Arza gaped at me, "Tel… Teleportation? But… That shouldn't be possible! The sheer difficulty of that alone… There's a reason why so many people agree that teleportation is a near impossibility!"

I shrugged, what do these non-Practitioners know about Techniques anyway?

I waved my hand to dispel her incredulity, "Doesn't matter if it is or not, we're here now so just do what you need to do. Chop chop, I want to be out of here in the next five minutes."

Everyone was still gaping at me and not moving from their position.

I rolled my eyes, pointing a finger at the male elf, "You there! Derei-what's-it! Dragon, where?"

"D… D… Dragon? I… Er… That is… I don't..."

I condensed my Pure Elemental Quarks before releasing it in a wave directed at the male elf. Learning from my past mistake all the way back when I first met Lian Li, I put in as little of my killing intent as I could. This should be enough to scare him into talking.

"I won't ask again, Dragon, where?"

The elf choked before promptly fainting, spasming on the ground with foam coming out of his mouth.

God damn it.

Chapter 113 - When You Have To Carry Your Team

(MC POV)

After slapping the guy awake, I got him to spill out what he knew about the dragon.

Apparently this elf is some sort of Seer and he needs a scale from the dragon to give us a rough location of it. For some reason, I didn't even need to ask before he immediately told me everything he knew about the Technique and begged me to release him.

Well, not that I was really after it, but I won't say no to a gift.

So in the end, I figured out that Arza was only here to track this Dererei guy so that he could actually do the real tracking of the Dragon that had been 'terrorizing the lands'.

Not sure about the terrorizing part since if a Myriad Colours Dragon wanted to, it could just burn this entire Plane out of existence.

Could I just remind everyone that I'm here to have an easy life? Why the hell are all these problems being heaped onto me huh?

Now I'm starting to think that locking myself up in my courtyard and doing nothing but cultivating would be the easier option.

Ok nah. I'll probably be bored out of my mind within the first day and besides, I got other people to worry about now.

He pointed us to a cave of monsters nearby that he knew the Dragon had been seen around before, telling us that we should be able to find at least one scale in there. He then promptly ran off into the distance.

Was I really that scary? Eh, maybe he's just a scaredy cat.

Henry stepped forwards, his mace and shield already sheathed, "Ah I know that cave, it's quite an infamous monster nest that no one has been able to clear so far. The cave's full of these spider type monsters that breed extremely fast and swarm intruders immediately upon entry. I remember some Adventurer teams attempting to subjugate it before but they never returned."

Lance spat on the ground, "Damnit, we don't have enough manpower for a monster nest extermination now!"

I stood up and cracked my knuckles, "I just need to find one of its scales right? I'll be right back."

Arza snapped out of her trance, "Wait! You can't be serious about going to the cave right now?!"

I raised an eyebrow at her, "What? Why not? Just pop in, burn some spiders, get the scale and pop back out. Simple."

Arza grabbed my arm to stop me, "Those aren't normal giant spiders you moron! You may be able to teleport but those spiders flood the entire cave! You won't have a safe place to teleport to!"

"Not to mention those spiders are the Armored Swarm Spiders, their skin is too tough for even swords to cut through! You'll be slaughtered!" Henry added.

I shook the elf's arm off, "They're just spiders in the end. Nothing a good fire can't solve."

The elf wrung her arms in the air, "Arrgh! You don't even know what those spiders are! One of their base characteristics is that they're fire-pro--"

"Bah, the kid wants to go and jump into the monster nest, let him!" Lance interrupted, putting his hand on the elf's shoulder to stop her. "Just don't drag us into it!"

I shrugged, "Never invited you."

Ignoring them, I trekked my way towards the cave which was just a short distance from here. From what the other elf had said, it should be near the mountain's rock face within a clearing.

"Damn it Lance! I won't have a kid's death riding on my conscience!" Arza yelled, pushing him away to run up to me. "Stop it, kid! This mission just got a lot more complicated! We need more than a single party to complete this!"

"And I already told you, I don't have the time for that. Relax, I know what I'm doing," I rebutted, not slowing down my pace.

Arza sped up to match my speed, "You're what? Eight? What the hell do you know?!"

"Enough to get by. Now if you aren't here to help me with the spider monsters, just go back, thanks."

"Damnit, you leave me no choice!"

She raised her arm before swinging it down in a chopping motion towards my neck, trying to knock me out.

I ducked underneath her strike, letting it sail over my head harmlessly.

"Please don't do that again," I warned. "I'm fine with you not coming with me. In fact, I don't even care if I don't get any credit for this Request. Just don't get in my way."

I glared at her to get my point across before continuing my way.

(Arza POV)

I cannot believe this.

I should have known something was wrong with this kid the moment I saw him.

How he acted when he first introduced himself should have clued me in on his oddity, how did I miss it?

I only joined this party because this job seemed simple enough to complete and the pay was good.

The Request had asked for a tracker to search for some kind of multi-coloured dragon that was a menace to the region. I had instantly thought of my acquaintance, Dererei, who could help us with his Seer skills.

What was even more fortunate was that I remembered he had told me he was tracking some kind of dangerous monster in that specific area, that must mean he was hunting the very same monster as the Request.

All I had to do was track him down, have him point me in that dragon's direction and I should be able to take over from there.

This was a recon mission anyway, so just taking notes of our quarry would be enough to net us a reward. This Request was basically easy money for me.

I immediately accepted the Request and joined another party as a temporary member.

They seemed good enough to work with, though that Lance guy seemed to be rather full of himself at times.

Henry seemed like the quiet guy but I noticed he usually goes out late at night to god knows where.

"Night walks," He had claimed. Though I'm not sure why he usually dresses in a full black outfit when he does so but hey, who am I to question?

Unfortunately, we were stuck in the Guild for the next few days since the mission required at least one Practitioner to join us before we could depart.

Not sure why that was a requirement but it's probably a Practitioner thing that we wouldn't understand.

When we finally got a Practitioner to join us, we were not expecting an eight year old kid that had a weird air about him to join us.

I had always been more sensitive to Elemental Quarks since young despite lacking the talent to be a Practitioner, allowing me to sense everything around me which vastly contributed to my skills as a tracker.

That was one of the reasons why I am able to walk around freely outside even when elves are high value targets to Dark Sect Practitioners and monsters.

With my sensory abilities and skills with a bow and arrow, there should not be anything that I could not hunt or evade from.

The feeling I got from the boy was a mix between searing hot and freezing cold and if I stared at him long enough, breathing became just a little bit more difficult.

But yet the heat does not feel like something fire would give off and the cold also felt different from the ice type of cold.

It's like putting both hands in two different tubs of hot and cold water before plunging them into a tub of warm water.

What shocked me even more was his teleportation Technique.

As far as I know, teleportation was supposed to be an impossibility since no Practitioner was able to figure out which Quark combination can be used to transfer someone from one place to another.

There were attempts at using Space and Astral Quarks which should have worked in theory but didn't.

This eight year old kid just teleported all of us such a vast distance away without even breaking a sweat? He is most definitely not normal.

As if that wasn't enough, he did something to knock Dererei out and had him crying and begging for mercy when he woke him up. I have never seen anyone as terrified as he had been then.

When he expressed his intention to clear the monster nest alone, I decided I must stop him.

It's obvious that he's a Practitioner that was specialised in Space and Astral Quarks, specifically spatial and mental manipulation as evidenced by the teleportation and Dererei's reaction.

He must be some noble House's son and lived a sheltered life up till now, thinking he was invincible with his talent and snuck out of his house to seek adventure.

I have to protect him before such a talent like him dies because of his own hubris!

I might even get the teleportation Technique from him and spread it to the people as a breakthrough! I will be able to live luxuriously after that!

I'll just knock him out here and take him away with me!

But I hadn't expected him to be able to dodge my strike to his neck so easily.

The glare he sent me right after made me stay rooted to the spot for a good two minutes before I managed to return to my senses, finding the boy walking away without a second glance back.

No! I can't lose him!

I must take him back with me!

Chapter 114 - When The End Game Player Returns To The Starting Area

(Lance POV)

I am not having a good day.

Henry had been my buddy since childhood and the two of us had joined as Adventurers together, completing multiple Requests and gaining both fame and fortune over the years.

This Request should have been a simple one, we only had to track down a dragon and report it to the Guild and we would be rewarded. Easy and simple.

There was no requirement for us to subjugate the dragon in the first place.

And since this elf that joined us claimed she knew someone who was already tracking the dragon, we could just go find said person, get the details from him and call it a day.

We would then claim the rewards and I will invite the elf out for a celebratory drink. Then proceed to spike her drink before raping the daylights out of her like what I've been doing to the other female temporary members who join our party.

At least, that was my plan.

This kid came out of nowhere and because of him, we're now marching our way towards that stupid cave of monsters.

I swear, as soon as things start going south, I'm definitely booting the hell out of there.

My own life takes precedence over anyone else's.

I honestly wanted to just leave the pompous kid to his fate. Pricks like him are just a waste of space anyway, why bother so much about his well being?

If that elf wasn't such a hot piece of ass, I would've just left right there and then. I don't even know why Henry is taking that little kid's side either.

I had tried to convince them to abandon the kid but the elf just brushed me off, calling me ignorant for not realising what I'm abandoning.

Even Henry agreed with her, like what the hell man?

Is he trying to score points with her? But I've never seen him interested in any girls before?

This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder.

It was a five minute trek before we finally reached the cave of monsters. There was no question that it was the right cave since there were already dozens of those spider monsters just sitting at the entrance of the cave.

We hid behind some of the bushes a distance away, watching the entrance of the cave. There was a clearing just in front of the cave that was just a flat plain of grass, making it impossible to get any closer without being spotted.

"Ok, now what, smart guy?" I hissed at the stupid kid. "Don't tell me your plan was to just waltz in there and search for the scales in there?"

The cheeky brat actually smiled at me, "Unfortunately, I do not know how to waltz, so I suppose I'll just have to improvise."

He stood up and strode forward with all the confidence of a flamingo, completely avoiding our attempts to pull him back.

"Damn him! How stupid can he be?!" The elf cursed, pulling out an arrow to nock on her bow.

Five of the spiders had spotted the kid and began rushing out of the cave towards him, their bodies three times the size of a normal man.

I stood up from the bushes. Not to help the boy, no, but to prepare to get the hell out of this damn place.

Arza let loose her arrow, the projectile striking home on a spider's head.

Unfortunately, its carapace was too tough for the arrow to pierce, causing the projectile to bounce off with nary a scratch, annoying the monster instead.

"Damn… And he's just the right type too… Guess we better run, Lance," Henry finally called out, already in the midst of turning around.

"Not a bad shot," The kid called out without turning his head. "But your blow was too weak. You need something with a little more kick…"

One of the spiders leapt towards him, its jaws open to devour him whole.

I managed to keep myself from turning away just to see how the arrogant kid would look when there's a spider munching down on his corpse.

Unfortunately, that opportunity never came.

The kid straightened the fingers of his right hand before stabbing it upwards, piercing through the head of the spider.

Wait… These are Armored Swarm Spiders right? The ones with the incredibly tough chitin that swords can't pierce through? Did the kid just do it with his bare hands?

He swung that arm in an arc, throwing the spider's corpse to crash into another two of its brethren.

The other two screeched in anger at the death of their comrade and scurried forwards in an attempt to attack him.

Something glowed in the boy's hands and a sword that an eight year old should not be able to lift appeared.

He lowered himself into a half crouch before the blade suddenly extended and spewed out flames from behind, propelling it in an arc in front of him and slicing the two spiders horizontally in half.

Again, these are supposed to be spiders with really tough armour right? I definitely did not imagine the elf's arrow bouncing off the spider's head just now right?

The boy lifted the sword over his shoulder before fire spewed out again, launching him high into the air before landing in front of the last two spiders, both still trying to untangle themselves from the spider with the pierced head.

The gigantic sword was brought down on top of one of the spiders, splitting it and the already dead one vertically in half.

The sword then disappeared into particles of light, the kid raising his right fist high up in the air.

Electricity began sparking off of him before he brought the raised fist down on top of the last spider, its head exploding into paste the moment the punch connected.

What the hell.

Attracted by the noise, a horde of spiders began rushing out of the cave, numbering in the hundreds.

"And here comes the rest of the party," The kid laughed.

He actually laughed? What the hell are you laughing for?! This isn't a joke you know?!

He faced them and clapped his hands together, a fiery portal opening in front of him.

Arza called out, "I told you! These spiders are fire-proof! They are armored so they don't burn! Their weaknesses are--"

A giant funnel of flame blasted out of the portal, covering the entire clearing and the cave entrance with it.

We watched with our mouth agape as the shadows of the spiders began disappearing one by one within the fire.

The boy kept the fire up for a good five seconds before it shut off abruptly, the entire area in front of him burned to cinders. The cave walls were still glowing red from the heat, steam rising from its rocky surface.

Not even ashes remained of the horde of spiders in front of him.

He grinned back at us, "Don't need to burn them if they get disintegrated by the heat alone."

I am seriously not having a good day…

Chapter 115 - When You Fight Two Consecutive Bosses Without A Save Point In Between

(Henry POV)

The little boy strutted towards the cave entrance, now devoid of any signs of life. The fire from earlier must have burned all the way into the cave's interior.

Who is this kid, really?

I don't think any Practitioner could be that strong at his age. Scratch that, I don't think anyone even is a Practitioner at his age.

Guess I'll just have to give up on taking him…

Good thing no one knows about my side job yet, or I might just end up dead when I try to do it on this kid.

Well, at least with him around we can complete this Request easily on our own, that means we don't have to share the rewards with anyone else when we complete this.

What makes it even better is the fact that we will gain extra rewards for clearing this troublesome monster nest.

I could most definitely use that bonus money for my other ventures since I won't be able to make quota this month.

Such a shame, he has just the right face that a client wanted too.

Ah, no good, I'm on a job as an Adventurer now, better stay focused.

We followed the boy into the cave, the smell of burnt flesh lingering in the air. The tunnel was wide enough for all of us to walk side by side but we opted to have him lead the way with how thingsahad been going.

Lance and the elf have been quietly staring at his back for a while now.

This kid really is not normal.

The cave got darker the deeper we went in, it was no problem for us since experienced Adventurers like us have torches prepared for such occasions.

But it seems it was an unnecessary concern since the kid just snapped his fingers and balls of light began illuminating the area around us.

Soot caked the walls around us and the outlines of spiders could be seen imprinted on them as well, no doubt all of them perishing from the fire just like the spiders outside.

The tunnel soon widened into a cavern, the size so huge that the light from the kid's light ball failed to illuminate the entire space.

The cave was eerily silent, not even the shadow of any other monsters could be seen.

Just as I was about to relax, the kid pointed upwards, "Guess the mother is angry."

All of us looked up to see the biggest spider that we've ever seen detach itself from the ceiling, the monster easily taking up a quarter the size of the entire cavern.

"I believe this one is called a Queen Armored Swarm Spider…" I informed helpfully. "Unlike the small ones that are only resistant to fire, it has complete fire immunity…"

Lance cursed, "Damn it! We need to run now! We need a whole raid party for this thing alone!"

It crawled towards us slowly, its razor sharp legs clinking on the ground menacingly. All eight of its red eyes stared at us unblinkingly, it was clear it wants revenge for its slain children.

We could still make a run for it, I don't think it can fit through the tunnel that is smaller than itself, right?

Either way, it seems like we're in trouble now.

Unless this kid can even handle this monstrosity by himself?

That can't be it, right?

No matter how good he is, this isn't a monster that can be taken down alone.

"Anything else I should know about it?" The boy asked, not at all perturbed by the giant spider looming over him.

"Ummm… Their legs are sharp enough to pierce through platemail, they spit webs from their abdomen and their mucus is acidic as well," The elf added.

Yeah, and because of all those characteristics, they require a raid party of no less than eighty people to take it down safely.

The tanks will have to rotate constantly because of its mucus and the swordsmen can only use blunt attacks to be somewhat effective against its armour. The archers will only serve as distractions while the Practitioners would provide battlefield healing and support fire.

Even then with such numbers, there is still the possibility of a raid wipe.

"Ah, nothing much then," was the boy's response.

Huh?

He can't be serious right?

Does he expect us to beat this monster on our own? No, does he expect to beat the monster himself?

From what we've seen, he should be a Fire and Space type Practitioner right? How he used them doesn't seem to be at a basic level, so that probably means he's at least on the level of an Inner Core Practitioner.

That is already an impressive feat.

Is he just being arrogant now? That must be it, right?

What a waste.

"I will cover us with my shield, let's slowly move back to the cave entrance," I suggested quietly to the rest of the party.

"Yeah, the pipsqueak is out of his mind," Lance agreed.

Arza frowned at me, "Are… Are we going to just abandon the kid?"

Lance growled at her, "What? You want to die with him? By all means go ahead."

"No… No… Just that… Nevermind."

"We can drink to his memory later, let's just get out of here first. Henry, let's move while it's distracted."

We began slowly backing away while the spider advanced towards the kid, its acidic mucus bubbling out of its mouth.

"Let's try something I've been meaning to do for awhile~" I heard the kid mutter to himself.

He settled into a half crouch, his right fist stretched behind him.

The fist was suddenly clad in some sort of black substance, the colour spreading up his wrist to cover his entire arm.

The spider screeched and spat its acid at him, the greenish liquid flying towards him in a straight line.

The kid immediately swung his other arm in an arc, causing some form white projectile to appear and deflect the acid away from him, splattering it on the cavern wall.

The spider reared on its back legs to stab at the kid with its front legs but the boy had already disappeared from where he was.

It took me a moment to realise the kid was already directly underneath the spider.

Was that his teleportation Technique?

Before I knew it, he was already punching his fist upwards towards the spider's mid-section, a dark spear exploding out from his fist.

The spear easily pierced through the spider, continuing its way towards the far corner of the cavern roof and smashing through it as well.

Azra and Lance fell on their haunches when the impact made the entire cavern shake, I barely managed to keep my footing by using my shield as a crutch.

I looked up at where the kid's attack had pierced the ceiling, finding the reddish tint of sunlight streaming in from a giant hole.

The damn kid had cracked the mountain.

A while later, the loud crash of the Queen Armored Swarm Spider hitting the ground reverberated throughout the cavern.

The boy walked towards us while dusting his hands, "Well, that's not bad I suppose. Now we'll just have to find those scales and be back before--"

The mountain shook again, this time even I lost my footing and fell down to my knees.

Something big came smashing through the hole, creating an even larger opening in the mountain to let the entire cavern be lit up by sunlight.

It crashed behind where the spider had been, throwing up a cloud of smoke.

Judging by how big the dust cloud was, it was no doubt bigger than even the Queen Spider.

That something swept around, dispersing the dust cloud in an instance with what I assume to be a limb.

Two large serpentine eyes looked down on us, both pupils glowing a bright gold colour.

The eyes were connected to a long serpentine neck that stretched towards the cavern's ceiling before curving back down to its torso, its body three times the size of the Queen Spider's.

Well… At least we found the dragon we were looking for...

Chapter 116 - One Punch Is All I Need

(MC POV)

Ah, it's a dragon.

The scales were rainbow coloured too.

The difference between this particular dragon's scales and Cai Hong's hair was that the colours were not shifting and the hue of the colours were more subdued.

"Humanssss… Ssso you are the onessss to come and hunt me?" The dragon hissed at us, it's voice deep and rumbling.

I heard the Lance guy gulp from all the way over here.

"Oh no, not at all umm… Mister? Mister dragon… We er… We were only here for this monster nest, that's all!" The leader of the party spluttered.

"Hmmm… Issss that right?"

"Yes, most definitely! We'll leave now in fact!" Arza added in hastily from behind Lance.

The dragon gave a hoarse chuckle that rumbled at the back of his throat, the entire cavern shaking from his laughter alone.

"Did you humanssss not know… That I've claimed thisss place as my own domain?"

Ah that is probably why father and brother were desperate to get rid of it. No one would be at ease if a dragon had claimed a part of your neighborhood as its own.

With how the family business is completely in Elaria's hands, they're most likely trying to resort to some other illicit business on the side to try and get out of Elaria's thumb.

But what kind of trade would they be conducting all the way out here?

The only ones that will engage in trade in this part of the region are Dark Sect members and monsters. Last I checked, there shouldn't be any Dark Sect enclaves around here.

Or I could be wrong about that.

Damn it, more work for me to do.

But if the problem is monsters, I could just send my disciples here to take care of them.

Yep, I'll say that it's a test of their independence and a quest from me. Surely they would be able to root out any other monsters around here.

I'm still a busy man… Er… Boy, after all.

As for Dark Sect members, I'll still have to deal with them myself since I don't want my disciples' hands to be stained with human trash.

Ah, I almost forgot about the dragon that's right in front of me and got distracted.

The dragon lowered its head to take a closer look at us, "Hmmm… What sssshould I do? These spidersss were under my protection too… Now I have no more servantssss..."

I think this is a good opportunity to mention that this dragon is not a Myriad Colours dragon.

It seems like father and brother had been mistaken, or rather, I had expected too much.

This is a Rhyme dragon.

They're known for their multi-coloured scales as well but it does not shimmer like the Myriad Colours dragons' do. Their multi-coloured scales serve as an attraction to other lesser monsters, making most of the less intelligent ones think the dragon is some kind of treasure to be protected and obeyed.

They're also one of the most vain dragons in existence.

No surprise this one took these spiders as its underlings since they breed fast and are quite resilient to boot.

Now the real question is what else is it doing here for both my father and the Adventurer's Guild to issue out a Request to investigate and subjugate it?

Perhaps I should try and make this Rhyme dragon talk until he reveals his purpose here? Other than just living here, of course.

I still can't believe I had thought there really was another of Cai Hong's family here.

I guess I was just too paranoid to have been led to believe another Myriad Colours dragon had shown up.

Having one appear on the Earthen Plane is already a big enough deal, but two? Yeah, probably not really much of a possibility there.

It's not like I'm a magnet for such events to occur, right? Nah, no way.

No, no, no. That's not a flag, I'm just stating facts. Facts, ok? That's different. Yes, totally not raising a flag over there.

Oh where was I? Oh right, the dragon.

"What… What do you want then?" Henry asked with a quivering voice, his voice a pitch higher than normal.

"Hmm… How about… All of you sssstay here and replace my lost minionssss? That ssshould be good enough compensation. Good deal yessss? Your miserable livessss in exchange for the honour of sssserving me."

Did I mention they're incredibly vain? I meant that they were unbelievably full of themselves.

Lance fingered his estocs nervously, "Ummm… Could we compensate you in some other way? We er… We kind of have other things we need to take care of…"

The dragon laughed again, "Heh heh… In that case, you won't have any thingssss to take care of if you're dead, yessss?"

I raised my hand, "Mr. Dragon! I don't mind sssserv-- I mean serving you!"

He looked at me with one of his large serpentine eyes, "Ho? You look like a ssssmart little kid… I sssuppose I can keep you around for when I feel like ssssnacking."

"Oh but could I just ask," I continued, trying to look my part of a very inquisitive and innocent child. "What does Mr. Dragon do? Mr. Dragon is so big and strong, you must have done a lot of amazing things! Many people must like you! Are you really awesome?!"

What do you do to get information out of people with over-inflated egos? You keep inflating them bit by bit and they'll blow up eventually, scattering all the candies around like a pinata.

"Heh, heh, heh. You have good eyessss kid. Thissss dragon is the big bosssss of this whole area! Even those ssssilly humanssss in the forest that wear those weird and dark robessss pay me tribute!"

Ah, so I guess there really is a Dark Sect lurking around these parts after all.

"Not to mention… There issss also that monster village at the foot of this mountain near the valley. Weird little bunch that likessss to do tradessss with humanssss too. They too, pay thissss great one tributesss! Do you understand how great thisss one isss?"

Or… Why not both I guess?

Guess I'll have my disciples going after the monsters while I take care of the Dark Sect.

I should go and check them out before sending my disciples after them, just to make sure no other problems come up.

Heh, both father and brother think they can make use of me like this? I'll destroy their backdoor out of my sister's rule then, see how they like that?

First I'll find out what products they have been trading, especially since two different parties are involved.

The Dark Sect should be dealing with monster parts, cultivation materials and foodstuffs but what could the monster village want that they will engage in trade with humans?

Definitely not gold, they have no use for that.

Food? But the monsters have access to ample food supply around this area.

Cultivation materials is a possibility since they can directly absorb the Pure Elemental Quarks to strengthen themselves but…

No...

They can't be trading Practitioners can they?

Or maybe not just Practitioners but humans too?

I pulled out my map again to inspect it, realising that had we taken the normal route, we would have encountered both the Dark Sect members and monsters along the way.

Since this was nothing more than a recon Request, there would not be a full party formed just to undertake it in order to increase the party's speed. This factor makes them prime targets for ambushes.

They set me up.

Not just them, it seems like someone in the Adventurer's Guild is in cahoots as well or else there will be a big issue when Adventurer teams go missing.

Someone is covering up the missing persons within the Adventurer's Guild itself, that means father and brother were probably operating a separate group independent of Elaria and has gained followers.

This does not seem good.

Something nudged me on my shoulder.

"Hey kid, did you even hear what the great me ssssaid? I told you to ssstart grovelling at my feet you sssstupid little--"

"Shut up."

I grabbed the talon he had poked my shoulder with and clenched, shattering it into powder.

"What? What did you do, you sssstupid--"

"I said, shut up."

I punched my fist towards the dragon's neck, an invisible bullet of air blasting straight through the oversized lizard.

Blood splattered the back walls of the cavern as the head became separated from its body, soaring through the air to crash on the ground near the other three Adventurers.

The dragon's body took a second longer to realise it was missing a head before crashing down lifelessly on the floor.

"I'm going to look for those two places while you guys wait here," I announced to the other Adventurers. "Any problems with that?"

All three of them shook their heads quickly.

Chapter 117 - Scouting The Pests

(MC POV)

I teleported to the road leading out of town, leaving those three Adventurers back inside the cave to wait for me.

Before I left, I had explicitly told them to watch over the dragon and spider corpses since I would be coming back to collect on those later. We'll need them as proof for the Request completion confirmation later and I plan to keep them as crafting materials afterwards.

I could've just put them in my storage ring but I figured giving them something to do while they waited for me was a better idea.

Once I orientated myself to my destination, I immediately activated a cloaking Technique and flew towards the direction of the forest, my senses tuned to root out the Dark Sect hidden there.

I contemplated the idea of just burning the entire forest with them in it, but decided that was too extreme a solution.

I would first do some investigations about their activities and make sure they're all gathered in one spot first before wiping them out. It's easier to hunt rats when they're all inside their hidey hole than when they're scurrying about all over the place.

It didn't take me long to find them.

They had chosen a clearing a few meters away from the main road, deep enough such that anyone travelling on the road wouldn't be able to see them but still close enough to strike at anyone passing through.

Some of the flora were tied together expertly to better conceal their entrance too, with two guards standing by it and another one further behind to no doubt serve as an alarm should they be attacked.

I must admit that they were hidden quite well, if you were searching from the ground that is.

But I suppose they had intentionally made it easier to be seen from above so the Rhyme dragon could find them easily. Perhaps they were afraid that the dragon might actually burn down the entire forest if he couldn't find them out of frustration.

A reasonable precaution.

But one that plays in my favour now.

I swooped down to the forest canopy, hiding myself amongst the leaves as I peered down at these troublemakers.

It seems like most of them were in the midst of preparing for something, probably they were under the assumption that they had new victims on the way to investigate this dragon menace.

I counted at least fifty of them, but the number of campfires and tents scattered around the place suggested at least another ten more.

Within the centre of the clearing, there seems to be some sort of excavation going on though for what purposes I was unable to discern. My guess is that they found some artifact within the area and are probably studying it or performing another of their chuuni rituals on it.

Thinking back to the Request, if they had a mole within the Adventurer's Guild, they would know by now that we had accepted the Request and left the town.

At least, that's assuming they were communicating through telepathy which suggests a Practitioner hiding inside the town, justifying Elaria's distaste of Practitioners.

An ordinary party without a teleportation Technique would take about a day or so to reach here, so right now they're probably not expecting any activity on the road.

That means their full strength will probably only appear tomorrow when they're expecting us.

I took note of all the key points within the camp before chancing a closer look.

Can't get too close in case they have inscribed some form of alarm around the perimeter that alerts them of intruders.

I could just destroy it in the event of one being present, but I wouldn't know if any of them might be good enough to sense its destruction. Last thing I needed was for all the rats to start scurrying away into the forest out of fear.

Spotting a Dark Sect member that wore different robes compared to the rest, I circulated a Technique that allowed me to enhance my hearing.

"Listen up," The man said in an authoritative tone. "Our business partners have sent someone our way to take care of. This isn't the usual stint as we have to get rid of this one by hook or by crook. If we don't, we don't get a bonus since the damn monsters ahead of us will probably finish it for us and they'll get a fat paycheck instead, you guys want that?"

"Hell no!"

"Screw those monsters!"

"Yeah! They're always taking the good stuff!"

The man raised his hand for silence, "Yes, we all know how despicable those monsters are. What's more, our rewards this time are quite significant."

The crowd leaned forward to hear his words.

"Three hundred gold and guaranteed authority in the new town order if we manage to kill this little kid!" The leader yelled, presenting a picture of me.

The only problem was that the picture was obviously taken out from one of Odriana's doujin that featured a half naked man leaning over a similarly half naked me.

The Dark Sect members became silent, I did not need to see their faces to know that they were currently looking at their leader in disgust.

I guess father didn't have the time to have my picture taken so he used one of my elder sister's drawings of me as a bounty poster.

Not sure how motivated these people will be after seeing such a picture though…

"Sir… Er… Sorry, but… Which one?" One of the group asked.

The leader looked visibly confused at the question, "What are you talking about? There's only one guy isn't there?"

"Sorry sir… Maybe you have the wrong picture?"

The leader turned the page around and gasped when he saw what was on it.

"Ignore that! Ignore what all of you just saw, you hear me?!" The leader roared, tucking the picture away inside his robe's sleeve.

He fished out another picture, this time with only me printed on it.

Huh… I guess I was wrong about father giving him that picture. It seems he's also a fan of Odriana's works, who would've known?

"It's this kid! Remember his face! He should be coming along the main road tomorrow! Don't underestimate him because he's apparently a very strong Practitioner!"

The crowd began to mumble amongst themselves.

"Sir, you're joking right? That kid looks like he's eight years old… There's no way he can be a Practitioner, much less a strong one."

The leader shrugged, "I'm just as doubtful as you are, but that's what our business partners told me and since they're offering that much gold, there must be some truth to it."

One of the Sect members chuckled, "Maybe he's protected by some expert that he has stored in his Cultivation Point or his storage ring! Ahahaha!"

Another one joined in, "Yeah, and that expert happens to be injured or something and needs to recuperate within that space huh? Hahaha!"

"Oh! And the expert cultivator wouldn't happen to be a little girl from some other world huh?"

"Nah, that's just pushing it. I say it's some decrepit old man who is on his last legs and wants to pass his legacy to some 'special Practitioner'!"

The leader clapped his hands, "Alright, alright. You idiots can laugh after we actually finish the job and get the money! Now back to your stations and brief your own group about our target! I don't want any screw ups tomorrow!"

The leader turned away without waiting for a response, disappearing back within one of the tents.

Well, that disperses any doubt that they were after us.

I'll have to leave dealing with them for tomorrow, I still have that group of monsters to scout for and I'm down to my last hour of sunset.

Those monsters are more important since my disciples will be the ones to deal with them and I wouldn't want any mishaps.

I flew away from the campsite leaving nary a trace.

Chapter 118 - If You Have Elves, Orcs Are Mandatory Too

(MC POV)

If the Dark Sect enclave was easy to spot, the monster nest was even easier.

They hadn't even bothered with hiding themselves, opting to claim a flat piece of land on top of the valley as their home. Only problem was that these were the more intelligent kind of monsters seeing as how they have built some form of village.

If I hadn't known they were monsters, I might have mistaken this place for a village of youkai instead.

The lack of a wall either showed that they either did not have the expertise to build one, or they were high enough on the food chain to not even need one.

A quick scout of their position clued me that it is most likely the latter.

Not because they were strong monsters, but by how large the numbers were in that village. Almost half the entire plateau was occupied by their village, their crudely built dwelling spread out all over the place.

If they were able to expand so much unchecked, there probably isn't anything in existence around here that they saw as a threat.

They were some kind of humanoid pig monsters that resembled really obese, pig-headed humans

In other words, Orcs.

Not that big of a threat alone since they're quite simple minded monsters, or at least most of them are.

The fact that they are so laid back in their defence should mean they aren't any particularly smart ones among them. The smarter you are the more paranoid after all.

The only issue is with their numbers.

But then again, it's nothing a tactical Technique couldn't fix.

Since I don't need to worry about this particular group having Practitioners to sniff me out, I descended into the village to take a closer look around the place.

Most of them were busy sharpening what looked like rather high quality weapons that they shouldn't have been able to craft on their own.

Heck, I even saw a few of them wearing a few pieces of plate armour strutting around the place arrogantly.

This is rather surprising since I do not see a dedicated blacksmith inside this village itself.

That means they might have looted all these weapons off a passing caravan, which is highly unlikely considering how there's no other cities or towns around here so trade is rather minimal especially for weapons like these.

Or, for the more likely explanation, is that these are the things that my father and brother had been supplying them with.

Judging by the numbers, there's at least a battalion size force currently living here, estimated at about seven hundred or so.

That's about a quarter of the town's population and I doubt our town even has a standing military to resist such a large force, advanced tech or not.

Since my sister had both my father and brother beat in the economic side, they were probably thinking that they could best her in the military side.

Arm and feed a few monsters and they would have a questionably loyal band of soldiers willing to pillage a town or two.

The real question is how sure they were that these orcs wouldn't turn coat against them after ransacking the town? That is, assuming my father and brother still want a town to be there after the orcs come through or they just want it razed to the ground.

I don't think they're dumb enough to not have considered that right?

Actually, don't answer that.

I made myself invisible and descended into the village, trying my best to avoid walking into any of the orcs.

I took note of the village's layout just in case, never know when it might come in handy in these sorts of situations.

I especially noted where the weapons and supplies were stored and all the common places that the monsters would frequent.

As was the standard, I looked for the biggest building that should give away who their most important person is around here.

And since they were orcs, that meant the most hideous building I could find.

Didn't take even a minute for me to find it and make my way towards the large building that seemed to be tethering off to the side with a few pieces of its walls missing, most likely punched out by its occupant in its fit of rage for whatever reasons.

"Huuurk! Where is ma meat?!" A voice yelled out from inside, just as a fist punched through the wall that was closest to me.

"B-b-b-boss! Hrrk! The hyumans said dere wunna be any meat da nesht few deys!" Another voice answered from inside.

"Grrah! Me Big Boss dun care! Ah'll eat yu if ah haf ta if I wunna have ma meat!!"

"B-b-but Boss! Hyuman seyd we shuddan eat each udder! Dey needa numbas!"

"Grrrr… Bah! Who cares abut wat shlimey hyuman says?! Ah'll eat him too!"

Well… They're definitely not loyal to my father and brother that's for sure, assuming it's them that they were talking about.

"Stoopid hyuman says some hyumans gunna come 'ere! Big Boss n'ever see any stoopid hyumans around?! Ah wunna eat sum hyumans! Dey tashte liek chikken!"

Ok, I think I heard enough cancer for the day.

I phased myself through the wall, spotting a big fat orc waving his arms about with his back to me just an arms length away from me.

To cripple an army, you got to take out its head first. Even more so when it's a monster army.

I stretched my hand towards his head and clenched, the air inside him immediately converged on a single point at the back of his throat before expanding outwards.

The orc's head exploded spectacularly, showering the other orcs that had been in front of him with the crimson liquid.

That should cause some discord within the community for now, perhaps they might even start killing each other just to get the leader's position. Either way, my disciples should have an easier time clearing out this monster village tomorrow.

With that done, I made my way out of the place without looking back.

I at least know that these monsters had no intention to work with whoever was supplying them with all the supplies. Since I've yet to find proof about father's and brother's involvement, I'll just pin them as 'possible suspects' instead of 'the masterminds' for now.

Not that there was anything masterful about their plans in the first place.

I'll just drop a few monitoring inscriptions around so I can see what they're doing if need be, then a summoning sigil around here just in case I need it… And of course, can't forget the giant explosion inscription that would wipe this place out in the worse case scenario.

Hey, I told you I like to be prepared ok?

With everything set in place, I teleported back into the cave just as daylight was giving way to night.

The three Adventurers had huddled around a small campfire they had made, looking like they were scared of the dark or something.

"What are you guys doing? You guys planning to spend the night here or something?" I called out.

All of them jumped at my sudden presence.

"N… No… We er… We weren't sure if there were any more spiders around…" The elf muttered feebly.

I raised an eyebrow, "Well even if there were, your fire would have just attracted them, not kept them away. Didn't you tell me they were fire-proof?"

The elf stumbled on her words, "Er… Oh… Ermm… I… Don't know?"

Must be the human instinct to seek the safety of warmth or something, well they should just be glad that fire didn't attract any other monsters into this cavern. How they can even make such mistakes as 'pro Adventurers' I'll never know.

Shrugging to myself that it didn't matter, "Well, I'm going to teleport us back to town, unless you guys are fine with heading back yourselves?"

The three of them immediately leapt to their feet, rushing towards me and clinging to the edge of my shirt.

"Please! Please bring us with you! We can't take this place anymore!" The three of them begged.

Huh, who knew they had claustrophobia?

But isn't this cave quite big?

Chapter 119 - It Stabby Time Again

(MC POV)

I teleported us back to the Guild's entrance without incident, the sky already dark at this point of time.

The dragon and spider carcass were already safely stored away inside my storage ring, ready for the Guild to inspect should they require it.

The three followed behind me like meek puppies, their attitudes the complete opposite of what they were just earlier today.

Stepping in to the Guild building, I was greeted with the sight and sounds of several dozens of Adventurers clamouring within.

Since Elaria and Odriana had parted ways with me at the front of the Guild, I have yet to see how the interior of this place looks like, much less how everything operated here.

A few of the Adventurers inside glanced at us when we entered, all of them resuming what they were doing almost immediately upon sight of us.

"Guessing you guys aren't that famous, huh?" I commented to the trio, since they were basically ignored by everyone else.

Lance grimaced, "We're visiting Adventurers… Our names are only more known in other towns and cities."

I shrugged at his excuse, gesturing towards the interior of the Guild, "Well, 'leader'... Go report the Request completion, why don't you?"

He twiddled his fingers together, "I… I think it's better if you do it instead, we didn't do anything after all…"

Oh? How humble of him.

"If you insist."

I looked for the acting receptionist of the Guild, spotting the standard cute girl in Guild uniform standing there with a delicate smile on her face.

To match the rest of the town's 'An Ney May' theme, her hair was dyed blonde and braided to rest on her right shoulder. Some kind of metallic headplate was also tied around her forehead with a weird inscription etched on it.

I made a beeline towards her, tiptoeing to reach above the counter and slide our Request slip to her.

"Hi miss, our party just finished this Request."

She moved her sight to the piece of paper before looking back at me with a smile, "I have confirmed receipt of the scouting Request, young master Lindulf. Could I trouble you to show the proof of completion?"

"Wait… Lindulf? Isn't that the ruling House in this town?" I heard Lance whisper behind me.

"Oh no… Weren't we quite rude to him?" Azra whispered back.

"Guys… Imma head out first," Henry muttered.

Ignoring their whispering, I continued, "There's another thing. We had cleared out a monster nest and the scouting target had ambushed us. So we had no choice but to subjugate the dragon immediately, So there's no need for a follow-up subjugation Request."

If my report surprised the Guild receptionist, she did a very good job in hiding it.

"I see," She nodded. "In that case, could I have any proof of completion?"

"I got the dragon's head in my storage ring if that works?"

"Good enough, could you follow me to the back room then?" She gestured towards one of the doors behind her.

I nodded my assent before turning back to inform the other three about the plan, only to find an empty space staring back at me.

Huh? Where did they go?

"Is something the matter?" The receptionist asked.

"Er… Yeah… Where did my party go?"

She looked at me with genuine confusion clear on her face, "Party sir? Are you talking about the three tra-- Ermm… Three people behind you? They left a moment ago."

I raised an eyebrow at her but shrugged.

She probably inferred our party's situation from what they were saying and realised we weren't on good terms. Besides, judging by how my sister had came here 'for some business' before, the Guild's likely to be under her thumb too, meaning these people are likely to be her lackies.

That probably explains why she recognised me right away without any introductions.

"Young master Lindulf? If you would follow me, please?" The receptionist repeated.

I decided that since those three decided to run off, I'll just claim everything for myself then. I have to get back to my disciples soon, after all.

(Lance POV)

I awoke when a cold, stinging sensation assaulted my face.

I cough and spluttered as I tried to clear my air way of the water that was splashed on me.

My muscle memory kicked in and I tried to reach for my waist where my estocs should be, pausing when I found my hands bound to my back and secured to the chair I was sitting on.

My eyes shot open as I looked around me frantically, trying to figure out what happened to me.

Last I remembered, I was standing behind Henry inside the Adventurer's Guild. We had just found out about the little kid's identity when something hit me from behind.

Just as I came to the realisation that I was kidnapped, I heard the sound of someone walking towards me.

"Lance Ferngon, active Adventurer from Jin City who arrived here about a week ago with his buddy, Henry Radford."

I looked up to see a really attractive girl with golden hair staring down at me, reading off some sort of folder grasped in her hand.

I tried to call out to her but there was a ball of cloth stuffed into my mouth.

Ignoring my struggles, she continued, "Officially a B-rank Adventurer quite respected within the city's guild, completing various miscellaneous quests with his two-man party while coaching lower ranked Adventurers."

I wondered how she managed to get a hold of this information? If she knows that much, does that mean…

She snapped the folder shut, "But we all know your true intentions here right? You only 'coach' females just so that you can have your way with them later when they are incapacitated. They don't dare to raise any complaints against you because of your standing and lack of evidence."

I struggled to speak again but she just ignored me.

"Now you can deny all you want, but we already looked through your memories. Had you been devoid of any malice towards our honorable Master, we would've just let you go with a slight slap on the wrist because of the insults, but…"

She took out a knife from her sleeve and stabbed me in the leg without hesitation.

My scream of pain was barely muffled by the cloth in my mouth.

She leaned towards me with a crazed look in her eyes, "AHAHAHA! Painful isn't it?! You damn worthless piece of trash! You dare, DARE, harbour such thoughts huh?!"

She twisted the blade left and right, intensifying my agony.

She slapped me across the face, hard enough for the cloth in my mouth to come flying out.

"Damn it! I'm sorry ok?! I'm sorry for all those girls I raped! I won't do it again!" I pleaded mercy.

She stopped, taking a step back to look at me.

"Huh? Who cares about those nobodies?" She asked me with genuine confusion. "If they were related to Master, I might have given a little bit of a damn, but they aren't."

I grimaced, the knife was still embedded in my thigh, "Then… Then why are you doing this?"

She grabbed a fistful of my hair and pulled me to face her, ignoring my yelp of pain.

"Your stupid disgrace of a trash Henry, that's what. You allowed someone as filthy as him to get close to our pure Master. NOt to mention all the ignorant things you dared to voice out and taint our Master's pure soul with."

Henry? Master?

Are they supposed to be the little kid's bodyguards?

But what did Henry do?

She pulled out the knife from my thigh and stabbed it into my other thigh.

"You don't know what he actually does behind your back, do you?" She sneered. "But that's no excuse for you to bring him within Master's vicinity."

"Wha… What does he do?" I breathed, trying to stall for time. I'm so close to slipping my hand out of the bindings now, I just need a few more seconds!

She pulled out the knife and ran the blade across my cheek, smearing it with my blood while she looked at me with what could have been a mix of pity and disgust.

"No need to worry your little head over it. You won't leave here alive after--"

Now!

The right hand I freed immediately sailed towards her head in a haymaker, only for a sharp pain to travel up from my wrist.

"Still struggling I see..." She scoffed, pushing my hand away with the knife that she had used to impale my wrist with. "Such idiocy… As expected of someone like you, I suppose."

My left hand went up to make a grab for her throat but was stopped by her other hand grabbing my wrist.

She immediately twisted her hand, snapping my wrist with an audible crack and forcing me to tumble onto the ground to writhe in agony.

"Ahahaha! You think I was that easy, did you? Did you think I was like those weak little girls you took advantage of?"

She slammed her foot down on my head, silencing my cries of pain.

"I admit, I was like them once… But Master had given me new life and I have been reborn! With this power that Master had bestowed upon me, I am powerless no more to pieces of trash like you!"

She kicked me in the chest, sending me skidding all the way to the other side of the room.

I felt a few of my ribs crack from the impact alone, she was definitely not an ordinary human.

"Your death is all but assured... " She stated as a matter of factly. "But I think I'll take my time with when that will actually come to pass."

A single golden flame lit up on the tip of her index finger.

Despite the heat that it was emanating, a cold shiver went down my spine.

"What… What do you intend to do with me?" I asked.

"Hmm? Did I already not mention it?" She smiled ominously at me. "You are going to die painfully for me."

She advanced on me with slow deliberate steps, her smile still on her face.

Chapter 120 - Papa Good Girl

(Cai Hong POV)

Cai Hong looked at the big man tied up to the wooden post.

Is big man going to wake up soon? Cai Hong is bored.

Manami big sis showed me what the big man wanted to do to Papa. Cai Hong no like what big man wanted to do to Papa.

Lian Li big sis said Cai Hong can do anything to big man, but big man is not waking up?

Muuu…

Cai Hong poked the big man's leg.

The big man mumbled something but continued sleeping.

Maybe if Cai Hong poked harder?

Cai Hong tried to poke the big man again but harder this time.

The big man shifted his leg but did nothing else.

So mean.

Cai Hong is trying to wake you up, you know? Papa would wake up after Cai Hong pulls his sleeve you know?

Oh, Cai Hong knows what to do with mean men!

'Bwall Bwusting'!

The big man immediately woke up and made a lot of noise after Cai Hong 'bwall bwusted' him.

So noisy… Cai Hong 'bwall bwusted' him again.

Mnn! That made big man quiet.

But big man is groaning and bent over now… How is Cai Hong supposed to 'play' with him?

"Big man? Play?" Cai Hong asked innocently.

The big man looked at Cai Hong with a weird look, "Ughh… Huh… A kid? Where… What? Where am I?"

"Umm… Cai Hong's playroom! Or at least that's what big sis Diao Chan called it." Cai Hong told big man proudly.

"Playroom? Er… Look kid… I don't know why I'm hurting so much right now… But could you untie the ropes please?"

Cai Hong tilted her head, "Umm… But Cai Hong was told you are a bad man? Cai Hong was supposed to punish you…"

"No, no, no. This uncle ughh… My balls… Ughh… This uncle is definitely not a bad man. Er… Cai Hong is a good girl right?"

Cai Hong nodded. Cai Hong is Papa's good girl after all.

The big man smiled at Cai Hong, "Well, good girls listen to what adults say right? Whoever told you I was a bad guy is definitely lying. Now why don't you be a good girl for me and untie this good uncle?"

Lying?

Manami big sis said that Papa also thought the guy was bad right? Is this weird man saying that Papa is lying?

Good girl?

Weird man wants Cai Hong to be a good girl for him?

But…

Í̵̸̛͔͜ȃ̴̲m̵̷͖̣̉͘ó̴̲n̵̨͒l̵͉̕y̵̸̡͇͛̂g̵̩͋o̵̞͊ö̷̱́d̶̴̻̰̊̃f̴̭̀ọ̶͋ŗ̸̴̆̓ͅF̴͎̾a̸̫̚t̴̬̍h̴̥͑e̶̯͝r̶̢̅

I shifted into my recently perfected half form, my body enlarging to the size of an adult's and retaining my human shape.

My horns grew out and curved behind my head while my tail and wings sprouted out from behind me. Scales appeared on parts of my face and limbs, their colour matching my hair's.

The nails on my fingers and feet elongated into sharp points and my normally round pupils shifted into slanted irises.

I grabbed that piece of trash by his neck, forcing his head up to stare straight at me as I breathed onto his face.

His eyes widened at my visage, "Wha--"

My knee crashed in between his legs before he could get the word out, a satisfyingly loud crunch emanating from it.

His body heaved and he tried to curl his back from the pain, but a quick pull of his neck straightened him right up.

Ignoring the blood that was staining his pants, I growled at him "How dare you? I am my Father's girl, I don't just 'be good' for anyone but Him. And to even suggest that Father was a liar… Your death will not be swift, I assure you."

"Ghhkk… Damn… Shape-shifting monster… No, half-dragon? What… Are you?" The trash groaned, struggling against my grip.

I slammed his head against the pole, breaking the top half of it with the impact.

"To even suggest my honourable Father could have a detestable monster as a child… You really want to suffer that much?"

"Ugh… I… I don't even know who your father is…"

I pulled him away from the pole, tearing a few strands of his hair in the process. The rope that had been binding his hands behind the pole snapped with a loud crack, freeing him from his restraints.

He roared and tried to punch at my face, his fist impacting my skin with a loud crunch.

The crunch sound coming from the bones in his knuckles breaking, that is.

I let him drop to the floor as he writhed in agony, clutching at his now broken hand.

"My inexperience caused Father to be taken from right under my protection once… Never again shall that come to pass again."

I pushed him to the ground by stepping on his back, forcing him to lie flat on his stomach, "Compared to all those horrors Father had to face back then… You barely qualify as the dirt that he steps on and you still dare to think about taking him away from us?"

He gave no indication of having heard me, opting to just cough and groan instead.

Annoyed, I increased my pressure on my foot, snapping his spine in two with a crack that echoed throughout the room.

Unfortunately, the scream that came out of his mouth annoyed me even more so I relocated my foot over to slam his head back into the ground.

"Now… I'm here more than just to end your miserable life. We want to know who your clients are in your little side job, someone specifically locked your memories for that part and we can't access it without risk of it deleting itself. The request we found for you to kidnap a little boy has extremely similar features to Father's, meaning someone specifically targeted him. Who is it?"

There was some mumbling from the floor at where his face was.

I knelt beside him and pulled his head up with a hand, "What did you say?"

He glared at me, "I said… You can go fu--"

I slammed his head back down before pulling him up again, "I didn't quite catch that, could you repeat?"

"Ugh… You bit--"

I slammed him harder into the ground, cracking it. Sticking one of my fingers out, I impaled my talon into his right hand, twisting it before pulling back out.

I chanced a taste of the blood on the talon before spitting it right back out. As expected, his blood tasted disgusting.

I pulled the pathetic trash's head off the ground again, "You were saying?"

"Kuuuhh… Urgh… I… I don't know… I just… Meet with this guy… He's… My middleman… I don't know who wants the kids…"

"And where is this middleman?"

"Jin… Jin city… The slums… Please… I don't want to die…"

I lifted him up by his collar, "You are going to have to give me more than that, which part of the slums? Who is he? Who and what else do we need to know?"

"Wayford inn!" He gasped. "Second floor, last room… Answers to Finch! I know nothing else, I swear!"

"Good enough," I muttered, throwing him against the far wall.

His body impacted the wall with a loud crash, his body sinking into the wall and staying there.

"Ughhhh… I… I already told you… What you want… Let me go… Please… Mercy…"

I extended a talon, running it across the left side of his face slowly. The blood that spilled out of the cut entirely painted his left cheek red before dripping onto the ground from his chin.

"You seem to be under some incorrect assumption," I growled. "You were never meant to leave here alive."

He tried to glare at me in a show of defiance, "You… Fu… Ugghhh… Damn monster…"

My hand stopped, "I see you haven't heard me the first time. To even suggest my Father could birth a monster, you really are blind. In that case, you don't need these."

I extended another talon before plunging both into his left eye, pulling it out amidst his screaming.

I immediately stuffed the disgusting thing into his mouth when he screamed, doing the same thing to his other eye.

I slammed his mouth shut with my palm, severing the muscles that were still attached to the optical organ with his own teeth.

Tilting his head back with the same palm, I forced him to swallow it before letting go.

"AARRGGHH!! MY EYES!! YOU DAMN MONSTER!"

"Monster again, huh? Oh well, seems like an idiot like you will never learn."

I punched my fist into his gut, ripping open his stomach to let his innards spill out.

He choked on his own blood as he struggled to breathe.

I waited for a few more moments when he was on the verge of death before I casted my Technique on him.

A flash of bright light enveloped him, restoring him to perfect health.

He blinked before looking down at his body.

"A dream?"

I didn't give him an answer before I plunged my talon into his eyes again, digging the useless organ out of the piece of trash.

This time I crushed both the little balls in my fist while ignoring his incessant screaming.

Pulling him out of the wall, I dropped him on the ground before proceeding to crush each of his limbs underneath my foot.

As the finisher, I ran my talon across his neck, letting him drown in his own blood.

Right before he died, I casted the same Technique again, restoring him back to perfect health.

He looked at me and tried to say something, but I had planted my foot on his chest and pulled his arms with my full strength, ripping them out of their sockets before he even had the chance to mouth the first syllable.

"Please! Please! Mercy! Please!" He cried, flailing about in his armless body.

I snorted, smacking him across the face with one of his disembodied limb, "Father would have given you a swift death because of his benevolence. But unfortunately for you… I'm not as benevolent."

I smacked him again with the other limb, "You will die. Again and again until you have fully repented from the sins you have commited. Until then… I hope you don't break too soon."

Not that it mattered, since I can heal his psyche as well after Father taught us about how the mind works to counter illusions. All I needed to do was just manipulate the right parts of his mind and he will be fine.

Now, let's make his death count to at least a hundred before I have to leave him here to rejoin Father.

…

…

I wonder if Father will call me a good girl today?

Chapter 121 - So... Purge?

(MC POV)

Dinner was a rather quiet and awkward affair.

The tension was so thick and it showed on the participants' faces.

Not me though, I'm just leaning back on my chair while sipping on an exquisite cup of tea that Manami had brewed for me, as usual.

Father sat at the head of the table with elder brother to his right and me after him. Odriana sat opposite elder brother with Elaria beside her, both of them clearly ignoring brother and father.

My disciples occupied the rest of the table, Cai Hong taking up the seat at my side and looking as adorable as always.

"So… Son," My father started, placing down his own cup of tea that was most definitely not brewed by Manami. "I heard you completed the Request already?"

I nodded without turning to him, "It was but a trifling thing, were you expecting me to be away for long?"

"Ah… Well… That is…"

"Wait a moment," Elaria spoke up. "What is this about Onii-sama completing a 'request'? This wouldn't happen to be a Guild Request would it?"

Elder brother faked a cough, "Umm… You see sister, there was a bit of an issue in the nearby region... And er… Younger brother was the best man for the job since we needed a Practitioner."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "And I was unaware of this because?"

He waved his hand at her, "Ah… As brother said, it was just a trifling thing right? There's no need for sister to get involved over something so insignificant."

Despite her words, I'm pretty sure Elaria was already aware of this already and she's just saying that she wasn't aware for reasons unknown to me.

"Ara, ara? Are you saying Master is only here for you to use to deal with inconsequential things? How interesting… Ufufufu," Manami chuckled, hiding her smile behind her sleeve.

Brother visibly panicked, "No, no! That's not what I meant at all!"

"I do not believe that Master is the only Practitioner around in this town," Lian Li added, ignoring his frantic denials. "Why were we not aware of this as well? Unless it was actually not an 'inconsequential' thing that needed Master to personally settle?"

My father gulped, "Ah… Well… Er… We didn't know where you girls went and… For us to ask any of you to do something for us is… You know?"

"No, I don't know," Diao Chan countered, placing her cutlery delicately on the table to smile at him. The smile was so frosty that I thought the whole room might have frozen over from that alone. "Do tell?"

I guess Elaria must have told them about the Request I was involved with. I suppose this will make things convenient for my plan.

I placed my cup back on its saucer with a loud 'clink' to get their attention, "It's fine girls. It was really just a small matter that I could take care of, there wasn't any need to trouble you all over it."

Elaria looked ready to protest but Lian Li stopped her, "If Master deems so, then it must be true."

Brother and father both breathed a sigh of relief.

"But…" I continued. "I caught sight of some monsters establishing a village near the path up the mountains, I believe they seek to prey on unwary travellers that are passing through that region."

The two of them sucked in a breath, prompting the girls to turn and stare at them, anger clear on their faces.

Seriously, if they're already so obvious about it, how the hell did they pull this off without anyone else knowing about it so far?

By how they're acting right now, I would even wager they only managed to get this far on pure luck alone.

"So I'm suggesting that they be subjugated," I announced without much fanfare. "And this would be the perfect opportunity for you girls to put what you've learnt so far into practical use. I will not be participating in this subjugation to judge how far you have progressed."

"Er… Son…" My father interrupted. "Is it really necessary though? They might just be harmless monsters who are staying in that vicinity…"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "I don't think the words 'harmless' and 'monster' belong in the same sentence. You're not hiding anything, are you?"

He scratched his head with a hand, "Huh? Erm… Of course not! I was just merely offering another possibility. One can never be too sure about these kinds of things."

"Very well then," I turned back to my disciples. "I want you girls to go wipe out that monster village, make sure nothing gets out of there alive. We can't be too sure about these kinds of things like father said."

Father's eyes widened, "Wait, wait, wait. That's a little too--"

"If Master wills it, it will be done," Eris announces stoically, disregarding my father's presence.

My brother started panicking as well, "Wait! To send defenceless girls there by themselves… Aren't you a little heartless, brother?"

"Helpless?" All of my girls echoed, a dangerous glint in their eyes.

He flinched.

I picked up my tea again to glance at him over the cup's rim, "I assure you, brother… My disciples are anything but helpless. I would be a terrible teacher if they aren't at least capable of self-defence by now. You are welcome to try them if you would like?"

He shook his head quickly, "No… I'm fine… I'll err… I'll take your word for it."

"But… Just asking," My father added nervously. "Did you see anything else other than the monsters? Like… Maybe some weird people dressed in dark robes?"

No seriously… How the hell did you two manage to pull all of this off without anyone finding out? You're practically confessing to all your crimes at this point.

Unless… These two aren't the masterminds behind this entire thing?

That seems like a more plausible case now.

But if that's the case, who else could be the one pulling the strings?

Some other noble House that have their sights on this town's technological advancements? The Dark Sect members might know, so I guess I'll interrogate a few when I go and take care of them tomorrow.

I realised I've yet to answer my father's question yet.

"Oh, not at all. Was there news on weird people dressed in dark robes appearing in the area?" I asked.

He sighed, "If you didn't then that's goo-- I mean… Er... Just curious, that's all."

They would make really horrible villains indeed.

They could learn a thing or two about acting from those idols, especially that white haired fox youkai. She's a real enigma, that one.

"Master? I assume it is fine to burn all those monsters into cinders?" Manami asked, a fierce glint in her eyes.

I nodded, "Umu, just make sure to get every one of them. Wouldn't want one of them to survive and return to seek revenge or something."

There shouldn't be any cockroach characters there right?

Please tell me I did not raise another flag?

Nah, flags don't apply to monsters right?

Cai Hong pulled at me sleeve, "Papa? Is Cai Hong a good girl?"

All my worries dissipated as I patted her head and watched her purr, "Of course, Cai Hong is a really good girl!"

Yeah, I'm probably just worrying too much.

Chapter 122 - Raising Flags With The Other Fox

(Kiyomi POV) [Manami's sister, the white fox in case you forgot]

"But Mark! For someone to do such things to you… It's nyot fair!" My nekomata colleague, Hikari, called out with a voice full of concern.

The boy sighed dramatically, flicking the front of his hair that was drenched wet with his hand. His clothes were soaked through as well, courtesy of someone dumping a bucket of water on him.

"This is the burden that one such as I must carry, it matters not to me."

"It is still unfair nyaa!" She protested. "You did it to protect me and yet they did this to you!"

The boy walked up to her and slammed the wall behind her with a palm, causing her to flinch slightly from the unexpected action.

"And I regret not one moment of it. For you, are worth that and more."

I watched the kid perform his lines flawlessly on stage without any guidance at all.

With how well he has been performing so far, I'm starting to believe his initial story about him being a forty year old veteran in the entertainment industry who got transmigrated back to his younger self.

It's either that or he's just an absolute genius.

Actually, both being true is a possibility as well.

I also wonder if this 'Mark' personality is his real self all this while?

Interesting...

The current scene ended as the boy walked off the stage, leaving a dazzled nekomata watching his departure silently from where she sat on the ground.

"That was perfect. And I think our little Hikari wasn't just acting at the end over there," a voice whispered from beside me.

My eyes shifted to the side to see the slime girl, Chuya, smiling at the stage appreciatively,

I nodded slightly to her words, "I think we can move on to the second part tomorrow. Are the scripts ready yet? The boy has been bugging me for the last half of his script for the entirety of yesterday."

"It will be done by tonight," The Ryu girl, Kana, assured me from my other side. "Unfortunately, that also means you'll only have the morning to read through your part before the rehearsal. Think you can do it, Kiyomi?"

I tilted my head at her, "If I must. I was already prepared for such a thing when we decided to redo the script."

Chuya smiled at my words, "Can you blame us? Despite our initial feelings towards this little skit, we are indeed having fun are we not?"

Kana giggled, "You're not wrong. Makes me consider to just leave this as a full time thing instead of a publicity stunt for our manager."

A moment later, both the boy and Hikari came to join us, the nekomata leaning her hand on his shoulder.

"Nyahaha! That was purrfect kiddo! I admit you got my heart to skip a tiny bit back there when you slammed that wall!"

"I'm glad you approve, just don't go falling for me," The boy replied with a straight face.

Hikari chuckled at his words, "Nyaahahaha! Sorry boya, you're a little too young for me! Come back again when you're a few years older!"

I detected a slight hint of seriousness in her usually teasing voice.

He shrugged, not showing any signs of whether he took her suggestion seriously or not.

"That's it for today then. Thanks for your hard work," Chuya commented, her gelatinous body slipping out of the chair she had been occupying with ease.

Kana followed her lead, stretching her long, snake-like body with a groan, "These chairs really hurt my poor tail… Isn't there something they can do about it?"

I pursed my lips, "It can't be helped, they did not design this place with youkais in mind."

The boy seemed to ponder for a moment before fishing out a vial of clear liquid and handing it to Kana, "Here, this should help with sores and pains. Just apply it to the places that hurt before going to bed."

Kana takes it with a skeptical look, "And you have this on you because?"

He shrugged, "I use it on my disciples whenever they have a rather intensive training session. I can personally guarantee its effects."

"Ah yes, your imaginary 'disciples'," I rolled my eyes. "The ones that you insist that exist somewhere in town?"

"Well, it's up to you to believe me or not, I don't really care either way."

"Nyaahahaha~ The boy really has a mouth on him eh?" Hikari laughed. "Anyway, I gotta bounce first, I have things I gotta do today, see you girls tomorrow! And you too, little Mark!"

The nekomata disappeared out of the theatre after giving a backwards wave.

"Then I shall get going as well, I'll see you all tomorrow," Chuya followed out, stifling a yawn on the way.

"Same here. Thanks for this er… Mark. I'll try it tonight," Kana gave the bottle another glance before slithering out after the slime.

That leaves me alone with the kid.

I noticed he was still dripping wet from the bucket of water dumped on him earlier.

"Are you not going to dry yourself?" I asked, pointing a finger at him. "I'm surprised they let you walk around like that."

He looked down at himself as though he just noticed his condition, "Oh… Yeah I told them it was fine since I could deal with it, then the nekomata girl caught me and I kind of just forgot about it."

For someone to forget he was soaked through… I don't even know what to say.

I sighed, reaching my hand out in preparation to circulate the Ice quarks I was most proficient with in order to dry the boy.

Before I could do so though, the kid had just placed his index finger on his shirt before pulling it away with deliberate slowness.

The water on his body immediately gathered towards where his finger had touched before it floated out as a blob of water to hover above his finger, leaving him completely dry.

That blob of water vaporized almost instantly after floating there for a second, stunning me with his expertise in manipulating Quarks.

Did I really just see that? My eyes weren't playing tricks on me right?

"Was that… Multicasting?"

He looked up at my question, one of his eyebrows raised before both his eyes went wide.

"Oh not again… That… Er… Nope, you must be mistaken."

I grasped both his shoulders quickly, "You! You're a Practitioner?!"

He looked to the side but I turned his head back to face me with one of my tails.

"Answer me! How can a kid like you already be a Practitioner with that level of expertise?! Don't you dare lie to me!"

He frowned at me, "You wouldn't believe me anyway. And it's not like I owe you anything for me to tell you any of that."

"I got you in this skit, didn't I?"

He gave me a wry smile, "I'm not dumb you know? Not to be arrogant about it but I'm pretty sure I'm irreplaceable for my role at the moment. If anything, you guys owe me."

I hate to admit it, but he's right.

Where else could we find another kid that not only fits the character's personality so perfectly but also the splitting image of the original character?

If I hadn't known better, I would have thought the book was originally written with him in mind.

"Who are you, really?"

His grin got wider, "I told you already didn't I? I'm a forty year old Practitioner who transmigrated back to his younger body."

I stared at him, but his grin did not waver.

I sighed, "Alright, let's say I believe your story that just so happens to be the most popular genre of novels being written right now. What proof do you have?"

He shrugged, "I already said I don't need to prove anything to you. Although… Hmmm… I actually have somewhere I need to be, I could show you instead?"

My eyes narrowed at him, "And where might that be? Some dark, secluded place where no one will see us?"

"You're not wrong, but it's not what you're thinking. I'm going to take care of some Dark Sect members in the forests nearby and I could use a plus one. Ok, that's not true. I don't really need your help but I think this was too perfect a setup for a 'face-slap' situation for me to pass up."

"And you're not even hiding it…"

"So? You coming or no?"

I crossed my arms at him, "If you're saying that you can already deal with the Dark Sect yourself, then why are you bringing me along?"

He shrugged, "You wanted proof right? Take it or leave it."

I only needed a second to decide, "You know what? Fine. Let's see how long you can keep this facade up."

If he really is a strong Practitioner, perhaps even I could… No. That would be just too convenient.

He grinned and grasped my hand with his, "Alright then, don't regret this."

My vision turned white.

Chapter 123 - Setting The Mousetrap

(MC POV)

I teleported both the white fox and I a distance away from the Dark Sect enclave, a small clearing that I managed to find during my initial scouting back then.

Honestly, I only took her along just for the heck of it. If it turns out to be a bad idea, I'll just wipe her memories if I have to later.

The fox youkai looked around in confusion, taking about a minute to take in her surroundings.

"Was that… Teleportation?" She asked with a voice full of wonder.

"Yep, the Dark Sect is just up ahead. Just like… Hide somewhere or something if you don't want to get involved."

"I would be against leaving a kid to deal with a group of Dark Sect members themselves… But something tells me I'll be face-slapped even harder if I said that, am I right?"

I grinned at her, I think I'm coming to like bantering with this girl, "You know your stuff."

"Not by choice, I'm afraid," she sighed. "But still, I would like to see what you can do if you don't mind. I can at least handle myself so you need not worry about me."

I shrugged a go ahead as I strutted towards the Dark Sect's direction.

I found the clearing easily enough, the previously crowded camp now devoid of anyone but a pair of sentries that sat near the centre of the camp.

Both of them were wearing the standard Dark Sect robes with the hood pulled over their faces, it was obvious that neither of them were serious in their lookout duties by how laid back they were.

When they finally saw me pushing my way out of the undergrowth near them, they immediately stood up with their palms pointed towards me.

"Stop right there! Who the hell are you?!"

I yelped at their angry voices before glancing around the camp in panic, my legs quivering at the same time dramatically.

"Uwuuu… You're not daddy and mommy… Where's daddy and mommy?" I cried out, squeezing out tears from the corners of my eyes.

"Aww it's just some lost kid man, you're way too jumpy," One of the sentries muttered, smacking his partner's shoulder playfully.

I pretended to be scared as the other one started stalking towards me, his face barely visible underneath his hood.

"You lost kid?" He asked, his grin showing rows of missing teeth.

I added in a tremble in my shoulders for dramatic effect, "Ye… Yes… Sir… Do you know where this is? Umm… Are you ummm… Bad people? My mom told me not to talk to bad people…"

His grin stretched to the sides of his face, "Oh, we're definitely not bad people. We are--"

"Goddamnit Si Ren! That's the kid we are supposed to kill!" The one at the back shouted, a mass of black flame already ammassing in his palm.

I clucked my tongue in annoyance.

I had thought putting on makeup was a little bit too much and using an illusion might tip them off in case they could sense the usage of Techniques in the area.

I may just be paranoid for the last part but hey, not like I really need it anyway.

Well, guess tricking information out of them is off the table. Time to do this the hard way.

I punched my fist in between the closest guy's legs, leaving him heaving and wheezing in pain on the ground.

The other one had sent forth a blast of dark flames at me but with a little bit of Astral quarks, I managed to manipulate the flame's direction to blast into the ground a few feet away from me instead.

That Dark Sect member looked confused at why his Technique got redirected away but quickly recovered to attack again.

Unfortunately he wasn't quick enough.

By the time he had enough sense to turn back to me, my knee was already flying towards his face, hitting him square between the eyes and knocking him out.

I only needed one of them for information after all.

"I think I'm starting to believe you now," the fox commented, stepping out of the forest to join me.

I grinned, "Did you know, I've yet to tell you a single lie?"

She raised an eyebrow at me, "So your name is really Mark?"

"I was introducing myself as the character so technically not lying. It's not like you even told me your name anyway?"

"Touche."

I went up to the guy who was still rolling on the ground and clutching the area between his legs in pain.

Waving my hand to summon two vines from the ground, I binded his arms to lift him into the air in front of me.

"So, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. What are you guys doing here? I doubt a Dark Sect enclave would pop up around here for no reason."

"What makes you think he'll talk so easily?" The fox asked from behind me.

I turned to scowl at her, "Oh quiet you, can't you see I'm interrogating him?"

She shrugged and gestured a go ahead.

I turned back to see the Dark Sect member glare down at me, though his body still twitched from time to time because of the pain.

"So? I can just rip the memories out of you, but I'd rather be civilised here."

The guy spat at me, the spittle barely missing the side of my face as I avoided it by tilting my head.

"Hard way it is, then," I sighed, snapping my fingers.

Three more vines sprouted out from underneath the guy, two of them pulling his legs apart while the last one hovered underneath his robes between his legs.

"Last chance," I warned. "That thing has spikes."

A look of panic graced his face, "Damn it! I don't know everything but… We found something buried here and the boss is trying to understand what we found! That's all I know!"

"You got to do better than that," I gestured to the vine that was inching closer to him.

He sucked in a breath, trying to wriggle himself out of his prison, "The boss found an orb! It's energy was linked to this place and we're studying it! The boss will know more! Just don't put that thing in me!"

"Sure," I lied, waving my hand at him to have that vine sprout out spikes and dive straight between the guy's legs.

I drowned out his screams with a barrier I set up around him.

Guess I'll have to make that 'boss' come back here with his lackeys then… Not before I thoroughly loot this place that is.

"You're quite the sadistic one, hmmm?" The fox commented.

I had expected her to be disgusted by the sight but she was looking at my work with an odd look of interest.

She turned to me, "Very efficient and effective, I guess that must come from your forty years of experience?"

My lips stretched to a thin line, "You could say that."

She probably noticed my expression and chose not to pursue the matter, "So what's next on your wise plan?"

That question brought a smile to my face, "Well… I was thinking of blowing this place up for starters…"

Fire blossomed from my palms.

"Get the others running to the smoke, you know?"

Chapter 124 - When You Going About Your Day But The Boss Fight Theme Starts Playing

(Dark Sect Enclave Leader POV)

I fidgeted, my fingers pinching the edge of my cloak impatiently.

I have posted sentries on the road since yesterday night just in case the group we were after decided to travel through here under the cover of darkness but no reports of such an occurrence came in.

That means the group has yet to pass through here and even if they take their own damn sweet time to travel, they should already be here by now.

Yet, we've seen hide nor hair of them ever since setting ourselves up to wait here in the morning.

The others were already losing their minds from having to maintain their hidden position for several hours without anything happening and I was close to that state as well.

Seriously, where the hell is our target?!

Do you know how painful it is to just stand here and do nothing for several hours huh?!

If he was considerate enough, he would have appeared long ago already and let us shank him!

Damnit, if I get my hands on him, I'm gonna--

A huge explosion rocked through the forest, sending most of us tumbling to the ground from the shockwave.

"Boss! Our base!" One of my subordinates shouted, pointing towards where a plume of smoke was trailing out of the forest canopy.

"We posted two sentries there right?" I asked.

My subordinate nodded.

I cursed under my breath, inwardly hoping that it was just the two idiots doing some cooking gone wrong or something, but I already know a smoke and explosion of that size couldn't be caused by some minor cooking problems.

I rallied everyone to retreat back to our base, our current mission of hunting that little kid put aside for the more important crisis at hand.

About seventy of us hurried back to the campsite, finding it in complete disarray.

The whole place looked like a tornado had crashed through it, tossing everything everywhere before a rain of fire descended upon its remains.

The only reason why none of us had moved forward to try and put out the fires was the small figure sitting on top of the two dead bodies of the sentries, a smile stretching from ear to ear plastered on his face.

I recognised him immediately as the kid we were supposed to kill.

"Looking for me?" He asked, his grin not leaving his face.

In that split second, we all knew what must be done.

As Dark Sect Practitioners, everyone else is our enemy. If a normal Practitioner knows of our existence, there can only be one side surviving at the end of the day.

All of us are in the Dark Sect for various reasons of our own, be it for power or maybe even some estranged belief that whatever we do is for a greater good. Whatever the reasons were, we were rejected by the 'normal' society of Practitioners and were forced to become outcasts.

If this kid were to get word out that there was a Dark Sect enclave here, all the Practitioners in the area will definitely descend upon us and wipe us out.

We could run of course, but that would mean leaving whatever we found here behind and that was unacceptable.

The discovery we had here cannot fall into other people's hands.

I clapped my hands together while the others similarly readied their own Techniques, intending to end the kid right there and then.

None of us were doubting the kid to be a powerful Practitioner at this point.

If the kid was surprised by our actions, it did not show on his face.

Instead, it only made his smile wider.

"Not even a greeting? How rude. I even greeted the last Dark Sect group I came across before slaughtering them, you know? A simple 'hello there' would have sufficed, no?"

This brat!

"Dark Blaze!" One of my subordinates shouted out, casting a blast of black coloured flames at him.

The boy's grin turned into a sneer as he waved his hand in an arc, directing the blast of flames away from him and towards a group of unwary Dark Sect members, burning them to ashes.

"You got to do better than that."

A few of us roared in outrage as they sent their own Techniques flying towards him, intending to wipe him out of existence.

Damn fools! If he could deflect one of our Techniques, what's stopping him from deflecting everything else back at us?!

As though reading my mind, the little kid just smirked at me before disappearing from where he was, avoiding all the casted Techniques that came crashing down at where he had been.

"Illusion?" I heard one of my subordinates mutter.

"That's right," A voice answered from beside him, right before a spear of ice was impaled through his chest.

That subordinate gasped and clawed at his chest, collapsing onto the ground in a heap.

"Huh… I actually thought he had some form of protection Technique inscribed on him… Guess it was weaker than I thought?" The boy commented, inspecting the corpse with interest.

A cold drop of sweat rolled down the back of my neck.

He just killed off Mu Tou, who supposedly had the highest defensive Technique amongst all of us. His Technique was said to even be able to block a direct attack from a Master tier attack.

And an ice spear from him just broke through that defense like it was tofu?

"Hey… Just to make sure," The kid tugged at my sleeve. "You guys really are Dark Sect Practitioners right? I'd feel bad if I accidentally killed a bunch of pretenders."

The thought of denying that fact crossed my mind for a second.

"I'm just kidding," The kid laughed. "I already know you guys are Dark Sect Practitioners. So just die."

I felt a gust of wind blow past me.

The Sacrificial Bracelet that I wore on my right wrist broke.

It was something that can absorb a fatal blow for me once at the cost of it shattering after doing so.

All around me, the other Dark Sect Practitioners started to collapse lifelessly into the ground, their heads severed from their bodies.

"Oh? You blocked that? Interesting…" The kid scratched his chin with a hand.

If I don't do anything now, I'll definitely die!

I only managed to understand the summoning part and not the submission part but this will have to do for this situation!

I pulled out a purple orb from my own storage ring, this thing was the main reason why we were staying around here in the first place.

Having found this orb by chance in some unmarked ruins years ago, I managed to find that it was linked to a summoning stone that was built into the ground in this very clearing.

Using everything I had at my disposal, I gathered an expedition group from the Sect and formed an enclave here to study it.

I even had to bow my head to some dragon just to take attention off of us while we were here, how humiliating!

At least there was this father and son merchant pair corrupt enough to do business with us, so supplies were not a problem. But to think just because of a moment of greed we accepted their request to kill this kid will render our hard work entirely moot.

It was through months of dedicated study that I finally managed to uncover the summoning part of the stone. We haven't attempted to summon whatever the stone was linked to since I was still unable to guarantee the obedience of what was summoned.

Judging by the inscriptions I managed to decipler, it was supposed to be an exceptionally strong being that normal humans can barely comprehend.

Unfortunately, I don't have a choice now. This kid was too dangerous to be left alive, I'll probably get killed by the summoned monster but so will the kid.

Circulating my Quarks into the orb, I released the seals on it and connected it mentally to the stone inscription that I had become familiar with over these past few months.

Both the orb and the stone hidden under the rubble of a tent began glowing an eerie purple colour, the boy looking too surprised to do anything.

A portal immediately opened up above the stone, tentacles ripping apart the space to pull itself out of that portal.

The portal expanded slowly as a giant, black, oozing, slimey, multi-legged, hundred-eyed tentacle monster pulled itself out of wherever it came from.

That thing was frightening even for me.

It's presence alone was enough to send me to my knees, the air thrummed with its power, even the fires were immediately quenched by its presence alone.

The air got heavier and everything looked darker, I had to force myself to remember to breathe before I passed out.

Surely… Something like this could no doubt bring total destruction to our world.

My only regret was not being able to witness it.

"Oh, not you! Why is there even a summoning stone for you here?!" I heard the boy wail out in frustration.

Wait… The kid knows what that thing is?

Just who the hell is he?

Chapter 125 - But It Ok Because You On New Game Plus

(MC POV)

Ok, I got a little careless there, I know.

But when the dude took out that orb and I sensed some kind of interdimensional energy from it, I got curious ok? Can you blame me for satisfying my curiosity?

Don't tell me that 'curiosity killed the cat', that saying ends with 'but satisfaction brought it back' ok?

And I'd say I'm quite satisfied by what I've discovered so far.

If you can call meeting this giant tentacle thing that I've met before in my past life satisfactory, that is.

Why the hell is there a summoning sigil for it down here in the damn Earthen Plane huh?!! Isn't this place supposed to be the easy mode? Why do we have all the top powerhouses showing up here?!

Don't tell me they're like the veteran players going back to the tutorial zones just so they can bully the newbies?

What pricks.

Hey, I'm different ok? I was originally from here. Totally different case.

"?EnO taerG siht snommus ohw" The thing asked, it's voice similar to the sound of nails dragging across a chalkboard.

The Dark Sect Practitioner convulsed before vomiting blood, the thing's presence obviously too much for him to handle.

I'm not sure how the fox youkai was handling it but she should be better off considering she has nine tails and she's watching this from a very far distance away.

Good thing I made her leave the area just in case I had to battle another expert and go all out.

See? I can be careful.

A hundred eyes trained themselves on me, the only one that was still standing upright in this clearing.

"?Latrom ,uoy ti si"

I pointed my finger at the still spasming Dark Sect Practitioner, "Nope, he's the guy you're looking for."

The Dark Sect guy looked up at me, his face now splattered with blood that was pouring out of every orifice he had, "You… Blurgh… You… Understand it?"

I ignored him, watching as the eyes on that thing turned towards the other guy, "?Em ekil enO taerG a denommus mih ekil gniht ynup a"

I nodded, "You got that right, so do whatever to him, leave me out of it."

A ripple of energy washed through the area and the world went silent.

The Dark Sect Practitioner looked at me, his eyes wide open in shock.

His lower body started crumbling into dust, spreading its way up from his legs to his waist. The upper half of his body hit the ground first before it disintegrated as well, his ashes dispersing into the air until nothing remained.

The hundred eyes turned back to regard me, "?SenO taerG eht fo egaugnal eht wonk uoy taht ti si woH …uoy dnA"

"I've met your kind before," I answered emotionlessly.

The thing lifted a tentacle to point at me, ".Eid os ,ereh denommus gnieb retfa doom dab a ni m'I …tub evil uoy tel dluow I …gnitseretnI"

A beam of light shot out from that tentacle, enveloping the entire clearing and burning everything caught in the light.

My entire vision went white.

(Kiyomi POV)

I gasped as that monstrosity fired some kind of light that seemed to disintegrate everything inside the clearing.

The kid had warned me the following fight might have massive collateral damages and advised me to watch from a far enough distance away.

Thanks to a little Technique that allowed me to view his location through a mirror, I could watch him clearly from a great distance away as though he was right in front of me.

But even standing at around ten kilometers away, I felt my entire body freeze up in fear the moment that monster came through the portal.

That thing was something that shouldn't exist.

It took all of my willpower to not throw myself down in the dirt to prostrate myself before it.

It exuberated immense power, so much that the entire area was suppressed by its aura alone.

I had no doubts that if that thing so wished, this entire world would burn before its might and no one could stop it.

The ray of light that was being emitted from the tentacle dimmed, revealing the entire clearing devoid of any living thing.

Even the ground was dry and cracked, as though suffering from years of drought.

It was only then I remembered the kid had been there, no doubt burnt to a crisp by now.

Unfortunate.

I guess that means our little show will have to be cancelled, not that I'm complaining much.

This would be a good time to make myself scarce.

"I was hoping you would just leave… Guess I should have expected something like this from you…" A voice echoed.

It did not seem to be directed at me but rather, at the tentacled thing itself.

That was when I realised the kid was still standing in the middle of the clearing, his head tilted upwards to look straight at the tentacled monster.

Aside from the steam rising from his clothes, he was entirely unharmed.

"?Uoy era tahW .latrom erem on era uoY …gnitseretnI" The tentacled monster spoke in its gut wrenching voice.

"Me? You once took everything from me… Kept me around as your plaything and tortured me at your leisure. You had a lot of fun at my expense."

The creature gave what could be a confused gurgle, "?Era uoy ohw wonk neve t'nod I"

"Not right now you don't… But you will."

The boy's body started glowing as he rose into the air, even from this distance I could see his eyes giving off a reddish hue.

An insane amount of energy was gathering around him, the entire weather was changing rapidly as storm clouds began to gather.

Lightning and thunder struck overhead and winds began picking up speed, blowing through the forest to gather around the boy.

The tentacle monster reared up a few of its tentacles and lashed out at the boy, intending to strike him down before he could do whatever he was planning to do.

The boy just flicked both his hands and both of the tentacles exploded into particles of light before it could even reach him.

The area became even brighter and the previously cracked ground began restoring itself. The cracks melding together before fresh soil flowed into the clearing with grass sprouting on it almost immediately.

Saplings pushed their way towards the skies as each of them grew rapidly, maturing into adult trees in a matter of seconds.

"!?daed eb ot desoppus er'uoY !eb t'nac tI …oN …eno on tuB ?lasrevinU"

"Not sure if you're talking about our past life together but I assure you I'm very much alive," The boy scoffed, his voice now sounding like it came from multiple throats at once. "And since I've yet to test this out on anyone yet, you're just the perfect thing for me."

I could hear him suck in a breath and the world brightened for a second.

The clouds above him parted into a perfect circle, revealing a portion of the sky where countless stars were suddenly visible in the late afternoon sky.

A mixture of white and black miasma coated his body as he lifted his hand to point a single finger at the monstrosity.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood and I covered my ears just in time as the monster let out an ear-piercing scream, its tentacles writhing around in the air in obvious agony.

White and black fire exploded out from its body, burning away every inch of its body into nothingness.

The process was slow, it was obvious that the kid wanted that monster to suffer throughout the entire process. Though his face looked to be the picture of perfect calm, I could tell from the slight twitch on his lips that he felt great satisfaction from it.

"!Emit txen tnenamrep eb lliw htaed ruoy erus ekam lliw I !enO taerG a llik tonnac uoY …uoY !siht rebmemer lliw I" The tentacled thing screeched.

The boy chuckled, "I'm no longer afraid of you, you giant mutated hairball."

It took a full agonising minute for the monster to completely burn away, leaving nothing behind to even suggest its existence.

To think this kid had some beef with that tentacled monstrosity that could potentially wipe out all living things… Not to mention the fact that he could understand the guttural voice that made my hair stand every time it spoke.

There was no doubt about it now.

Even if the kid told me he was some other dimensional godly unicorn that came to this world to spread rainbows and destruction, I'll believe every word of it.

Manami… I guess you were right all along.

I'll have to find her and apologise later.

In the meantime, I should prepare to greet my new Master.

Chapter 126 - Another Fluff Get

(MC POV)

I opened my eyes to see a pair of blue eyes partially covered by strands of white hair staring back at me. It took me a moment to realise I was lying down on the ground with my head supported by her lap.

I blinked, "You're still here?"

She smiled. It was the first genuine, full-faced smile I saw coming from her, "Why wouldn't I be? After a display like that, I would be a fool to just leave here."

I groaned, feeling a headache assaulting my cranium.

Using the new skill of connecting myself to those 'stars' within my Cultivation Point, I managed to power up enough to banish that monstrosity back to whence it came with just a finger.

Unfortunately, this body is not yet strong enough to maintain that power for long, as evidenced by me blacking out right after I released the power up.

At least it wasn't as bad as vomiting out half the blood in my body like last time, shows that I've at least improved, right?

I guess the fox must have seen me collapse after banishing that tentacled freak back to the abyss, deciding to take care of me while I was unconscious.

Hopefully she didn't do anything funny.

"How long was I out?" I asked, trying to sit up.

"About an hour," She replied without hesitation, pulling me to lie back down on her lap. "And you shouldn't move too much yet. You must have expanded a lot of energy right? Just rest now."

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Since when have you been so caring?"

"Is it a problem for me to care for someone who is hurt?"

"Well, I'm not hurt and you're starting to creep me out."

She placed a hand on my head, her smile coming back to her face as she gently stroked my head, "It's alright. You've done well, just rest for now."

I sat up forcefully, pulling myself out of her grasp, "Ok… No. You don't get to act like that after being so cold and distant to me for the past few days. Also, I have other things I need to take care of, so if you'll excuse me."

She did not stop me from moving this time, opting to just stay where she was and show me that disconcerting smile of hers.

Spreading my arms outwards, I activated the scrying inscriptions I had left at the monster's village.

A small portal ripped open in front of me, showing a bird's eye view of the monster's village.

Or at least, what I remembered to be the monster's village.

The entire area was scorched black with nothing left to suggest former residents there, not even the foundations of the buildings were spared.

I know I've taught them to be thorough but… This is beyond my expectations.

I guess I should give them all some headpats when I get back… After I deal with the problem over here that is…

Ah well, nothing I can't handle. Just going to set off all the other preparations I put in place just in case.

Luckily I can be assured that all the Dark Sect Practitioners are done for thanks to that meddlesome tentacled thingy. If anyone survived that blast, I think he deserves to live.

Just kidding, I'll do another swoop around the forest to make sure they're all gone, I did say I like being thorough.

Now, just gonna snap my fingers and we can just call it a day.

Alright, now to deal with this new girl who is still staring at me with that intense gaze of hers.

"Ok, I'll ask," I started. "What's the deal? You want something, right?"

Her smile came back, "I know you don't want me to waste your time so…"

She moved herself to face me before placing both her hands on the ground in front of her, bowing her head low to just a few centimeters away from her hands.

"Please accept this unworthy one as your honoured one's disciple."

I crossed my arms, "Let me guess… Judging by the contents of our conversation last time where you talked about weakness… You're seeking power are you not?"

Her head bowed even lower, "Yes. What I seek is to follow the epitome of strength! Please allow me to follow behind your greatness!"

"And when you find someone stronger than me, what then? Abandon me for them?"

She lifted up her head, her smile still plastered on her face, "I will not lie to you. At this point, there is only one other person whom I might leave you for and that is my sister's mate."

I raised an eyebrow, "Your sister's mate? You mean you'll share a mate with her?"

She nodded slightly, "My sister and I have always shared everything… It was for that reason that I sought to leave her village in an attempt to be independent for once… If I were to deem my sister's mate unworthy of the respect that I have for you, there shall be none other I will follow other than you."

Well, I'm not worried about her abandoning me to follow someone stronger, it's a dog eat dog world in the other Planes after all. If I were to get my ass handed to me by some other guy, it'll make sense for her to cling to the safest means of survival.

That's what I did to survive back then after all, so I'm not going to be a hypocrite and fault her for it.

Since I have no intentions of going to those Planes for now, I shouldn't come across some really strong Practitioners that could rival the current me.

Ah… There's those busybodies who go around spiriting people away huh… Not sure if they will come back for Elaria?

Well, I already left a tracking inscription on her so there shouldn't be any problems even if they do try to take her away.

Anyway, that's a problem for another day. I suppose I don't mind having another disciple around, she might even become good friends with Manami seeing how they're both nine tailed foxes.

I shall not affirm nor deny the fact that the thought of having a fluffy bed of eighteen fox tails was especially tempting to me.

Come on!

Don't say you won't be tempted too! They're so fluffy!

I'm going to fluff Manami's tails while she makes me tea when I get back later.

Ah, for now I guess I'll let my other disciples take a look at her. The girls would probably have a better scope of this girl's mentality since they're of the same gender anyway.

Not that I'm being sexist but… Sometimes the girls just really confound me…

All I got to do now is hope the mate of this fox's sister isn't some OP dude that can one shot interdimensional horrors.

I mean, what are the odds of that being true, right?

Chapter 127 - A Doomed Man

(Random Orc POV)

My name is Guzash, supposedly the son of the Orc chief of this village.

I say supposedly because my real name was Leo Fowler, a former resident of Earth.

Life had been rather normal for the thirty year old me. I work a normal job, had a small group of people I might call friends and also not a girlfriend in sight.

Yep, life was normal for the virgin me up until I got a seizure from a jumpscare video and passed away in front of my computer while surfing through porn.

Yeah, my death was really anti-climatic, I know. At least truck-kun gave me a pass, so I think I'm already a little better in that regard.

But of course, instead of just dying, I got to be transmigrated like all those stories I've read about these days.

It's common for isekai protagonists to be aware they are being transmigrated so that there isn't a need for them to be confused about it right? With just a simple backstory of them reading about these kinds of stories, the author doesn't need to spend time to make the character be in denial about the transmigration.

Heck, the protagonist could even be welcoming said transmigration and know everything there is to know about it.

So simple and effective.

I even met someone who called herself a goddess who claimed I'm some special person with good karma and I deserve another chance at life.

I won't even bore you with the details on how she gave me a supposedly cheat system and sent me to this new world to do whatever I want with my new life.

What she didn't tell me was that I wasn't transmigrated as a human, but some kind of Orc monster instead.

On the plus side, the system I got seemed to be the real deal.

It is entirely similar to all those RPG games I used to play and there's even an evolution system where I can evolve myself the longer I survive.

Yes, I play games. Thus we can cut the content about me stumbling over the stat values and wondering what to do with the system. How convenient.

I learnt within the first few days that Orcs were considered to be monsters because of their simple-mindedness.

I can see why though.

Within the tribe, other than the Orc chief, everyone else seems to lack even basic cognitive functions outside of their instincts.

Apparently normal orcs were pigs that have been mutated by quarks and transformed into this kind of monster that survive mostly on instinct. If an Orc gains enough power, it might gain enough sentience to form a tribe.

Fortunately, the system seems to recognise the tribe as my 'followers' and I could spend points to upgrade them as a whole.

I decided to let my 'father' stay as chief since he knows more about the world than I did at that point in time. Of course, once I gained enough power, I fully plan to take over this tribe and build my own piece of paradise here like those transmigrating protagonists!

Thanks to the system, our little tribe expanded after absorbing the other Orc tribes into our own, increasing my followers.

I managed to gather enough points to evolve all the Orcs to at least possess basic intelligence, allowing them to wield weapons and form organised raiding parties.

Our achievements got quite a lot of attention however, since we've unofficially established ourselves as the apex within these plains.

First one to seek us out was the dragon that had swooped down on top of our village one afternoon. I needed to have three orcs pin my father down before he did something stupid like charging at the dragon unarmed and pissing it off.

Since it had chosen to land in our village instead of burning it down from overhead, it must definitely want something from us.

My hypothesis was proven right when it demanded us to recognise it as the lord of this land.

He would grant us protection in return of us worshipping him and presenting him tribute at the end of every week.

Since we had less to lose from accepting, I made the entire village subordinate to the dragon, intending to kill it eventually when I'm strong enough one day.

Next, it was a robed human that had approached our tribe a few days later, not at all concerned that they were walking straight into a village full of monsters.

I managed to hold my 'father' back again to meet with the stranger in place of him. At this point of time, he had become nothing more than a figurehead for the tribe. I still kept him fed and satisfied seeing how I was using him as a scapegoat in case anything goes wrong in the future.

Seeing as how he's the only one not recognised by the system as part of my followers, I have a feeling I shouldn't keep my 'father' around for long.

The robed person made a deal with us: our cooperation in assaulting a town nearby and slaughtering its inhabitants. In return, we can use the town as we saw fit and they will provide us with food, equipment and materials we needed to keep the town running for the next year.

The system had scanned that person as an entity even more dangerous than the dragon so I decided it was a better idea to go along with that person's plans for now.

It was also beneficial to us since we needed a more permanent base of operations anyway.

Once I voiced my consent, the hooded human introduced me to this pair of father and son who would be in charge of our supplies that we will need to take that town.

Unfortunately for me, both of them were weirdly arrogant about their position, talking down to me like I was inferior to them.

It seemed like they were under the impression that we were here to take over the village for them, though why they would think that way I hadn't the slightest clue.

I wisely decided not to correct them on that point however, since I believe the hooded human intended for us to get rid of these two once they've served their purpose. A decision I can wholeheartedly get behind of.

Everything was proceeding as planned until a request came from the father and son duo. Apparently a kid was coming through the valley that they needed to get rid of no matter what.

I chalked it up to some political issues they had in their midst and decided to just accept it. The pay was good and it should be an easy task right? I mean, it's just a kid.

Well… A day after accepting that request, the system issued a new mission for me.

[You done screwed up]

Objective: Survive

Rewards: You live

Penalty: You a dead boi and your soul gets sent to the abyss.

What?

Well… Aside from the fact that it's just stating the obvious for the objective, reward and penalty, the fact that it claims that I screwed up was a little worrisome.

Not to mention the fact that my soul will get sent to the abyss is another crappy deal.

Just what did I do to trigger this event?!

I made everyone go on full alert, putting them to maintaining the weapons that we were provided with and doubling the patrols.

Could it be wanting to kill the kid?

I decided then not to involve myself with hunting that kid, I'll just report that we failed or something. That should work right?

Just when I feel more assured of myself, my scapegoat got killed that very same day.

Apparently his head exploded in an extremely gruesome fashion while he was in the middle of demanding for meat.

His death suggested that someone might have thought he was the leader and killed him to sow discord amongst us.

Deciding that staying was a bad choice, I gave the order to pack up and leave the very next day.

But before we could even vacate the area, four otherworldly beauties and a little girl showed up at our doorstep...

Chapter 128 - A Damned Man

(Guzash POV) [The same orc from before]

"Hello," The one with golden hair greeted with a full-face smile. "Is there anyone here capable of holding a conversation? Or at least, isn't a complete savage?"

For four sudden beauties to appear… Could this be what the system was talking about?

By 'surviving' it means to survive being doted on by four heavenly beauties?

This must surely be the start of my harem route!

Why else would four beautiful women show up on the doorstep of this isekai protagonist?

And here I was, worried that the only harem I might have is from other orcs! Thank you goddess for sending me not one but four girls to service me!

Oh, and the little girl is cute too but that's not an issue, I can wait.

Time to turn on my charm to the max and court them!

I took a confident step forward, "I can, is there anything I can help you ladies?"

They looked surprised at my answer.

"Ara? There really is one?" The nine-tailed fox commented, leaning her head on a palm. Oh what I wouldn't give to feel those fluffy tails of hers!

"And I went and thought Master was even playin' with us. Ah well, it makes things interesting at least!" The one with the sword on her waist laughed.

A tomboyish beauty… Heh heh heh… I can already picture her making a bashful face when she's talking with her love interest.

But wait… Master? Are they students of someone? Oh! There's the teacher route as well isn't it?! I bet the 'Master' is also a heaven shaking beauty just waiting for me to embrace!

"Kukuku… I wonder how I will be punished for my impure thoughts against Master~" The one wearing the qipao muttered, wiping a trail of drool off her face.

A masochistic pervert, man I hit the jackpot didn't I?

"Big sis… Cai Hong play?" The little girl asked, pulling at the sleeve of the golden haired one.

Ah~ Of course a cute little girl who refers to herself in third person to cure my heart's weariness! That's important too!

Thank you goddess and system!

"Yes, Cai Hong can go play. But leave that hideous one alone for now, ok?" The golden haired girl answered.

I guess she must be the leader of this little group. The golden aura she was radiating looked so godly I would cut off my left hand if she wasn't related to some heavenly being in some way or another.

The little girl's face brightened and skipped towards me. That's right, come to papa!

Her body shifted like smoke before the little girl in front of me was suddenly replaced with a giant dragon standing on its hind legs.

My mind could barely comprehend the scene in front of me before a blast of fire was let loose from its mouth, burning everything behind me.

The dragon leapt over me, landing in the midst of the blaze and started trampling everything down, killing off any survivors of that initial blast.

If it wasn't for the low rumble of laughter that was coming from the dragon, I wouldn't have thought the dragon was enjoying what it was doing.

The girl with the sword unsheathed her blade, "You… Leader...?"

I understood she was double checking if I was the leader of my tribe of orcs.

I hesitated before quickly shaking my head, "Umm… Our village chief was killed yesterday, we don't have an official leader yet…"

What did they want from the 'leader'?

A hostage? Interrogation? Revenge?

I don't remember offending any of them though?

"Interesting… Manami, would you be a dear?" The one with golden hair asked, turning to the fox girl.

The fox girl said nothing as she extended a palm towards me, her eyes glowing red.

Right at that moment, unimaginable pain assaulted my senses causing me to drop to my knees. It felt like thousands of needles had stabbed themselves into my cranium repeatedly without mercy, the pain was unlike anything I've ever felt.

It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, seeing as how the dragon was still rampaging behind me, but it felt like an eternity had passed when the pain finally subsided.

"Ara, ara? This is more interesting than I thought… Someone quite powerful has locked your memories? I think only Master himself can unlock them."

Ah… So the Master is a guy, what a letdown.

Wait… Someone locked my memories? Could it be the system or the goddess? They probably don't want the denizens of this place to know that I came from another world.

"Eh… So what we gonna do wit' him, Lian Li? Just end him?" The one with the sword asked, her hand visible twitching near her sword.

The one named Lian Li tapped her chin with a finger, "I suppose we can make an example out of him? He does feel like someone important after all. Make everyone here know that if they dare target Master this is what happens to them."

A chill went down my spine.

"Alrighty then! Let's have some fun!"

The girl lashed out her blade and there was a twinge of pain in my left wrist.

I looked down and found the hand that was supposed to be attached to me was now gushing out blood on the ground.

My mind has yet to comprehend the state I was in and failed to register any pain.

Or maybe, the pain I felt from the fox girl trying to read my memories destroyed all the pain receptors I had?

I noticed four pairs of delicate feet at the edge of my vision.

Looking up, I found the girls staring down at me with a crazed smile plastered on their face.

The brown haired girl was licking the flat of a knife she was holding, "To have set your pathetic sight on our beloved Master… Kukuku… We'll punish you real good. You're going to squeal for me, little pig."

Eh? Wasn't she a masochist? Why the sudden turn around?

The girl with the bob-cut hair sheathed her sword, "To think Master would have to dirty his hands if he were to meet you… Truly upsetting. We shall cleanse this plateau in place of Master."

And this girl… Wasn't she supposed to be tomboyish? Why is she so refined now?

My other hand was suddenly pinned to the ground and pain erupted from all of my other limbs.

"Ufufufu… We'll make sure everyone who comes here is purged of such despicable thoughts of going against Master."

Her tails… Pierced my limbs? She isn't mofu mofu?

The Lian Li girl bent down to smile at me, "Hehehe… Painful isn't it? Don't worry, we'll have a loooot of time to play with you. Ahahaha!"

Ah… I understand now.

I had came across a pack of yandere girls… I'm not sure who you are, Master of these girls, but I sincerely respect you for managing to control them.

But if they think they can just end me like this, they're sorely mistaken.

I'm an isekai protagonist, of course I have tricks up my sleeve!

System, activate skill [Protagonist's Second Chance].

[Command recognised. System user will now be unconscious and revive in the same body in four hours.]

I collapsed into blissful unconsciousness.

When I finally returned to my senses, I realised I had my hands tied to a pole that was staked into the ground.

Judging by the amount of blood splattered all around me, I'm pretty sure I had died at least once because of those girls.

It's thanks to this trump card of mine that I managed to escape this death. It was one of the skills the Goddess had granted me before I came here but it can only be activated once every twenty-four hours.

Pretty OP huh?

I'm an OP isekai protagonist after all!

Oh well, now I just have to get myself free, increase my levels even more and then I'll go and cuck those girls from their supposedly 'beloved' Master.

Revenge is best served cold, heh heh heh.

I wonder what kind of faces they will make? I don't think I've seen someone successfully corrupt and convert a yandere before. Guess I'll be the first!

But just when I had that thought, there was the sound of a finger snapping and the ground beneath my feet lit up.

Is that a giant explosion inscription?

When the hell did someone--

BOOM

[Mission - You done screwed up (Failed)]

The next thing I know there was a giant demon wearing a loincloth with four arms and a bald head towering over me.

"Greetings mortal," His voice boomed. "I am Abaddon of the Abyss. As by the contract you have signed to allow you to be brought to this world, your soul shall be consigned to the aby-- Wait a minute…"

He crouched down and looked at me.

"Aww hell no… You messed with boss man, didn't you? Ok, you're out of my hands, get the hell out of here. Nope, nope, nope. Mistress! I got a code BB here!"

With those words, he disappeared in a puff of red smoke. Replacing him was an extremely attractive elf with silver hair appearing from within the smoke.

I noted that she was dressed entirely in a skintight leather suit with a whip hanging on her waist.

"A bad boy hmm? Time to put High Priestess Diao Chan's teachings to use," she giggled, pulling out the whip and cracking it against the ground.

What did I get myself into?

System? System?! Syyyystem!!!!

Chapter 129 - Back To The Lab Again

(MC POV)

I wanted to return to the mansion without bringing this fox girl with me, but she had insisted that she follow me to meet my other disciples.

At least she agreed to never reveal what happened with the Dark Sect so I don't need to alter her memories for that.

Where she had initially doubted everything I had said before, she now just nods along and believes everything I say.

She didn't even question me when I told her that I'm actually a Master at Heaven Sect and I'm only here for vacation, opting to just nod her head and smile at me.

Can a person just switch her thinking so easily?

Ah, maybe she got a little traumatised by the giant tentacle monster and she's using me as an anchor to maintain her sanity.

Since I'm already used to monsters like that thing, I forget that no one else on this Plane should have even heard of such monsters before.

Dragons are already considered legendary creatures on this Plane, so Great Ones should be beyond the scope of their imagination.

With that in mind, I suppose I should be impressed that she's still functioning properly instead of being utterly mindbroken by its presence.

Even that Dark Sect Practitioner managed to maintain his cognitive functions while bleeding out from his eyes, ears and nose, proof that he should be some big shot within the Dark Sect and a rather powerful Practitioner too.

Heck, I remember my first time standing in that thing's presence, pretty sure I was unconscious for at least a month while being plague with nightmares. Then again… I'm not entirely sure if I was dreaming at that point of time. The Realm they inhabit is quite trippy.

And when I say 'month', it's a really rough estimate since there isn't really a way to tell the time when you're shrouded in complete darkness without a way to tell the time.

Guess I'm minding it less on taking this girl as my disciple now, she should be quite a talent herself.

And I finally got to know her name as Kiyomi while she already settled into calling me as her Master like it was a natural thing. Funny how things turned out this way.

I had thought this was the only surprise I was getting today but…

I returned to the mansion only to see it completely engulfed in flames.

Like… The entire building was on fire and my disciples, my sisters and the servants were just standing outside and watching it burn itself into the ground.

What.

The.

Hell…

"Can someone explain?" I called out from behind, confused on why everyone was just watching their home burn instead of doing something about it.

"Master Lin!"

"Onii-sama!"

"Master!"

"Papa!"

""""We can explain!""""

I winced from the volume of their shouts.

"Ara ara? Is that you Kiyomi? What are you doing here?" Manami's voice cut through everyone else's.

The fox beside me stiffened, turning her gaze towards my other nine tailed fox disciple, "El… Elder sister?"

What? So they were sisters after all? Didn't she say they were twins? Ah… Fraternal twins, is that it?

"Ufufufu~ The way your tails were swaying just now… Could it be?"

Kiyomi poked her fingers together, "Umm… Yes… Is he..."

"Ufufufu~ My Master? Yes. It seems we really can't escape our fate of sharing could we?"

I raised my hands, "Ok, first up. You two are sisters. That's fine and we'll talk about that later. Now the more important thing, why is our house on fire? Just one of you tell me, please."

All of them turned towards Elaria.

She smiled at me sheepishly, "Umm… Cleansing?"

I raised an eyebrow, "Cleansing? From what?"

"Two parasites," Odriana answered with a hint of glee.

Two parasites? Wait… They can't mean those two right?

"It's exactly who you think it is, Onii-sama!" Elaria huffed. "Those two have been corrupted by a dark force! They wanted to massacre the entire town for some dark god or something!"

Ok… I know about the massacre part, but the dark god thing is news to me. How did she even… You know what? I don't think I want to know.

But did they really have to burn the entire house down though?

As though reading my thoughts, Lian Li continued, "Since the house was contaminated by such filt-- dark beings, we can't be too careful! So we burned everything to make sure none of that corruption has a possibility to spread!"

Right… I did teach them to be as thorough as possible I suppose… Can't fault them for that.

But to think elder brother and father were involved in some dark god cult alongside the Dark Sect, I knew they weren't the real masterminds behind this.

I noticed someone missing, "What about Fred?"

Odriana shook her head sadly, "He was also one of them. We had no choice but to put him down."

"Ok… So did you find out who was responsible for corrupting them?" I asked.

All of them stopped moving and stared at me.

I frowned, "Wait… Did you girls just choose to set fire to the house without even restraining them in some way beforehand?"

That can't be it right? They were just talking about being thorough too.

Elaria poked her fingers together, "Umm… We didn't see a need to restrain them?"

I face palmed. This is the typical 'Villain conveniently leaving the place and assume the killing method achieves its purpose, allowing said person to escape from right under their nose' scenario.

"Let me guess… There's an escape route that these two know of but you girls don't?"

Elaria huffed, "That can't be Onii-sama! This entire building was built by our own builders! They couldn't have escaped that!"

I snapped my fingers, instantly dousing the flames to reveal a mass of burnt debris before me. With another wave of my hand, the debris were all levitated into the air, granting us an unobstructed view of a steel trap door buried halfway into the ground.

The passageway that led to Elaria's workshop was on the other side of that trap door.

"Er… Whoops?" Elaria muttered sheepishly.

I sighed, letting the debris drop back to the ground, "Nevermind, this can be a problem for another day. I don't want to deal with two more… Ah nevermind. What I want to know is, what do we do now without a house?"

Diao Chan raised her hand slowly, "Ummm… Master? A million apologies for keeping this from you… But Heaven Sect sent a message to us yesterday that they've already repaired your courtyard."

That was fast. I expected at least another month or so.

I raised my eyebrow at her, "And you tell me this now because?"

"Ummm… Could I get a little spanking for the late news?"

This girl is beyond saving.

I guess it's back to the Sect again.

Oh wait, there's still the performance tomorrow, so I guess we'll only actually leave in the late afternoon. But seriously, they're expecting me to memorise and practice the second half of the script to perfection in a single morning?

I'd think if it was anyone else, they definitely wouldn't be able to do it.

"What about you guys?" I asked, looking pointedly at my sisters and the servants.

"Oh, we'll remain in town for now. We discovered some things we need to… Expedite on," Odriana explained helpfully.

"I'll definitely rush back to your side after we are done, Onii-sama! Please wait for your imouto!" Elaria added.

Not exactly sure if I am looking forward to either of that happening… But at least I get some semblance of my normal life back I suppose.

This whole entire thing was the exact opposite of what I had thought a vacation was going to be anyway.

First thing I'm going to do is sleep in my own bed for a week.

Ah crap, I can't do that anymore can I?

Well… At least I have my disciples to comfort me…

Gonna fluff Manami's tails lots later.

(Dailus POV) [The Elder brother]

I followed father through the winding tunnels that the hooded stranger had prepared for us in case of such an emergency.

I can't believe that detestable guy managed to corrupt her to this extent.

She chose to side with him, an outsider, over her own flesh and blood!

How could such a thing even be possible?!

Everyone knows your own blood relatives come first!

To think she would set fire to the mansion just to try and get rid of us, all because we set a bounty on that guy? She truly has been led astray.

Just you wait, when we get inducted to the Dark Sect, we'll grow our power and come back to take what is rightfully ours!

"Up here, Dailus," Father called out, climbing up a ladder that led to a trap door.

I followed my father up the ladder, finding ourselves in a dimly lit shack that was devoid of any furniture except for a chair in the middle of the room.

A chair that was currently being occupied by the hooded person that had approached us before.

"Ah, greetings Dark One, " My father bowed respectfully. "I'm afraid we have met with some complications on our side…"

"I can see that," a disembodied voice answered him from underneath that hood. "All I told you was to keep the damn Orcs and Dark Sect supplied. Why did you have to issue a bounty on him?"

"He was a threat, as you could see," My father explained.

"You have touched the reverse scale of the dragon… And because of that, everything we have done here has been for naught," the hooded one spat at us.

Tch… Just because this person is someone important in some dark cult they think we are beneath them? We are still of a noble House you know? It's an honour for you we are even giving you that little respect!

Aren't you also acting as the Dark Sect's lackey? That's why you came to us to get supplies from them right?

Father rubbed his hands together, "Well, I'm sure we can recoup these losses after we--"

"A pawn that does not move as commanded is useless," the figure interrupted, standing up from the chair.

I bristled at that comment, "Hey! We're not your damn pawns! By right you should be grovelling at our feet! Feel thankful that we're even giving you this much face!"

The hooded person chuckled, "Really? Well… I'll indulge you then. Both of you can give me all the faces you want."

That person raised his arm towards us before the room seemed to become darker.

Black smoke appeared from beneath my father's feet, covering him up in a manner of seconds.

There was an agonised scream before it was abruptly cut off, replaced with the sound of muted gargles and moans.

I took a step back in fear.

The smoke rescinded and at where my father had been, a monster that looked like a mass of flesh with multiple eyes, ears, mouth and noses scattered around on its surface. That monster didn't even have any feet, shuffling along the floor like a slime.

"Enough faces to go by, hmmm?" That person chuckled.

Right before my eyes, the mass of flesh shifted again, compacting themself and melding together like liquid before it transformed into a figure resembling father. The only difference was that his eyes seemed to lack the lustre of someone alive.

Another second passed and that monster's face shifted from father's to mine, then to Elaria's and Odriana's before shifting back to father's face.

"Yes, it's better this way. I should have just done this from the start," the hooded person nodded before turning to me.

My pants were wet now.

"Mer… Mercy…" I pleaded.

"Mercy? For some idiots who ruined everything for me? I think not. I told you I have no need for pawns who do their own things."

I turned towards the trapdoor to escape, but before I could even take a step towards it, the same smoke enveloped me brom beneath my feet.

The last thing I heard was the person thinking aloud, "Now… How should I use these two to get to him?"

Chapter 130 - It Playtime

(MC POV)

"I will not. Kiss. A. Guy," I protested, shaking my rolled-up script at the three idol members in front of me. Kiyomi was absent due to handling some backstage stuff.

"You don't actually have to kiss him," The slime girl informed exasperatedly. "Just pretending is enough. Acting is your strong suit isn't it?"

"Acting or no, I am against making kissy faces to someone of my gender."

"Come oooon!" The nekomata pleaded. "Do you knyow how hard it is to get the other person to agree to be your partner?"

I crossed my arms, "No, and frankly my dear, I don't give a damn."

The Ryu girl scoffed, "Well we've already reached this stage, it's too late to back out now. I say just do whatever you feel you can do. I'm sure the other actor can improv if need be."

I raised my eyebrow, "So you got another professional in this quaint little town? How convenient."

All of them just smiled at me without answering.

I shrugged, if push comes to shove, I'll just figure out something on the spot.

Honestly, right now I'm only putting up with this kind of crap because of my disciples.

I didn't intend for the other girls to find out about my little side project, but Kiyomi just had to spill the beans about my involvement in this play and all of them had declared their wholehearted support for me.

All of them, including the servants, claim that they will definitely be there to watch my performance.

When Cai Hong looks at you with sparkles in her eyes and full of anticipation, you'll have to be a heartless monster to let her down.

I just hope my partner isn't some creepy dude.

On second thought, they will definitely find some handsome guy since my sister had written the other guy to be quite charming.

Yes, I did went ahead to read the book my sister wrote.

Just last night in fact, when we had to stay in one of the town's inns. My disciples were quite happy that there weren't enough rooms so they ended up sharing a room with me.

I punished Diao Chan as she had requested and managed to get my fluff time with Manami.

Thanks to this small body of mine, I can just bury my entire body into that mass of fluff easily. Now I'm a little hesitant about returning to my original adult form...

I got to talk with the inn's proprietress and found that she had a copy of the book, she was unusually happy to let me borrow it after I expressed interest in reading it.

Aside from the fact that it was BL, the story and characters were actually quite interesting and unique. Odriana probably analysed the best points in all the stories she knew and combined them to create this. I can see why people liked it so much and are hyped for this live action show.

"Could I at least meet the guy acting as the other dude first?" I requested.

"Nyot possible!" The nekomata made an 'X' sign with her arms. "You'll just try and convince them to do something else during the show!"

Well… She got me there.

The Ryu girl ruffled my hair, "Don't worry about it. Your partner is truly a professional in this sector."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, that's what I'm worried about."

You can never know what lengths professionals will go just for their art and I'm speaking from experience.

Resigning myself to my fate, I assured them that I would do my best for the coming performance.

Satisfied with my answer, the slime girl and the nekomata left, leaving me with the Ryu girl.

I raised an eyebrow at her, wondering why she was still here.

The last thing I expected was for her to check that no one was around before leaning close to whisper in my ear, "You don't need to worry about your partner, you'll definitely like them. This is thanks for the ointment you gave me, it works like a charm."

She pulled away and gave me a conspiratory smile before slithering out after her friends.

That actually made me more worried instead of relieved…

(Diao Chan POV)

I followed my sisters to the theatre that Master was going to perform at, alongside his two sisters and all of their followers.

To think Master had specifically gone to such lengths to teach me how to improve my acting skills…

This one is truly not worthy, Master!

This Diao Chan will engrave your performance deeply into my memory and work hard to improve my lacklustre skills!

Ahhnn~ Just remembering how Master punished me last night for my impudence sends shivers down my spine~

Mmmm~ I can't wait to receive another lesson from Master~

"Diao Chan, wipe your drool please," Lian Li admonished me, passing a handkerchief my way. "We are representing as Master's disciples today. We shall not shame Master."

I muttered an apology while dabbing at my lips delicately with the cloth she proffered me.

We found our seats at the VIP section easily enough, having the sister of your Master as the shadow ruler of the town definitely helps.

The entire theatre was packed to the brim today, it was almost as if the entire town had gathered here.

I could even see the aisles occupied by people sitting on the steps and even the back of the theatre was packed with people standing just behind the seats.

All of them must also be fellow believers of Master.

Manami had also taken upon herself to ingrain the entire show into her memory before she spreads them amongst our own church using her memory Technique.

"When I approved of their group's idea to use this story to promote their group, I was rather concerned that they might not be able to find a good enough actor to fill the main lead's role," Odriana commented, her fingers playing with the frills on her black dress.

"But to think my cute little brother will take the role himself in this play… It truly is fate!"

Cai Hong looked towards Lian Li, "Papa play?"

Lian Li patted her head, "Not that kind of play, Cai Hong."

"Well are they starting yet? I'm tireeeeed of waiting already! We want Master!" Eris groaned, one of her legs propped up on the armrest.

Almost immediately, she slapped her own leg off the armrest, her face an expression of indignation, "Sit like a lady!"

The lights of the theatre dimmed and all the noises in the theatre immediately ceased, everyone leaning forward to focus all their attention on stage. It seems like everyone here knows theatre etiquette at least.

A Ryu yokai floated out from above the stage to hover in front of the curtains, beginning her introduction to the play.

"There once was a boy, touched by god himself, whose mind was forever wrapped in symphony. Misunderstood by all he was, for not many could comprehend the melody he plays. But still he was admired for the art that he displays, for it soothes both hearts and minds for the weary."

She glided to the side just as the curtains opened up, revealing our dearest Master standing on centre stage.

All decorum within the theatre flew out of the window then, as everyone stood up from their seats. Everyone of them were cheering, whistling and clapping at our God's entrance.

I could even see hand drawn banners being hoisted up in the crowd, the words "Love Love Master Lin!!" written boldly on the cloth.

Well… Can't say we were any better as we took out our own banners and whistles, screaming at the top of our lungs for our Master.

Ahhh~~ He looks absolutely adorable in that school uniform! I wonder if Master is open to costume play?

Chapter 131 - Shining In The Spotlight

(MC POV)

I was not prepared for the House going absolutely bonkers when the curtains were raised for me to move downstage.

I thought this was supposed to be a theatre play? Not some idol event?

Why the hell do I see people hoisting banners and even waving light sticks in the air?!

Hello? Marketing team? You guys advertised this as a play right?

Why does the entire House look like they're expecting me to break out into song and dance then?

Also… I shouldn't even be well known inside this town, so why are these people screaming and cheering for me? Shouldn't the other four idols receive this kind of reception instead?

Could they just be applauding for the character and not me?

No wait, they have a banner with "Love Love Master Lin!!" on it, so they're definitely cheering for me.

And I see my disciples and sisters up in the VIP booths doing the same thing, their banners with more personalised messages like "I Love Master!" with hearts painted all around and "Onii-sama numbah wan!".

When the hell did they even make those?

Oh well, now is not the time to ponder about such things, the show must still go on.

But in order to do so, I need to settle the House first...

"Friends! Bei Yangers! Countrymen! Lend me your ears!"

The entire theatre quietened down, all of their eyes on me.

"I am just but a small blip in this plane of existence! Nothing more than a face among the crowds! But yet I implore you, my most dearest people! Just go forth and sit awhile! Let me work the magic that is of the arts!"

As though guided by an invisible hand, the audience slowly settled down back to their places.

I waited for a moment more before finally starting the show.

Slipping into the character of 'Mark' easily, I began the telling of his tale.

The scene was an introduction to his character, where he spouts all sorts of cringey lines and weird poses throughout his daily life.

He could be walking down the street to get to school and a girl's handkerchief could be blown his way.

He would leap into the air, do a perfect double somersault, grab that cloth in between his fingers before executing a triple forward roll and doing a three point landing in front of the handkerchief's owner.

He would then pass that little piece of cloth back to the girl while saying things like "Such is the whims of the wind, taking what is precious to us. But for you... I shall stop this wind with all my might."

I think I impress even myself by doing all that with a straight face.

That's not even the worst one too.

He would sometimes stop in the middle of a conversation with someone, look straight ahead and blurt out "My right eye is trembling…" before dashing off with his arms flailing behind him.

I'd like to think that if anyone did this in real life it would be an absolute cringefest.

I had even half expected the audience to break out in groans and curse at the scenes of cringe.

But somehow, they were just watching with captivated expressions. Heck, even my disciples seem to be elated in watching whatever I'm doing down here.

Did they get contaminated by my sisters' 'An Ney May' thinking too?

Gotta purify them later.

(Kiyomi POV)

"He really is a natural, how does he do that?" Chuya asked, her slime form visibly wobbling from excitement.

"Apparently, he has decades worth of experience," I answered without looking away.

Hikari raised an eyebrow at me, her twin cat tails waving in the air slowly, "You're kidding right, nyaa?"

"Not really," I admitted with a smile.

"Well. I guess it's good that we got a professional to match him as his partner," Chuya giggled.

I did not respond to her as my attention was now entirely on my new Master, my entire being enraptured by his every movement.

Perhaps it was due to my lack of attention before I knew about his real identity,but I could clearly see the strength and nobility in all his movements now.

It seemed so obvious when I knew what to look out for. Even his words were imbued with his power and just by listening to it, my body thrums with every word he speaks.

I can't believe I had been this blind to what has always been in front of me.

"Well, that's my cue," Hikari announced, her tails swishing around to show how enthusiastic she was about going up on stage. "Wish me luck!"

She entered from the right side of the stage, hopping directly up towards my Master with a smile on her face.

I remembered vividly that the next part required some 'jealous boys' dumping a bucket of water on him from above.

It was one of the more popular scenes since it featured Mark walking around in drenched clothing which caught the eye of the other male lead.

Two backstage staff were already waiting on the parapets above the stage with the bucket prepared, I could see them doing some sort of prayer before lifting up the bucket.

The bucket of water was dumped spectacularly on him, triggering loud gasps of astonishment from the audience.

My eyes caught sight of a few flickers of what could be fire and lightning in the corner of the VIP booths. I didn't even need to look there to know that my new sisters were barely restraining themselves from leaping onto the stage in anger.

But once again, Master displayed his wonderful skills by performing his lines masterfully, brushing away that bullying incident and doing the iconic wall slam scene on Hikari.

Master exited the stage towards my direction, droplets of water still dripping from his hair.

I handed him the towel that I had already prepared beforehand. He could have just used his Technique to make himself dry but he had mentioned beforehand that he wanted to leave the impression of a normal kid to the other three idols who, he believes, still think that he is just an eight year old boy.

Not that I think they see him as a normal kid from the beginning anyway but I will indulge in Master's wishes.

I suppose it's fortunate they aren't that well informed about the Practitioner world as I am since the name "Master Lin" is a dead giveaway. I am quite surprised there are people in this town that actually knows his identity seeing how they're usually rather hostile towards Practitioners.

"Thanks, I still don't see the other male lead though? Is he late?" Master asked, towelling his face dry.

"Oh, that person's already here. Don't worry about it," Chuya assured him with a cheeky smile.

Is it just me or is Chuya's slime form bigger than usual?

Master looked at her with a dubious look on his face, "Whatever… I'll go change for the next scene."

Once Master left the area, Chuya reached into her gelatinous body to pull out a set of clothes that she had kept hidden inside of her.

"Well, time for you to change too, Kiyomi. Don't mess your finale up now."

I nodded, taking the clothes in my hands, "I hope I can at least match his tempo..."

That brought a round of laughter from her as I proceeded towards the changing rooms with my own costume in hand.

Chapter 132 - And They Lived Happily Ever After... Maybe

(MC POV)

"So I heard you were the new transfer student? Which wind did you ride to be blown to such a place like this?" I spouted out my lines with a straight face.

"And I see that you are Mark, the most loved and hated person in this academy," The other person responded with a grin.

I flicked my hair dramatically, "I see you've heard of me, transfer student George. Now I must ask you, which side of the coin shall you stand at?"

George ignored my question and instead walked up to me with his chin high.

Disturbed by his silence, I took a hesitant step back, my back pressing against the wall behind me.

He slammed the wall with his palm, placing a finger below my chin to lift my face up and stare right into my eyes.

"I stand on neither sides," He whispered, licking his lips suggestively. "I would rather have you stand by my side instead."

I sucked in a breath, my face displaying a conflicted mass of emotions before he pulled away from me, chuckling.

"I will see you around Mark, perhaps we could get to know each other better," George exited the stage while giving a backwards wave.

Just before the lights dimmed on stage, I caught a glimpse of the audience who were entirely enraptured by the earlier scene. Many of the girls blushing furiously at what had just transpired.

Even my disciples were at the edge of their seats, watching the entire scene with half-lidded eyes.

Once the stage was plunged fully into darkness, I took my cue to exit from the stage on the same side that George had left from.

'George' was waiting for me there, leaning on one of the stage props.

I looked at Kiyomi wearing the male uniform of the fictitious academy that both Mark and George were attending and I have to say, it kind of suits her.

Her shoulder length hair was tied in a high ponytail and it seems that she used some kind of binding on her chest to hide her usually distinctive bosoms.

If I didn't know her before this, I might have mistaken her for a rather effeminate young man.

I should've known.

Is this why they were so insistent on hiding who the 'male' partner was for this show? Just so they can pull a reverse trap card on me?

Honestly, I'd never have thought Kiyomi to be the other lead for this. Since she didn't have a specific role all this time, I thought she only had backstage duties all this while.

"Really?" I asked, an incredulous look on my face. "This was supposed to be the big reveal?"

She smiled at me, "Sorry Master… They wanted you to be on edge about doing it with a guy up until the last moment. Hikari thought it would be fun to watch how you would react. Are you ok with me being your partner?"

"I don't suppose Manami already told you about what we've done?"

She tilted her head, "Not yet. Should she?"

"At the rate things are going, I suspect you'll learn of it sooner or later anyway so it doesn't matter. Let's just give them a good show."

"By your will, Master."

I still can't get used to her doing that.

A person who was distant and cold suddenly addressing you so respectfully… Yeah, not even Diao Chan had this big of a switch.

I would assume her want for power led to such a big turn around, they say that people change a lot to get what they want, after all.

Just look at me, I used to always stay locked inside my own room to get stronger and never even bothered reconnecting with my family. Dying was enough for me to give up on that closed door cultivation bullcrap.

Since I know fox youkai has a tendency to be rather… Endearing with their mates, I would wager Kiyomi was not as open to that idea since she feels it makes her weak.

That might have prompted her to leave Manami's village in an attempt to strengthen herself but it still came one full circle in the end.

I suppose Manami being her sister had something to do with it, it's just that Kiyomi has become more clear-headed from her time spent in the outside world.

The white haired fox turned to me suddenly, "Ah… Master? You are fine with doing 'that' scene, right?"

It took me a moment to know what she was talking about, "I suppose. Just don't be too weird about it."

"Understood. We should go, Kana has already prepared the stage."

Kana? Ah, the Ryu girl. I believe she's the Stage Manager for this little show.

We got to our positions and the lights came back on again, this time we were in the classroom of the academy.

"I heard what you did George," I pointed an accusatory finger at 'him'. "To think you had that side of you, you think no one would find out?"

"Huhuhu… So? What do you intend to do about it?" George taunted. "But was that not what you wanted? To be left alone?"

I slammed my fist on a table, "You crippled all of the bullies! That was going too far!"

George chuckled, crossing his arms in front of him, "Really? I'd think that crippling anyone who even tries to touch my property is a justifiable action."

"Your property? Since when have I become your property?"

He stepped in front of me, barely an arm's length away, "Why… Since the start of course."

He pinched my chin in between his finger and thumb, once more tilting my head up to face the taller him.

By now I can hear the girls who have begun hyperventilating within the audience, no doubt anticipating what was to come.

"I… Am not easy, you know?" I cautioned him.

"As you shouldn't be. You deserve perfection, namely me."

"A rather arrogant thing for someone like you to say."

He smiled, "Well… It is with this arrogance that I could attract you, right?"

I swear this girl is actually enjoying this. I have never seen her eyes so bright and full of enthusiasm before. Don't tell me she's a closet S?

George leaned in close to me, I could even feel his breath on my face now.

"You are a deviant," I accused, though I made no move to push him away.

"You don't deny the attraction hmm? Well then… Thanks for the meal."

George/Kiyomi moved the last few centimeters to connect our lips together, her head tilting to the side as her arms wrapped around me to pull me closer to her.

Cue the audience screaming out their cheers in the background.

I really need a vacation after this.

Well… Just need to do the ending scene with Kiyomi where George reveals he's the son of some big corporation's boss and promises Mark a life full of luxuries.

Of course there's the continuation of Mark and George overcoming both their families' disapproval at their relationship and other complications but we wisely decided to just end this little play at the part where George and Mark walk off into the sunset, hand in hand.

Perhaps they wanted to see how well this play was received before deciding if a sequel was a profitable enough venture.

Not really my concern since I'm heading right back out after today.

Hmm? Damn, Kiyomi's really getting into this, she's already trying to stuff her tongue down my throat.

Oh well, seeing as how the audience is going crazy about it, I guess I can just indulge her for now.

Chapter 133 - On The Ride Home

pαndα,noνɐ1,сoМ

(Manami POV)

"So… How did it taste?" I poked at my cute little sister.

"Elder sister… Please stop poking at my cheek," Kiyomi grumbled, though she made no move to stop me from doing so.

After Master had finished his mouth watering performance, we set off that late afternoon with almost the entire town seeing us off.

We had contemplated castrating the infidels who had dared soaked our Master in water. But after finding out that Master himself didn't mind it and also how delicious it made him look… We decided not to do it… For now.

Kiyomi had her idol mates seeing her off as well, apparently she had already informed them of her decision to follow Master in leaving the town the night before. The other three chose to remain behind for the moment, stating something about 'upholding a contract'.

I heard from Master's little sister that all of them had signed a contract with the idol agency that was also under her jurisdiction.

They had to work in the town for a set number of years in exchange for the town sheltering them in their time of need. Kiyomi was only given a free pass because of the fact that Master had taken her under his wing.

There was no way a piece of signed paper could stand in the way of what our Master wants so Elaria had Kiyomi's contract burned that day.

She did mention that an unnamed patron had invested a hefty sum in that agency the very same day as well, but no one knows who it was. It was signed under an anonymous beneficiary with the earned interest accumulated over time until the person returns to collect it with a promissory note.

A weird investor that's for sure.

Once everything was packed and ready, we set off once more back to Heaven Sect.

Since there were more of us now, Master opted to use two carriages instead of one. Cai Hong, Eris and Diao Chan rode with him while Lian Li, Kiyomi and I shared the other one.

Originally Lian Li wanted to ride with Master, but she gave her space to Diao Chan since both Eris and her wanted to discuss with Master about his performance and how they could learn from him.

And I'm here mostly because Master told me to bully-- I mean catch up with my cute little sister.

"Ara ara? Is my little Kiyomi shy? How cute~ come on now, don't be shy~ How did Master taste?"

She turned her head away before muttering "Strawberries…" under her breath.

"Ufufufu~ And this sister of yours knows how much you like strawberries~ Don't worry, Master won't mind it as long as you as we don't go too overboard~"

"That is not what I'm worried about, elder sister."

"Ufufufu~ Of course it isn't~"

Lian Li giggled, "You two seem to be really close."

I patted my cute little sister's head, "Of course we are, we used to share everything with each other! But Kiyomi was more interested in becoming stronger so she left the village."

Lian Li tilted her head, "What about your accident?"

I froze for a second before recovering, "Ara? Which accident are you talking about Lian Li? If you mean the little accident I did when I swore my devotion to Master, it is but a small matter no?"

Lian Li caught the look I sent her and knew I didn't want Kiyomi to know about my time of weakness. It wasn't a period that I was proud of and there's no way I'll let Kiyomi, who has always looked up to me as her elder sister, know how low I've fallen back then.

Call it an elder sister's pride if you will.

That's probably why she refuses to feel weak since most of her life she has me as the 'strong, big sister'.

Since it wasn't possible for her to mate with me, she left the village to look for a potential mate that could match me in terms of strength to escape from my shadow.

Mmm… But it seems she has grown plenty strong herself. She had left the village when I had seven tails while she had four. Because of my stagnation due to the accident, she has already managed to catch up with me.

Ufufufu~ Nothing makes an elder sister prouder than watching her little sister grow!

"So we have the next two to three days to ourselves before we reach Master's Sect… I wonder how they're doing?" Lian Li wondered aloud.

I turned back to Kiyomi, "I see you've accepted Master's real identity quite easily."

She brushed one of her tails absentmindedly, "I've seen what Master is capable of and he has already done things I can never dream of doing in my entire life. It isn't too much for me to believe that he is a god that has descended into the mortal realm."

I nodded at her with a smile, Kiyomi is a smart little sister after all, it's not surprising she figured it out so easily.

Unlike that pitiful duo that went against Master every step of the way, such a shame they actually managed to get away from us.

And for Master to see through our mistakes in letting them immediately… It seems all of us still have a lot to learn.

"Just out of curiosity," Kiyomi interrupted my thoughts. "Could I know why Master is in a child's body?"

Both Lian Li and I smiled at her question.

For the next half an hour, both of us regaled my cute little sister with the tale of how Master had used himself to shield everyone in the Sect from complete annihilation. It was only due to Master's godly disposition that he could still come back to us in one piece, at the cost of returning to his younger body.

She tapped her chin with a finger after knowing the full story, "But… Master mentioned that he was actually forty years old and returned to his younger self. Is he really forty? The Master Lin I heard about is barely in his twenties."

Lian Li and I shared a look with each other.

Master was definitely in his twenties this year, there was no doubt about that. Being the youngest Master of Heaven Sect leaves quite an impression on everyone that is in the know about the Practitioner world.

Lian Li shook her head, "No, Master is definitely not that old. He should return to his normal self in a few weeks at most. But since he already has his strength back, I'm not exactly sure why Master has chosen to remain in that child form of his, though I am not complaining much."

Kiyomi frowned slightly, "Could Master have actually travelled back in time from the future?"

"Ara? Did Master suggest anything of that sort to you? Could he have been joking at that time?" I asked.

My little sister thought for a moment, "He did mention once that he has never lied to me during our conversations… And I had been made a complete fool by not believing his claims of being a skilled Practitioner when he first joined the theatre."

"Does that mean... Master might really have returned from the future?" Lian Li gasped in amazement.

If that was true… Master might be even more godly than we thought. To think there were still so many things we have yet to know about Master.

Kiyomi tilted her head slightly, "How curious… Perhaps I will have to ask Master about it later. For now… Could I trouble sister Lian Li and elder sister to enlighten me on Master's virtues? I would like to know what kind of Master I will be serving."

Ah, now that's a topic that both Lian Li and I are well-versed in.

The rest of the day was spent introducing my cute little Kiyomi on how wonderful and divine Master truly is.

Chapter 134 - Of Course There Something Sealed Inside You

(MC POV)

When night began to fall, our little group decided to set up camp by the side of the road.

The two drivers opted to camp a distance away from us, giving us our privacy. Originally they wanted to share the same space as us, but they changed their minds and picked a faraway spot when I came back from my nature's call. Not sure what made them change their decision in the first place though.

The girls were scattered around our little camp site at the moment, each of them engaged in their own training after receiving my instructions for the night.

Lian Li, Manami and Cai Hong were seated with their legs crossed and eyes closed, all of them trying to increase the levels of their Elemental Quarks.

It was quite surprising to see Cai Hong becoming more serious about training but I suppose it's the result of watching her sisters. She does have good role models after all.

Eris was going through the sword skills I taught her, I could see that she's creating her own style of swordplay from how she's constantly switching through her motions. Sometimes I really wonder how she does that so fluidly.

Diao Chan was alone in a corner with her notebook in hand. It was quite fortunate for her that she has such a good memory that any Spells she writes down she is able to memorise them easily. Even I have trouble remembering some of the Spells I had used in the past, but it doesn't seem to be much of a problem for her.

Pretty soon, I'll have to teach her how to craft her own Spells.

Now with everyone else occupied, I turned towards my newest disciple.

She was seated in a seiza position with both her legs tucked underneath her body perfectly, her posture exuding the picture of a mature beauty.

I can see how Manami and Kiyomi are twins.

Taking a seat on a wooden stool across her, I looked straight at her before holding out my palms, "Place your hands on top of mine, I'll do a scan of your Cultivation Point."

She obeyed without a hesitation, placing both of her pristine hands in the middle of my palms delicately.

I closed my eyes and guided my own Elemental Quarks into her body, an action that I've grown extremely familiar with by now.

Using her Quark Veins as my guide, I was able to locate her Cultivation point near the end of her spine where her tails would be connected to her body.

A rather weird place for it to be in but not unheard of.

Extending my senses into the Cultivation Point, I concentrated my consciousness to unravel the secrets to her body's Elemental Quark composition.

With this, I should be able to sense the density and innate Elemental Quarks, this would allow me to find a training method that would maximise her potential.

But what I least expected was for my entire consciousness to be dragged into it, which seems to be happening rather often these days.

I blinked, finding myself standing in front of a tall black and white torii gate.

Ok… This is new. I don't think Manami has this inside her either? Oh wait, I never checked hers since she was still recovering from her damaged Quark Veins back then.

I should do a check on her later then.

But first, why the hell is there a torii gate inside Kiyomi's Cultivation Point?

No, no, no… It can't be acting as a seal of some sort right? That's just way too cliche.

A single giant eye opened within the darkness behind the torii gate, it's gaze directed straight at me.

Of course.

I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes while addressing the giant eye, "So… I'm going to skip the part where I'm shocked and surprised at you being here and assume you're some strong being that is sealed inside my disciple's body?"

The eye blinked before the darkness shifted, revealing the head of a giant white fox that was laying down on top of a paw.

"What does a Divine Being like you want with someone as lowly as me?" The fox asked, its voice clearly feminine.

"Divine Being? What are you talking about?" I asked.

The fox snorted, "You do not need to hide from me, I share the senses of my host. I saw your battle with the Great One. Though I might only just be a scant few hundred thousand years old, I was still around before The Great Loss happened."

Ah, the fox must believe me to be some strong being because I managed to banish that tentacled monster away. Well, the stars helped me for that one but since I don't know what this fox's disposition is, let's just let her think that I managed to do it with my own strength for now.

"You have yet to answer my question on why you are sealed inside my disciple's Cultivation Point," I reminded her.

She half closed her eye, "Would you believe me if I said I was a rampaging monster and this girl's parents sealed me inside her in order to contain me, resulting in my host being bullied and ridiculed all her life?"

"Nope."

She bared her fangs as her lips curled into a wicked smile, "Then you would be right, though my story was a bit similar to that one."

She stretched herself, yawning like a cat which made the darkness around her disappear like mist, revealing her full body for me to see.

The fox had pure white fur and a size that dwarfed even the demon Abaddon, heck, the demon could even probably be her chew toy.

I'm pretty sure that she could destroy an entire town with just a step of her foot too, judging by the immense size of hers.

Behind her was a mass of tails that I had no idea where to even start counting, but certainly numbering in the hundreds.

The fox laid back down after stretching, looking at me with her other eye, "Where should I start… Though I was not rampaging at that time, I got involved with a fight with my sister that may have caused quite a lot of destruction. Before you ask, yes, your other fox disciple houses my sister. And unlike our hosts, I'm the older one."

Ok… This will take some time to get used to. My pair of fox disciples both have giant foxes inside of them who happen to be sisters as well. The younger fox disciple is host to the older fox while the older fox disciple is housing the younger fox.

Right, got it. I nodded for her to continue.

"My sister and I had gotten into a fight one day that resulted in the destruction of our surroundings. Maybe one or a dozen mountains got destroyed but I think that was pretty minor. One of your kind came to stop us and sealed both of us in some sort of small ball to stop us, really rude of him. We were left there for several centuries before The Great Loss occurred, sending us to this Plane."

The Great Loss? Sent them to this Plane? Does that mean they were from the other Planes? Then this 'Great Loss' event… Could it be the reason why Cai Hong's egg ended up on this Plane too?

"And? Don't tell me you two ended up in my disciples' bodies because they found your prison balls and ate them?"

The fox snorted, "It might sound ridiculous, but they were still nothing but little pups back then, thinking our prison was some sort of candy they found. And of course the older sister gave my prison ball, the slightly bigger one, to her little sister."

Ah, that's Manami for you, always the motherly one.

"At least I was released from the confines of that small prison into a bigger prison that is not stuck at one place, so there's that I suppose," The fox chuckled. "Your Plane has quite the interesting people I must say, never a boring moment around here."

The fox yawned before continuing, "And yes, I am the reason why this Kiyomi girl has managed to reach her current level of Quark proficiency. Just like how Manami has my sister to thank for her own nine tails."

I looked towards her mass of fluffy tails again.

"About a hundred and twenty seven tails," The fox offered up the answer without my prompting, waving her tails proudly in the air. "A thousand years for every addition to my number of tails."

"So… You've at least been in here for several decades at least, no thoughts on breaking out?" I asked.

The fox sniffed, "I just want to live an easy life. The only reason I got into a fight with my sister back then was because she insisted her tails were fluffier than mine, how preposterous of her to assume such a thing. Now I can just stay here and travel the world with my host, watching everything like some sort of show without a need to worry. Though I admit it's a bit boring at times but I'd rather stay here than risk being hunted outside, I doubt my kind is a common sight in this Plane, yes?"

I nodded, I don't think giant foxes that can crush mountains with a single tail swipe is ever recorded to exist in the Earthen Plane.

"Then no loss for me," she shrugged her shoulders, laying her head back down on top of the paw. "As long as Kiyomi supplies her Cultivation Point constantly with Elemental Quarks, I will be fed."

"What about your sister?"

"She can handle herself, she's only a few centuries younger than me after all."

Oh, she probably doesn't know about Manami's accident…

I guess she's a pretty chill fox, I'll just make a guess now that Manami's fox is the fiery and willful one.

"And does Kiyomi even know you exist?"

She knocked her paw against an invisible wall between us, just above the torii gate, "With this seal around, I couldn't talk to her even if I wanted to, so no."

"So is there a name I can call you? Or you don't even have one?"

She did what could have been a shrugging motion with her shoulders, "Back in my Plane, I was always called the Immortal White Fox and my sister the Immortal Red Fox. We might have names once but you forget these kinds of things over several millennia."

I guess I can just go the standard route and call them Shiro and Aka if I'm being lazy. But I think spending a little more effort on thinking up their names might be a good idea.

"Well… I guess er… Nice meeting you. I'll come here once in a while I guess?" I waved.

She blinked, "For a Divine Being like yourself to bother about me… Is there a reason? I already told you I have no intention of harming your disciple didn't I?"

I shrugged, pulling my consciousness out of Kiyomi's Cultivation Point, "You just seem like you can use some company."

Chapter 135 - There Is No Such Thing As Too Much Mofu Mofu

(Kiyomi POV)

I felt the warmth leave my belly as Master withdrew his hands.

Somehow, I managed to restrain the mewl of disappointment from spilling past my lips.

"Interesting…" Master muttered, tapping his chin with a finger. "What can I do with you…"

There was the slight feeling of fear that Master might feel I was unworthy to teach at this point. After knowing about Master's exploits from elder sister Manami and Lian Li, I came to realise how much I had underestimated Master.

Even factoring in the fact that he had single handedly beaten back a monster that shouldn't even exist in nightmares, he was also a treasure trove of knowledge and techniques. Both of them had told me how he was the main reason for the town's development and how he had helped his disciples advance far beyond their expected capabilities.

I have come to regret knowing so little about the Practitioner world, if only I had been a little more diligent I could have avoided making such a fool of myself back then.

I watched with bated breath as Master took a moment to consider something before reaching out for my hand again.

"I will send a trickle of energy through your Quark Veins. Remember the route it takes as it will be the best path for you to gather your Elemental Quarks to materialise your Techniques."

I nodded to show I understood, tuning my senses to track the energy Master had mentioned.

The warmth travelled up my arm and into my chest before following a winding path down towards the bottom of my spine.

The heat gathered at the base of my spine, sending a tingle of pleasure throughout my entire body. My toes curled and my tails froze in the air, my entire mind focused on the pleasing warmth that had spread throughout my body.

It remained there for a few moments before travelling up my other arm to disperse out into the air.

"Remember that feeling, now you have to make sure that this is your most natural way of gathering and circulating Elemental Quarks to feed the fo… I mean… Cast your Techniques," Master instructed.

My sight was fixated on his lips. They were slightly wet with moisture and looked entirely kissable from where I sat.

"Yes, Master."

"Good, call me once you get a hang of i--"

I threw caution to the wind as I pulled Master's small form in for a kiss, my entire body shivering in the pleasure that this action alone gave me.

Master was surprised by my action at first but slowly leaned into the kiss, his hand patting my head softly.

I broke the kiss after a while, licking my lips to enjoy the taste.

"Thank you for the meal," I whispered sultrily.

Master just smiled and scratched me behind the ears, "If you need help, don't hesitate to call me."

He gave me one last pat on the head before making his way towards Manami.

I ran a finger across my lips, the taste of strawberries still at the tip of my tongue.

Kukuku~ I could get used to this~

(MC POV)

I gently tapped Manami on her shoulder, bringing her out of her meditative state.

She looked at me with a puzzled expression, "Is something wrong, Master?"

"No, I just need to check something, let me hold your hands."

Manami licked her lips, "Ara, ara? If Master wants, we can do it right now. The other girls have seen everything already anyway~"

I flicked her on the forehead, "Stop talking nonsense, put your hands on top of mine."

She pouted at me but complied without hesitation.

I repeated what I did with Kiyomi in searching for her Cultivation Point, a little surprised that it was located at the same place as well. Even if they were twins, the similarity is quite uncanny.

Once more, I let my consciousness be dragged into her Cultivation Point, already expecting a similar scene as Kiyomi.

But what I least expected was to be dumped on to something soft and squishy.

"Hmmm? Is that you, Master? Eh? How did you get here?" The mass of fluff spoke.

I turned my head towards the source of the voice to see a red fox's head staring back at me.

Wait… Isn't she supposed to be sealed? Or did I get pulled inside the seal with her?

I glanced around the place, finding the torii gate I was looking for a short distance away. The only difference was that this one was destroyed completely, only a small section of the pillars were left standing..

I turned back to her, "What happened here?"

"Ah! You must be confused why I'm here right, Master? Erm… I'm actually a being from another Plane that was sent here by--"

"I already know," I interrupted her. "I met the Immortal White Fox just a while ago."

"Ehhhh?! You talked to my sister before me?!" She screamed in disbelief. "That's so unfair! Even though I met you first! Please tell me you have yet to stroke her tails!"

"Well… She's trapped behind some sort of seal that looks like the broken torii gate over there, so I can't get to her."

"Hmm? She hasn't broken through the barrier yet?" She gasped. "I'd thought from how her host is acting, the two of you might have done it already!"

"I'm more surprised that you chose to remain in here after breaking out of the seal though. Couldn't you have just left Manami's body any time you want?"

"And risk bringing trouble for Master when everyone in this Plane knows of my existence? I would never dare!"

"Ok, putting that aside for now, why are you even calling me 'Master'? I don't remember accepting you as a student."

"Oh no no no!" She denied quickly, her head lowering to the ground. "I wouldn't dare presume myself to be one! This one is just a pet! I wish for nothing but the night sessions to continue!"

It took me a while to understand what she was referring to, "Why?"

The fox broke eye contact, "Ummm… I feel everything that my host does and… I… Really like the night sessions… Ehehehe~"

Right… So she's a perverted fox. Who would have guessed? I had even been betting on her being a tsundere.

"And you broke out of the seal by yourself?"

She shook her head, "It was during your first night with Manami! The energy that you filled her with overloaded the seal and it broke apart just like that! It was the best night of my life!"

I chose to ignore her comment on that, "So you're just fine with staying here?"

"If… If Master doesn't mind coming in to give me a head pat or two once in a while… If it's not too much to ask? I won't cause any inconvenience to Manami!"

That reminds me…

"Since your seal is broken… That means you can talk to Manami right? Does she know of your existence?"

"Er… Not exactly… I might have spoken once or twice when she was troubled by some things but I made her think it was just some stray thoughts or her conscience talking to her. I figured it might be a good idea to just lay low in case she rejects my presence…"

"Then were you the reason she had her accident that crippled her Quark Veins?"

Her ears drooped, "No... If my host dies while I was sealed, I would have just been ejected out of her body and back into that prison ball. I had to bypass the seal as much as I could with my power to preserve her life, or else Manami would've ended up worse than just crippling her Quark Veins… But because she was crippled, I was starved for those years as well."

I see. She actually helped Manami during that accident.

I reached out to pat her snout, "Even though you might have done it for self-preservation… Thank you for protecting Manami."

"Fuwaaah~~ I… Master… Is petting me~"

Her tails waved around, some of them curling around me softly and embracing me with their softness.

Well, I guess I can indulge in these foxes once in a while.

Eh?

I just realised… If I can get both of them out of my disciples while shrinking them into smaller sized foxes… I'll have more than a hundred fox tails to mofu mofu with!

I don't want them to regress back in age since that would regress their number of tails too… I'll have to figure some other way to do it. Creating a new kind of Technique perhaps?

Guess I'm still going to be busy when I return to the Sect…

Oh well, problems for another day, I'll just live in the present for now.

Chapter 136 - Breathing Is Important For Swordsmen

(Eris POV)

A stab, parry and an overhead slash enhanced with Fire straight into a backhand slash. [Eris]

Then a pommel smash to the face! Elbow strike and then Imma be sending a knee to the groin! When the person is bent over like a wuss, punch him in the damned face with a Fire clad fist! [Bait]

Switch the grip on the sword to a reverse grip, a swift cut at the neck before stabbing through the chest. [Denna]

Switch grip… Pull out… Behead… [Laverna]

Flick and resheathe. Hmm... I think that was rather ok? [Eris]

This one thinks the grip switching could be a little faster. [Denna]

Eh… I think I need ta' use some more force on that groin kick of mine. Didn't feel like it could break the thing from that. I wonder how Cai Hong does it? [Bait]

I let out the breath that I had been holding, wiping off the bead of sweat that had trickled past my forehead.

This method of fighting was taught to me by Master himself.

Master had taught me very early on that one who has truly grasped the way of the sword shall not lose even a single fight.

When I had pointed out the clear disadvantage a non-Practitioner swordsman would face against a Practitioner, Master was quick to chastise me that I had not yet seen the tip of the iceberg.

He told me that non-Practitioners are capable of using something called Full Focus, allowing them to utilise Elemental Quarks to a certain degree during that state.

Unlike Practitioners who are able to circulate Elemental Quarks within their Cultivation Point to form different types of elements easily, non-Practitioners like myself use our entire body as a medium for natural Elemental Quarks to flow through to use them.

It is much more inefficient than how a Practitioner would manipulate Elemental Quarks, seeing how they could just make use of the abundant Pure Elemental Quarks in the air to convert into any other element. Non-Practitioners like myself would have to absorb the minute amounts of the Elemental Quark in the air that I require to convert them into a viable attack.

Even the most proficient non-Practitioner can't cast something as big as a normal Practitioner can though, but that's where our other skills make up for it.

In Full Focus mode, my senses are incredibly tuned and sensitive to the point that I could see the flow of Elemental Quarks in the air.

Master had clearly explained to me how such a skill was actually putting any Practitioners I faced at a disadvantage instead.

He first used a Technique on me that mimics the state of Full Focus before throwing a rather simple Energy ball at me. I was amazed by what my eyes could see in that state.

Master's aura changed colours when he circulated the Pure Elemental Quarks within him to Energy Quarks, and a clear white trail was created that originated from him to me a few moments before the ball flew out, traversing along that trail that I saw.

It was a simple thing for me to sidestep it long before the ball even made half the distance between Master and I.

Master had also told me that Practitioners are not able to access this Full Focus state because of the Elemental Quarks already present within their bodies. It seems that having a Cultivation Point overpowers the rest of their senses such that they are not able to focus properly to enter the Full Focus state of mind.

It was still rather shameful for me to admit that it took me a significant amount of time before I could even maintain this Full Focus state for more than a few seconds even with Master's patient guidance.

But I recently had a breakthrough by learning to use all of me to slip into the state easier.

I still need to work on entering that Focus state faster. [Eris]

Likewise… [Laverna]

Ugh… If only Master could do it too! I didna' think there wudda be sumthin' he couldn't do… [Bait]

It is only this one's humble opinion but… Could Master perhaps wish of us to deal with this ourselves? [Denna]

That… Might actually be possible. [Eris]

Independence… Self-improvement… [Laverna]

Dat's right! We can't always be troublin' Master all the time! Gotta make our own moves too! [Bait]

Alright, let's start from the top again then. I'll gather-- [Denna]

"Is everything alright Eris? You've been standing still for a while now," The unmistakable tone of Master's voice carried itself into my ears.

I yelped in surprise before looking down towards my left where the small form of my Master stood, staring up at me in concern.

I got lost in his mesmerizing gaze for a moment.

Ummm… Master asked a question. [Denna]

"Ah! I'm fine, Master!" I managed to squeak out. "Ju… Just having a bit of trouble wi… With my Full Focus. It takes too long for me to get into that state…"

Master paused for a moment before scratching his chin, "And how long does it take you to go into your Full Focus state now?"

What should we tell him? [Eris]

Average…? [Laverna]

Eh, we're always constantly switching wit' one 'nother to get that thingy going… I take 'bout ten seconds to git into it. [Bait]

I take about eight. [Eris]

This one is ashamed to admit that twelve seconds is required. [Denna]

Six… [Laverna]

So that brings our average to about… Nine seconds? [Eris]

Correct… [Laverna]

I bowed to Master, "This one reports that nine seconds is required, Master."

"Nine seconds?" I heard the tone of slight disbelief in his voice.

It seems it was not up to Master's expectations. [Eris]

Ugh… Now I feel bad for slacking off that day… [Bait]

This one has been negligent. [Denna]

Master looked at us for a moment, "Alright then, what are you dissatisfied with now?"

"If it's not too much to ask… Could Master help us in shortening the time? We still find it impractical to switch elements mid battle…"

Master raised an eyebrow, "Switching elements?"

I nodded, "Master is capable of multi-casting and my other sisters are beginning to have a grasp on it as well. Yet here I am still stuck with one element everytime I use my Full Focus. Even though theoretically by splitting my concentration, I should be able to draw different elements together at the same time…"

Master muttered something under his breath, though I only managed to catch him saying "interesting…", "unheard of…" and "testing…"

Master straightened himself and looked at me with serious eyes, "In that case, let's have a spar. I'll get a clearer grasp on your current capabilities through live combat. I want you to hold nothing back."

I panicked, "To… To… To point my sword at Master?! This one does not dare! And… To raise my hand against a child is… A little..."

Master raised his eyebrow, "And you will look down on me that much to refuse even a spar?"

My body froze from his words.

What… What do we do?! [Eris]

C-c-c-calm down… It's n-n-n-ot like we haven't sparred against Master before innit? [Bait]

This one… This one does not know what to do! [Denna]

Conflicted… [Laverna]

Master tilted his head at me, "If you can land a hit on me, I will leave tonight's bed-warming duties to you."

I saluted Master immediately, "Apologies… I will do my best, Master! Please forgive this one's insolence! Now Imma be going all out!"

Master took a few steps away from me, his hands behind his back, "Begin when ready."

Chapter 137 - My Disciple Is A Prodigy?

(MC POV)

After giving Manami a few pointers on her cultivation, I directed my attention to my sword wielding disciple.

Finding her frozen in place, I had approached her to find out what was the issue. The last thing I expected was for her to consult me on her Full Focus state.

When I first introduced the concept to Eris, I had not expected her to learn it so quickly.

To be honest, I wasn't even sure of the skill myself. Most of what I knew about it came from the books and records I had read and I was only made aware of its practical usage back when I was… Assisting... In that Royal Spiritual Family Matriarch's research.

I'm not even sure if any non-Practitioner within this Plane even knows such a skill existed.

For Eris's case, I only shared with her some of the theoretical knowledge I knew regarding that state. Heck, I didn't even know what exactly it was called and just coined it with a random name that I thought of on the spot.

No one actually gave it an official name as far as I was aware of, it was just something that non-Practitioners could do. There were various terms for it like 'mantra', 'breath', 'will' and other similarly outlandish terms, but the state is basically focusing the swordsman's senses in the end.

I only knew that those non-Practitioners somehow found a way to draw in the latent Elemental Quarks in the air but I had no idea on how it worked since I was incapable of using it.

I gave her the idea of feeling out the tiny traces of energy in the air before trying to draw them into her body.

What I've read from records that I've found though, is that it might take years for one to start feeling these traces of energy. After that, they will need decades of meditation and training before they can even start manipulating said traces of energy.

And this girl managed to do it within a span of a few months?

Though it's true that nine seconds is quite long to be truly practical, but the fact that she's already got to the point that she can use it is a feat by itself. What's more, she's even seeking out Element switching?

From what I know, this should be an extremely improbable feat. The mind would be too occupied with maintaining the connection with one particular type Elemental Quark to even consider pulling in another one.

Going into Full Focus state is like putting someone in front of a mass of marbles of varying colours and asking you to pick up red marbles using your left hand, blue marbles with your right hand and putting them into different containers at the same time.

When one fills up both containers, they will be able to use the Element they have gathered. A true expert would need about two to three seconds to do this.

But if you want to do an Element switch then, you'll have to cross your hands and do the same thing.

Not impossible, but still a really difficult task. Especially considering she wants to do this in the middle of a fight.

Maybe she might be a prodigy in this?

How interesting… She might even be able to do what is previously unheard of. I suppose this warrants some testing.

I suggested the idea of a live combat to her which she predictably resisted against, but nothing a little incentive can't solve.

With the safety inscription laid down in the area, I nodded to her, "Begin when ready."

She rushed towards me at a blinding speed, the flat of her blade swinging towards the side of my left leg.

I made no move to counter her as I already knew that it was a feint by how her weight was still focused on her back foot.

I was proven right when she spun on her heel, aiming the flat of the blade towards my other leg instead.

This one I responded to by lifting my foot and kicking it away, throwing her off balance before I delivered a straight kick to her behind.

"You're still not fighting seriously, Eris," I admonished. "I already put the safety inscription down, neither of us will get hurt permanently. If you don't fight me seriously I can't help you improve. Unless you just want to waste my time?"

She froze for a moment but nodded in the end, switching her grip on her sword so that her blade pointed outwards.

She settled herself into a half-crouch with her eyes closed, no doubt entering her Full Focus state.

I counted off the seconds, expecting her to move on the ninth second.

But upon reaching the eighth second, Eris had dashed forward from her position, her sword ablaze with fire.

Didn't she say she needed nine seconds?

I back stepped away from her overhead slash, the flames barely missing me by a hairsbreadth.

Now she should have expanded all the Elemental Quarks within her so she should be vulnerable for the next--

I ducked under her horizontal slash that was still enhanced with Fire, this time the flames managed to burn a bit of my hair.

Wait… Shouldn't she need another nine seconds for her to gather the Quarks again? Why are there still Fire Quarks flowing through her?

I leapt away to extend my distance from her, just in time to avoid her flame clad kick aimed at my face.

Looks like she's actually serious now, guess I should step it up a bit. I'll figure out how she is able to do that later.

Not letting me run, she lunged towards me with her sword stabbing towards my chest, a fireball flying out from her sword ahead of her lunge.

I spun myself in midair, my hands still stubbornly stuck behind my back. She's doing well so far, but if she thinks this is enough to catch me off guard, she still has a lot to learn.

I stuck out my leg and tripped her as she passed by, sending her stumbling forward.

"Good combo, but still not enough for me. Focus on your breathing first."

She nodded and sucked in a deep breath, before lowering herself into a stance again, the tip of her sword pointed towards me.

Sensing the shift in the air, I moved my hands from my back.

Her form blurred and disappeared from my view, creating a gust at where she had been.

She reappeared in front of me, her sword already stabbing towards my chest.

I slapped the flat of her blade with the back of my left hand, deflecting it off course to my left side. My hand was coated with a layer of air to counter the Air blades she had enhanced her sword with.

Lowering my centre of gravity, my right hand struck out in a palm strike towards her abdomen, but her left palm was quick to intercept my strike.

Her figure disappeared once more, reappearing behind me with her sword raised in an overhead strike judging by the shadow she casted on the ground in front of me.

I summoned the new sword I obtained from my solo trip, my thumb pressing down on the ignition switch while I angled the thrusters to point behind me.

The flames caught her by surprise and launched her away from me, though I knew the Air Quarks she was currently circulating through her body would have mitigated most of the damage.

Holding the sword with both hands, I thumbed the ignition switch again, this time letting the thruster blast me flying towards her.

Caught entirely off guard, she was only able to raise her sword in a weak attempt at defense and the full force of my strike struck her blade.

The force behind it was enough to send her sword flying out of her hands to embed itself into a tree a distance away.

Eris gasped when I laid the sword on the side of her neck, her hands going up to show that she surrendered.

"Good use on the Air Quarks," I complimented, storing the sword back in my storage ring. "But you didn't account for me having something else up my sleeve."

I reached out my hand and used an Air Technique to pull her sword back to me, handing it over to her hilt first.

"We can work on the speed of your Full Focus state first. After you are able to enter it in less than five second, we'll move on to Element switching then."

If I can figure out how, that is.

She nodded, holding her sword up again.

We spent the rest of the night sparring, Eris failing to land a hit on me to her disappointment.

Chapter 138 - Cuddling Is Important For Health

(Lian Li POV)

"Ugh… Master really did a number on me tonight…" Eris groaned, stretching herself.

All of us were gathered inside our tent for the night after Master ended our night training session.

I thought Master might let me warm his bed tonight but Master claimed he had some things to do so he told us to get our rest first.

"Ufufufu~ It was quite a sight to see both of you clashing with each other," Manami commented.

Eris raised an eyebrow, "Clashing or gittin' my little ass handed to me? Because I really think it's the latter ya know?"

Without waiting for us to respond, her face had scrunched up in disgust, "Language…"

Deciding to let Eris have her own inner monologue, I spread my own bedroll on the ground, claiming my spot near the side of the tent.

Since Kiyomi has joined us, we'll have to squeeze six people in our tent instead of our usual five. At least it was still large enough to accomodate all of us since we cuddle with one another.

Since the white haired fox youkai was Manami's sister and had already pledged herself to Master even before meeting us, we had decided she didn't need any indoctrination.

So far, she's been a good sister and we've already seen her as one of our own.

"Speaking of which, how is that elf girl doing?" I asked.

Diao Chan looked up from laying her own bedroll, "If you're asking about that adventurer elf we took away, I passed her over to Delta to handle. She sent a message to say that she was adapting well and I didn't see a need to ask for details."

I nodded, "As long as she can change, that's good enough. We should be benevolent like how Master has been to us."

"Speaking of which, what do you all think about our drivers?" Kiyomi asked out of the blue, the white fox helping Manami brush her tails.

I crossed my arms. "Honestly, I don't trust them."

Cai Hong looked up, "Bad men smell bad."

Diao Chan scrunched up her eyebrows, "They were nothing but complete wastes of space."

"Ara, ara? To ask such a question, does my cute little Kiyomi have something to say about them?" Manami asked, tilting her head slightly.

Her hands didn't stop brushing her sister's tails, "For one, they seem to be harbouring rather malicious thoughts. I was wondering if anyone else noticed or it had all been my paranoia talking?"

"The fact that they only considered going away when they saw me unclasping my sword is a clear sign," Eris commented.

I nodded in agreement, "Well, we can't do much to them right now since we need them to drive the carriages. But I propose that after the journey is done, we do something about them."

All of them nodded in agreement except for Kiyomi.

"I don't think any law enforcers would arrest them over something like that? Unless you guys are planning on incriminating them on other charges?"

Ah, she doesn't yet know about our little church yet.

Well, there's no rush for that now. It's better to see if she truly can fit in first before we fully indoctrinate her.

I was just about to reply to her query when a soft 'crack' resounded through the air from outside our tent.

Not caring that we were already in our nightgowns, all of us had rushed outside our tent prepared to take down whatever was making the sound outside, all of us expecting either a monster or a pair of men seeking death to be the source of the noise.

But all we saw was our cute Master standing outside in his own nightgown with his head raised to stare up at the sky.

Beside me, Cai Hong was sniffing the air muttering, "Bad man juice?"

He noticed our presence and turned to us with a smile, "Sorry, did I wake you girls? There were a few monsters nearby so I went to take care of them just now."

I relaxed, "Master should have just left such simple things to us. It is beneath Master to settle things such as this."

"It's fine," Master waved his hand noncommittally. "You girls have been working hard, it won't be right for me to disturb your rest like that."

Diao chan pouted, "Master… You should have just brought us along… We wanted to watch at least!"

Master chuckled at her words, "I'll keep that in mind next time. Now go back to sleep, it's already quite late."

I was about to obey when Manami stepped forward, her hands pinching the hems of her nightgown and lifting them up to reveal a scandalous amount of thigh.

"Ufufufu~ Since Master is already here… Won't Master indulge in us for a little while?"

How sly of you, Manami! But yes! Please do, Master! I want to cuddle tonight too!

Judging by the expressions on everyone else's faces, it was clear they were thinking of the same thing as well.

Master just smiled serenely at her, how could such a simple smile be so cute?! Master, that's so not fair!

"Go and rest Manami, you girls too. We'll have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."

We nodded and wished Master goodnight as well, only returning to our tent after Master had disappeared inside his.

"How bold of you elder sister," Kiyomi commented. "I know you've always been the possessive one but to do this out in the open… Are our other sisters fine with this?"

I raised an eyebrow at her before looking towards Manami to see a conspiratory smile on her face.

"Ufufufu~ My dear cute little Kiyomi~ one of the first things I've learned from my time with Master is that Master belongs to no one, not even me."

She seemed to understand the underlying meaning behind her words, her eyes widening and looking towards us.

"All of you?"

We nodded in unison, except for Cai Hong who was busy with sniffing a towel that reeked of Master's scent. She never told us where she got that one.

Manami moved behind Kiyomi, hugging her waist, "So there's no need to hold yourself back dear sister. You can go beyond trying to sneak in kisses during your training sessions with Master. All of us has done that and more."

The white haired fox girl smirked, "Oh, I was never worried about that elder sister. I was just afraid you might get jealous if Master shows favour towards me. I had never planned to back down from the start."

"Ufufufu~ that's the dear sister I know~" Manami giggled, caressing her sister's face with a hand.

Well, since Master was not keeping us company tonight, we were treated to the sight of how close Manami and Kiyomi truly were.

It was quite an educational experience to see just how fox youkai deal with the lack of men inside their village when they weren't looking for a mate.

Still… I decided that tomorrow I'll definitely cuddle with Master, my reserves of Masternium were already critically low as it is!

Chapter 139 - Guess We Walking

(MC POV)

I looked at the two bodies that were dangling on the tree branch, their faces so disfigured I doubt their own mothers could recognise them.

"It seems I was too late in subduing those monsters last night…" I sighed.

"It is no fault of yours Master, this is merely an unfortunate circumstance," Lian Li consoled me.

"Poor things…" Manami commented, her hands dutifully covering Cai Hong's eyes from seeing the gruesome scene in front of us.

I used a Technique to pull the corpses of our drivers down from the tree, laying them down on the ground to inspect them.

Their faces had various slashes across them, the size and shape resembling claw marks.

Almost none of their facial features remained and there was a huge gaping hole in their abdomen, their intestines visibly missing.

"I guess the monsters must have killed them for food and left them there for dessert," Eris concluded, prodding the corpses with a stick.

"Hmmm? Master, there are traces of them being bound at the wrists," Diao Chan pointed out.

I scratched my chin, "Curious, perhaps the monsters used vines to immobilise them before devouring them. That means they were rather intelligent? Interesting…"

"Can Cai Hong see now?" My cute little dragon asked.

I directed a gout of flames towards the bodies to incinerate them, "Not yet, Cai Hong, just wait for a bit more."

"Okies~"

"So what da' we do now? Take over the carriages and use 'em?" Eris suggested.

"Well, that might be an impossible feat since…" I gestured to the similarly dead horses that lay near the trees.

"Should we teleport back then, Master?" Manami suggested.

And waste this valuable chance of vacation away? Hell no! Not that I'm going to admit that out loud though. Got to think of another excuse…

"Well, it's a good chance for us to bond," I pointed out. "There's a saying that to understand your partners, you'll have to get out of your comfort zones to see who they really are. Out in the wilderness is the best place for people to connect with each other."

All the girls turned their heads to stare at me with a weird look in their eyes.

What? Was what I said unbelievable?

"I agree with what Master said," Lian Li said after a while. "We will surely umm… Connect with each other on a very personal level."

Manami giggled, "Ufufufu~ Indeed. This big sister will take really good care of Master~"

Cai Hong hugged my arm, "Cai Hong stay with Papa!"

Eris nodded as well, "This one humbly thinks that it will serve as a good training opportunity."

"Kukuku~ Maybe… Some interesting things might happen on our trip too~" Diao Chan commented with a mischievous smile.

Kiyomi tapped her chin with a finger, "Hmm… Considering how I've been cooped inside the town all this while, I'm in no hurry either."

I clapped my hands together, "Well, let's go pack up our things and go then. We'll also have to report that our drivers were killed by monsters to the Guild."

We moved back towards our campsite to pack up before we leave, or at least that was the plan before a group of eight men showed up on the road on our way back.

No prizes for guessing what they're here for.

"Ey laddies! Lookie what we got 'ere!" The big muscled leader laughed, showing his mouth full of missing and crooked teeth. "Some beauts and a little weener! I think we hit the jackpot laddies!"

Ah bandits, how I miss having to deal with just you guys. I'll definitely pick you guys over hundred eyed tentacle monsters anyday.

I stepped in front of my disciples, "We don't want any trouble. We have money, just take it and leave us alo--"

"Lookie at 'im laddies! Little weener's thinkin''ee can tell us wat ta' do?" The leader growled, staring at me with clear mockery in his eyes.

Ah… I guess it is a little difficult for bandits to take a little kid's words seriously. Perhaps showing them that I am a Practitioner might scare them off?

"Hehehe… Hey boss, could we have a go at them girls after yer done?" The bandit beside the leader grinned. "Haven't had a chance to try a fox youk-- Nine tails?! And two of them?!"

All the mirth the bandits had immediately dissipated, all of them suddenly looking ready to run.

I almost forgot the fact that Manami and Kiyomi are supposedly powerful beings in the eyes of normal mortals.

To normal people, both my fox disciples would be seen as Elite Practitioners. Needless to say, an Elite Practitioner is more than enough to take care of a normal ragtag group of bandits by themselves.

And since there's two of them right behind me, unless all of them are swordmasters, I highly doubt they can even touch the hems of their clothes in a normal confrontation.

The leader glanced at my two fox disciples before looking back at me, "Huh… A youn' master of a Noble House, eh? Tsk… Fine, we'll jus' take deh moneh and go."

If only that stupid monster was as reasonable as you guys are. Not that I regretted a single moment of banishing it back from whence it came.

Before the leader could take another step however, Kiyomi had moved to stand in front of me to block his way. Her arms were crossed in front of her chest and by how her tails were pointed upright stiffly, she was prepared to attack him.

"I think not. For someone as weak as you to be strutting around like you own the place is unforgivable. Unless you beg for Master's forgiveness, do not, for a moment, think you can leave this place unscathed."

Oh no… Kiyomi, please don't set a bad example for the other girls. I know you like being the dominant one but there's a time and place for everything. What if Cai Hong or even Diao Chan learn from you and start being mean to other people?

They're fine just the way they are, you know?

Ah, but I suppose having your disciples defend you is a rather… Empowering feeling.

My eyes darted to the bandit leader's waist, where he had already unclasped his sword slightly.

"Hmph… Don't push yer luck, youkai. I'm just not in da' mood for a fight. If aye wanted to, yer would be down on all fours and beggin' for me mercy instead."

I noticed one of Kiyomi's tail quiver as she unfolded her hands, "Really? You're the one that's pushing his luck right now, one last cha--"

I tossed a pouch of coins towards the leader, it didn't contain much but it was enough for all of them to get a decent meal at least. He caught it with a hand, though his eyes still remained on Kiyomi in case she moved.

I guess he really does have some skill to back up his claims at least.

"Just take it and go. You're wasting my time here," I shooed him.

The leader hefted the pouch with his palm, testing its weight before breaking out into a cruel smile, "Heh… A'least yerr owner knows a bit of what's about. C'mon laddies, we're gonna git sumthin' good wit this!"

I watched them leave as they trudged along the path, a few of them throwing glances towards my disciples as they went. None of them bothered to hide the obvious lust behind their gazes.

"Master, why?" Kiyomi finally asked after they went out of sight.

"They are just a bunch of people who have resorted to doing these things for survival, there is no need for us to stain our hands with the likes of them," I lied smoothly.

Kiyomi looked like she wanted to protest more but Manami had approached her from behind and patted her shoulder.

Seeing her sister shake her head at her, the white fox decided to cease her protests.

Looks like Manami has also become understanding of my motives. I know I was doing the right thing!

"Alright, we've wasted enough time as it is," I called out, bringing their attention back to our predicament at hand. "Let's get packing, even if we're taking this easily, I still want to cover some ground today."

My disciples nodded and moved to prepare for our long journey ahead.

Chapter 140 - How Dare You Kill Steal A Yandere?

(Diao Chan POV)

"So… Both you and Lian Li have done this before?" I whispered, sneaking behind Manami and Lian Li.

All of us had waited until Master had retired to his tent for a while before sneaking out.

Cai Hong stayed behind just in case Master checked in on us late at night. She would distract Master with her cuteness while giving him the excuse that we were out doing something else.

I had originally wanted to crawl into Master's bed tonight but Lian Li had told us to be prepared to move out once Master goes to sleep. I had thought she meant that we were to sneak into Master's tent together but she told me to change immediately when I put on my 'night battle' clothes.

It was only after we snuck a distance away did Manami tell us the purpose of tonight's secrecy. We would be finding and dishing out justice on those bandits that dare to disrespect our Master.

"Master had encountered bandits twice before this. Both times he had chosen to spare them after giving them money," Lian Li explained. "Obviously Master is way too benevolent to harm these pitiful mortals but we, as Master's disciples and believers, will cleanse the world of scum like them for him."

"Even that time with the Dark Sect…" Manami continued. "Master granted them the mercy of a swift death. At that time... Even while he was executing them, his face was filled with such agony and sadness it pained us to even watch…"

Lian Li nodded, "Master had been training inside the Sect his entire life, untainted by the darkness of society. He only ventured outside in order to teach us and let us learn, or else Master could have remained within the Sect and live a comfortable life. Now that we know from his sister that Master has lost his childhood memories, we need to protect Master's light from being sullied by the trash of this world."

Master… To think that you shoulder such a heavy burden… This Diao Chan is ready for your use whenever you need to relieve your stress! You can tie me, whip me, and spank me however you like!

Mmmm~~ I really need to try that costume play with Master some time.

"Master has lost memories?" Kiyomi asked, rather surprised at the revelation.

Eris turned to the white fox, realisation spreading across her face, "Oh, that's right, ya weren't there when his little sis told us that bit of info."

"Master was involved in an accident that wiped his memories of his childhood," I explained to her. "It was through his little sister that we confirmed his Divine origins."

Lian Li smacked her palm with a fist, "That might explain Master's words on saying he is older than he really is."

Now it was my turn to look confused, at least Eris had the decency to share my confusion as well.

"Apparently, Master has told my little Kiyomi that he is older than the age we know him at," Manami explained helpfully.

"Oh, maybe Master has developed a Technique that speeds up his perception of time?" I suggested.

"This one thinks that is possible. This one does not think there is anything Master cannot do if he truly wishes to," Eris pointed out.

All of us nodded as though she had said the most obvious thing in the universe.

Kiyomi crossed her arms, "Anyway, we're going to find those bandits from before right? What are we planning on doing to them exactly?"

Manami just smiled and drew a line across her neck with her thumb.

"Fair enough, how are we finding them?"

My other sisters looked towards me, prompting me to fish out the mirror I kept within my sleeve.

"'Seekers of Void, Watchers of All, I seek you to heed my call; Show me what I seek, without letting us leak. The ones most hated of all, the ones that shall fall. Let us know their resting place, so we can put them in their place! Mirror Locate!'"

The surface of my mirror shimmered, showing an arrow that pointed towards our south-east, meaning we would have to back track a bit.

"What was that?" Kiyomi asked, pointing a finger at my mirror.

"Ufufufu~ There's still so many things for you to learn, my cute little Kiyomi. We'll tell you later, let's just focus on punishing some infidels first."

"If you say so, elder sister."

I followed the arrow on the mirror with my sisters trailing after me, all of us intent on finding the sinners who dared mock our beloved Master just the day before.

It turned out to be a little closer than we thought, the bandits were apparently not just plain bandits but slave traders as well. They had set up a base rather deep in the forest, an encampment that was surrounded by a wooden wall made out of logs stuck into the ground and had its tips sharpened.

We could see the orange glow of campfires just behind said walls.

Kiyomi sniffed the air, "Do you smell that, elder sister?"

Manami nodded to Kiyomi's query, "Blood, alcohol and human waste. Perfect location for scums like them."

Eris cracked her knuckles, "Do we just burn it down? Or do we kick down the door to say hi?"

I licked my lips, "Kukuku~ I want a few of them to play with~"

"Then let's make sure they know who exactly they messed with," Lian Li grinned.

Her eyes glowed golden as lightning gathered around her hands, the golden lightning that we've grown accustomed to seeing sparking off of our sister.

Our golden haired sister threw her arms forward, a giant bolt of lightning blasting apart the wooden walls in front of us into splinters.

Unconcerned that the blast most likely got the entire camp running to our location, all of us strode forward side by side, ready to commence our purge.

But instead of the panicked scene of slavers rushing to defend their camp, what greeted us was a giant eight legged spider monster feasting on the dead bodies of the slavers.

It turned to us to regard us with its eyes, stopping its meal for a moment.

"Ara, ara… It seems we were a little too late to teach them a lesson they deserve," Manami sighed.

Huh… What are the odds of the bandit encampment being attacked by a monster right after messing with Master? This must be some sort of divine retribution for their transgressions right?

Still… The fact that we can't be the ones to serve the punishment ourselves irks me a little… My whip is quite lonely now… Unless...

I cracked my whip on the ground, "Perhaps… This little spider can take their place? To consume them is to take on their sins as well, no?"

Eris unsheathed her blade, "This one humbly agrees. Its death shall not be swift."

Kiyomi stretched her arms, "It's been a while since I last had a good workout. Hopefully this one doesn't disappoint."

Lian Li's eyes glowed again, "It will serve as a good learning material in case we need to punish monsters in the future too."

We had a lot of fun with that monster that night.

Chapter 141 - Wrong Place, Wrong Time

(Cai Hong POV)

Big sisters went out to punish the bad men who were bad to Papa. They told Cai Hong to stay behind and 'dish thract' Papa if he asks where big sisters go.

Cai Hong hugged the towel with Papa's smell, Cai Hong wants big sisters to come back fast…

Muuu… At least Cai Hong has the stash of Papa's clothes. The kind snake lady gave Cai Hong all of Papa's clothes she had.

She was nice.

Cai Hong sniffed Papa's towel again.

Ehehe~ Cai Hong can feel Papa's warmth~ It's shooo comfy~

"Cai Hong?"

Muuu~ Cai Hong can even hear Papa calling Cai Hong~ Ehehehe~ Maybe Papa will say Cai Hong is a good girl?

"Cai Hong?"

Mnn~ Papa's voice~ Call Cai Hong good girl~

"Cai Hong?"

Cai Hong felt something tap on shoulder?

Cai Hong looked behind. Mmm? Papa?

"Where is everyone?" Papa asked. "Why are you alone?"

Cai Hong slowly put Papa's towel away carefully with the rest of Cai Hong's treasures before turning back to face Papa.

"Muuu! Papa! Cai Hong has an ouchie…" Cai Hong cried.

Papa immediately came to Cai Hong's side, "Where? Where is Cai Hong's ouchie?"

Cai Hong pointed to Cai Hong's head, "Papa… Cai Hong's head ouchies…"

Papa patted Cai Hong's head, "Oh… My poor girl, what happened? Why ouchies?"

Ehehe~ Papa's patting Cai Hong~ Ah! No! Must keep Papa 'dish thracted'!

"Umm… Cai Hong miss Papa!" Cai Hong hugged Papa. "Cai Hong head ouchies because no Papa!"

"Awww~ You cute little dragon, you. Come here, Papa will pamper you a little."

Ehehehe~ Papa is hugging Cai Hong and patting Cai Hong's head~ So warm~

"But... Where did your sisters go?" Papa asked while still patting Cai Hong's head.

"Umm… Big sisters… Ehehe~ Papa warm~ Ah... Big sisters went to bathe?"

Papa's hand stopped, "So late in the night? Why did they still leave you here though? What if something comes here while you were alone?"

"Umm… Cai Hong said she didn't want to go… So big sisters let Cai Hong stay."

Papa huffed, "Leaving my little Cai Hong here to bathe by themselves? The least they could do was tell me about it first. Papa will punish them later."

Cai Hong did an oopsie?

"Umm… Papa no need punish big sisters? Cai Hong wanted to stay and not disturb Papa! So Cai Hong told big sisters not to tell Papa!"

Papa continued patting Cai Hong's head, "Cai Hong is a good girl. Well then, does Cai Hong want to sleep on my lap while we wait for big sisters to come back?"

"Yay! Papa's lappy! Cai Hong want!"

Papa patted his lap and Cai Hong dived into it, snuggling into Papa's warmth.

Ehehehe~ So warm~

(MC POV)

I watched Cai Hong drift to sleep while I stroked her hair, the little dragon muttering something about marshmallows and camping.

Seriously though, what were the girls thinking leaving such a cute, defenceless girl alone?

Sure, Cai Hong has trained in being a Practitioner, but you can't expect a little girl like her to fight big mean bandits right?

What if those slavers from this morning came back and took Cai Hong away? Surely my cute Cai Hong couldn't bear to hurt other people right?

How irresponsible… No matter what Cai Hong says, I'm definitely punishing them when they come back.

Speak of the devil, I think I hear their footsteps coming back here already.

Hmm? These sounds… Aren't they a bit too heavy to be made by a group of girls?

The tent's flap was pushed aside to reveal a weird looking man wearing dark leather armour inspecting the interior of our tent. His eyes locked onto mine and we just stared at each other for a few seconds.

"Two kids in a tent… Without any adults around… What the hell are you--"

I raised a finger to stop him, "Could you keep it down? She's sleeping."

The man moved his gaze down to my lap to see Cai Hong sleeping peacefully, one of her hands gripping the side of my pants loosely.

He lowered his volume, "Sorry about that. But you two really shouldn't be here. There's a group of slavers in the area and it's not safe to be camping around here. Where are your parents?"

I shrugged, "I'm on my way to Heaven Sect with my dis… er… My elder sisters. They are away right now but should be coming back soon. Who are you?"

"I am Mordred of the Circular Round Flat Surface party, we accepted a Request to take care of these slavers."

Ok… I won't even comment on that name then. I'm already half expecting him to tell me he betrayed his previous party leader to get to where he is or something like that.

Not noticing my reaction, he continued, "When I saw your tents, I had thought that this might be a group of them camping out here so I investigated."

I gave him a purposely blank look, "Well, I don't know about any slavers around here, so I guess you guys will have to look elsewhere."

He smiled at me, "Oh no hurry, I'm sure my party members wouldn't mind staying around here for a bit until your older sisters come back. Just in case some unscrupulous people come here with ill intentions, you know?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "And how do I know you're not one?"

His smile grew wider, "Heh, a smart one aren't you? Here."

He fished out his Adventurer Guild's card from his vest, showing me status as a certified Adventurer from the Adventurer's Guild.

I checked his Request completion and it numbered in the four hundred range with the title "Law Enforcer" beside it, so he should be a rather reliable Adventurer.

This may come as a shock to you, but our Adventurers aren't ranked by the alphabets, precious metals or even colour here.

Instead, there is a record on how many Requests someone has completed that is displayed on their guild card. Here, we prioritise experience first since the main factor Adventurers look out for is survivability.

Upon reaching their first hundredth completed Request, they will gain a 'title' that shows what kind of Requests they are specialised in, be it hunting monsters, herbalism, bodyguard escort or even explorer. In this guy's case, he's a 'Law Enforcer', meaning he takes more Requests that has to deal with national security or aiding with the local law enforcement.

As for Request grades, it is entirely up to the Adventurer Guild in charge of the Request to decide if an Adventurer team is suitable or not to take on a certain Request.

Unless you are a recognised Adventurer or party, you would usually need to go through an interview process on convincing the Guild to let you undertake a Request. Seems quite convoluted, but honestly the process is rather laid back.

To put it bluntly, there are more than enough Adventurers to go around. It doesn't really put much strain on the Adventurer Guild's resources if a few were to overestimate themselves and perish somewhere.

If you ask me, it's probably some roundabout way of keeping the population numbers in check, not that I really care about it anyway.

They know the hazards and are paid for it, that's why Adventurers look at the number of completed Requests that someone has as a sign of expertise.

With that said, I know that this Mordred guy should at least be the real deal and not a slaver pretending to be one.

"So shouldn't you be going out there to tell your party not to go through our stuff?" I asked him, my hand still busy stroking Cai Hong's hair.

"Oh, yeah. Of course, I'll just be--"

"Mordred! We got contact! Five of them coming from the road!" Someone shouted from outside.

"Stay here," Mordred instructed me before withdrawing from the tent before I could even stop him.

What's with people not listening to the full story?

No bets on who those five might be though.

I should go out and settle any misunderstandings but… Looking at how Cai Hong is comfortably snuggled on my lap I just can't bear to wake her.

Ah well, I'm sure they can sort it out themselves.

Chapter 142 - Everyone Did An Oopsie

(Lian Li POV)

Something was wrong.

We had just returned from obliterating the slaver camp when Manami pointed out movement from within our camp site.

It seems that taking a bath before returning allowed these hoodlums to enter our camp uninvited.

Well, the bath was unavoidable since we were quite soaked from head to toe in monster entrails and it took quite a while to get all of them out from our hair.

But for there to be cockroaches crawling all around the campsite where our Master is resting is an unforgivable blunder on our part.

I hope Master is still sleeping peacefully and undisturbed in his tent right now…

All of us snuck towards the edge of the camp, hoping beyond hope that Master was still safe and sound within his tent.

Cai Hong definitely could handle herself without any problems, but Master's magnanimous heart might result in him being taken advantage of. Coupled with the fact that Master is still in his child form, scoundrels would definitely think him nothing more than a child.

I knocked on one of Master's tent poles lightly, "Master? Are you there?"

No response.

I nodded to Eris while I stepped away from the tent.

Her blade flashed out and a human sized hole opened up on the side of the tent, revealing a distinctly empty bedroll inside to us.

Oh no.

To have our Master taken from us a third time is beyond forgiveness.

For our negligence and weakness to not only cause trouble for Master once but three times in such a short amount of time… We are not worthy.

We will baptise this land in their blood.

If I do not make these infidels sing praises and beg for Master's forgiveness until the end of time, I do not deserve to receive Master's glory.

I turned towards the centre of the camp, marching myself towards where a group of three of those things were gathered.

My sisters followed along beside me, all of them showing the same determination as I was.

One of them spotted us, his hand raising in the air to halt us, "Woah there, who are you? Are you the--"

I threw a lightning bolt that pierced through his leg, leaving a hole the size of a fist on his flesh.

The man screamed out in pain and collapsed while the others immediately unsheathed their weapons.

"Damnit! Enemy ambush! Call leader!"

Good. Call that leader of yours here. Get everyone here so we can round them up all at once. Then we'll take our time to rip each and every one of you apart piece by piece!

The two infidels stepped in front of the fallen one, both of them holding a sword and shield as though expecting us to be intimidated by their weapons.

"Don't worry," Diao Chan giggled, her fingers curling around her whip. "We'll wait for everyone to come here before we start."

I let lightning course through my fingers again, fully preparing to strike down whoever was going to show up when someone tapped my shoulder.

I turned back to see the confused face of Kiyomi, "What are you guys doing? I get you guys being brutal with the spider monster from earlier since it wanted to eat us too… But we don't even know if these guys are the ones who took Master away, why are you so hostile?"

I frowned at her, "Why else would armed strangers appear prowling all over our own campsite?"

She raised an eyebrow at me, "I'm not sure what you've been through but… Is there a need for everything to be so pessimistic?"

"Not without reason," Eris commented beside me, her eyes never leaving the two men in front of us.

Kiyomi raised an eyebrow at her words but opted not to ask. Instead, she turned towards the two men, "Who are you guys and what are you doing at our campsite?"

The two men looked rather surprised at her question.

"This is your campsite?" The one of the left asked.

"Yes, we were away to… Bathe," Kiyomi explained. "There should be two people here, one in each of the tents. Do you know where they are?"

The other one waved his weapon at us, "You just attacked us out of the blue and expect us to answer your questions? If anything, we should be the one interrogating you!"

I let lightning spark across my raised hand, "Answer her or the next one goes through your friend's head."

The one on the left moved so that his shield covered his downed friend, a rather admirable move but a futile one.

"Ok, let's all just chill for a moment," the thing pleaded. "In case you haven't noticed Bratt, we're the ones at a disadvantage here."

"Ara? This one is quite a smart one. He might get far in life," Manami giggled.

Seeing that we made no other moves, he continued, "We're an Adventurer party that accepted a Request to get rid of some slavers in the area. We thought this campsite might have been an outpost of theirs so we were investigating it. I apologise if we might have intruded on your campsite but we have not done anything yet."

My patience is wearing thin at this moment, "You've yet to answer our question, trash. Where is the occupant of that tent?"

He looked towards the tent I was gesturing to before raising his shield slightly, "I do not know but please wait a while. Our leader is on his way, he should be able to answer your questions."

Well he better, or you might need to find another party to join. That is, if you're still around after we are done.

As though on cue, a rather slim man wearing a dark set of leather armour appeared from behind them. A distinctive greatsword was strapped to his back, the handle poking out from the top of his right shoulder.

Noticing the trash that was still writhing on the ground, he asked one of them, "What happened to Krileen?"

"He was attacked without provocation that's what," The trash on the right spat.

The other one kicked him in the shins, "Bratt, shut up. Leader, this campsite belongs to the ladies in front. It seems we might have agitated them by occupying it. They're looking for the occupant of that tent over there."

The leader trash gazed at the tent in question before turning back to us, "That tent… I apologise but it was already empty when we reached here."

My hand raised to strike him down but another hand caught me just before I did.

Kiyomi narrowed her eyes at me and mouthed the word 'wait', only when I nodded at her did she release my arm.

"Was there anyone else in the camp then?" I asked.

The leader nodded, "Two children in the other tent. The boy claimed that he was waiting for his sisters. I assume that refers to you all?"

Ah…

That must be Master and Cai Hong.

Master must have gone over to check on us and stayed with Cai Hong after realising we were away.

But that means we… Oops…

Master is going to punish us isn't he?

Chapter 143 - Just A Small Bit Of Disciplining

(Mordred POV) [The leader of the Circular Round Flat Surface party]

It was a rather surreal sight to see four out of this world beauties bowing to you in apology.

It was even weirder to see the same four girls plus another additional fox youkai prostrate themselves in front of a kid less than half their age and begging for his forgiveness inside a tent.

That was already ignoring the fact that there is a young girl about his age currently sleeping on his lap. It was only then that I realised that the girl's hair seemed to be shimmering but I shrugged it off as a trick of the light.

The boy gave a sigh that was unbefitting his age, "Mordred was it? I apologize on their behalf for your party member's injury. I hope you can forgive them."

I shook my head quickly, years of experience adventuring has already clued me in on these girls' capabilities. Even with my entire party backing me up, we might not even be able to take down one of them if we wanted to.

If all of them were subservient to this kid, I shouldn't piss him off either.

"Don't worry about it, it was our fault for occupying your camp in the first place. We'll just be on our way."

"Hold on," The kid raised his hand. "You guys are hunting slavers right?"

I nodded.

He scratched his chin, "In that case, take my dis… Sisters along. They can help you locate the camp and bring you there. Just don't get them involved in the fighting. It will be suitable as their punishment."

Punishment? What kind of younger brother punishes his elder sisters? Unless… They have that kind of relationship?

That is really envio… I mean weird.

As much as I wouldn't mind a couple of beauties accompanying me, something tells me that if I were to outright accept his deal, I might find myself dead and buried somewhere later.

"Oh. That wouldn't be necessary. I don't want to impose on your sisters anymore than I already have. The wound isn't a big one either so just bandaging it is enough to keep him going."

"Ah, that's right. I have something better for you to use."

The boy flexed his hand, giving me a clear view of his storage ring on his index finger.

Unless he was wearing that for show, that ring is proof that the kid was a Practitioner. But I highly doubt there's any Practitioners at that age right?

The ring glowed before a small pill bottle appeared in his palm, most of the girls gasping in shock when they saw the bottle appear.

"Mas… Brother... Isn't that too valuable for them?" The one with golden hair asked.

The kid gave her a look, "To fix your mistake, this is nothing."

He turned back to me before tossing the bottle in the air, the small bottle landing in the middle of my palm.

I managed to catch it while still recovering from my shock of knowing that the kid was a Practitioner.

"Let him eat one of that and his injury should be healed instantly. No side effects as well. You can keep the rest for your party," The boy waved his hand dismissively.

Instantly? Even the most expensive healing pills we bought from the Alchemy Guild takes effect over the course of an entire day! Because of the difficulty in producing those pills, the Alchemy Guild sells them at the Auction and each of these can go up to two gold a piece!

Now this kid is just handing me a bottle full of what he claims is better than what the best pills of the Alchemy Guild can produce?

I'm not sure if he was exaggerating or telling the truth, either of these aren't good news to me.

If what he gave me was a sham, I'm basically playing into the hands of a scammer and god knows what he plans to do with me. But if what he is giving is the real deal, that means we most likely stepped on the toes of someone with incredible backing and we're all walking dead men.

Still… I really hope that what this kid says about the pills he handed me is true, we could really use such a miracle pill for some of my men back at base.

As for his offer of his sisters accompanying us…

"It's fine kid, I already said the fault lies with us. I really don't want to trouble you guys anymore than we have. I'll just take the pills for my men and we can call it even."

The kid shook his head, "I insist. It seems my sisters have grown rather arrogant with their power lately and some humbling would be good for them. I'm not asking you to let them fight for you, but just as guides will do."

Upon hearing his words, the girls seemed to look down dejectedly.

Seriously, what's their relationship like? The little brother dominating the elder sisters?! That is such a drea-- I mean… That is so absurd!

Damn… Maybe I should just accept it? Then I can ask those girls on how to settle my own relationship problems with my sister in law? Yeah, sounds like an idea.

"In that case… I will have to impose on the ladies then. Please take care of me."

"Good, no more messing around girls. I will wait here until you return," The kid folded his arms across his chest, signalling our conversation was over.

This kid… Well, he does seem to be wise beyond his years. Maybe his sisters dig the older man mentality? Not that I'm going to say it out loud, mind you.

The five girls got up from their spot before following me out of the tent.

Not wanting to get off on a bad foot, I turned to the ladies, "Er… I suppose I should apologize for getting all of you involved first."

The one with the golden hair shook her head, "No… Mas… Brother is right, we have let the little bit of power that was bestowed upon us get to our heads."

I really am restraining myself to ask about the relationship between you and your brother right now, you know?

The one wearing a qipao stepped towards me, "You are looking for the slaver's camp right? We already found it when we were on our way to bathe, just follow us."

"Oh? Well that's convenient I suppose. I'll just give this pill to my injured party member and we'll be good to go."

The golden haired one nodded, "We will wait for you outside the camp, it's a rather long walk."

Without wasting time, I hurried off to the rest of my party to prepare them to move out. I'll get Krileen to eat this miracle pill and hopefully this thing heals him back to full health.

If it doesn't, we'll just have to cut our losses and leg it out of here before we get dragged into something beyond our pay grade.

Chapter 144 - Deus Vult

(Manami POV)

I followed behind Lian Li as we led the Adventurer's towards the slavers' camp. Master had told Kiyomi to stay behind and look after Cai Hong, so she was exempted from this punishment.

I shivered slightly at the memory of Master looking at us back at the camp.

There was no anger nor any form of disgust in his eyes.

It was that slight tinge of disappointment that we saw deep within those orbs of his that made my legs go weak. The knowledge that it was us who had hurt Master in some way was mortifying.

I never want to see those eyes from Master ever again.

When Master had sacrificed himself for us before returning from the dead, the first thing he did was to check if we were all safe before reassuring us of his well being.

When Master was taken by that crazy fox stalker of mine, he returned to us with a mouthful of apologies when it was no fault of his.

For us who had been pulled from the depths of the abyss by such a magnanimous Master, the thought of disappointing him frightened us beyond measure.

"So… You are all sisters huh?" The Mordred fellow asked, keeping pace beside me while the rest of his party followed a distance away. Why he chose to walk beside me I never bothered to ask.

I nodded without turning to him.

"And… The kid is supposed to be your younger brother, right?"

Ah, Master had referred to us as his elder sisters. As much as hearing him call me that brings joy to my heart, the grief and guilt I'm feeling far outweigh that.

"What does that matter to you?" I asked.

He shrugged, "Well, you guys seem to be quite close to him and… I'm not sure how to say this but… He seemed to be the dominant one?"

"Ara ara? An inquisitive one hmmm? As I said, what does that matter to you?"

"Ah… Well… To be honest, I have a problem with my sister in law so… I thought I might learn a trick on how to get closer to her."

I scoffed at him, "There is no 'trick'. Our Mas… Our brother is beloved just because of who he is, not because of who he pretends to be."

"Ugh… How… How profound. For you to think that way, he must be a very special person."

"That he is…" My words trailed off as I reflected back on my own mistakes.

Master was indeed right, we have become quite arrogant with the powers that he had bestowed upon us. Even now, we are still doing things behind his back.

Such is the burden we have to bear in order to ensure Master's safety and purity. We would be the shadows that protect him from the darkness if need be.

"Alright then," The Mordred fellow grunted. "So how far away are the slavers?"

"Just up ahead," Diao Chan replied, pushing aside a branch to reveal a decimated encampment.

The jaws of all the Adventurers dropped, obviously shocked at the state of what they expected to be a fully functioning slaver camp.

The walls of the camp were burned to cinders and every building within looked like it was crushed or burned. The dead bodies of the slavers were tied to improvised stakes where most of them seemed to be missing limbs or were obviously gutted open.

Right in the middle of all the carnage was a giant spider that was stuck to the ground with its own legs acting as stakes that punctured through its body from above.

What was most impressive was that the monster was still alive.

"What… What the hell is this?" One of the Adventurers gasped.

"That is what happens when someone crosses our Mas… Our brother," Eris announced smoothly.

Mordred turned to us, fear evident on his face, "Are you… Are you going to do that to us?"

I shook my head, "No. It is partially thanks to you that we were able to see our flaw before it was too late. Had we continued our path, we might disappoint our brother even further."

He gulped, "You girls er… Really look up to your brother a lot, huh?"

"That goes without saying," Lian Li sighed, the events from just now obviously weighing down on her. "Normally we would try to teach you about how great he is but… I think we should try a different approach this time."

I tilted my head at her, this was entirely news to me.

I had thought Lian Li wanted to bring them here so that we could do our usual preaching to them but it seems I was mistaken about her intentions.

She pointed towards the spider, "Do you think your party could have taken down that monster?"

The Mordred fellow shook his head slowly, "That's a variant of the Armored Swarm Spider… On top of the strengths that the normal ones have, this one is bigger and doesn't have the weakness of being weak to lightning based attacks. If my party were to encounter one, we'll have no choice but to retreat."

"I thought so," Lian Li nodded before turning to Diao Chan. "How is Gamma handling the Xi Family?"

She grimaced, "Not well… After they began locking down their main house and recalling everyone, we haven't been able to do much outside of maintaining surveillance on them. Even the trash is useless right now."

"We expect the situation to improve in the next few weeks or so before we initiate a takeover," I continued.

"Manami…" Lian Li called my name while clenching her fists. "I think it's time we stop hesitating."

A bolt of golden lightning struck down from the sky, completely disintegrating the giant spider from existence.

I could hear the Mordred fellow muttering something about lightning immunity at the side but I chose to ignore him.

Lian Li looked down at her hands, "All this while… We always tried to go for the more passive approach first… Education before eradication. But this had slowed down our progress tremendously and allowed trash like these damn slavers to approach Master. If they never existed in the first place, Master would never have shown that face to us."

Diao Chan chuckled, "We already know this world is too full of trash. Master deserves nothing but the best but yet there are all these things always constantly disturbing our precious Master."

Eris clapped her hands together, "Ohhh~ I like where this here is going! We're gunna finally go all out amirite?"

Lian Li turned towards the Mordred fellow, "Kneel or die."

He only hesitated for a moment before falling to his knees.

One of the Adventurers drew his sword, "What the hell?! Who do you think you are? Don't you know who I am?! I am Bratt He--"

I did a sweeping motion with my hand and he immediately combust into flames, his body burning into nothingness.

The rest of the party needed no more convincing before they all joined their leader in the same position.

Lian Li smiled, "The time for hesitation is over. By hook or by crook, this world will bend for Master. Anything or anyone who seeks to harm Master will receive no mercy."

"Mas… Master?" Mordred muttered in confusion, none of us paid him any heed.

Eris tilted her head slightly at Lian Li, "Xi Family... ?"

Lian Li nodded to me, "Diao Chan will call our people to evacuate in the next twenty four hours. Burn everything else to the ground. Leave absolutely nothing behind."

"Fufufufu~ With pleasure~"

Chapter 145 - I Just Wander Off Alone, What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

(MC POV)

The girls were unusually cheerful and affectionate throughout the rest of the journey.

Lian Li would constantly worry over my health asking, "Master, does your feet hurt from the walking? It's hard to keep pace with that small body right? Do you want me to carry you?"and then proceed to cluck over me like a mother hen.

Manami was just as doting as her, maybe even more so. But then again, she has always seen herself as the big sister so it's not really that surprising. With my current form, it's not difficult to imagine her trying to make use of the time she still has a 'younger brother' since it's quite likely I'll revert back soon.

Though I'm not sure if "Does Master want to fluff my tails… Or maybe, fluff me?" is something an elder sister would say to her younger brother.

Even Kiyomi was giving her sister strange glances.

Eris on the other hand became extremely strange. She would appear to be extremely hyperactive for a few seconds, constantly hopping around and whistling before suddenly turning quiet and poised. When I asked her if anything was wrong, she would become flustered and fumble over her words.

I didn't break her, did I?

Then there was Diao Chan, who was basically the same as always except for the fact that she constantly asked me to punish her for her misdeeds with an extremely perverted look on her face.

She would constantly put herself in various provocative positions when she got the chance and anything I did just seemed to be spurring her on even more. Even when I ignored her she would mumble something about 'Ignore Play' while panting in the corner. Seriously what is wrong with her?

Did the small punishment I gave them result in their antics? That can't be can it?

I only wanted them to see how a group of professional Adventurers worked together since I haven't really had the chance to teach them group combat so far. And since they had also injured one of them, it would also be a convenient time for me to remind them not to look down on non-Practitioners.

I'm sure that after my disciples see how professional these Adventurers are, they would learn not to look down on others just because they seem weaker. For an Adventurer to have a few hundred Request completion, they should be quite formidable right?

It would be a good chance for Eris to learn a few things from them too if she wanted to, since all of them used swords as their primary weapons.

I had Kiyomi stay behind though, since I needed a replacement for Cai Hong to nap on as my legs were getting numb. I figured Manami would share with her whatever she learned from them anyway so Kiyomi wouldn't lose out much.

But seeing how they're acting now, I'm not sure if they actually learnt what I wanted them to learn…

Oh well, I'm sure they will go back to normal after a few days.

At least the good thing was that Cai Hong was just as cute as always, so I gave her lots of head pats.

"Master, how long more before we reach your esteemed Sect?" Kiyomi asked as we began our trek up a small hill.

"Ara ara? It seems my little Kiyomi is rather impatient now, ufufufu~" Manami chuckled. "Worry not, we should be able to see it once we crest that hill."

Sure enough, right as we reached the top of the hill, we could already see the mountain that Heaven Sect was built into.

Kiyomi stared at it for a moment, "So… That's home huh?"

"You'll love it there," Lian Li assured her with a smile. "Everyone is nice and welcoming."

"Yep! If anyone dares to bully you, just come look for us, m'kay?" Eris gave her a thumbs up.

Kiyomi gave her a wry smile, "I'll keep that in mind."

"I reckon we should be able to reach there by sundown, unless Master wishes to… Spend a little bit more time outdoors?" Diao Chan asked, looking coyly at me.

I sighed, as much as I would like to delay my return to the Sect, the prospect of sleeping in a proper bed tonight was too good to pass up.

But before that, there was just something I needed to check up on.

"Tell you what, why don't you girls go ahead and show Kiyomi the Sect first? I want to take a slow walk back to the Sect by myself," I suggested.

Lian Li looked at me worriedly, "Will Master be alright on his own? I think one of us should stay behind with you just in case?"

Lady… Unless a Great One appears out of nowhere and catches me off guard, I highly doubt there's much around here that can actually put me in danger.

No way I'm going to tell her that though.

And no, that's not a flag, shut up.

"I'll be fine. I'll call you girls if I need help ok?" I assured her, patting her head.

"Ugh… Mmm… If Master says so…" Lian Li relented.

Manami stretched out her palms and a circle of light glowed beneath her feet. The girls stepped in without hesitation and they disappeared with a flash of light, leaving me alone on the road.

Doing a quick check that there were indeed no more witnesses, I snapped my fingers and my vision shifted, my teleportation Technique moving me to a middle of a clearing.

I looked around me, a little confused at the rather empty space.

This was the slavers' camp site right? Why is the place so barren?

I strolled through the clearing, inspecting the ground as I went.

The earth was burnt black, with all traces of life wiped out in a fifty meter radius from the centre of where the camp should have been. There were no dead bodies lying around and even the monster carcass I was expecting to find was nowhere to be seen.

Was all this done by that Mordred's party?

Huh… It seems like I have underestimated the Adventurers of this Plane more than I thought.

Or maybe, Mordred possesses some sort of really powerful skill or ability?

That would make sense, but for the entire encampment to be completely obliterated without a trace… That guy must be quite the formidable one.

I'll probably have to keep an eye out for his party in the future, just in case.

Oh well… I had wanted to use that particular monster's core for some self improvements but I guess I can still take this time to find other replacements for it.

That's one reason why I'm still remaining in this form really, since I think getting as much of a powerup as I can through this cheaty method had way more pros than cons.

Hey, it beats having to spend years behind closed door cultivation ok?

Just when I was about to return back to where I came from, I heard the sound of footsteps behind me.

I turned back to see the last person I expected to see.

"Ehehehe~ It's been awhile my little toy~ Won't you let me taste your blood again?"

Chapter 146 - You My Golden Finger All Along!

(MC POV)

"Not you again," I sighed while rolling my eyes. "Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?"

"Ehehehe~ Nothing's wrong with me. Absoluuuutely nothing~" She giggled while staring at me like a piece of meat about to be eaten.

"So last I heard you got blasted into pieces by my sister, haven't you had enough yet?"

"Enough? I haven't even started yet my little toy~ Why don't you come over here and let me eat you up?"

I let a fireball materialise above me, "I'm not the helpless little kid you found back then anymore, mind you."

Her eyes lit up, "Ohhh~ Feisty little thing aren't you? I do like it when they struggle so~ Manami was so much fun when I was playing with her too. Such a shame she had that little accident and couldn't play anymore~ I would have just loved to--"

My fireball exploded at her chest, instantly engulfing her in a pillar of flames.

The fire was hot enough to instantly disintegrate her, leaving nothing but ashes behind.

What? Were you expecting me to just stand there and listen to her backstory which I am totally not interested in? Besides, I'm sure you guys already know her circumstances already anyway.

I was just about to leave the clearing when a voice came from the pile of ashes.

"Ehehehe~ How cruel of you. But I like it."

I turned back to see the pile of ashes molding together like a liquid before expanding outwards to form the shape of a fox youkai. In less than a few seconds, the girl had regenerated herself completely with a smug smile on her face.

"Ehehehe~ Surprised? I learnt a few things while I was in the Spirit Realm~ A certain old geezer who was too full of himself just had to come over to disturb me, so I played with him for a bit. At least he was useful for something to me~"

Old geezer… Must be that Heaven Sect founder guy which I can't remember the name of. Shang Diao or something? Whatever.

Well, it seems like she can reform herself out from ashes, so what about something else?

A little bit of Astral and Darkness quarks and… Snap.

"Oya?" She lifted up her hand with a curious expression, just as the tips of her fingers began disintegrating away.

"You're quite determined aren't you?" She chuckled at me, not at all concerned that she was currently breaking down into nothingness.

Well not really nothingness, but on a molecular level actually. Her entire body is currently breaking apart and reforming into air and dispersing away. I'll admit it's an idea I got from my forced trips to some other world.

I crossed my arms, "Well… If it will stop you from bothering me and my disciples, nothing's too extreme."

She had no way of answering me as her head had already disintegrated, which was soon followed closely by the rest of her body.

But if there's something I've learnt, she's way too obnoxious to let this stop her either.

It'll just be a matter of time before she comes back and--

"Ehehehe~ That was a rather interesting experience, anything else you like to try, toy?"

I turned around to see her standing behind me with a full faced smile, her hands pulled casually behind her back as a clear sign of mockery.

I pondered for a moment, tapping my chin with a finger.

"Mind if I touch you for a bit?" I asked.

"Oya? I never knew you were a pervert~ Ehehehe~ I don't mind, touch me anywhere you like~"

She bent at her waist to thrust her chest at me, egging me on.

Ignoring her pathetic attempt at seduction, I grabbed her by the head before using the same Technique I did on the monster worm I killed in the other Plane.

She gasped as all the Elemental Quarks within her body collapsed and solidified in a single point, her entire body shrivelling up into a dried husk in a matter of seconds.

Without missing a single beat, my other hand stabbed into her chest, grabbing the crystalised Monster Crystal and pulling it out.

Releasing her head, I let her now deceased body fall lifelessly onto the floor. What surprised me slightly was that the body actually started to disintegrate on its own, which normally shouldn't happen.

Shrugging to myself, I crushed the fist sized orb in my hands, quickly absorbing the Elemental Quarks within it. I sucked in a breath when I realised the power that now coursed through my body was much more than expected.

Still not as much as those giant worms but a significant amount that was enough to expand my Cultivation Point by quite a bit.

The whole process took less than a few seconds, since I've already grown accustomed to it by now.

Surely this would permanently put her out of commission right? Then again… I actually don't mind if she comes back now.

I watched in fascination as the fox youkai reformed herself out of thin air, this time looking slightly confused than before.

"What happened? What did you do?" She asked while patting herself with her hands. "That was… The first time in a while I felt pain… How did you--"

Opting not to answer her, I grabbed her wrist with my right hand and did the same thing once more, waiting for her body to shrivel up again before stabbing my other hand at the exact same place before.

The crystal I pulled out was the exact same size as before, meaning there was no Elemental Quarks lost when she reforms herself.

Interesting… Her new Technique should involve the usage of time reversal in some form... That definitely warrants some study.

Ah, since I already have it, I'll just crush this one and absorb it too.

Less than a second after I was done, she reformed again in front of me.

This time she raised her hand in an attempt to cast an offensive Technique at me but my right palm was already at her abdomen before her Quarks could start circulating.

She let out a low groan of pain before her body turned into the dried husk once more.

Again I pulled the Crystal but instead of absorbing it, I just held it in my hand while waiting for her to reform.

When she finally did, I slapped her pathetic attempt at a palm strike away from me before placing my free hand on her chest.

She hissed at me as the same thing repeated itself, which now has me standing there with two Monster Crystals in my hands.

I extended my senses into both of them and found that they did indeed have the same quantity of Elemental Quarks.

Then that means… Heh heh heh… I found my cheat now.

How convenient.

I wonder how much I should expand my Cultivation Pont before I stop?

Can't believe such a perfect test subject just showed up in front of me, there's still quite a lot of things I am itching to find out too and she's the perfect person to help me for it!

Oh, she's back again.

Now once more...

Chapter 147 - There Goes My Vacation Plans

(MC POV)

I teleported myself to the outskirts of Heaven Sect, whistling to myself as I strolled towards the gates.

I'm really just doing this to complete the ruse that I strolled all the way here. Not that it really matters but I'll be setting a bad example for my disciples if they found out I've been doing things behind their back.

Looking back, I really should have thought things through before coming here.

There were two Outer Core Practitioners standing guard at the gates, both of them looking quite bored.

But when I came into view, both of them immediately went on alert.

One of them stepped forward with his palm raised, "Woah there, are you lost? This isn't a place you can just come in."

Oh… I've been so used to people overlooking my current body that I've neglected on considering what the Heaven Sect people would think when they see me.

Speaking of which, after absorbing quite a bit from my Monster Crystal farm, my body seemed to have aged up a little. Now I could probably pass myself off as a thirteen or fourteen year old instead of a ten year old.

Not sure why that happened but I think I should be getting my old body back soon, just need some time for the increase in my Cultivation Point to settle first.

In the meantime… I guess I should start getting used to people questioning my presence around here.

"Hey, it's me, Master Lin." I gave them a wave and a smile. "I know it's hard to believe but I got involved in something that regressed my body's age. My disciples should have already gone inside ahead of me."

The two of them looked at each other before turning back to me again.

"May we see your seal then?" The one in front asked.

I took it out from my storage ring and held it up to show them.

"Ah, apologies for the disrespect Master Lin, please go on through."

The two of them stepped aside from the gate, gesturing for me to enter.

Wait… That's a bit too trusting isn't it?

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I kind of half expected you to not believe me and call me a hoax with a fake seal."

The one closer to me chuckled, "Master Lin, I highly doubt there's anyone else in existence that can steal or forge your personal seal. Even if there is, neither of us would be able to stop such a person anyway."

Well… Makes sense I suppose. This guy is quite the smart one.

Honestly, with all the events that had been happening around me, I wouldn't have been surprised if both of them just kicked me to the curb even with whatever proof I could show. Then I'll have to face slap them somehow later on when they realise I was telling the truth.

Oh well, at least I can skip past the unnecessary drama I suppose.

"So any updates while I was gone?" I chanced asking them.

The one near me thought for a moment, "Well… Nothing much actually. Got a number of Requests from the Adventurer Guilds about a new dungeon popping up in Jin city, a few other Sects came by to make courtesy visits for the new year, our Sect Master disappeared and I think there were reports on increased monster activities in a village nearby."

What.

Wait.

Nononono… Go back a few seconds.

"Did you just say our Sect Master disappeared? Why the hell are we not panicking about this?" I pointed out incredulously.

He shrugged, "Eh, he'll be fine. He's the Sect Master after all."

"No, that's definitely not fine, what the hell is wrong with you?"

He squinted his eyes at me, "I don't understand why you're making it to be such a big deal? He just went missing, not dead."

"Well he could probably be dead and missing, couldn't it?"

He shrugged again, "That's too bad then."

What the hell? This isn't the kind of mentality a Sect member should adopt when their Sect Master goes missing!

"Forget it, I'll go ask Elder Qing. Where is he?"

"Probably sleeping at this point of time, I dunno."

Something isn't right here… I can feel it.

They didn't even give me a second glance as I walked past them, going back to their previous guard post of leaning against the gate.

The moment I stepped past the gate however, I realised why they seem so nonchalant about it.

There was some kind of mental Technique in place that tried to implant a suggestion nonchalance inside me, repeating over and over again that "there's nothing wrong, it's fine, just continue."

That means they probably let me through because of the Technique in place, not because the guy actually believed my case.

But the way they stopped me from entering the Sect doesn't look to be under influence either, so to what extent does this Technique affect everyone?

I immediately rushed inside to look for my disciples, finding them inside Grand Hall.

"And this is the Grand Hall," Manami gestured around her. "We don't really know what this place is for since we don't use this place ourselves."

"Papa!"

As usual, Cai Hong is the first to spot me and rushed to hug me.

It goes without saying that after training them in their mental prowess, they're already resistant to these kinds of mental Techniques. So it shouldn't be affecting them at least.

The other girls turned back to see the dragon loli hugging my waist and purring while I patted her.

"Mas… Master?" Lian Li gasped. "Your body?"

I nodded at her query, "Yeah, I grew slightly on my way here. I think it'll just be a week or two before I finally return back to normal."

"Ara? So soo-- I mean… That's quite fortunate..." Manami whispered almost inaudibly.

"Anyway, did you girls feel that there's anything strange going on? Like the people around here seem rather… Disconnected?"

Eris tilted her head at me, "We haven't really talked to anyone else yet… Is something wrong, Master?"

"Well for one, our Sect Master is missing and no one is raising any queries about it. The guards also let me in without much thought despite my current body."

The girls looked at each other.

Kiyomi clucked her tongue, "While I disagree that the last one is a problem… Ah, I see… It's a mental Technique that has affected the entire Sect isn't it?"

I nodded, "Impressive that you managed to be unaffected by this. I've taught them how to defend themselves against mental attacks but it seems you were already aware of how to."

She let a small smile materialise on her face, "I have been alone for longer than you think. I need to take certain preventive measures to protect myself."

"Ufufufu~ As diligent as always, Kiyomi," Manami giggled, patting her head.

Diao Chan hid her smile behind her sleeve, "To do such a sinister thing in Master's absence... Huhuhu… They must really like to be punished~"

"Might they have specifically targeted the Sect precisely because Master isn't here?" Lian Li wondered aloud. "If that's the case, they might be someone who is familiar with the Sect to know when Master is absent in order to do this… Someone in the upper echelon perhaps?"

I shook my head, "That just puts everyone on the list since it was announced to everyone that I will be away for a long while. Everyone's a suspect here."

"Should we split up and look for clues?" Diao Chan suggested.

I flicked her forehead, causing her to yelp out in pain and surprise, "That is literally the worst thing to do in this situation, what if the perpetrator takes you out one by one and brainwashes you to be used against me?"

"I'd rather bite off my own tongue," Lian Li declared vehemently, the other girls nodding in agreement.

"No need for that," I consoled her while patting her head. "Let's go back to my courtyard first. Since we got a message that told us to return, they must have already been expecting us."

Kiyomi frowned, "Wouldn't that be walking straight into their trap?"

I grinned at her while motioning everyone to come closer, "Well, I got an idea just for that…"

But seriously though… What happened to coming back here to relax?

Chapter 148 - You Got Bamboozled

(MC POV)

I entered my courtyard, half expecting there to be someone waiting for me but was a little disappointed to see no one there.

Maybe they don't know that I'm back yet?

Well we did get delayed on our way back so that might be possible.

"Hmm… Perhaps they went for a toilet break?" Diao Chan suggested.

I thought for a while, "In that case, why don't you girls go ahead and rest? We've been on the road for quite a while now. Just remember to set up some protective inscriptions before you go to bed."

Lian Li bowed, "Understood Master, please have a good rest yourself."

"Ara, ara? When does Master want to fluff us?" Manami pouted, only to have Kiyomi pinch her sides to shush her.

I gave the sisters a wry smile, "Have a good rest alright? Remember what I said."

"Yes Master," The five of them bowed.

"G'night Papa!" Cai Hong waved, prompting me to give her a goodnight head pat.

I left for my room after giving each of them their share of goodnight pats, didn't really have much choice when I saw all of them look at me with those pleading eyes.

Once I entered my room, I looked towards my bed to see someone sleeping in it.

Curious, I stepped closer to it, realising it was the supposed missing Sect Master Long himself.

And judging from his wide-eyed, open-mouthed face that is devoid of any signs of life, he got murdered by someone he did not expect.

I was just about to try to read his memories when the door behind me opened again, letting Elder Qing walk in on me while I had my hand placed on Sect Master Long's head.

"Master Lin? You've returned? Eh? Is that… Sect Master Long?!"

I stepped away from the body, "Well… Yeah… I just returned moments ago and found him here."

He narrowed his eyes at me, "You… You killed Sect Master Long? So you were aiming for the Sect Master position?! Being underneath someone weaker than you was too much for you to take was it?"

Wow.

What a big change of character. Didn't think Elder Qing could make a face like that.

I raised my hands to show my innocence, "I assure you I found him like this when I came in, I had nothing to do with him being here."

"The proof is already there! You… You're going to kill me to silence me as well aren't you?!"

"Ok, calm down Elder Qing. You know me right? I won't do that right?"

He took a few steps back, "You… You're not going to take me! I'll… I'll call for help! Don't come any closer!"

I rolled my eyes, "Ok, that's as far as I can take, you can stop pretending now Elder Qing, or whoever you are."

As though a switch had been flipped, his initial panicked expression smoothened into a calm smile.

"It seems like Master Lin really is as good as they say you are hmmm? Might I ask what gave it away?"

I smirked, lifting my index finger in the air, "Unless you've been keeping tabs on me ever since I reached the Sect, Elder Qing shouldn't know that I look like this. But you figured out it was me right from the start."

He nodded, "Hmmm… Interesting. Yes, I knew it was you since I was spying on the Sect entrance."

I unfurled my middle finger to join my index finger, "Also, you immediately knew the Sect Master was dead instead of asleep. Unless you're the one that killed him, you wouldn't know he's dead until you examine the body."

"Kekeke… Yes, that was my mistake."

I lifted a third finger, "And also… Your acting skills are just horrible."

He grinned at me, "Thank you for the lesson, Master Lin. I'll make sure to get better next time."

"So? Who are you and what the hell do you want?"

The Elder Qing doppelganger's smile widened, "Well, your demise for one. You've been quite a pain in the neck for our organisation for quite a while now. But unfortunately, we both know your death just isn't feasible at this point."

"Ah the Dark Sect is it? Should I be honored that the Dark Sect sees me as a big enough of a threat to involve my entire Sect in this?"

"Kekeke… Master Lin has a sense of humour too, who knew?"

I crossed my arms, "Indeed. Do you know what else is funny? Maybe you'd like to know what will happen to you if I snap my fingers right now?"

The doppelganger's smile became a cruel one, "Oh, I definitely wouldn't want to know what might happen. But I, on the other hand, have no qualms in showing you what will happen if I snap my fingers."

He snapped.

From behind him, my disciples entered the room without making any sound, all of them staring straight ahead without any expressions on their face.

"Quite a group you've managed to gather here, Master Lin. To think all your disciples are such pretty girls. Maybe you are a pervert?"

My eyes narrowed at him, "What did you do to them?"

"Kekeke~ Nothing much Master Lin. Just placed them in a trance that's all. Their minds are sleeping but their bodies are awake and free for me to control. With just a word from me, they'll do anything I ask, including to kill themselves or to kill you."

"You do realise that I could probably kill you before you can even tell them to do anything?"

The doppelganger stepped beside Cai Hong, kneeling down so that he was at her height, "Oh I have no doubts about that, Master Lin. But before I came in here, I already planted a suggestion in them that if I were to die, they would do everything they can to kill you or themselves, are you willing to risk that?"

I sighed, "What do you want?"

He gestured to the dead Sect Master Long, "You see, he too was a little bit of a pain for us. We approached him with an offer but he was just a little uncooperative. We thought that maybe, if we give you a big enough incentive, you might make a better Sect Master than he was. Understand where I'm going?"

"You want to control Heaven Sect through me. And by holding my disciples hostage, you can control me through them as well."

"Kekeke~ Master Lin is a smart one indeed."

"Well then… Could you at least tell me what you're planning? At least so that I know what I should keep a blind eye on?"

"I think not, Master Lin. Just be a good little boy and stay here for us. Kekeke~ To have the famed Master Lin as our lapdog… I suppose it's definitely many times ," he laughed as his hand reached out to pat Cai Hong's head.

I was just about to ask another question when Cai Hong suddenly lifted her head and bit down hard on the doppelganger's hand, eliciting a yelp of pain from him.

"Only Papa pat Cai Hong! Bad man no touch!"

In an instant, the other girls turned their backs to me to face the doppelganger, all of them moving into a combat ready stance.

"Apologies Master, that's also just as much as I'm able to take this piece of trash insulting you," Lian Li apologised, golden lightning arcing in between her fingers.

I shrugged, "Oh well, we found out enough things from him anyway. Him being so talkative and full of himself helped."

"Ufufufu~ To insult our lovely Master in front of us… That is an unforgivable crime."

"For someone so weak to act high and mighty… How disgusting," Kiyomi mocked with an upraised chin.

The doppelganger gritted his teeth, "How did you break them out of my trance?"

I chuckled, "What made you think they were in a trance all this while? Didn't the thought that I had them act out everything you saw and heard when I entered my courtyard just now come to you?"

His eyes shifted to the girls, "I see… It seems I have underestimated your capabilities by too large a margin… I'll have to correct that."

"So I take it you're quite an important figure within the Dark Sect, right?"

"Perhaps."

"Well good enough then."

I snapped.

His face contorted before he coughed out blood, his hands grasping desperately at his chest even as he started falling forward. In less than a second, his body was now a lifeless heap on the floor.

"Ah crap… Now I got blood and two dead bodies in my room…" I sighed.

"This one shall clean up for Master," Eris volunteered.

I was just about to give her the go ahead when the body spoke again, "Impressive Master Lin… Good thing I prepared this body double instead of going there myself."

"Huhuhu~ It seems you're not even brave enough to face Master in person hmmm?" Diao Chan chuckled.

The Dark Sect guy chose to ignore her, "Well. I guess I'll be the standard villain and say that you've not seen the last of me. By the way, this body belonged to your father, I just reshaped him a bit for this purpose. Have fun knowing you committed patricide! Kekeke~"

The laughter faded away.

Oh? So my scheming father is dead? Well how convenient. Thanks Dark sect guy!

Now that we know who and what is targeting us, it'll just be a simple thing for me to undo whatever he placed upon the Sect and prepare for whatever he is going to throw at us.

Chapter 149 - Let It Burn

(MC POV)

I waited till the next morning before breaking the genjut-- I mean the mental Technique that Dark Sect guy used on the entire Sect.

Why didn't I do it immediately that night?

Hey, I still wanted my sleep ok? If I did that then I'll have to deal with the aftermath, no way I'm gonna do that before bedtime.

Well… Since there was a dead body in my bed, I had to go sleep in my disciples' room that night instead.

Needless to say, the girls were ecstatic and there was a lot of fluffing and head patting involved before we finally went to sleep.

When everyone else in the Sect finally snapped out of whatever had been controlling them, the first thing they did was to try and push me for the role of Sect Master after I explained to them what had happened.

It was a rather unanimous decision, all of them pointing out how well my disciples were doing and how I had practically saved the Sect from certain destruction.

And to that, all I had to say was, "Aww hell no."

You guys want me to take up a position that could potentially limit my freedom and swamp me with tons of responsibilities? Definitely a no from me. My disciples are responsibility enough already, thank you very much.

No matter what they used to convince me, I had not budged in my decision in the slightest.

"Master? Why? You would definitely make a good leader! The Sect needs your guidance!" Lian Li would plead to me.

Sorry, but not even my dear disciples will make me change my mind on this.

But of course I couldn't just tell them the real reason why I didn't want to take up the role, my reputation is at stake here!

Instead, I told them, "No, such a big responsibility isn't suitable for me. For a Practitioner as young as me to take up the role of Sect Master… That will just make the other Sects look down on us no matter what my accomplishments are. There are already others who are more suitable than I am."

Diao Chan chuckled, "Huhuhu~ If there's any Sect that dares to look down on Master… We'll give them a good punishment! I'll spank them good~"

I gave her a good spanking for even suggesting that.

I'll admit that I almost wavered when Cai hong had pulled at my sleeve to look at me with sparkly eyes, "Papa no 'Swect Weeder'?"

Ughhh… No! I'm doing this for you Cai Hong! Can't you see? If Papa is busy, then there's less time for headpats! That will be an absolute disaster!

So no, I will definitely not take up that role no matter what everyone else said!

Instead, I pushed Elder Qing forward for that role, nominating him to take up that spot since he was my mentor. Surely the mentor who raised me would make a great candidate right?

Even though he had vehemently rejected the notion, everyone began leaning towards my suggestion after I pressured them a bit.

It wasn't even that hard to be honest. It's not like they can force me to do something I didn't want to do anyway.

Elder Qing still wanted me to be the Sect Master and we debated on that topic for quite a while. He eventually relented after I agreed to assist him whenever he required it.

He's a smart man, so most likely he won't bother me that much and I can just continue with my easy life plans.

So in the end, Elder Qing was named as the new Sect Master of Heaven Sect with the condition that I take up the role of an Advisor for him.

And since I was dealing with this new Sect Master thing the whole day, I gave my disciples some time off for themselves.

I wonder what they're doing right now?

(Manami POV)

I looked up at the sign above the gate, the words "Xi Family Main House" etched boldly on the wood.

To think we allowed such a pathetic thing to exist for so long and allow them to cause trouble for Master… No matter, this will be resolved today.

I stepped past the four headless corpses to enter the main courtyard.

There were a few servants around cleaning the area, a few of them noticing my entrance and stopping their work to watch me.

"Can I help you, madam?" One of them asked.

I chuckled, "Ufufufu~ Oh yes, I'm here to kill everyone. So if you would kindly just die?"

The servant looked confused at what I said but before he could even mouth another word, I had flexed my tails and the man immediately combusted into flames, his screams of agony filling the entire courtyard.

Instead of panicking and running away in fear like normal people might, the other servants immediately dropped their tools and unsheathed swords that they had been hiding under their clothes.

As I thought, they were all Dark Sect members.

"Intruder! Raise the alarm! It's a nine tailed fox youkai!"

Soon, the sound of a bell ringing resounded throughout the entire estate, no doubt in a few more moments, everyone would be rushing here.

That won't be a problem for me since I was here to kill everyone after all.

I waited patiently as more guards showed up, all of them pointing their weapons at me while a few who were obviously Practitioners just stood there with both their hands raised.

Knowing that they were waiting for someone important to arrive, I showed them no hostility and just spent the time to inspect my nails.

I wonder if Master likes my nails red or orange? Hmmm… I'll have to ask his opinion later. Preferably while he is submerged in my tail while I fluff him. Ufufufu~ Master should be inducted as the new Sect Master by now, right?

Soon enough, a rather old man with a beard that reached his chest showed up haughtily, his eyes darting towards the now charred body lying by the side of the courtyard. A few of them had tried to put the fire out, but my flames won't be put out without my say so, no matter how many buckets of water of they poured on it.

The old fart glared at me, "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Ufufufu~ I already told all of you what I want. I'm here to kill everyone, it's as simple as that."

"We have no quarrel with you, are you doing this just because of the rumours that we are affiliated with the Dark Sect? If it is, I can assure you that--"

"Ara ara? Are you still denying that truth?" I interrupted him with a laugh. "You don't need to pretend anymore you know? We already know who you guys really are."

He narrowed his eyes at me, "We?"

"Ufufufu~ For you all to have inconvenienced our Master, it truly is our folly to have left you all alive for so long. Ah, at least we have managed to use you to establish a form of business to root itself in this city."

His eyes widened when he realised what I meant, "You! You're a member of that damnable 'Master's Church'! Kill her! Do not hold back!"

Ufufufu~ All for Master!

Chapter 150 - Rise To Power

(Random Xi Family guard)

I am Guo Shi, an Enforcer for the Xi Family.

I had grown up in one of Jin city's slum orphanages ever since I could remember. I did not know if I was abandoned by my parents or they were deceased from my birth, nor did I ever care to find out.

When one lives in the slums, you learn to care very little about 'tomorrow' when your 'today' was uncertain.

All of us slum dwellers learned the world was a cruel place really quickly if we wanted to survive, there was no space for compassion nor hesitation in this little game of survival.

I was considered one of the lucky ones too.

I was blessed with an abnormally strong physique, allowing me to establish dominance over the weaker kids within the orphanage even when I was their junior.

When we got into fights with the other kids in the slums, we seldom lost a fight unless we were vastly outnumbered thanks to my strength.

Over the years, my name became respected and feared within my little corner of the slums.

Thus, when the Xi Family Enforcers came here looking for new recruits, I was one of the lucky few that caught their attention.

They took me away to the main branch where I was trained alongside another group of kids. Even there, my talent showed and I was quickly brought into another training programme of theirs.

There, I learnt of the sinister nature behind the Xi Family's merchant facade and what they did to the other kids who did not show as much promise as I did.

I honestly felt nothing for them, neither the kids nor the Family.

This was all just for survival.

So when they promoted me to join their ranks as one of the Family's Enforcers, I eagerly leapt at the chance. Even when the first task they gave me was to train a new batch of kids to become catalysts for a Dark Sect ritual, I barely batted an eyelid and did as I was told.

Life was good for me ever since then. I had good food, a warm bed and even underlings I could order around as I pleased.

All I had to do was keep my mouth shut about the Xi Family's activities and go out into the slums to get a few children once or twice a month, nothing could be more simpler than that.

When news of a new group that called themselves "Master's Church" began springing up in the slums, we saw it as nothing more than a group of squatters attempting to band together to survive. The topic might come up from time to time so we had grown accustomed to just calling it 'The Church'.

But once the syndicates stopped responding to us and disappeared entirely, we started to investigate.

The people sent to the syndicate dens returned to report them all empty, everything had been cleared out and not a single soul could be found. Even the drugs we had been distributing through them were gone.

News then began circulating about the slum dwellers being relocated all around and most of the infighting within had stopped. But since the men that we had left inside the slums continued to send messages that everything was fine, we hadn't paid much attention to it.

When it was time for me to visit the slums to get a few kids again, I was turned away at the gates of all the orphanages.

I had tried to intimidate them with violence but they hadn't even budged in the slightest, shutting the doors in my face.

Unsure of what to do, I returned with news of the squatters' uprising and a team of swordsmen led by another Enforcer was sent to teach them a lesson.

They never returned.

This time a larger group was sent and I was tasked to join them.

We had reached one of the orphanages to find it devoid of life, with both the swordsmen and the Enforcer that were sent there hung from the ceiling using their own entrails. The other orphanages had also cleared out, with no one left behind.

Our Family Head was enraged that such weak commoners could even think about rising up in defiance, much less overpower one of the Family's Enforcers who were stronger than the average man.

We scoured through the slums in search of where they could have went but that only gave more questions than answers.

The entire population within the slums had mysteriously disappeared.

Even the elderly and children were gone.

It was then that there were whispers of an underground church that worshipped an absolute divine being reached our ears.

Naturally, we dismissed it as hearsay and ignored it, though a team was still sent to investigate it on the off chance it held merit.

That team of four men returned in a single basket that was left at our doorstep, all their heads neatly chopped off with their eyes, ears and tongues removed.

That was also the time I realised that the young master had been acting rather strange lately.

I heard he had dismissed his usual guards and called them incompetent, replacing them with a group of strangers that we barely knew. He even had most of the servants and retainers fired and replaced.

Though this wasn't exactly new with him, the speed at which he found the replacements for them were a little surprising.

But the fact that the replacements did their job better than the former ones did was indisputable so we hadn't thought of it much back then.

While the top brass were starting to take the underground church news more seriously, the two Masters who had joined the Xi Family in the pursuit of power gave away our Family's involvement with the Dark Sect during Heaven Sect's celebration.

Investigators began probing our Family and the main Family Head ordered all the branch Houses to close and relocate back to the main branch to deal with this predicament.

By then, 'The Church' had also begun increasing their activities. Almost every other day we would receive news that a certain branch House would have lost all contact or its members missing.

The phrase "All for Master" became taboo within our Family and it was already an open secret that 'The Church' was responsible behind our degradation.

That should have been my cue to leave.

But I had been so accustomed to the Xi Family's power that I had grown arrogant alongside them, thinking that nothing could topple them.

While the Family heads were still on lockdown, I realised there were a number of servants and guards that went missing one day.

A quick inspection revealed that they had applied for leave to visit relatives or called in sick.

Further digging showed that all of these people were the ones that the young master had replaced the old staff with. Coincidence? I think not.

I took that as my cue to leave but I was too late.

The very next day while I was packing my bags, a nine tailed fox youkai had showed up at our doorstep telling us to die.

And of course she had said the taboo phrase.

"Ufufufu~ All for Master!"

I knew I should have ran…

Chapter 151 - We Building It Up, To Break It Back Down

(Guo Shi POV) [The Xi Family Enforcer]

"Kill her! Do not hold back!" The Elder in charge of security roared.

The fox youkai just laughed, "Ufufufu~ All for Master!"

Hell broke loose.

A part of me wanted to run but there was a tiny part at the back laughing, "Run where?"

So instead, I just unsheathed my sword and stood a little ways back, watching the guards rush towards the fox youkai with their spears and swords.

The fox youkai placed a delicate finger on her chin as a bone chilling smile spread across her lips.

Her tails retracted before suddenly shooting outwards in different directions, the supposedly fluffy tails turning into deadly spikes as they impaled themselves on several of the guards.

Heedless of their fallen comrades, the others who were fortunate enough to avoid the tail spikes continued their bullish charge towards the fox.

Even from where I stood, I could see her smile widen.

Her right hand reached out and a small ball of fire appeared in her palm.

I almost scoffed at her until a giant gout of flame blasted out from it, engulfing everyone that had been running towards her front in a sea of flames.

The men didn't even have time to scream before their bodies were burned to ash, scattering into the wind.

Her tails retracted and the men who were stabbed slid to the ground lifelessly.

"Ara? Is this the best that Xi Family has to offer?"

The Elder gritted his teeth, "Enforcers! Form a line of defense! We'll hold her here until the Elde--"

His head suddenly exploded into flames, disintegrating into nothingness.

"Ufufufu~ Did you think I'll wait here and let you do whatever you want? How naive~ I'm here to kill everyone you know?"

I took a few steps back.

The more foolish amongst us gave a warcry before charging towards her, thinking their fate would be different from the footsoldiers that had died in vain moments before.

She gave a wave of her hand and multiple spears of fire appeared above her head, each of them impaling an attacker through the chest.

As though that wasn't enough, the flames from the spear slowly spread itself outwards, burning the men alive as they screamed and clawed away at their chests in agony.

I took the chance to dive into a pile of corpses nearby, hiding myself under the arm of a guard with a giant hole in his body.

Am I disgracing myself? Maybe.

But keeping your face here won't keep you alive against someone like her.

A few of the smarter ones tried to run back towards the main house but each and every one of them were mercilessly struck down by fireballs conjured from the tips of her tails.

"Ufufufu~ That's right, all of you who were foolish enough to stand against Master shall be baptised in fire~ Now burn!"

She swung her arm in an arc and a wave of heat washed over the compound.

Everyone who had been standing at that point of time spontaneously combust into flames. Their agonised screams filled the courtyard as they tried to put out the fire fruitlessly.

"That's enough out of you, demon!" A voice called out from the roof.

I chanced a look upwards, finding a middle aged man wearing Practitioner robes glaring down at the fox.

"Ara, ara? And who might you be?"

The man flicked his sleeve, "Hmph! Listen well monster! I am Luo Suo! A former Elder of the Sky--"

A flame spear blasted through his chest before he could even finish his introduction.

"Ufufufu~ I don't actually care who you are. Everyone here is just combustible trash to me~"

The dead body of the Elder fell from the roof in a heap, joining the mound of burning dead bodies that now littered the compound.

I swallowed, trying to calm my quivering body. I really should have left this place yesterday…

The fox clasped her hands together in prayer while looking up into the sky, "Ah~~ The sounds of burning baptism! Master! Can you feel it? This heat… It's barely comparable to the heat within me when I am near you~ Ufufufu~ For the perfect world that you deserve, this lowly fox shall raze these trash in your glorious name!"

This girl is mental…

Is this what a cultist looks like?

Oh wait… I'm actually part of one too aren't I?

Right now I'm just hoping beyond hope that she moves on from this place without noticing me. Hopefully no one else shows up here so she will move deeper into the house to slaughter whoever is there and I can escape through the unguarded gate.

But of course fate had other plans in store for me.

The doors that led deeper into the house burst open, revealing a rather young man with an air of arrogance about him.

He took one look at the fox and sneered, "Oh? I was told that there was a very strong monster causing trouble at our gates so I came to take a look. Didn't think it would just be a rabid vixen snarling at our door."

A ball of fire immediately blasted towards his face.

But instead of burning him like it did the rest, the fire exploded on a dark shield that was erected in front of him, absorbing the fire into it.

"Heh heh, I'm one of the 'Spears' of the Dark Sect tasked to protect this place," The man grinned. "Don't think I'm that simple, little vixen. I specialise in negating any Elemental attacks! Your skills are useless on me!"

"Ara, ara? The trash is talking back? This won't do…" The fox sighed, leaning her cheek on a palm. "Whatever should I do with non-combustible trash?"

"Heh heh, an arrogant vixen are you? Just because you have a little bit of power you think you're able to trample on others? Feel my power and despair then!"

The man thrusted out his arms to his sides, prompting two balls of darkness to form.

Instead of being cautious about what he was doing, the fox just took one of her tails in her hands, busying with brushing the tip with her fingers.

The Dark Sect 'Spear' clapped his palms together, combining the two balls of darkness in front of him.

"All Blackness!"

The ball expanded outwards to cover the entire compound, snuffing out all the fires almost immediately.

An extremely uncomfortable weight settled on my back, pushing me hard into the ground.

Breathing became next to impossible as I struggled to stay conscious, the dead body on top of me was not helping in the slightest either.

"Ara? Was that supposed to do something?" I heard the fox ask.

"You… How?! How are you not affected?!"

"Ufufufu~ No need to be so surprised, I am simply stronger than you, that's all."

"Impossible! This is a Master level Technique! You're just a nine tails!"

The fox clucked her tongue, "What an annoyingly loud trash… Well since I can't burn you…"

The tail that she had been grooming shot forward, impaling the man through the heart and pulling out with the heart still beating on its tip.

The weight immediately disappeared, allowing me to breathe again.

The Dark Sect 'Spear' looked at his heart that was embedded on the fox's tail with a blank expression, his hand reaching for it as though to take it back.

He only managed to take a single step forward before crumpling onto the ground, never to move again.

And here I thought he might actually stand a chance against her...

She flicked her tail to let the heart splatter against the wall, "How boorish… I had even expected him to have some form of protection in place for that… Oh well, I should move on to burn the rest of this place down then."

I heaved a sigh of relief.

Until she turned towards me and looked me straight in the eye, "That is… After I burn everything here of course. Ufufufu~"

A fireball was chucked towards my direction.

I really should have left yesterday…

Chapter 152 - Burn The Bridges Because Who Needs Them Anyway?

(Manami POV)

I stepped over the burning gates, making my way to the large building that I assumed to be the main hall for the Xi Family.

Curiously, no one else came to stop me this time and I reached the doors to the hall unmolested.

Burning open the doors, I could see why.

It seems like every remaining member of the Xi family was gathered within the hall, all of them armed to the teeth and prepared for my arrival. There were at least fifty of them here, all of them sporting unfriendly faces at my arrival.

I let a smile materialise on my face, "Ara ara? Such a big group to welcome the little me? I'm honored."

A middle-aged man that had been sitting on an ornate chair at the back stood up, his extravagant clothes and haughty demeanor immediately outing him as the Main Head of the Xi Family.

The man had an arrogant smirk on his face, "Little lady, I'm sure you can see you by now that the odds are not in your favour."

"Ufufufu~ It seems so."

The man's smirk grew wider, "Indeed. So if you would just surrender, I might even be able to spare your life as long as you become my woman."

Ufufufufu~ Master is indeed right on all accounts. He had specifically told us how the typical male villains will always think with their smaller head when they meet a female opponent.

I gave him a coy smile, "Ara? Interested in me, are you?"

"Don't assume too much of yourself. I merely grew tired of my other fox concubine since she doesn't have as many tails as you do."

"Ufufufu~ I am honored to have caught your attention then. But are you sure you're man enough for me?"

"Hahaha! I assure you, I take on three girls every night! You will not be dissatisfied!"

What a pitiful creature this thing is...

Master, I sincerely request for another mofu mofu session. Last night's session was just absolutely heavenly! Ahhh~~ Just remembering his hands brushing through my tails and the face he was making while hugging it to sleep…

UFUFUFUFU! Just absolutely precious!

Did you know that Master sometimes says our name while he sleeps? Ahhh~~ Just make me want to hug him and pat him and kiss him and touch him and… And… Ehehehe~~

"So if you agree to be my woman, prostrate yourself now and swear your life to me."

A disgusting voice pulled me out from my wonderful day dreams.

I glared at the owner of the voice.

Everyone in the room unconsciously took a step back when they saw the intensity behind my gaze.

"Piece of trash… Do you know how much Master has suffered because of you?" I seethed, my eyes boring into his. "To first send those two pieces of filth to wreck the celebration that Master had put all his heart into planning… Then sully his beloved Sect with some silly brainwashing after he returns... Death is too sweet of a fate for you."

The man's face immediately turned ugly, "I gave you a chance to live and you squandered it… Hmph! Don't think I will give you a quick death! I'll keep you in the dungeons while I slowly torture you until you break! Men! Deal with her!"

"Hold on." A voice cut through the air before the men could make a move.

I looked to the side to see a rather young looking man standing near one of the Hall's pillars, hiding within its shadow.

"Elder Zi Ao… I did not know you were here. Don't you think it's a bit overkill to have an Elder from the Dark Sect here?" The old trash remarked.

"Hmm… The higher ups thought that you might be targeted, so they sent me to keep any eye out. It seems that their worries were not unfounded," The Zi Ao guy remarked, stepping out from the shadows.

He scrutinised me from top to bottom, "So… You're High Priestess Manami of the infuriating 'Master's Church' yes?"

"Ufufufu~ It seems like my reputation precedes me. Unfortunately I do not know of a nameless trash like you."

"Hmph. All of you cultists are just as full of yourself as they say."

"Ara, ara? My confidence is backed up by my strength, could you say the same, trash? Now I need to know if you are combustible trash or not?"

He scoffed at me, "I'm only here to ask if you would consider joining us instead? It is obvious you have power and we can provide you the way to obtain even more."

"Ufufufu~ You are sorely mistaken. I live and breathe for my Master. Power is just a bonus. Is there any other last words, trash?"

He gestured towards the other side of the Hall where there were more than fifty men still waiting to attack me, "In case you haven't noticed, you're still at a disadvantage. I would watch your words if I were you."

These people really are amusing.

"Ufufufu~ Even if you increase the number of combustible trash, you can just get rid of them all by burning, no?"

To prove my point, I gave a wave of my tail and ignited all the Fire Elemental Quarks in the air.

Most of the men immediately combust into flames, screaming out in agony as they crash against their fellow comrades in an attempt to put out the fire.

The organised line of defense quickly dissolved into a screaming burning mess with the men rolling around on the floor and running into each other.

Flames began licking up towards the walls and soon, the fire spread all around the hall. The Main Head of the Xi Family cowered in his seat, unable to run anywhere as a ring of fire formed around him.

I will not kill him yet, no. He is reserved for a very special session back within the church. I'm sure Delta and Diao Chan would love to have a chance to 'play' with him.

"That… You… How?" The Zi Ao guy spluttered.

"Ara ara? Don't tell me this trash doesn't even know what happened? And you call yourself an Elder? Ufufufufu~ How worthless can you be?"

He scrunched up his eyebrows, "To think Master Lin has created monsters like you… He is a much more serious threat than we thought… To think we had overlooked him since he was a useless shut in before."

"Ara? Ara, ara? You dare defame Master? YOU DARE DEFAME MASTER?!"

Rage swelled up within me as I heard this piece of trash's words.

From deep within me, power began filling up my limbs as I sought to tore this trash limb from limb.

"What? More tails? Who are--"

I silenced him by tossing more fireballs in his direction, there was no way I will let him defile my beloved Master's name any further!

He leapt to the side to avoid it, but I was already rushing towards him with my hands out in a claw shape

He saw me too late and my fingers swiped across his face, cutting through flesh and bone. There was a small 'pop' sound when my middle finger dug through both his eyes, digging them out from their sockets to splatter against the ground.

Not wanting to have my ears tainted by his scream, I pivoted on the ball of my foot before sending a blast of fire towards his chest.

The supposed Master smashed against the wall, hanging on it weakly.

He spat out the blood in his mouth, "Ugh… You are not a youkai… You're a monster…"

I strolled up to him, grabbing his chin to forcefully wrench him back on his feet, "I am Master's mate and devoted disciple. Nothing more and nothing less. To think even trash like you dare to harbour ill will towards such a benevolent figure… We really need to do some cleansing."

"Ha… Ha… Damn... Telepor--"

My hand stabbed into his gut, "Trying to run? Ufufufu~ I don't think so. You will have to spill everything you know first."

I turned my gaze towards the Xi Family Head who was now hiding behind his chair, "And you too. Didn't you want me? I'm coming to you now, ok?"

"No… No! No! Mercy! Please! I just did what the Dark Sect told me! I had nothing to do with anything!"

"Ufufufu~ It matters not. Didn't I say already? I'm here to kill everyone. You two just happen to be lucky to get to die a bit later than everyone else here~"

I stepped over my fire while dragging the Zi Ao guy by his guts, slowly making my way towards the Family Head.

After I'm done depositing these two to be interrogated, I'll come back here to thoroughly burn this place to the ground.

Ufufufu~ I wonder if I can get Master to fluff me tonight too? I really need some fluffing from all the stress I accumulated here.

Chapter 153 - After The Childhood Arc, It The School Arc... Wait, What?

(MC POV)

Things mostly went back to normal after Elder Qing formally took up the Sect Master's role.

The girls reported to me that they mostly spent their free time in self meditation while I was dealing with that fiasco, how diligent of them.

I made sure to remind them to go out and have fun sometimes, it wouldn't do if they ended up like the past me who only knew how to cultivate and not live life.

In fact, since they were making such great strides in their training, I decided to give them another week off, telling them to spend some time in Jin city to do some shopping or just to relax.

Though they seemed reluctant to do so, they finally left after some insistence.

This arrangement suited me just fine since this would be the time when the Minor Sects are sending their supposed talented students to various Grand Sects to further their studies. The amount of support these Minor Sects receive from the Grand Sects would depend on the quality of the 'talented' students they sent.

If a Minor Sect shows that the students they nurture are of enviable quality, Grand Sects would support them with various resources to continue their teachings. But if their students are lacking, the Grand Sects that were sponsoring them might just choose to cut off support for them and leave them in the dust.

Elder Qing had the great idea that I should use my current younger body to our advantage by sneaking into one of such 'talented' groups. Without them knowing about my identity, I would be able to better weed out the bad influences from the real talents.

We all know that it's an established fact that those young masters with some bit of talent become really arrogant and start bullying their peers, causing those who possess more talent than them to have an obstacle on their road to becoming stronger.

Do you know how annoying that is to us?

I mean sure, to others it might look like the Sect was supporting those arrogant young masters by doing nothing for the 'weak', talented ones and letting the bully continue. Sometimes this is true since those young masters might be a certain Elder's great grandson or granddaughter so they hide this fact from everyone else.

But here, we want as many Practitioners to grow strong as possible. A Sect's strength comes from the combined strength of their members after all. To intentionally put down one or two disciples for preferential treatment for another is quite frowned upon.

And if other Sects catch wind that a certain Sect mistreats their disciples, Minor Sects would refrain from sending their students to that Sect and the Major Sects would also distance themselves from them.

So no, you wouldn't see the arrogant young master mistreating the potentially OP MC here.

Usually…

There might still be some problematic newcomers so the possibility is still there, that's why it's up to us to weed them out. There's always the black sheep after all, coupled with the fact that some humans are just trashy as hell and get off on the smallest power trips.

And since some of them have begun getting smarter by acting nice in front of the mentors before showing a completely different side after their backs are turned, the problem of discrimination and bullying has yet to be completely stamped out.

Originally I didn't want to do it. This was supposed to be my vacation time, damnit! I want to lay in my bed and sleep all day, waking up only to eat snacks before sleeping again!

I did my part for society already! I want to slack!

Of course, I couldn't say that out loud as my excuse.

But when I went back to think about it, it's not really a bad deal. I can just go to some Elder's class, pretend to learn from him, play along with my fellow 'new students' and not even worry about homework and training since I already knew everything.

Hey, I could even be the 'genius nobody' to bait out the arrogant young masters easily and get them out of the way quickly! If there really are a few, that is.

Oh wait, isn't this the standard set up for the start of an OP MC's school arc? It totally is, isn't it? Maybe I'll meet an OP MC within that group?

And if you're thinking that it's weird to have a school arc right now… All I can say is the chronological order for my life is pretty messed up.

So in the end, I accepted their proposition to infiltrate into our newest 'talented' group of student Practitioners.

So here I am, sitting in my pavilion located within my courtyard with Elder Qing… No, Sect Master Qing sitting opposite me.

Sect Master Qing was in the midst of pouring some tea for me while I munched on some peaches with my feet propped on the chair beside me. Sounds of construction were going on in the background which I ignored.

"Master Lin, we received five new applicants this year from four different Minor Sects. They told us they were the best talents that they had nurtured."

"Umu…" I nodded, still munching on a peach.

"Does Master Lin have any preference for which Elder to mentor your group? Is there anything you wish to tell the Elder that will be in charge? Maybe a change in teaching style?"

"Not at all."

"Ah, also… We received some new Requests from the Adventurer's Guild in Jin city. Could you take a look to see if they are appropriate for us?"

"Umu… I'll take a look at it later."

"Master Lin, there's also…"

Seriously man, aren't I just the advisor? Why the hell are you asking me for all this?! Having the Sect Master pour tea and report to his advisor in their courtyard is just weird no matter which angle you look at, right?!

Even when I pointed it out to him, he just claims that the Sect was imposing on me so it makes sense that he, as the Sect Master, would be so accommodating to me. And of course since he was new to the role, it made sense for him to consult me with these new responsibilities.

No, it doesn't make sense.

I've never been a Sect Master either, you know?!

I even had to reject their attempts at moving me to the Sect Master's courtyard three times today. In fact, why is Sect Master Qing not living there in the first place?

Why is he still staying in his old courtyard?

When I finally got the point across that I was not going to move from my current courtyard no matter what they did, I had to stop them from trying to expand my courtyard beyond its current size afterwards.

They claimed that as an assistant of the Sect Master, I should at least have a courtyard fitting enough of my station.

Unfortunately for me, this was something that they were unwilling to back down on no matter what, claiming it was a matter of Sect pride or whatever it was.

I was still going to resist the changes until they pointed out that they will improve my disciples' living conditions with the expansion.

That was when I gave up and decided to go through with it.

That's why I'm sitting here in the pavilion right now while the workers were expanding my courtyard in the background. Of course, let's not forget our new Sect Master personally coming here just to serve me tea and report to me for some reason.

"Oh, Master Lin, there's also some new things we want to implement around the Sect, could you just take a look at these documents?"

No seriously… There's something wrong with this scene isn't there?

Oh screw it, I just need to concentrate on joining in on that new student group and slack during that time.

Yep, that's going to be my vacation and no one can stop me from relaxing!

Chapter 154 - A Middle-Aged Man Posing As A Teenager Going To School

(MC POV)

"Ahem… Well then, allow me to welcome the six of you to Heaven Sect. I am Elder Hong and I shall be your temporary mentor for this period of time to gauge your abilities before you are inducted into the Sect officially."

I could tell that Elder Hong was rather nervous despite how calm he's trying to act.

Seriously man, just relax, it's only me. What the hell were you expecting me to do? Fire you?

I would rather you just take this easy so I can slack too you know?

Ah wait, actually don't do that since it wouldn't be good for the new students.

The group this year consisted of two twin brothers that probably came from the same Minor Sect, a girl with blue hair that looked rather familiar to me, a scruffy looking young man with patched clothing that seemed to be marvelling at everything around him and a rather well-dressed young man who was just looking straight at the Elder without paying attention to anyone else.

Now, I know what you're thinking, it's probably already obvious who the arrogant young master is right? Honestly, I am quite curious on how this would turn out so I'm not doing anything yet.

What? I want my face slapping moment ok?!

The feeling of having someone screw around with you and watching the expression they will make when you tear off the mask and say, "It was me, Master Lin!" is not a chance I get everyday alright?

Except that I wasn't wearing a mask but that's just details.

Elder Kong motioned towards us, "Alright, why don't we have the six of you do some self introductions first? How about starting from the two twins?"

I glanced at the two of them, both of them looked completely identical, even their hairstyles were similar.

The two brothers gave each other an impish smile before doing a full bow towards us.

"Greetings to all, I am Kris," The one on the left greeted, his hand running through his short, amber coloured hair.

"And I am Chris," The other one continued, mirroring his brother's movements.

"It's easy to,"

"Tell us apart,"

"Because our eye,"

"Colours are different!"

The two of them sang, pointing to each of their eyes with their fingers.

True enough, one of them has cyan eyes while the other had brown eyes. The only issue is…

"'Chris' and 'Chris'? Isn't that the same name?" The scruffy kid asked the question that had been in my head.

The two brothers tutted at him.

"Tut tut, I am Chris!" The one with cyan eyes said proudly.

"And I am Kris with a K!" The other one with brown eyes boasted.

""And together, we have come from the Soaring Sky Minor Sect!"" Both of them sang proudly as they finished their introduction with a pose.

I guess these two were sent here because they were natural comedians.

"Ok… Let's move on from Chris and 'Chris with a K'..." The scruffy boy remarked. "I am Tekiteh, a student from the Under Bridge Minor Sect. I was regarded as the most talented student in my Sect."

The well-dressed man nodded to us, "Mmm… I am Brendan from Century Minor Sect. Looking forward to everyone's guidance."

The girl bowed low, "Good day, I am Sylphy from Ascension Minor Sect. I had failed the initial entrance test earlier this year but I managed to improve myself to come back again. Please take care of me."

Ah, no wonder she looked familiar. She was the one that those geezers thought possessed the 'Primordial Divine Goddess Meridians' during our test selections.

I'm quite surprised to hear that she failed though. From what I can sense, she does possess a rather unique make up of Elemental Quarks but it's stable enough. That shouldn't impede her in her cultivation progress so how did she fail the test?

I was too focused on Lian Li at that time so I didn't actually see what happened to everyone else, but she must have reacted quite badly to my Elemental Pressure for the geezers to deem that she was a failure.

Well, props to her for not giving up and rising back up to return here.

Realising all eyes were now on me, I decided to put that thought aside first.

"Hi, I'm Mark. Came here from… Er… Chui Niu Minor Sect. Hope we can get along," I said simply.

"Chui Niu Sect?" Tekiteh repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, Chui Niu Sect," I repeated, daring him to challenge me.

"I see… Interesting. You wouldn't know any virgin girls from there, would you?" He asked with a weird smile.

Why the hell is he asking me this?

Deciding to humour him, I just shook my head, "Nope, all the girls there are taken."

His face immediately scrunched up in disgust, "Ugh. I hate used products. Damn whores."

Woah woah. What the hell?

Sylphy was looking at him with disgust and even the twins were surprised by his words.

Brendan frowned at him, "That's really shallow, don't you think? Girls are more than just objects for sexual gratification."

"ThAt'S ReALly sHalLoW," Tekiteh repeated his words mockingly. "Shut up incel. You probably never got laid in your life have you?"

Woah woah woah! Seriously? This scruffy looking kid is the bully?

And what the hell is wrong with him? Why is he so aggro?

Brendan furrowed his brows, "What is your problem? Are you like this to everyone you just met?"

"Hahaha! What an incel. You got a problem with me huh? What's your best Elemental tier? Bet you're not even a Basic tier in any of them yet."

"I am proficient in Water Quarks to a Basic level actually."

To prove his point, Brendan lifted his palm to summon an orb of water into existence.

That's not bad, he'll probably be admitted into the Outer Core disciples without much problem then.

"Hahaha! What a nerd! Spent your entire time in closed door cultivation have you? What an incel."

Wow, this guy is literally cancer.

I looked towards Elder Hong, jerking my head slightly towards the scruffy boy.

He nodded and stepped forward, intending to put a stop to his actions.

But what I hadn't expected was for the Brendan fellow to step forward, stare him right in the eye and say, "Call me an incel… One more time."

Tekiteh grinned, "In--"

Brendan's fist shot forward into the scruffy kid's gut with a loud thud, leaving the boy gasping and wheezing for air on the ground.

Ok, this day is just one surprise after the other. I thought the Brendan fellow would start saying things like "Don't you know who I am?!" or even "You will rue this day commoner!" instead of just outright punching him in the gut.

I like this guy already!

Man, this class is gonna be fun!

Chapter 155 - The Past Returns To Haunt

(Lian Li POV)

I surveyed the scene before me.

What used to be a proud and tall manor for the Xi Family is now nothing but burnt rubble.

A crowd had gathered to watch the city's law enforcers sift through the rubble, trying and failing to look for survivors.

"Quite thorough, aren't you?" I whispered.

"Ufufufu~ I'll take that as a compliment~" Manami giggled beside me.

We left the scene quietly, no one even suspecting that the cause of this incident was standing right beside me.

"So what are your plans today?" I asked offhandedly. "Master gave us the week off to do our things and I haven't the faintest idea on what to do."

Manami smiled at me, "Ara? I remember someone who was panicking at the news, asking if Master didn't want her anymore?"

I felt my cheeks flushed, "Ugh' I' I overreacted ok? Don't pretend you didn't panic a little when he said that too!"

Manami chuckled, "Oh, not really. Because I would stay by Master's side no matter what~ Even if he deems me unnecessary, I will look after Master from a distance if I have to~ Ufufufu~"

Mmm' That's Manami for you I suppose, but I really want Master to continue pampering me...

"But to answer your question, I'll be going shopping with my cute Kiyomi. What about you, Lian Li?"

I shrugged, "I thought of going to visit the people at the Church, but Eris, Diao Chan and Cai hong are already going there so there's nothing much for me to do."

"Oh? Why don't you take Master's advice then? Just relax and take it easy today? Want to join us?"

I shook my head, "It's ok, you can have your little bonding time with your little sister. I'll just take a walk around the city. Feels like forever since I've been here on my own."

"Ufufufu~ Alright. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call us~"

"Yes, yes. Now go enjoy yourself."

My fox sister gave a wave before leaving, humming a soft tune as she went to find her sister in high spirits.

I let out a long sigh.

Somehow, I already feel drained when I know that I wouldn't get to see Master today.

Master is truly too benevolent. Even when we insisted that we were fine with continuing to stay by his side and train ourselves, Master was worried for our health and still gave us this time off for ourselves.

I had initially entertained the idea of just hanging around the Sect for this week long break that Master gave us, but decided against it since Master might mistake my action for ingratitude.

Going the opposite direction of where Manami had went, I strolled along the main street to see what changed while I had been away.

Even though I have lived in this city for a long time, I did not have the chance to truly experience it.

Most of my knowledge about the city stemmed from my time as a squatter, so the Jin city I was familiar with was limited to its darker sides.

Ask me what are the best routes to get from one side of the city to the other without encountering any guards, I can guide you there with my eyes closed and even tell you which shops are the best to steal from on the way there.

Ask me what are the most popular and trendy places to be inside the city and all you get is silence from me.

I even know which homes in the noble district have the least amount of security and which ones best to steal from, but if you were to ask me who they were and what they were known for, I would draw a blank.

It was extremely fortunate that I was familiar with Jin city's Auction House when Master needed a guide to it that day, it was one of the syndicate's hideouts after all.

Well, the past is the past, no point for me to dwell on it.

I'm now back in this city with a purse full of gold and power beyond what I deserve to wield, both of them granted to me by my most beloved Master.

Without much of a destination in mind, I just strolled down the street, occasionally looking at the displays of certain shops that caught my eye.

But what baffled me slightly was how the shopkeepers kept on touting their wares to me as though I was some noble lady.

"My lady! Won't you take a look at my wares? It'll be worth your time, I guarantee it!"

"The young missus over there! Could I interest you in some of these trinkets? They're quite popular with the young ladies now!"

"Noble mistress! I have new stock just arrived from the famed craftsmens of the Artisan Guild! Do take a look! You won't regret it!"

They even answered my queries with extreme politeness, not even minding the slightest that I did not purchase anything from them.

Even a fruit shop owner I remembered from my slum dwelling days was extremely nice to me. He probably doesn't remember the time where he chased me off with a stick when he caught me stealing one of his apples.

The bruises I got from him had long since been healed by Master but it was still a surreal feeling to see him bowing so respectfully when I approached him to purchase an apple for myself.

How curious' I wonder what could be the cause of this?

Could this be a Technique that Master casted on me to protect me? That must be it!

Ah~~Â To think Master went so far for me! This Lian Li is unworthy!

Ehehehe~ Master truly is the best!

Perhaps I should go and peruse some of those clothing stores? Especially the ones that are offering those really risque clothings? Mmm~ I wonder if Master would like me in those?

I remember Diao Chan mentioning something about costume play with Master, maybe I should try that too?

Or maybe' I could get one for Master as well?

Oh~ Just imagining Master in a really revealing nightgown as he pulls me into his room to hold me in his embrace' Then he'll slowly slip it off and guide my hand towards him'

Oh my, oh my, oh my! Ehehehe~

Then I will also be wearing something like--

"Eh?! Is that you, Lian Li?!" A distasteful voice brought me out from my day dream.

I furrowed my brows as my fantasy was ruined, turning around to see which imbecile dared to disrupt my fantasy.

The last person I thought I would ever see again was standing in front of me.

It was the scum son who had assaulted me all those years ago, dressed in a black cloak with strange markings all over his limbs.

Chapter 156 - When It Goes A Full Circle

(Scum Son POV)

Life had been good for me.

I had an influential father and I had been blessed with a strong constitution that allowed me to boss over the weak kids.

What's even better was I got to take the village's future prettiest girl all for myself even before she was born.

With how I properly maintained the ruse that I was a well-behaved and hard working kid in front of the adults, I cemented my place as a trustworthy child in their eyes.

Even as I got older, I thought this life of mine could continue. I would boss over the other boys to work for me and the girl would be my thing to use whenever I want.

Nothing could be more perfect for me.

But on the day before our marriage, monsters just had to come and ruin everything for me.

The girl's parents still trusted me enough to think I would take her to safety.

Too bad for them, at this point of time, my life takes precedence over anyone else's.

But still, the fact that I was blue-balled all this while so that she can 'remain pure for our wedding night' has been a rather sore point for me throughout my life.

Thus, I took her away under the pretense of saving her before restraining her deep inside the forest in order to have my way with that nice piece of ass.

I had just managed to force open her legs to plunge my finger inside of her when the roars of monsters echoed nearby, most likely attracted by this bitch's screams.

I chose to make a run for it and let the monsters have her, my life was more important than hers of course.

But what I hadn't expected was for the monsters to chase after me instead.

Just seeing those monsters nipping at my heels was enough to spur me to run faster than I ever had before.

But when one of them managed to leap on top of me, I thought I was done for.

The pain that assaulted me after my arm was ripped off was beyond imagination.

I had thought I would have just died there and then but someone had came by and killed the monsters just before they devoured me.

It was a young man dressed entirely in black, wielding a longsword that seemed to suck in the light.

I immediately genuflected to him, if this man was stronger than those monsters, I was no doubt a complete weakling in his eyes.

I wanted to live, after all.

He took one look at me, healed my arm and scoffed, "You… Hmph, I guess your heart is dark enough. Come with me."

What else could I do but follow him? It didn't even cross my mind to ask him to save anyone else, no one else was more important than me.

I had thought the man would bring me to somewhere safe after saving me, why else would he bother with me, right?

My life became a hellish nightmare after that.

I learnt that he was a wandering Practitioner that was quite proficient in Dark Elemental Quarks.

I was supposed to be his assistant, though for what reason he chose me over anyone else was kept secret from me then.

For the next few years I followed him around, watching him collude with Dark Sect members, burning down other villages and even summoning demons to do his bidding.

As for me, he would use me to perform his rituals by cutting off my limbs before regenerating them as materials or have me go through torture sessions to bring out the feelings of pain and despair as a catalyst.

I had tried to escape once but the punishments he gave me made sure I never thought to attempt it again.

The silver lining was that a year into following him, he realised my potential for practicing Dark Elemental Techniques and my position was elevated from slave into a potential disciple.

Life became good for me again as I tasted the allure of power.

I took to my new position with relish, the things I could do once I mastered this skill was enormous. I wouldn't need to play second fiddle to anyone after I'm done!

Yes, even this guy wouldn't be my match after I've learned everything from him!

It took me a total of three years for me to finally break free, but it was all worth it.

He had let down his guard over the years and I undid all his protective inscriptions one night without waking him up. It was a simple thing to just slit his throat and watch him die without being able to do anything after that.

I have to admit, seeing the rage and regret in his eyes as he died was totally worth it.

I took over his place, using all that I've learnt from him to further my own studies of Dark Elemental Quarks. I even made use of his past contacts, none of them seemed to even mind that I took over him since it was just business as usual for them.

A year passed by and I was a Master in my own right. I learnt that negative emotions and thoughts were the best catalysts for utilising Dark Techniques, which explained why he wanted me along.

I admit my personality leans towards the darker side of the spectrum so it made sense.

Now, I don't even need to try and woo girls into my bed any more. Just a display of the power I wield would send a few in my direction without further prompting.

Failing that, nothing a little threatening and a bit of tempering with their wills with my technique couldn't solve.

Life was absolutely perfect for me.

I lived for myself without needing to answer to anyone else and I can do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted.

I just felt that it was a waste I didn't properly take the virginity of my village's beauty back when I had the chance, the girls that I've taken so far couldn't even begin to compare to her beauty even at that age.

Today, I've came back to Jin city after several months to meet up with some Dark Sect contacts and get some catalysts for a ritual I'm attempting to complete.

The only problem was that the contact was nowhere to be seen at his usual spot. In fact, the entire area of the slums seemed to have been cleared out mysteriously and its residents gone without a trace.

While I was walking through the city's main streets towards the Xi Family's mansion to see if any of my other contacts was around, I noticed an exceptionally beautiful girl standing near one of the boutique shops.

Deciding the Xi Family could wait, I approached her with the intention to ensnare her for some fun.

It was only when she turned her head slightly that I recognised her for who she was.

"Eh?! Is that you, Lian Li?!"

Chapter 157 - When The Yandere Switch Gets Flipped

(Lian Li POV)

I narrowed my eyes at one of the stains of my past, "You… How dare you still live?"

He took a step back, obviously stunned by my words.

"So it really is you… You survived huh?" He muttered.

I entertained the idea of just smiting him down where he stood, but the thought of this daylight killing complicating Master stopped me from doing so.

"Yes I did. No thanks to you. Could you do me a favour and go back to being dead?"

The scum chuckled, "Hehehe! Still as cold as ever, Lian Li."

"Don't you dare speak my name so flippantly like that, you are not worthy."

"Oh? But you belong to me right? Ever since before you were born, you were already my property, isn't that right? So I can say your name however I want, Lian Li."

I reached up to slap him, but his reactions were surprisingly fast.

He grabbed my hand by my wrist, stopping my slap a few inches away from reaching him.

"Oh? Gotten all feisty now haven't we? I like that. Remember when I tied you up in that forest those years ago? I regret not taking it all the way back then. Heaven must be favouring me to bring you back to me again."

I sneered, "No, heaven is doing me a favour by bringing you to me so I can do this."

My knee went straight for his unprotected crotch, the strike consisting of all the strength I could put in.

The loud crack that came with the impact was satisfying beyond measure, watching him collapse and curl up into a ball on the ground was even more so.

"You… You damn… Ugh…Bitch…" He groaned while clutching the area between his legs.

I took a moment to consider what I should do with him.

Since he was my personal problem, I don't think I should involve Master in it. No, it would not do for Master to know about this scum's existence.

Maybe I could make use of Delta's playroom? I'm sure she wouldn't mind letting me use it for a few days or so if I asked nicely.

Problem is getting him there without arousing suspicion from anyone around.

I noticed a flash of light in between his legs before he slowly got up, grinning at me as though nothing had happened.

"Surprised?" He asked cheekily. "Didn't think I was a Practitioner did you?"

He's a Practitioner? So what? What's so special about that?

Does he not know that I'm… Oh.

He doesn't know that I'm one too. This actually gives me an idea.

I trembled slightly, but continued to put on a defiant face, "You… What, what do you want to do to me? There's people around here… You can't… You can't touch me."

"Heh heh heh, how about we finish what we started in that forest and I might just let you go?"

I suppressed the urge to gag at his words, "You… No! I… I will never!"

"Oh? Hehehe, what about now?"

He snapped his fingers.

I felt strength escape from my hands as they dropped loosely at my sides.

My entire body went rigid and I couldn't move any part of my body that I wanted to.

"Heh heh heh, can't move yourself right? Really useful Technique I learnt early on to stop my targets from struggling. I'll slowly warp your mind today and I assure you, by the end of it, you will be the one spreading your legs for me."

Ignoring his monologue, I analysed the Technique used to bind me, expecting it to be something extremely secure and complicated by his tone of voice.

But, to my surprise, it was just a simple Astral Technique that locks my body's senses from receiving commands from me while opening up a doorway for a third party to control them.

An extremely simple Technique that even I could cast.

Naturally, it wouldn't take much for me to break out of it. But knowing how he is, he'll probably lead me to some secluded area before trying to do something which suits my plan just fine.

As predicted, he turned to lead me away from the main streets and my body followed after him without any prompting.

Perhaps other female Practitioners might become arrogant at this point and think that it is enough know that this binding Technique could be broken out of at any time.

But I am not like other female Practitioners.

Master has constantly taught us to be as meticulous and thorough as possible, something that he has never failed to keep reminding us during our training sessions.

He has told us repeatedly how a single mistake could cause everything that someone has worked his entire life for crumble into pieces.

We originally had thought that Master was referring to Manami, but the far off look in his eyes suggested otherwise.

We made sure to thoroughly comfort Master that night.

With Master's teachings in mind, I had already contacted my other sisters about my current predicament and let them locate me using a tracking Technique that was inscribed on myself.

Furthermore, I have also mobilised Gamma's security team as a precaution in the event that he has brought any friends.

Just in case, I also made sure to have Master on speed dial on my telepathy Technique on the off chance I start feeling weird in any way.

Excessive? I don't think so.

I already go to much greater lengths to make sure Master doesn't find out about our secret stash of his clothes after all.

And there's just a certain thrill to peeking on Master when he doesn't know we're there, especially during bath times. Mmmm~ Just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine~

Turning into a dark alley, we stopped behind several wooden crates.

The scum turned to me with a disgusting grin plastered on his face, "Heh heh heh, no one will bother us here now. Strip for me."

As expected of scum like him, no wonder he has to resort to these little mind tricks to get laid.

"No," I said simply.

He frowned at my defiance, snapping his fingers again, "I said strip!"

Since I've already torn his mind control Technique from the inside, his order does not have any effect on me.

"No."

"Damn stubborn little… Strip!"

My body spasmed a little before my hand reached upwards slowly to the top of my shirt.

His smile stretched wider and wider the closer my hand got.

Just as my hand reached the first button on my shirt, it curled into a fist and struck straight towards the scum's face.

He screeched in pain as he tumbled backwards on to the dirty alley floor.

He looked up to see me cracking my knuckles, slowly advancing towards him.

"How?! You should still be under my control!" He screeched.

"Maybe you just suck as a Practitioner, you never were good at anything when we were young after all."

He stood up and gritted his teeth, "Not good?! I'll show you something good you damn bitch! Let's see how cocky can you get when half your face is burnt off!"

He raised his hand and a ball of black coloured flames gathered above his palm.

"Hell Fire!"

Oh, it's an Intermediate tier Darkness Technique. To think he has that level of mastery in the time we were separated, I suppose he has some skill at least.

Not that it will save him.

The ball of flames flew towards me slowly.

So slowly in fact, that I had enough time to think about if I wanted to rip his toenails off first or his fingernails before deflecting the ball back to him with the back of my lightning-clad fist.

The ball accelerated back to him and he barely had enough time to hit the dirt before it sailed over his head to explode against the wall behind him.

Now his face was full of fear when he looked at me, "You… You're a Practitioner too?"

I let sparks of Divine Lightning appear around my hands, "All due to my most benevolent Master's guidance, I am no longer the naive village girl bound by circumstance. You are but a mere insect to me now."

"Di… Divine Lightning?! You… Wait… Can we… Can we talk about this? I… I'm sorry for what I did, I… Er… It was just a prank!"

I sniffed at him, "Tell that to someone who cares, scum."

"Wait! You're a kind person right?! I'll go! I'll go and you'll never see me again! Don't let my death stain your conscience! You'll regret it!"

"HAHAHAHA! You?! Your death will stain my conscience?!" I laughed at his face.

I lunged towards him to grab him by the neck, lifting him above the ground and giving him the full brunt of my electrocution.

"Listen here you piece of shit, you are as insignificant as the dirt that I tread on. But you remain as a stain on my life, for because of you, I could not wholeheartedly serve my Master on my first night with him!"

I slammed him into the wall, hearing the satisfying sounds of his bones cracking.

He groaned out in pain as I shook him, "I will not kill you. I will put you through all the pain you've caused me until you beg for the sweet release of death and even then, death will scorn you like every other girl you've tried to court with your damn face."

"Please… You're… You're not like this… Spare me…"

HAHAHAHA! Look at this scum! Begging for his life so pathetically!

"Spare you? That's a nice idea. Did you spare any girls who said that to you?"

He gritted his teeth before spitting at me, "You bitch! I'll kill you! I bet that Master of yours is just some useless piece of garbage too! You're all trash!"

Huh?

Did he just…

But why?

Why would he even think about defaming Master? He hasn't even met him much less seen his glorious visage.

Why? Why? Why? Why? WHY? WHY? WHY?!!

Ah.

He must have lost his senses!

In that case… Here! Let me punch some sense into you!

There! There! And there! Oh, some of your teeth fell out but I think it's fine right? Have you come back to your senses yet?

Hmm… His screams are starting to get on my nerves.

I'll just take out one of my little knives I have and just… There.

No more tongue for you~ Hehehehe~

Ah, why are you still blubbering like some drowning fish? Do you want it back?

Alright then, here, eat it!

Don't say that I'm unkind now!

Aaah? Why did you spit it out?

Why?

Punch.

Did?

Punch.

You?

Punch.

Spit?

Punch.

It?

Punch.

OUT?!

Crack.

Ah, I think I broke something.

Hehehe... Oops. Luckily I know how to heal you!

There you go, good as new~

Now where was I?

Ah, could you hold my knife for me, please? Here, I'll just stab this in your eye, thanks~

Oh, how about we play a little game?

I'm sure you'll love it!

I remember playing this little game with all those different shit stains oh so long ago and they all loved it! Scum like you should be no exception!

Your right little finger first? Or your left little finger?

Hehehe~ After this, I'll even bring you to somewhere nice. You'll like that won't you?

I have the whole week to do this!

Chapter 158 - The Legendary Immortal

(MC POV)

Elder Gong decided to suspend lessons for us today, opting to let us explore the Sect by ourselves instead.

He claimed that "To have an adventurous and inquisitive mind is the first step to cultivating" before promptly leaving.

I'm not sure if he actually meant what he said or he's just saying that to escape the responsibility of taking care of this little conflict here.

Since I've never been in this situation as a student, I don't actually know how the 'talent class' is inducted into the Sect normally.

And since I was supposed to be new here, I had to pretend to be as clueless about the place as they were, marvelling at every single thing we saw.

Not really difficult since they were too distracted by everything else around them anyway.

Except for that Tekiteh guy limping slowly behind us while clutching his stomach, I guess Brendan hit him harder than I thought.

Both of them seemed to have come to a ceasefire at least, so they're just keeping away from each other right now.

"This place is amazing…" The only girl in our group gasped, looking up at the mountains that our Sect was built into.

"Hey where do you reckon we'll be staying?" Chris asked.

"I don't know, but I sure hope it's some place with some great air!"'Chris with a K' replied with a wide grin.

We were now in the gardens where the giant peach tree was, all of us taking a break from our 'exploration' beside a small pond.

Due to a force of habit, I went ahead to pluck a peach from one of the low hanging branches and began munching on it.

Brendan frowned at me, "Are you sure that's allowed?"

I looked down at the peach, realising my mistake.

"Err… I think if we weren't meant to pluck any it would be cordoned off? It's just a peach."

Brendan shook his head, "I understand that the reality has yet to dawn on you, but we are standing in Heaven Sect, where the Legendary Immortal Master Lin himself is staying at. I think it would be a good idea to be a bit more prudent in your actions instead of being like our fellow Tekiteh there."

I almost choked on my peach.

This is the first time I heard of ''Legendary Immortal Master Lin" before. I remember that back in my past life, all I ever got known for was being a genius but at the same time, extremely studious and reclusive.

Well, I guess it could be attributed to the fact that I don't really go out much back then.

"Why… Er… Why is he 'Legendary' and 'Immortal'?" I chanced asking.

Almost immediately, all of them minus Tekiteh turned to me like they just saw me for the first time.

"You… You don't know? Do you not know who Master Lin is?" Brendan gasped aloud.

"You haven't been living under a rock, have you?" Sylphy accused.

Ok, no need to go that far and make myself unnecessarily stupid.

"No, I know who Master Lin is." I explained. "But it's the first time I heard of the words 'Legendary Immortal' being attached to his name."

A sudden look of understanding crossed their faces.

"Mmhmm, that makes more sense, right Kris?" Chris nudged his brother.

"Indeed, Chris, it would be such a heresy for a Practitioner to not even know who the great Master Lin is!"'Chris with a K' laughed.

Brendan nodded to me, "I suppose you don't follow current affairs much. It was during the Heaven Sect's New Year celebrations. Some Dark Sect troublemakers wanted to kill everyone there and Master Lin sacrificed himself to stop them."

Oh… It's because of that event? But I basically just 'died' there didn't I? What's so immortal and legendary about it?

'Chris with a K' continued, "Yeah! Just before he disappeared, he summoned a huge dragon to fight off the demon! It was totally supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!"

His brother nodded in agreement, "Ain't no way anyone could top something like that! He came back from the dead right after that too! What else other than immortal and legendary could be used to describe him?!"

Summoned a dragon? What? Hold on a moment, where the hell did a dragon come from?

They can't be talking about Cai hong right? She's so smol and cute!

Did I mention precious? Because she's absolutely precious.

Nah, definitely can't be her.

I guess one of my disciples must have used a Technique that looked like a dragon and the rumour mill got out of hand with that info.

But still… Who the hell gave that name to me? It's so embarrassing!

"Huh… He just sounds like an arrogant stuck-up to me," Tekiteh sneered.

The four of them swivelled their heads to him in shock.

"You did not just say that!" Brendan gasped. "Do you know how much he has changed and revolutionised the Practitioner world?!"

Tekiteh shrugged, "I don't know, neither do I care. He's probably a decrepit old man, isn't he?"

Ouch.

Well… To be fair, I'm actually older than what everyone else thinks me to be, so there's that.

But come on, I'm still young at heart ok? And I still have a long road ahead of me!

"You are just a sad, ignorant, little boy," Brendan sighed.

Tekiteh growled at him, "You think you're some big shot huh?!"

Brendan shook his head slowly, "You're like a puppy barking. But at least a puppy would be much more of a threat than you will be."

Oh, this Brendan guy has no chill.

Tekiteh stepped forward, swinging his fist towards the well-dressed kid's face.

The swing passed harmlessly through the air when Brendan took a step back to avoid it.

Unfortunately, that movement caused Tekiteh to lose his balance and trip on Brendan's outstretched foot, sending him sprawling forward to crash into Sylphy.

The poor girl was sent splashing into the pond behind her before I could catch her, soaking her from head to toe.

All the males just stared at her as her clothes became more and more transparent from the water.

She stood up, clear indignation plastered on her face, "How dare you?! You commoner trash!"

Oof.

Please keep me out of this, thanks.

Chapter 159 - How To Get Attention

(Brendan POV)

This was rather embarrassing.

After that Tekiteh fellow got yelled at by a half soaked and fully pissed off girl, Mark covered her with his own robes and guided her away, telling us that he would bring her to somewhere she could clean herself.

He returned some time later alone to inform us that he would be leaving to get another set of clothes for her to change into so we could just carry on with the exploration if we wanted to.

The twins quickly left to explore on their own while Tekiteh also left after looking around a bit more.

I ended up staying in the garden to wait for Sylphy since her predicament was partially my fault, so the least I could do was apologize to her and Mark for the inconvenience.

Mark turned out to be quite the perceptive one too, apparently already knowing where Sylphy could bathe and clean herself even though it was his first time here. He must have taken note of everything we have seen so far, unlike me who was too busy admiring everything to even start comprehending what their practical uses were.

I had thought he might be another troublemaker since he had just plucked that peach so nonchalantly, but he must have noticed something that told him it was ok to do that too.

It seems like my own personal abilities are still lacking.

I reminisced back to the times when my family was still a struggling merchant inside Jin city.

I was the second son with one elder brother, a younger sister and two younger brothers.

My elder brother was drafted into the city's Knight Academy to serve in the army when I was just a young boy. Since then, I have not seen hide nor hair of him for the following fifteen years.

As for me, I was discovered to have the potential of a Practitioner when I came of age. My parents scrounged up whatever they could to send me to a Minor Sect to learn the Practitioner ways in spite of my protests.

Despite being merchants, our trading business was not going well.

Almost every business within the capital was monopolised by the powerful Xi Family and small time merchants like my parents struggled to even make a transaction profitable.

But ever since my parents got into contact with a group of people they never revealed the identities of, we suddenly had a huge windfall and became richer beyond our wildest dreams.

We moved out of our tiny house and into a giant mansion complete with servants. The food on the table was no longer rotten and the clothes we wore were no longer ripped and torn.

Even then, my mother never failed to remind me and my younger siblings to never forget to be humble and remember our days of poverty, citing that all that we had could be taken away at a moment's notice.

I was not the smartest person in the world, but even I could tell that our situation was less than simple.

Any group that could slingshot my poverty-stricken family into riches cannot have done it through normal means.

But seeing how we now have a proper roof over our heads and my younger siblings no longer needing to starve, I stayed silent about it and just nodded along.

My younger siblings started helping out the business and I was given the choice of continuing my Cultivation or returning to work with my parents.

I knew this was a dog eat dog world and power was the only thing you can rely on.

So I chose to stay and sought for the epitome of power.

Master Lin himself.

If I could learn under him, I can ensure that even if the group that helped my family prosper turn their backs on us, I can still protect them with my own power.

So I buried myself in my cultivation, training as hard as I could until even Master Lin might find me worthy of his time.

I learned everything that I could and studied up on everything related to being a Cultivator, I even branched myself out to various other subjects just for the possibility of impressing him.

And now, I made it through the first hurdle of entering Heaven Sect.

I can only hope that my performance here will draw Master Lin's attention and he will accept me as a disciple of his own.

Just as I was wondering what I could do to make Master Lin notice me, Tekiteh had returned with an anxious expression on his face.

"Hey! Hey inc-- Er' Frendan! You got to come see this! You won't believe it!"

I raised an eyebrow at him, "What? See what? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Hurry! Just come! You can't miss this! It's that Master Ween!"

I leapt to my feet, "You mean Master Lin?"

"Lin? I thought' Er' Yeah! It's Master Lin! He's like' Teaching one of his disciples right now! You guys like him right?"

Master Lin is here? This could be my chance to get closer to him!

But' This all sounds a bit too suspicious. Didn't he not even know who Master Lin was? How did he know what he looked like? And why is he suddenly so nice to me?

He could see the suspicion on my face and let out a sigh while rolling his eyes, "Look, I heard them call out his name. And I figured I was kind of an ass since we came here and we were all going to be classmates so it's not good for me to start on a bad foot with everyone. I'm sorry for what I did ok? Thought you might appreciate me being nice but this is what I get?"

I stared right at him, "Where?"

He took a step back before beckoning me to follow him.

Tekiteh led me out of the garden to a single one storey building facing away from the garden. It was small and looked rather hidden, I'm not even sure how he even found this place to begin with.

I took one look at it before turning to him, "You sure Master Lin is teaching his disciples in such a small building in some secluded corner of the Sect?"

He shrugged, "Hey, I don't know what this Master Ting's line of thought is like. Do you?"

Well he has a point. Master Lin might be teaching here so he can be undisturbed while still surrounded by nature's tranquility.

"So?" I prodded. "What gave it away that he's here?"

He gave me a smug smile before pointing towards a window that was slightly ajar.

"Go ahead inc' Verandah. I'm not really interested in this Master Xin guy but consider this my apology to you and we're even now."

He dusted himself before walking off, whistling a tune as he did so.

I looked back at the window and gulped. This is my chance.

If I can show Master Lin my dedication and knowledge, he might just choose to teach me himself. Even if he rejects me now, I would have at least made an impression on him and I can try again when I get better so there's no loss for me.

The main goal for me is to get Master Lin to notice me!

I stalked to the window, slowly peering into it.

But what I saw was the naked visage of Sylphy in the midst of changing her clothes.

"HEY! THERE'S A PERVERT HERE!"

The yell shocked both me and Sylphy, causing both our eyes to meet.

Her shock quickly turned into rage as she threw one of the buckets in the room at me.

The bucket hit me right in the middle of the head and the last thing I heard before I blacked out was her shout of anger.

"Die, you pervert!"

I'm so screwed.

Chapter 160 - Detective Lin... I Mean Mark Is On The Case

(MC POV)

"HEY! THERE'S A PERVERT HERE!"

I heard a yell while walking back with an extra change of clothes for Sylphy.

Perverts? Here in Heaven Sect?

Well, not impossible but' Who? Someone from the newer batch of students?

Not wanting our 'talented' student batch to have a bad impression on us, I immediately dashed towards the scene.

There, I found Tekiteh standing a distance away from where Sylphy was with a huge grin on his face. A really weird and disconcerting grin, I must add.

Following his line of sight, I spotted Brendan passed out on the ground underneath one of the building's windows, a wooden bucket laying beside the unconscious young man.

Huh' So he wasn't an arrogant young master but a perverted one?

Wait.

The fact that Tekiteh is here already makes this entire scene rather suspicious.

Now that I think about it, how the hell is this Tekiteh guy one of the 'talented' individuals anyway? What's his talent? Pissing people off?

Well I admit he does have a talent for that, so it's not entirely impossible.

"What happened?" I asked the scruffy boy.

He jumped at my voice, turning around to face me with surprise evident on his expression.

"Oh' It's just you, er' Bark."

Is this guy retarded?

I raised my eyebrow and jerked my head towards the comatose Brendan, silently inquiring him what the hell was going on.

"Ah that?" He grinned. "Well just caught a pervert in action, that's what. He was peeking through Sylphy's window when I just happened to pass by here."

"Just' Happened to pass by?" I repeated.

He nodded with a smug smile, "Yeah! You know, looking for a place to slack off in between my lessons in the future. Didn't expect I'll come across that stuck up pervert peeking on a girl changing!"

I was going to call him out, but I decided to listen to Brendan's side of the story first before doing anything in the unlikely chance he was telling the truth.

Making my way to the unconscious Brendan with Tekiteh behind me, I call out to Sylphy through the window.

"You alright in there?"

That was a soft crash of something hitting the floor and a muffled curse before she poked her head out of the window, "Yeah' Yeah I'm alright. Threw the bucket at the pervert's head. Did I kill him?"

I bent down to place my finger near his nose, feeling steady breaths coming out of it.

"Nope, still very much alive."

"Pity," she sighed, sounding disappointed.Â

"Pity indeed," Tekiteh chuckled from behind me.

Ignoring the idiot behind me, I handed over the set of clothes through the window, "Here, managed to get a set of robes from the laundry area. Not sure if it's your size though."

She thanked me while receiving the garments before disappearing back into the house again.

I rubbed my hands together, creating a small spark of electricity that I used to shock Brendan's sides as an attempt to wake him up.

He let out a yelp and jolted awake, looking all around him in visible confusion.

"Mark?" He asked, looking at me.

"Well, at least your inherent memory is already better than a certain someone's," I chuckled. "Remember what happened to you?"

He nodded his head, noticing a now fully dressed Sylphy glaring daggers at him through the window.

"Well' Let's see here... Would it help for me to say that this was all a misunderstanding?"

Tekiteh scoffed, "Ha! I caught him red-handed Sylphy! I saw him looking through your window and shouted to warn you!"

Of course this little prick remembers the girl's name and not mine. I mean, how hard is it to remember "Mark"?

Brendan scowled at him, "You told me Master Lin was teaching here and even brought me here! You tricked me!"

What? Why me?

"Ha! Typical nobles! Pushing the blame off yourselves to pin it on defenceless, innocent people like me! I've never even been here! How the hell would I know if this Master Gin was teaching here?! Just own up to your crimes you damn pervert!"

Well' I can't really refute him since it's true for some nobles at least.

Also, why would I' I mean Master Lin even teach his lessons here? Even if he doesn't want to use the standard classrooms dispersed around the Sect, there's still his own personal courtyard to use. Doesn't make sense he'll use a random building all the way out here.

That's er' Also ignoring the fact that I'm right here.

Brendan furrowed his brows, "First of all, I'm not a noble. Second of all, you are an absolute piece of garbage. You should go and plant a tree to make up for all the air you waste by existing."

Oh daaaaaaamn. This man has no chill.

"Hahaha! Nice try incel! Still doesn't change the fact that you peeked on a girl changing!"

Ok, I think I have a grasp on what is going now.

"Ok' Hold on for a moment," I raised my hand to get their attention. "Tekiteh, you claimed you saw Brendan here just as you were passing by right?"

He nodded smugly, "That's right."

"So you hadn't actually been here before and Brendan is lying about you telling him Master Lin was holding a class here?"

"Without a doubt."

Yeah, at this point I'm rather convinced his 'talent' was being an idiot.

"So how did you know Sylphy was in that particular building that Brendan was outside of? Surely you wouldn't know if this was your first time seeing this building right?"

His smug smile flipped itself in an instant.

"That' Hmph! He was acting suspiciously with a perverted smile on his face! It doesn't take a genius to figure out what he was actually doing!"

Â"So based on an assumption, you called him out? And you even knew Sylphy was in there without taking a look beforehand?"

He crossed his arms, "Yeah! I turned out right didn't I? So what does it matter? Why do you even care?"

"Because you're absolutely full of crap and I haven't the faintest idea how the hell you managed to get in here? You cheated didn't you?"

I could see a vein pop on his forehead.

He jabbed a finger at my chest, "What about you, huh? The only thing I see you being good at so far was being an errand boy. Why don't you make yourself useful by making yourself scarce now, huh? You stupid little shit? This is why I hate poor people, you're all so damn useless! All the poor people should just die!"

Huh? Aren't you the one with the scruffy clothes? Are you referring to yourself? Why are you even assuming I'm poor in the first place?

Seriously, what the hell is wrong with this guy's head?

Another hand reached out to grab Tekiteh's wrist before he could poke me again.

Both me and the idiot turned to see Brendan glaring straight at Tekiteh with a fury I never thought possible for him to display.

With a sharp twist of his hand, Tekiteh's hand was broken in an instant.

Brendan released the idiot's hand to watch him writhe and scream on the ground, clutching away at his broken hand.

Colour me surprised, but man' Brendan really has no chill huh?

I like him already.

Chapter 161 - A Link To The Hidden Faces

(Lian Li POV)

"Mmmm' You sure you don't want me to use a spell that will increase his pain levels?" Diao Chan asked, a pout on her dainty face.

I shook my head, "No, at least not now. Let me do it the old fashioned way first."

Diao Chan gave me a smile, "Well then, have fun. Let me have a go too after you're done, ok? I have a Spell I've been meaning to try out for awhile now~"

"Don't worry, I'll call you when I'm done."

"Kukuku~ I'll wait for you then~"

My witch sister skipped away while whistling a tune, not the least perturbed by the screams of pain and torture that have been echoing around us since we got here.

Not at all surprising since we're currently in the Re-education Chambers within our little Church.

It is here where all the especially rebellious little lambs come to learn of Master's true divinity and accept him as our saviour.

Needless to say, that little scum son is here too, right behind the door to my left in fact.

I slid the steel bolt that locked the door to the side, stepping into the room with a spring in my step.

In the centre of the room was the scum son with his hands tied with chains and hung from the ceiling, the chains so short that only the tips of his toes were touching the ground.

A roll of muddy cloth was stuffed in his mouth and his ankles were also bound by a pair of steel manacles.

"Good morning, scumbag. Did you have a good night's sleep?" I asked, a full faced smile gracing my lips.

He mumbled something into the cloth.

"Hmm? I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Could you repeat that?"

He mumbled something again, a little louder this time.

"Ah? 'Punch me'? Well gladly!"

I struck him in the face with my fist, breaking his nose with a loud crack.

"Hmm hmm' Satisfied now? You piece of trash?"

He glared at me, choosing to remain silent this time.

Hehehe~ I'm glad he could still make such a face, it would be so boring if he had already given up. I have sixteen years worth of frustrations to take out on him, after all.

I moved over to take a seat at the only chair in the room.

"So, isn't it nice to see each other again? Last time I remembered, you were being chased by monsters like the little piggy you were. I thought you died there pathetically like you should have then but it seems I was wrong."

He remained silent and continued glaring at me.

I dug out one of my knives from within my sleeve, "And it seems you did quite well for yourself too. Becoming a Practitioner of Dark Techniques and even colluding with the Dark Sect as well. You must be really proud of yourself huh?"

The defiance he had melted away, his eyes locked on the knife that I am now flipping in my hand.

"I'm pretty sure this was Master's gift for me. He specifically gave us an entire week's break and suggested I come here. He must have already knew you were going to be around and wanted me to settle my past grievances with you~"

Ehehehe~ I must thank Master properly when we return, he has already done so much for me already~ I'll need to buy some nice clothes to go back with, I'm sure Master will like that!

Ah, must not get distracted now.

I flipped my knife in the air one more time, "Did you know? You were the reason I survived all this while?"

His eyes darted back to me. Although faint, I can see the slight shine of arrogance flash in his eyes.

I did not even need to peek into his mind to know that he misinterpreted my words. He probably thinks I had lingering feelings for him or something just as disgusting.

Still, curious about what he actually thought I meant, I stalked forward and pulled the cloth out of his mouth with the tip of my knife.

He coughed once before grinning at me, "Heh, heh' I knew it. Can't blame you though, I am quite charming no? Now why don't you get on your knees and suc--"

I plunged my knife through his tongue, using it as leverage to pull his head down to my eye level.

He let out a wail of pain as I stared right into his damnable, disgusting eyes.

"It's my HATE for YOU that kept me alive you damn useless SCUM!"

I pulled down hard, ripping out the muscle with the movement.

Flipping the knife over to an overhand grip, I thrusted it straight into the area in between his legs.

The scum's head was thrown back in a soundless scream, blood spurting out of his mouth like a fountain.

I let his pain continue for a few more seconds before pulling out the knife, healing his wounds in an instant.

He gasped and tried to slow down his breathing, his eyes focused on the ground.

Placing the tip of the knife against his chin, I tilted his head up slightly to look at me.

"I told you' I will make you beg for the sweet release of death. That promise has yet to change. This entire week, I will make you sing for me. The song shall be your pain and suffering that I am going to inflict on you."

How delusional can this scumbag be to even think I might possess even a morsel of mercy for him?

It is just unfortunate that I can't go all out on him since I still want his sanity to remain. If he isn't sane enough to know his pain, I can't be satisfied.

I lifted the knife to stab at him again.

"Wait! Wait! I got something you need to know!" He cried, trying and failing to wriggle free.

My knife stopped, inches away from his left eye.

"Go on," I prodded, not moving the knife at all.

"It's important! You' I'll tell you if you promise me to stop thi--"

I stabbed the knife straight into his eye and twisted it, grinning when I heard the tell tale 'pop' of it bursting.

I let him scream out his pain for a few moments before grabbing his face to show him the bloodied knife, "Hehehe~ That doesn't work here. Tell me what you want or I'll still continue anyway. It makes no difference to me~ I can just do this over' And over' And over' And over again~"

I dragged the tip of the knife across his face, watching the blood pool out of the cut before lifting the blade into the air again.

"Waiii' Ugghh' I' I know who is leading behind the Dark Sect!"

I stopped the knife from descending into his other eye.

Seeing my interest, a slight smile appeared on his lips, "That's' That's right' I can tell you who is at the head of their Sect. They've been hiding in plain sight all this while but I found proof of who they were! I wanted to blackmail them when I got stronger but' Just let me go and I'll tell you everything!"

To destroy the Dark Sect' That is one of our main goals here. I will never forget the anguished expression that Master made while he was purifying them in that underground hideout.

They are a stain on the perfect world we wished to create for Master. If he could tell me who they were, we could get rid of them entirely...

I clucked my tongue and backed away from him, "Speak then. If you tell me the truth, I will cease this physical torture of yours."

"Not good enough," He grinned. "Let me out of this first, then I'll talk."

I ran my finger across the flat of my knife, electrifying it in golden lightning.

"The only reason why I'm not torturing it out of you is that I'm afraid your mind might break before you speak. But I am not averse to trying if you're uncooperative."

His single remaining eye glanced at the blade before looking back at me.

"Kuh' It's an established Sect somewhere on the continent' That's their true face. I picked up a Sect Seal from my past mentor who used to be one of them. I do not recognise which Sect it belongs to but... They would be the true leaders of the Dark Sect'"

Well that was disappointing. I was expecting him to demand more things so I can happily break him in before he spills everything.

I lifted my palm, "Where is the seal?"

He hesitated for a moment, but when he saw my knife edging closer he quickly spat out, "I have a dimensional storage Technique that I use! It's stored there! You need to release the seal on my Cultivation Point for me to get it!"

I stopped and raised my eyebrow at him.

"It's true! I' I' I swear it's there! If you kill me, it'll be lost forever!"

Tch' And I had been thinking of breaking him in further after taking the seal from him' Guess I'll have to give up then.

"You'll stop right?" He asked hopefully.

"I keep my words, unlike you," I spat, cleaning my knife on his shirt before putting it back in my sleeve.

His arrogant smirk came back, "Heh heh heh. Then let me down now, what are you waiting for, you bitch?"

I went to the entrance and pulled open the door, "You really are scum until the end."

Stepping aside, I let Diao Chan into the room.

She was dressed fully in leather with a riding crop in her hands.

"My, oh my, Lian Li. Are you sure you want to give him up? We don't even know if he's telling the truth."

I walked in front of him, staring straight at the scumbag's face, "I never said I was giving him up. I just said we won't physically torture HIM anymore. Let's proceed on with his... Alterations~ When we're done, she should be much more cooperative than he ever was."

"Oh~ I like that idea~ Do you want to do the honors of breaking him in or should I?"

I took the riding crop from her, needing no words to show her my decision.

"Kukuku~ Very well then. 'This body of yours is no longer free, a masculine one that shall yield to me; Come forth and switch to the fairer sex, and never again shall you flex. Mind shall remain but the body shall change, let yourself be acquainted with the exchange! Gender Swap!'"

I watched in fascination as the scum son I knew slowly morphed, his entire body writhing and contorting in front of my eyes.

Hehehe~ Now, let's start the next round of torture, shall we?

Chapter 162 - I No Hero

(MC POV)

Not against expectations, Brendan was reprimanded by the Elder Gong for his injury of Tekiteh.

I found out later that Brendan came from a formerly impoverished family that just managed to make it big, that might explain his outburst when Tekiteh insulted the poor with his mouth.

Elder Gong did ask me how severe his punishment should be and I told him to be lenient since he was set up by that Tekiteh.

The only unfortunate thing is that we didn't have sufficient evidence to incriminate Tekiteh short of revealing my identity so we kept him around for now.

Did I say I was enjoying all this drama? Because I'm quite enjoying this drama.

My initial task of weeding out the bully?

Well who said I can't enjoy myself on the job?

Besides, didn't need much weeding for the real troublesome one to show themselves right? My job is technically done already.

Well, with my recommendation, all Brendan got from breaking Tekiteh's wrist was a day in solitary confinement.

As for Tekiteh, he has to let his broken wrist heal naturally without the aid of healing Techniques or potions as a lesson to not run his mouth. Though I doubt that would do any good for someone like him.

Pitying the Brendan guy a little, I volunteered to bring him food and check up on him when night fell.

With a tray of food in hand that I took from the kitchens, I made my way to the Punishment Hall where the solitary cells were located.

At the doors of the Hall, two Outer Core Sect members were standing guard on both sides of the entrance.

They bowed with cupped hands when they saw me, the one on the left giving a greeting.

"Good evening, Master Lin."

"Umu, good evening, how goes the watch?"

"All quiet, Mater Lin. I take it you're here to inspect the new student?"

"Indeed, has there been any problems with him?"

"Not at all. He's been keeping to himself ever since he got in there. Didn't even protest about his treatment or anything."

Oh? Interesting. I hope he doesn't get too bad of an impression of us, I would prefer him entering our Sect over that Tekiteh guy anyday.

"Wouldn't be a problem if I' Pop in and talk to him, would it?"

The guards gave me a wry smile, "Master Lin. For such a thing, there is no need for you to ask our permission."

I shrugged, "Doesn't hurt to be polite. Well then, where is he?"

"Third room on the right, second floor. He's the only one here right now so it'll be the only closed door."

I nodded, "Have a nice night shift then, I'll go and see him."

The two of them bowed before opening the door for me to enter.

I spotted the door easily enough, heading straight for it with the tray of food still in my hands.

I rapped my knuckles on the door before unceremoniously inviting myself in, the door having unlocked with a simple command from me.

Brendan was sitting on the small bed in the corner of the room, surprised by my entry. He seemed to have been in the midst of reading a book and had put it aside when he heard my knock.

"Did someone order room service?" I joked, stepping past the door frame and closing the door behind me.

His face turned sour, "How did you? You shouldn't be here, Mark! You'll get into trouble! Hurry up and leave before the guards see you!"

Placing the tray of food on the table, I wagged my finger at him, "Don't worry about it, got the guards' permission to come here. Your punishment is just a light one, barely qualifying as a formality. We all know that Tekiteh guy was full of shit anyway but it's just we don't have the necessary evidence to incriminate him."

"So what? The guards just handed you the key and let you stay?"

"Yeah, I said I wanted to talk to you for a while and the guards just handed the keys over without much complaint."

His eyes narrowed at me, "Just like that?"

"Just like that. Muffin?" I asked, waving the pastry in front of me.

He held my gaze for a few seconds before finally looking at the muffin, "What flavour?"

I prodded at the little dots on the muffin, "Raisins I think?"

"Ewww, what the hell? No thanks. Who the hell puts raisins in muffins?"

"Agreed, never liked those things. I'll complain to the chefs later."

Tossing the raisin muffin back on the tray, I picked up another one to inspect, "Oh, strawberry. I like those, mind if I take this one?"

He waved his hand nonchalantly, "Knock yourself out. I'm not that hungry anyway."

Grinning, I tossed him one of the other strawberry muffins that were on the stray before starting to munch on mine.

He caught the pastry with both hands, but made no move to eat it.

"So' What's your story? Why come to Heaven Sect?"

He raised an eyebrow at me, "Why the sudden interest? It's because I broke that idiot's wrist isn't it?"

"I suppose. Care to share? Or not, I'm fine with either. Got my muffin right here and that's all I need."

He stared at me as I took another bite out of my muffin.

The silence stretched for a few more seconds before he let out a sigh, "My family used to be extremely poor. It was only some time ago that we managed to become what we are now."

I raised my eyebrow at him.

He shrugged, "I thought it was weird too. But I have younger siblings, they don't deserve all that suffering so I kept my mouth shut. Ignorance is bliss, as they say."

"And you decided to join Heaven Sect because?"

"What else but the pursuit of power? If I can gain power for myself, I can protect those precious to me."

Oh no, he can't be the hero type right?Â

If he is one of those "oh the world is in danger? Let me pick up my sword and go save it!" kind of person, I'll just yeet myself out of here at the next chance I get.

"So' Just out of curiosity," I muttered. "What if the world needed saving?"

He laughed, "Hahaha! Do I look like the hero type to you? I can barely just take care of the people in my immediate vicinity, let alone save the world! No. If the world needs saving, let the heroes do it. I am no hero. I am perfectly content with sitting here and finishing this lovely muffin you gave me."

He took his first bite of the muffin, "Besides' This is a really good muffin."

I chuckled at his little joke, "So, what are your long term plans then?"

He looked at me seriously, "Promise not to laugh."

I nodded.

He swallowed the mouthful of pastry that had been in his mouth, "Do my absolute best in getting Master Lin to teach me, no matter what I need to do. And after that' Overthrow the Bei Royal Family."

Pfffft!

What?!

Chapter 163 - Are You A God?

(MC POV)

We were gathered in Elder Gong's courtyard, a little distance away from my own courtyard where we were starting our first official lesson in the Sect.

I'm a little wary of Brendan now, since he told me about his eventual goal of usurping the current ruling family of our continent. Of course I treat him no different than before but… Isn't this the making of a textbook villain?

He'll probably try and find a way to increase his power immorally, get found out, then kicked out of the Sect.

Then with a heart full of hate and anger, find a more darker way to achieve his goals and return with a vengeance, making everyone who had denied him miserable in the process.

Yeah… I'd rather that not happen.

Guess I wished too hard for him to not be a hero and karma is punishing me for it.

Oh well, I suppose I'll just have to slowly find out what is his issue with the Bei Family and maybe guide him towards probably not doing what he planned to do.

"Alright students," Elder Gong started, his hands stroking at his beard like what all Elders like to do. "We'll start off the first lessons today. I believe all of you to already be well acquainted with the basics, so we shall go straight to manifesting your Elemental Quarks. If you are already able to do this, work on halving the time it takes for you to materialize it."

Ah, a simple lesson to start out with. I remember those days when I first had to struggle through this.

Yes, I struggled at the start, could you believe that?

I had actually been the slowest in class during the first few days. My fellow students had managed to manifest their Elements faster than I did stating that this was the easiest for them to do.

I never really understood why I struggled at this part though.

The theory was simple enough.

Circulate the Elemental Quarks within the Cultivation Point while visualizing the intended effect, guide the Quarks along your Quark Veins towards an exit point and then materialize it while holding the image of the effect in your head the entire time.

Of course, in practice, you have to make sure that the Quarks you circulate within your Cultivation Point is just the right amount. Too little and the Technique might not materialize, too much and it might explode in your face.

It took me a rather long time to get used to knowing the exact amount required for every Technique I need to use.

I suppose it was just my personal estimation ability being exceptionally bad as compared to others. At least I don't have that problem now.

Time to see how well these supposed talented students do.

Each of us went to a corner of the courtyard to begin our training, Elder Gong would be going to each of us to inspect our progress and assist us.

I took one corner for myself and began to focus my senses towards my Cultivation Point, intending to continue stabilizing my now humongous Cultivation Point.

I brought my consciousness back into the black space within me, all of the stars blinking in unison as though to welcome me back.

Until now, I have yet to know what this place truly is or what those stars even were. But one thing I know for sure was that if a seemingly infinite space could feel like it got bigger, this place gave me that feeling after absorbing all those Monster Crystals.

No, that was incorrect.

It was more like I couldn't comprehend the vastness of this place before and only just managed to catch a glimpse of it now after growing just a little bit stronger.

As much as I would like to absorb more Monster Crystals, it seems like that undying fox girl's crystals were not able to enhance my Cultivation Point any further.

I do not know if it is because I have hit my limit, or it was because her crystals were no longer sufficient to strengthen me anymore.

What's more, I'm not sure if this strengthening method could still work after I have matured fully and whether my disciples could make use of this as well.

Putting that aside for now, I concentrated my senses and meditated amongst the stars as I had done these few days.

The stars started to hum a slow melody as I circulated my Elemental Quarks, the song reaching a crescendo with every revolution.

The song got louder and louder with each revolution, reaching an almost deafening volume that drowned out all other sounds around me.

It felt like everything was holding its breath as the song reached its apex.

Just as I thought that everything would burst, a very out of place "What the hell?!" resounded through my world, shattering my concentration in an instant.

I opened my eyes with a start, finding myself the object of scrutiny by my fellow students and Elder Gong.

"What? What's wrong? Why are you all staring at me?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

Tekiteh pointed a finger at me, "You just started glowing and everything! What the hell is wrong with you, you freak?!"

Elder Gong nodded, "Mas… Ermm… Mark, your entire body was glowing white in colour and er… Those things started to grow…"

He gestured to the lower part of my body.

Please don't be a boner...

I looked down to see the lower half of my body completely covered with freshly grown vines and grass, the vines entwining around the lower half of my limbs tightly.

"Ok, this is… Weird… This has never happened to me before," I remarked, pulling apart the vines to break myself free.

"What did you do, Mas… I mean Mark?" Elder Gong asked.

"I was just doing as you instructed. I tried to circulate my Elemental Quarks and I didn't even know this was going on until one of you shouted 'what the hell'," I lied.

Elder Gong stroked his beard, "Hmm… Interesting. Perhaps you have something unique in your Elemental Quarks. Maybe… Something to do with nature? Hmm hmm hmm… Well, I don't see any problems with it. Everyone, carry on then. Perhaps we may understand more about this phenomenon after you… Er... Break through."

The Elder turned his back and walked away, prompting the others to do the same.

Only Sylphy stayed behind, staring at me with her intense gaze.

Tearing away the last of the vines, I looked up at her with a slight tilt of my head, "Can I help you?"

She glanced around to make sure no one was near before leaning forward to whisper, "You… You're a Fallen God too aren't you?"

…

…

A what?

Chapter 164 - It Tough To Be A God

(MC POV)

"I'm sorry… What?" I asked again.

Sylphy frowned at me, "You're a Fallen God aren't you? I'm guessing one of the Nature ones? You're a victim of The Fall too right? Or did you do something else to end up here?"

I glanced around the courtyard, the rest of the new students were fully concentrated in their own meditation and Elder Gong was specifically avoiding looking in my direction.

I turned back to her, "Look… Sylphy, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about right now."

Instead of being offended, she just smiled at me, "I see. A curse of silence is it? I understand. I just wanted to let you know that you have a fellow comrade here at least. My 'fall' took place quite a long time after the events of The Fall and judging by your current body's age, you should be the same too, right?"

I wisely kept my mouth shut and just stared at her. I really hope she's not a chuunibyou like my little sister Elaria

What? I can't be too sure nowadays alright?! First Diao Chan… Then Elaria… Then my entire hometown. What's stopping this girl to be the next one huh?

For all I know, she may have been a resident there and moved here.

She continued her monologue on her own accord, "From what I know, I think there might be a second 'fall' happening soon and this is just the beginning. I don't even know how many more Gods would 'fall' at the rate that things are going. Don't suppose you have an idea why this is happening?"

I shook my head slowly.

"I see… Oh well… Let me introduce myself again, I am Sylvestris, former goddess of the air currents of the God Realm. One of the overseers of the passage between worlds. May I know your respected name?"

Without thinking, I answered her, "My name is Jeff."

Her eyes widened, "Geof? You mean… You're Geoffrei Godefridus?! The Nature God of Life and Bloom?! Forgive my rudeness, sire! But… What happened to make someone like you 'fall'?!"

You have a god named 'Jeff'?

I think at this point I've already dug a hole too deep for me to shimmy myself out of and I think I've already learnt some things that I most likely shouldn't… So right now, I think it would be wiser for me to keep up the ruse of whoever she thinks I am.

Thus… I just stared at her, keeping my mouth shut.

She slaps her forehead, "Ah, forgive me sire… The curse of silence. My apologies. But that means that… She was the one who made you 'fall' in the first place right? Could this be related to the events of The Great Loss?"

I could only stare at her blankly before shrugging my shoulders. I hate it when they play the pronoun game and I can't ask who they aretalking about.

She scratched her chin, "This is strange… This body used to be just a vessel I used to inspect the world from time to time. But a few days ago, after one of the reincarnators I sent here was killed, I was immediately made to 'fall'. Was there a new rule about transmigrators?"

Godamnit woman! Are you sure these are things that I ought to be hearing?! Why are things getting more and more complicated?!

Of course I didn't say that out loud but just shook my head.

"I see…" She nodded. "In that case… Please, if there is anything you need from me, do not hesitate to say. I will assist you to the best of my abilities."

I nodded my head slowly and she turned around to head back to her spot, joining the rest in the cultivation lesson.

Ok. Let me take a moment to think.

I just found out that for some reason, plants start to grow around me when I focus on circulating my quarks while my consciousness is within it. This has never happened before so it must be something recent that caused it.

Secondly… Sylphy is actually a 'fallen god' or so she claimed, though there is still no proof that whatever she said was true and she wasn't just being all chuuni about it.

She did mention about a 'God Realm' which I have not even heard nor read about before, so I don't even know if it exists or not.

But then again, there's already giant, black, oozing, slimy, multi-legged, hundred-eyed tentacle monsters in existence so I wouldn't be surprised if what she was saying was fact.

So that brings me to the next question, what do I do with this knowledge?

Why, the most obvious thing of course.

Absolutely nothing.

Is having a nice, quiet life where I have my disciples take care of me while I just relax and spend my time teaching them too much to ask for? Did I do something that is making this harder than it should be?

You know what, don't answer that.

Oh well, this Gods' business can remain as the Gods' business, I shan't concern myself over this thing as a lowly mortal. Yes, that sounds like a plan.

That's good right? Not concerning myself with such problems? That would help put a semblance of normality back in my life right?

Well putting that aside, I'm still unsure as to why the plants started growing so crazily during today's meditation. This is the first time such a thing has occurred to my knowledge… Even when I had cultivated in the middle of a forest during that day I was farming for Monster Crystals, the plants remained completely normal.

Was this because of Sylphy then?

I guess I'll just have to try it out when she's not around to make sure.

Then again… Maybe I should just try again to see if it's not a one off thing?

I settled down in my seated position and closed my eyes once more.

Letting my consciousness drift back into my Cultivation Point again, the stars started to blink and hum at my return.

Sucking in a deep breath before exhaling slowly, I started the circulation of my Elemental Quarks.

Like before, the stars started to hum along and the humming got louder with each circulation. I waited until the humming reached a significant volume before I stopped the circulation abruptly.

Looking down at myself, I found vines had already started growing and curling around parts of my body.

The ones that I had torn off previously had also somehow started growing again and doing the same thing.

I looked around and this time, no one had paid any attention to me, all of them still concentrated in their own cultivation.

Deciding I didn't want to end up being stuck in a vegetation cocoon, I pried the newly grown vines off of me and stopped my cultivation for today.

With nothing else to do, I decided I could do with a nap.

And so, I closed my eyes again, and went straight to sleep, right there in the corner of Elder Gong's courtyard while in the middle of his lesson.

I'm sure that no one would mind, right?

After all, this is the perks of me being me after all. Heh, heh, heh.

Speaking of which… The question of what I should do with Brendan's potential as a future villain still remains.

I mean… I never really cared for the Bei Family but they seem to be doing a fine job in ruling this continent right? Maybe I should ask what exactly his beef is with them to make him want to overthrow them.

Yeah, I'll probably just ask him later when we go back to our rooms.

And as for Sylphy, or Sylvestris… Well. I guess she can just continue doing whatever as long as it doesn't concern me.

Gods are the least of my problems now anyway.

But seriously though… How did a side job of rooting out bullies transform into this?

Chapter 165 - Looks Like Another Purge Is In Order

(Eris POV)

"Greetings! I am Cusmons, a new believer of our most glorious Master," the girl in front of me curtsied.

She had bright blue eyes, a mass of dark brown hair that reached her waist and a cute, round face.

Lian Li and Diao Chan had called me to meet with them just so I could be introduced to someone they had met.

Why did we get called back specifically to see this new girl? [Eris]

I dunno, but she looks kinda cute though, don't 'cha think? [Bait]

Boring… [Laverna]

This one thinks she's nothing special too. Why did sister Lian Li specifically introduce her to us? [Denna]

Perhaps she has potential as a High Priestess as well? Though I don't think that's the case. [Eris]

"Hey," I pointed my finger at her while looking at Lian Li. "Wats' special 'bout her anyway? I didna' think you brought 'er here just ta show her off eh?"

The girl stiffened up and kept her line of sight to the ground, her body quivering slightly.

"Ehehehe… Well, she's a rare talent that I managed to find. She's reaaaally obedient~" Lian Li giggled, turning to face her. "Aren't you, little Cusmons? You're our good little girl aren't you?"

She nodded her dainty little head, "Ye… Yes… I'm your good little… Girl…"

Lian Li frowned, "What was that, Cusmons? Did you stutter? Tsk Tsk. Even after we spent so much time to help you with your introduction? Should we go back to the training room?"

The girl paled even more, "No! No! I am Mistress Lian Li's good little girl! I will sweep, clean and do anything any of the High Priestesses ask of me! Master is the one true God of the Universe! My miserable life exists only to further Master's glory!"

Ohhhh, she's good! I like her! Can we keep her? [Bait]

She is not a pet you can just take along. [Eris]

Boo~ Didna' Manami have that little wee bitch back at the Sect? [Bait]

Butch… [Laverna]

Whatever, same thing. [Bait]

This and that are two different things. Besides, this one humbly thinks our sisters have more things in stall for her. [Denna]

"Kukuku~ Very well said Cusmos," Diao Chan clapped her hands slowly. "You are indeed taking to your role well."

"I… I thank High Priestess Diao chan for your praise."

"Oh deary me…" Diao Chan's smile faded quickly. "Was that another stutter I heard? This simply will not do. Lian Li, I shall be borrowing her to refresh her training after all. Do you mind?"

"Oh not at all," Lian Li gestured a go ahead. "She's all yours~"

"Kukuku~ Why thank you, shall we get going now, Cusmons?"

The girl looked up at me with panic clear in her eyes before Diao Chan dragged her away, no doubt to the Re-education Chambers.

She's afraid… [Laverna]

Well, what was she even thinkin' we woulda do? She ain't any concern of ours. [Bait]

This one humbly thinks she was a past enemy brought to heel. [Denna]

Doesn't hurt to ask. [Eris]

"So what was that about?" I asked, turning to Lian Li.

She chuckled into her sleeve, "A past regret that I fixed."

"I see," I nodded, not inquiring any further. "So did you call me here to tell me about her or?"

"Not at all, I recently found something that may help us uncover the true face of the Dark Sect that we have been fighting with thus far."

I raised an eyebrow at her, "Oh? And? Do we finally know where to hit them where it hurts?"

She dug through her pocket, depositing something metallic wrapped in a piece of paper in my hands.

"We managed to catch someone that had a rather personal contact with the Dark Sect. According to him, the Sect Seal inside there would reveal who they are. But neither Diao Chan nor I knew which Sect it belongs to. I was hoping that maybe you might have an idea?"

I carefully unwrapped the paper, revealing the palm sized, oval shaped disk that was inside it. On the disk itself was etched with what looked like a man who was holding a severed head in his palms and offering it up to someone unseen.

The moment my eyes laid upon such a visage, memories of my time back in the orphanage immediately came flooding back to me.

This crest… It's those bastards ain't it? [Eris]

No doubt… [Laverna]

This one humbly affirms that this is the case. [Denna]

Those bunch of useless dirtbags! So they really were behind all tis' all along! I damn knew it! [Bait]

They will pay for everything that they have done, now that we know it was them all along. [Eris]

I looked back up at Lian Li, rage still boiling within me. "Yes… I know who these people are, as unfortunate as it is."

She got my underlying tone and nodded, "I see… Is it a grudge?"

"Tis' more than just a bloody grudge!" I spat. "This one reports that while this humble one was in the orphanage… Members of that Sect frequently came back to take away people while torturing the rest. It was one of the reasons this one fled that place."

Lian Li frowned, "All the more reason to make sure they are gone for good... What can you tell me?"

"The orphanage we stayed at was in a town near the Death Mountains. It would be where people traversing the Death Mountains would enter and leave from since it was closest to the safest path. Once a month a few of these people will show up, grab some of the oldest kids and torture some of the younger ones." I shivered at the memory, my hands massaging my arms.

Before Master had healed me, my body was full of ugly scars and scabs that I had to hide with long sleeved clothings. Master had thought it might have been the bandits who inflicted those on me but I never got the chance to correct him.

I knew that those men always took away children who have reached the age of thirteen, that was why I had escaped a year before they would have taken me.

And it was also because of them that I had to learn how to adopt so many different faces of myself, just so that I could make my life a tad little easier.

Now, I am just grateful that all of me could come together as one to work together, serving our most beloved Master to the fullest.

But with the resurfacing of this damnable Sect and revealing themselves as what has been causing Master anguish all this while… I feel so foolish to have not gone and brought them down earlier.

But to think that the small Sect in that town was actually the masterminds behind the Dark Sect… I never would have thought so in a thousand years.

"Who are they?" Lian Li asked.

"They are a Minor Sect located in a town I used to grow up in, Revenant Daemons Sect."

Lian Li saw the look in my eyes, "I suppose you want to go daemon hunting?"

"Indeed…"

She turned and walked away, giving me a backwards wave, "Come back by the day after tomorrow k? Master did say we should use this week to enjoy ourselves after all, so don't waste the vacation on work~"

Kekeke… Let's make the rivers flow with blood! [Bait]

Heads will roll and debts will be paid! [Eris]

This one shall be the instrument of their doom. [Denna]

Annihilation… [Laverna]

ALL mEDDLERS SHalL Be PURGEd BY MiNE BLADE! EVERY sINGLE ONE OF THOSE cOWARDS WiLL pERISH AND SNUFFED OUT OF THEIR PATHETIC, PITIFUl LIVeS! [??]

Chapter 166 - I Got My Eye On You

(MC POV)

I pushed open the doors to the room meant for new students, finding all the people in my class already inside prepared for bed.

The room was big enough to fit in six beds with their headboards against the wall, though your personal space is limited to your bed and a small trunkfor your personal belongings. There is a common area in the centre of the room where a table and six chairs sat, a very simple room basically.

"Had a good bath sire?" Sylphy asked from her own bed,somehow conveniently located across from mine.

Brendan had taken the bed next to mine with Tekiteh beside him while the twins had chosen to stay on the same side of the room as Sylphy.

Brendan looked up from the book that he had been reading, his glasses glinting in the light, "Sire?"

Sylphy tilted her head at him, "Yes. I just found out today that Mark is actually from a noble family that mine has been serving. I should, of course, show him the proper respect. Isn't that right, sire?"

Brendan turned to me, "Is that true?"

Again, I made use of my best skill in deceiving these people for this case.

I ignored the question and instead pointed at him, "I never knew you wore glasses."

He glanced down like he had just noticed them, "Oh… Er… I wear them when I'm reading. A little shortsighted, you see."

"You didn't seem to need one yesterday?" I pointed out.

"Ah, I can still see without them but not as good, they didn't let me take my glasses that day so I had to make do. But yeah, I'd prefer to have my glasses on when I'm reading."

"Cool," I nodded, moving to my bed.

I settled down on top of it, slowly relaxing into it.

I'm pretty sure the question already got deflected and forgotten, right?

"So you're a noble huh?" Brendan asked.

God damnit.

I was totally not prepared for this. I thought Sylphy would keep it hush hush and not actually advertise something like this to everyone. I suppose gods have their own variation of common sense than us normal people.

Now I'm at a loss.

They will eventually know that I am actually Master Lin, so do I continue my ruse of pretending I'm both a god and new student to Sylphy?

Now I also need to think if I should add in 'noble' to my list of fake identities to these little group of students…

Alright, alright. Engage quick thinking protocols!

First option! Agree with Sylphy!

Consequences? The other students will see me as a noble, it will explain Sylphy's possible future respectful attitude towards me and it will also be a big slap to Tekiteh's face for calling me poor six chapters ago.

I guess the cons would be… Wll, it's going to be rather hard to explain things once they know that I am actually Master Lin. I can already feel the concept of a simple life slipping further and further away if Sylphy makes the connection between Mark and me.

Well there exists the option of just having Mark disappear for some reason or another right before I reveal myself so there's still that. But something tells me Sylphy would still be able to know that it's me so that might not be as feasible of an idea as it looks.

Second option! Deny it!

Everybody would think I'm a normal person and wouldn't treat me differently!

But they will think Sylphy is lying or might not even believe me and become even more suspicious of me. Sylphy might even resent me for this. Clearly the worst option right now.

After going through all the possible scenarios in my head, I have decided to go with…

Option three!

I shrugged my shoulders before tilting my head at Brendan, "What business is your family involved in?"

He looked rather surprised by my question, "That… Well, we do mostly trades in various commodities though I'm not exactly sure to what extent. I haven't really been involved much in the family business ever since I started on my road to Cultivation."

"Interesting, do you think I could get a discount from your family's stores?"

He chuckled, "That would be a little difficult, considering even I do not get a discount at my family's stores. 'Play no favourites', my father would say."

I laughed with him before turning my attention to the rest of the room's occupants, "How are you guys finding Heaven Sect so far?"

'Chris with a K' grinned at me, "Nice teachers, nice people, nice air. What more could we ask for?"

Chris gave the exact same grin, "Yeah! We're already learning a lot! I'm sure we'll pass the test to be formally admitted as students in a week's time!"

Brendan also nodded along, "Yes. I have already learned so much in just a short time too. Elder Gong has shown his knowledge in this field quite splendidly."

Sylphy gave me a guts pose, "I'm sure you can enter the Sect without any problems too, sire! The Sect will be lucky to have you!"

I was just about to cringe at how the plan backfired because of Sylphy when Tekiteh started laughing in a mocking way.

"Hahaha! You guys are hilarious! You think just after one day of lessons like that is already guaranteeing you entry to the Sect?! You guys are stupider than I thought!"

Everyone in the room just turned to look at the guy.

"How's the wrist, Tek?" Brendan asked.

That turned his smile into a scowl real quick, "Healing nicely, no thanks to you, peeping tom."

"Funny you should say that. Is your other hand working well?"

Tekiteh looked down at his other hand, "Yeah, why?"

"Because I can help you break that too if it helps. I think you're much more bearable when your mouth is shut."

Tekiteh rose up from his bed, staring down at Brendan, "You wanna go huh? You piece of shit? You think you're some big shit or something? Just because of that one time you got me you think you're some big shit now? What a damn joke. Bet you that I've laid ten times more girls than you."

Brendan stared back, "Ten times zero is still zero. You never learned to count? Sorry, could your little brain even understand the concept of counting?"

Tekiteh raised his fist but Brendan was faster. The bespectacled boy's fist had already buried itself into the wannabe bully's abdomen and left him gasping for air.

Brendan was just about to continue hammering him but I grabbed his hand before he could continue.

"Alright, that's enough, how about we step outside for a bit eh?"

Without waiting for him to respond, I was already dragging him out through the door.

I turned back to the twins just before I stepped out, "Take care of the idiot won't you? Maybe something that will shut him up?"

Both of them gave me a thumbs up.

I walked Brendan a distance away, stopping near one of the pavilions.

"Yeah, sorry." Brendan apologised. "That guy just… Rubs me the wrong way. You know when you really don't like someone you just really get pissed by whatever they say?"

"Yeah, I know that feel. But I didn't bring you out here for that. I just wanted to ask what your problem was with the Bei Family without any witnesses."

"Oh… Well… Err… That's unexpected but ok. Remember what I said about my family suddenly becoming prosperous overnight?"

I nodded, wondering what he was getting at.

"Yeah. My brother was drafted into their knight corps and I've never seen him since. I have a feeling they were using him for some kind of experiment gone wrong so they did this as a sort of compensation for my brother's disappearance."

I raised an eyebrow, "Not to be an ass or anything but… Don't you think the Bei Family will just give some excuse like he died in a battle or something? Seems awfully convoluted to appease a family of failing merchants just because their eldest son died."

He nodded, "I thought so too… But I overheard my parents talking about 'giving them another offering' one day…"

I sucked in a breath, "You don't mean?"

"Yeah… I think they want my parents to give up their other children to the Bei Family too. Since I have already stepped on the Cultivator's path, it is difficult for them to pull me back since I might put up a fight. My younger siblings however… That's why I need to grow stronger, before they reach of age and get taken too!"

Well that was an unexpected turn. I guess he might not be the villain after all, but a man on the path for vengeance.

I clasped him on the shoulder, "Fear not, just continue on your path. I guarantee you will definitely be able to save your siblings from their fate."

Well, I'm just saying this as lip service for now. He seems like a good enough man so I'll need to do my own investigation of the Bei Family.

I've yet to forget about the world ending calamity that is supposed to happen in the future. Ain't gonna take any chances especially since they are the ruling family.

I guess I'll just keep a close eye on Brendan for now too, just in case he does anything stupid.

Chapter 167 - An Fight

(Eris POV)

With Manami's Technique in teleporting me to my hometown, I should be able to return back to the capital city by the day after tomorrow once I'm done with this little business.

The town I had grown up in was even smaller than Master's. Where Master's at least had a stone wall around it, mine didn't even have a wooden fence around its perimeter.

A few buildings were scattered around with not much semblance of any city planning done. The entire place just screams of poor city management.

The orphanage was located beside the town's garbage dump while the town hall was built on top of a cliff on the Death Mountains itself. It was obvious that whoever was in charge of this town's planning was drunk or had completely no idea what they were doing.

The only reason this place can even be qualified to be called a 'town' was because of the number of people present in it. Although there was also the fact that most of them were just passing through, I guess everyone overlooked that.

I stepped past the signpost that had the words "Death Pass Town, fifty meters north" etched on it.

The town doesn't seem to have changed much since I was gone. In fact, it looked even more run down than before. I could see that some of the buildings around here have fallen into disrepair with some of them even missing roofs.

Not even sure if this was caused by brigands, natural disasters or just a lack of maintenance.

Ya know… I always wondered who is the dumbass in charge of this place? [Bait]

Someone without a shred of common sense probably. [Eris]

Actually… Practicality… [Laverna]

Ah, this one understands. The town was only built as a rest stop for people seeking to traverse the Death Mountains, not as a place for permanent residence. So it didn't make much sense to properly manage the town since there's only refugees or the desperate going in and out anyway. [Denna]

Whatevs. More important is how we gonna do this? Just barge up to the shitheads' door and start purging? [Bait]

This one humbly suggests to check on the orphanage first. There may be one of them there. [Denna]

Ya really think it's gonna be that convenient? [Bait]

I suppose it's as good a place to start as any. [Eris]

I made my way towards the building with broken windows and crumbing walls. The local lord obviously thought it wasn't worth his coffers to maintain such a thing and let it fall into disarray.

Pushing open the doors, I was just in time to witness five men standing over a group of children. Four of them were currently corralling the older kids into a group while the last one stood and watched at the side, his back facing me.

Master… Blessed… [Laverna]

Indeed. It seems Master has blessed us today to be able to meet these pricks. [Eris]

Five of them, heh heh heh. This is gonna be fun! [Bait]

Rapping my knuckles on the door loudly, I drew all of their attention to me.

"Greetings gentlemen. Is this one intruding on something?"

The man that was watching over the others' work stepped forward, blocking my view to his friends. He revealed himself to be an old fart. He had the white hair, long beard, pompous attitude and everything.

"Lady, this doesn't concern you. I would suggest you turn around and leave before something happens to you."

"Heh heh… Is that a threat ya wee little bitch?"

The man crossed his arms, "It's a promise."

I shifted my left foot slightly behind me, bringing my sword in view, "Try…"

The man lifted his arm, showing me his entire arm that was cloaked with an aura of black coloured miasma.

"You are nothing but a foolish swordswoman. Since I'm in a rather good mood today, I'll just cripple you and leave it at that."

Full Focus… Lightning… [Laverna]

Everything around me turned a shade darker in colour, I could now see the a black aura around the men in front of me, evidence that they were all Practitioners of Dark Techniques.

I pulled out my sword, letting it rest by my side while I watched the man in front of me.

Full Focus, Earth [Eris]

"Ya seem to be quite full of yerself eh? Actin' all big and shit just 'cause ya got ya little piss goons ta back yer up?" I mocked him.

The man scowled at me, "I don't need help to deal with a puffed up, ignorant girl like you."

This one reports Full Focus for Fire, ready. [Denna]

"I see yer not just full of yerself but also a big dumbass, yer gunna lose an arm for that."

"Hmph, you're just a frog in a well. You have no idea of what's outside of your world little girl."

"Ha! If yer so sure, why don't ya come over here and try this?!"

I slashed out my sword in an arc, the Air quarks that I had gathered manifesting into a blade of air sliced towards his arm.

Not at all expecting that attack, the blade sliced off his arm cleanly at the elbow, separating the appendage from the rest of his body.

I grinned, "Who's the puffed up ignorant little bitch now? Ya poser?"

You are enjoying this way too much. [Eris]

Can ya blame me? It's not often for me ta go all out ya know? Wahahaha! [Bait]

This one humbly reminds you not to go overboard. [Denna]

Overboard? With these guys? Impossible! [Bait]

I dashed forward while the man was still screaming and clutching at his stump of an arm.

My sword was thrusted towards his other shoulder, intent on disabling him in order to continue torturing him.

But to my surprise, one of the men that had been behind him dashed in front of me, parrying my thrust away with a sword of his own.

"Elder… It would do well not to let your guard down," The man standing in between me and my target said monotonously.

"Tch… Shut up. Just deal with her. Bloody piece of… Urgh, can't believe I lost an arm in a place like this."

I moved my sight to my new target, smiling when I saw the calm behind his eyes. He never saw me as a threat to begin with.

"I suppose you want a duel?" I asked, looking at the jian he held at his side.

"It is not often I get to find a swordswoman of a calibre like yours. No one really practices the sword seriously in this time and age like me, where I am already at swordmaster level. I would not let an opportunity like this pass. The fact that you can also use Elemental Quarks even when you're not a Cultivator, that is intri--"

My sword stabbed towards his leg, the man just managing to deflect it away at the last moment.

"You are really talkative for someone with such a boring face," I laughed.

He frowned at me, "Don't you have any honour as a swordswoman?"

"Honour? That's some cheap words you have for a group of grown men bullying kids. Besides, I'm not here to have an honourable duel, I'm here to torture and purge all of you. I don't even mind if all of you came at me at the same time you know?"

The man pointed his sword at me, "That won't be necessary. I am more than enough to deal with you myself."

"Kekeke! I will enjoy making you eat those words!"

Without the need for anymore words, the both of us dashed towards each other.

Chapter 168 - Honour? Never Cared About That

(Eris POV)

His sword came from my right, the blade aimed to cut at my leg.

The attack was easily deflected with my own blade before I stabbed it towards his chest.

The insect managed to dodge it by taking a step back, countering with a thrust of his own.

A flick of my wrist was enough to divert the blade's trajectory to the side, leaving the man open for an overhead slash that nicked the side of his cheek.

The little trash took another step back, swinging his sword back in an attempt to keep me away.

A smile materialised on my face. At my current state, he might as well be moving in slow motion.

How much do we want to play with him? [Eris]

Kekeke! As much as possible! Make him suffer! [Bait]

Begin… [Laverna]

I ducked underneath his hasty swing, my own sword tip pointed at his left shoulder.

Focusing on the Lightning Quarks I gathered into my sword, I stabbed the electrified sword into the trash's shoulder.

To his credit, he did not scream, but merely gritted his teeth in pain as he leapt backwards once more to gain distance from me.

I swiped my sword in an arc to get rid of the blood stains, adopting a relaxed posture while I waited for him to recover his footing.

"Just the first engagement and I already made you step back three times. Some expert swordsman you are," I laughed mockingly.

He furrowed his brows while looking down at the wound on his shoulder, "How did you… You're not even a Practitioner?"

I chuckled, "Did you think this one would just tell you? This one humbly suggests that you take this a little more seriously, lest you lose an eye or two. Not that it matters actually."

He pointed his sword at me, a black ball of miasma gathering at its tip.

In my eyes, I could see the Dark Quarks that he had circulated gather on the sword tip, a trajectory lining it towards my chest.

I had already moved even before the projectile was fired. All it took was a slight bend of my waist and the bullet flew past me to explode on the wall behind.

"So much for honour hmm?" I sneered. "I always knew you Dark Sects were full of crap."

Not responding to my taunt, he tried to cast the same Technique again, only to achieve the same result as I moved myself to the other side.

"Got anything else new?"

He leapt into the air above me, his sword raised in preparation for an overhead slash.

This guy is supposed to be a swordmaster? [Eris]

Self-proclaimed… [Laverna]

There are so many openings… This one suggests to put him in his place quickly. [Denna]

Hey, let's smack him down! [Bait]

I'll do it. [Eris]

I used the Earth Quarks I accumulated to summon forth a sizable piece of stone that materialised on the ground near me. With a quick flick of my wrist, the stone was sent shooting upwards, the improvised projectile hitting him square between the eyes.

Interrupted by the unexpected ranged attack, the insect ended up crashing onto the ground, face-first, a short distance away from me.

I pretended to be surprised, "Oya? What happened to you? Did you trip yourself?"

He growled at me, a red mark prominent on his face where the stone had hit.

"I will kill you, slowly and painfully until you beg for me to end your miserable life."

I grinned, "What a coincidence. I had been planning to do exactly that to you and your friends~"

Not saying another word, he rushed at me with a barrage of slashes and sword thrusts, all of them aiming to disable or maim me.

I avoided or deflected all of them without much effort, his movements were just too slow to be of any threat.

Hey… He did say he's a swordmaster right? [Eris]

Positive… [Laverna]

Then why is he so… [Eris]

Bad? Horrendous? Amatuer? Shitty? Man I'm falling asleep here! Do we even need all of us for this piece of crap?! [Bait]

This one is still holding back the Full Focus… This one humbly suggests to speed this up. [Denna]

Alright, alright. Let's just get this idiot out of the way. [Eris]

He overextended his right arm in one of his rage-filled slashes, opening it for my sword to cut it off at the wrist.

Before he could even start to comprehend that his hand had been cut, my sword once again flashed out to sever his left foot.

Spinning past him, I kept my sword close to my body to slice his other hand off as well, stopping my movement just a step away from him.

There was silence for two seconds before the sounds of something hitting the ground was heard.

The insect looked at his severed wrists while kneeling on the ground, just as blood began spurting out of the stumps.

His screams were surprisingly high-pitched.

I looked at the Elder who had been hiding behind ever since the fight started, "Hey, is that trash the best ya got? I expected nothing and I'm still disappointed."

The other three trash stepped in front of the old fart, their hands raised up to point their palms at me.

"Heh, I already said I'm fine with all of you attacking me at once you know? Maybe then you'll make me break a sweat!"

The trash standing in the middle furrowed his brows, "Damn arrogant trash! Let's see how you handle not being able to move! Dark Press!"

The air around me felt thicker and heavier suddenly, a weight settling itself on my body in an attempt to push me down.

I let a smirk materialise on my face, "How I'll handle this? Like this of course!"

Fire sprung forth from my hand to snake its way down the tip of my sword, shooting off at blinding speed to crash against that trash's chest and setting him ablaze.

The weight keeping me down immediately vanished as the trash started flailing about with his body on fire. The two insects beside him also began to panic, both of them summoning a jet of water to douse their unfortunate comrade.

The old fart pointed an accusatory finger at me, "You… You're not even a Practitioner! How are you able to utilise Techniques?! This doesn't make any sense!"

I brought my sword up and ran my fingers along its flat side, electrifying the blade with the Lightning Quarks I gathered, "Hmm, hmm… Didn't you hear me when I first said it? Oh nevermind, I suppose I can enlighten you guys a little. Well then, why don't I start the special lesson just for all of you?"

I like to think I gave the orphans there a really good show~

Chapter 169 - Oops, I Did It Again

(MC POV)

"I believe all of you have made progress with the materialization of at least one of the basic elements. I want each of you to try it out now and we'll see how much you've progressed," Elder Gong instructed.

Huh… So apparently the special class students are expected to complete the materialization class within a day? I think the normal classes took like a month to go through this before they moved on to the next subject. Not really sure if that was because of me though.

Guess we're being really strict on the talent class, huh? Glad I wasn't one of them when I first came in or I might have failed to even enter the Sect.

Elder Gong pointed his finger at Chris, "Show me."

Chris gave his twin a cheeky grin before stretching out his palm in front of him, facing upwards. He closed his eyes and for a good four seconds nothing happened.

I could see that Tekiteh was just about to make a snide comment when a pale red flame appeared above his palm.

"Impressive," Elder Gong applauded. "It seems you managed to establish a connection with the Base Elemental Quark of Fire. It looks to be a rather stable connection too. Very well done. Now, Kris,"

'Chris with a K' gave the exact same cheeky smile his twin had given him, his hand stretching out in the exact same pose as his twin.

Seriously, do they have to do everything the same? Feels like they're going out of their way just to prove that they're twins for some reason.

Again, four seconds passed before a small orb of light formed just above his palm.

Well, at least that's different?

"Light Quarks, an uncommon choice but impressive nevertheless. Tekiteh?"

The little scruffy kid turned up his nose when his name was called, moving both of his hands in front of his chest.

It took just two seconds before a yellowish bolt of lightning began arcing in between his fingers, causing the little stuck up to smirk proudly at us.

What the hell did he want, a cookie?

I really think this guy's skin is thick enough to stop anything from harming him at this point, I doubt even the psycho Practitioner with that stupid 'truck-kun' stick would be able to damage him.

For your information, the twins had tied him to his bed while stuffing a ball of cloth in his mouth to shut him up last night. I won't say that helped much since he was thrashing around in bed and screaming into the cloth, but all of us managed to ignore him and just slept through the noise.

I'm not even sure if this idiot slept at all the whole night and it's obvious he learnt nothing from his ordeal.

"Good, good," Elder Gong nodded while stroking his beard. "Fast and stable too, nothing much to say. Sylphy?"

Sylphy glanced at me as though to ask permission to go ahead, prompting me to give her a slight nod of my head just so that she doesn't draw any attention to me.

With her confidence boosted, she raised her arm in the air and a gust of wind blew past us to form an orb of air above the former goddess.

Elder Gong smoothened his robes before giving her an approving nod, "Well done, Sylphy. You have an enviable talent indeed, I have no doubts you will be able to pass the tests at the end."

The girl dispersed the orb of air and gave an elegant bow, it's hard to imagine this was the same half-soaked girl that had been screaming "Commoner trash!" just the day before.

Speaking of which, she mentioned that her current body was a vessel that she used to inhabit to monitor the situation down here, did she create this vessel out of nothing or did she possess and take over the body from the previous owner?

Both of these possibilities are rather frightening if you think about it. How would I know if anyone around me has suddenly switched to someone I don't know? Or maybe... Anyone could be a god in disguise and just waiting to smite down some random mortal because of something they said?

Heck, how do I know that I haven't been possessed?

Ok, perish that thought, not going to go down that rabbit hole. I much prefer diving into the fox den at this point in time.

Ignorance is bliss and fluff is life.

"Brendan, let's see how well you do!" Elder Gong called out, clearly excited from the talent shown from this batch of students.

The young man took a deep breath before thrusting out his hand, closing his eyes in concentration to circulate the Quarks he needed.

Just slightly above two seconds, an orb of water formed above his palm, its size rather similar to the one we saw him summon yesterday.

"Hmm… Though it's not bad... But it seems you have not made any improvements from the first time you showed your capabilities. You will need to work harder."

"Heh, slow learner," Tekiteh muttered, though loud enough for us to hear.

Brendan made no move to indicate he heard what he said but nodded to Elder Gong's words instead.

"Alright, let's move on to the next lesson then. Today we'll be--"

"Hey what about the other virgin?" Tekiteh protested, his finger pointed directly at me. "You forgot about him!"

Elder Gong sighed, "That... It's not necessary I already… Erm…"

Tekiteh gritted his teeth, "That's not fair at all, you saying this little idiot here gets a free pass for no reason?! What the hell?!"

I noticed a single drop of sweat rolling past Elder Gong's brow, it was clear he had no idea on what to do.

Obviously, this wasn't planned, I never expected Elder Gong to skip me entirely which doesn't make any sense if he wanted to help me keep up my ruse.

"It's fine, Elder Gong. Let me," I assured him, stepping forward to assume my position.

He looked at me and gave me a grateful nod, an action that might have been mistaken as a nod to go ahead by the other students.

Not wanting to raise any suspicions from the other students and especially not from Sylphy, I focused my senses to try and complete my turn in the most basic of ways as possible.

Oh hey, maybe I can make it look like I'm barely passing or something? That might help explain why Elder Gong wanted to skip me because I was a lost cause? Yeah, let's go with that.

First, a deep breath to draw in the Elemental Quarks into my Cultivation Point.

Visualise the small orb of light materialising in the area above my palm, then slowly bring in the exact amount needed for that Technique to materialise.

My Pure Elemental Quarks changed into Light Quarks within my Cultivation Pont and I sent it down my Quark Veins to travel up towards my palm.

A second later, an orb of light was formed and the entire process took just under six seconds.

Heh, how's that for a mediocre student? Bet they're disappointed and laughing at this failure student now, eh?

"What… What was that?" 'Chris with a K' gasped.

"Perfect Circulation?! The exact amount of Quarks were used?!" Sylphy muttered, displaying the same level of surprise.

Brendan's eyes were staring unblinkingly at me, "No loss in conversion either?! But… But that was only possible in theory!"

Only Elder Gong seemed to be the most composed, if you could call a person nodding his head while wiping away tears from his eyes as composed, that is.

What the hell did I do wrong this time?!

Chapter 170 - Suffering From Success

(MC POV)

I have always been a firm believer that we can always learn new things everyday.

Today I learnt something that was especially disturbing, even more disturbing than the fact that plants start to grow whenever I put my focus into cultivation.

The part where I learnt that putting in too little Energy Quarks to materialise a Technique will cause it to fizzle out is true, but the part about it exploding in your face if you use too much is completely false.

This doesn't really make sense because I actually had a Technique explode on me before, it was when I attempted to cast a Technique for the very first time actually.

Back then when I just started cultivating, I had less than no idea what I was supposed to expect, so I just poured in as much Quarks as I could just to summon forth a simple ball of fire. That just led to the air in front of me blowing up and destroying half the training field.

They told me I had gone overboard with my first attempt and instructed me to tone down my Quark circulation. I had misunderstood that as the instructors informing me of my over-usage of Quarks to cast the Technique.

Thus, I had spent every single waking moment practicing and training until I got it right, eventually getting the feel of how much Quarks is needed exactly to perfectly cast a Technique in any situation without it blowing up.

And of course, that brings me to the present.

It seems that to perfectly cast a Technique with the exact amount of Quarks is possible but only in theory.

One has to take into consideration the conversion loss of energy and the environment that one casts their Technique in might affect the amount of Elemental Quarks needed to materialise it. Without a tool as an accurate measure, it is always better for one to use more Quarks than actually required to materialise a Technique.

Because of that, I had always thought it was completely natural for someone to be able to do this and that I was the only problem student. I even attributed that to the fact that I had lost my childhood memories before, thinking it was a factor to my slow learning.

I hadn't even bothered to check how my disciples were casting their own Techniques because of that.

If only I had bothered to just glance at their Quark concentration when they cast Techniques, I might have realised this fact about Quarks sooner.

But that still doesn't explain why my first try exploded in my face.

It seems my 'struggling' back when I was still younger was entirely unnecessary. But why didn't any of my past mentors mention anything about this to me? I guess I'll have to check with Sect Master Qing later to get an answer.

In the meantime, it seems my little revelation there has stunned all of the students. Considering that it even stunned Sylphy, I suppose it was a pretty big deal after all.

Now all of them are looking at me like I'm some kind of heaven sent genius, except for Tekiteh of course. That guy just seemed to be even more pissy than before, glaring at me from time to time like I killed his whole family or something.

"Elder Gong, does that mean you were already aware of Mark's capabilities before this?" Brendan inquired.

Elder Gong nodded while stroking his beard, "I had an idea of it already, yes. I did not want to discourage any of you so I didn't want to bring that to attention.."

That was so full of crap I'm surprised he managed to say all that with a straight face. Anyway, doesn't that mean they're all discouraged now? Did you have a plan for that?

"Mark," Elder Gong turned to me. "Why don't you tell them how you achieve such a skill? I'm afraid that your display may have caused their own confidence to take a hit."

You sly old dog, pushing the responsibility to me!

"Well… I guess it was all because I had a very strict teacher. Whenever I had gone over the limit, my teacher would hit me to train me. It took me years of practice to get it right."

"Years?" 'Chris with a K' tilted his head at me. "You look like you're eighteen at most, when did you actually awaken as a Practitioner?"

"Oh… Er… Thirteen?" I lied.

"So soon?" Chris gasped.

Well yeah, normally people will only know they have talent as a Practitioner at fifteen to sixteen years old at the earliest. But to keep the ruse up, I had to make it seem that this Mark really was a prodigy.

"Yeah, I had a tutor back at my place to start out early and I just… Awoken it without meaning to one day." I explained.

"Alright," Elder Gong clapped his hands together to get our attention. "Let's not waste time anymore. Today, all of you will be improving your Quark circulation by taking part in mock combat. There's six of you so I shall do the pairing. Mark, Tekiteh, the two of you will spar together first. The rest of you will watch and take note of their actions.."

I turned to face towards the little arrogant kid just as he flashed me a smirk, it was obvious he wanted to use this 'spar' as an excuse to beat me.

Both of us stood a distance apart from each other, awaiting Elder Gong's signal to begin.

I don't think dealing with him is that hard, I'll probably just hand his ass over to him and call it a day. To this point, I still do not understand what is so special about him?

Elder Gong raised his hand into the air before dropping it quickly down to his chest level, "Begin!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Tekiteh was already dashing towards me, his figure just a few short meters away from my position.

That action surprised me since I thought he would just stand his ground and start casting what he thinks are the best offensive Techniques on me.

I was still quick enough to recover and monitored his movements carefully, my eyes darting to his raised right hand that has electricity sparking off of it.

This confirms his specialty is probably in Lightning Quarks, a rather surprising one since it's a Combination Elemental Quark.

He stopped a few steps away before unleashing a bolt of lightning towards my direction, obviously confident that I would not be able to dodge the attack from this distance.

I was almost tempted to dodge or deflect it, but I had the sudden idea that it might be a better idea to downplay myself at this point of time.

I'm already standing out way too much with the plants growing around me and that Perfect Circulation thing anyway. If I win this as well, they might start to get suspicious.

Maybe if I show that I suck at live combat it might lower their expectations and image of me?

And so, the lightning bolt hit me right in the chest, exploding in a shower of sparks and sending me flying backwards to land on my back a short distance away.

To make it even more convincing, I let out a yell of pain and even started groaning while I curled up into a ball.

Heh, this should be convincing enough for them right? Bet they will be--

"""Mark!""" Three voices called out in unison, one feminine, one masculine and the other sounding rather old and sagely.

Sylphy, Brendan and Elder Gong crowded around me, clucking away like a mother hen would as they checked me for injuries.

Goddamnit! Can't you three read the mood?!

Chapter 171 - I Knew There Was Something Wrong With You All Along!

(MC POV)

"Mark! Are you ok? Are you hurt anywhere?!" Elder Gong fussed, his hands patting my chest at where the lightning bolt supposedly struck.

What the hell... You called for a live combat scenario yourself! Why in the world are you panicking over one of the students getting hit?! It was even just a simple lightning technique that barely did anything too!

The whole blasting back thing was just me jumping backwards and making pained noises, why are you so dramatic about it?

"Sire! Are you alright? The mortal did not hurt your Immortal Essence did he?!" Sylphy cried out, sounding even more pained than I had been.

For her to be concerned is understandable at least. She believes me to be some important god from the God Plane or whatever she called it. I would be concerned too if my superior got hurt in some way.

But what surprised me the most is Brendan panicking over me as well.

"Mark! Are you injured? Do you need help?! What the hell did that idiot do?!"

I only remembered sharing some muffins and a conversation or two with him, why is he suddenly so chummy like we've known each other for years?

"It's fine, it's fine. I'm ok. I guess I'm not cut out for combat after all," I shrugged, standing back up on my feet while dusting myself.

Elder Gong looked at me, unconvinced, "Mas… Mark, you sure you're alright? Should I call for the healer? I have a healing potion that I can give you if you need it?"

I waved my hand, "No, no, no. Like I said, I'm totally ok. I was just… Well… I guess I still need to work on my reaction speed. Ahahaha!"

"I see… In that case, you can sit this one out, Mark," Elder Gong gestured to the side. "You can… Erm… Try to improve on your Quark circulation speed or something?"

Why are you so unsure? Are you trying to blow my cover? Is it that hard to act like a proper teacher with me around?

...

I'm the problem aren't I? Damnit.

Elder Gong gave a small cough to regain the students' attention, "Next, I suppose Brendan should try to go up against Tekiteh."

Brendan gave me a thumbs up before heading to his position in front of Tekiteh, who hasn't stopped scowling ever since he saw the three people fussing over him.

No doubt he probably thought he was going to be congratulated for his victory instead of being completely ignored by everyone in favour of the loser.

"I knew you were trash from day one, but what you've done is beyond acceptable, Tekiteh!" Brendan growled.

Tekiteh furrowed his brows at him, "What the hell are you saying you stupid incel? This is a damn mock battle! Of course one side will get beaten!"

I hate to say it, but he has a point you know? These people are being rather unreasonable right now.

"Excuses!" Brendan dismissed his argument with a swipe of his arm. "I will properly teach you a lesson in his place!"

I'm going to have to place my bets on Tekiteh for this one unfortunately. Sorry.

The moment Elder Gong called for them to begin, the two of them started casting their own Techniques from where they stood.

It's obvious to me that Tekiteh is just mocking Brendan at this point since he knows he will be faster in his Technique casting. Not sure why he would be so aggressive with me on the other hand though? Didn't I show everyone my Quark Circulation speed was abysmal?

Ah, maybe he wasn't expecting me to be taken out that easily. Guess my little trick is working.

The loud bang of an electrical discharge shook me out from my thoughts.

As expected, Tekiteh had summoned forth his lightning faster than Brendan could even materialise anything.

The merchant boy was left sprawling on the floor, disorientated by the blast he had received.

Not even waiting for the verdict to be called, Sylphy had already taken up Brendan's previous spot with an expression of anger evident on her face.

"Useless! Useless! Useless! I will be the one to enact vengeance for sire! Call it out, mortal!"

Sylphy… Your real face is showing…

Chris nudged me with an elbow, "Popular, ain't 'cha?"

"Still no chance with us though," 'Chris with a K' laughed. "Gotta work harder to bring us under you!"

No, I don't want any of you under me. Both figuratively and literally so you can stop poking me now.

As soon as Elder Gong called for the duel to start, Sylphy had already summoned multiple blades of wind that she threw towards Tekiteh mercilessly.

The poor boy didn't even have time to throw up a proper defence before he got shredded by the blades. His clothes all torn up and multiple lacerations appeared across every part of his body.

Woah, woah. This is a little excessive isn't it?!

Why isn't Elder Gong saying anything?! Oi! He's gonna get killed at this rate! Why are you just nodding your head and smiling?! This isn't the time to appreciate Sylphy's talent!

Just as I was about to step in to stop her, Tekiteh let out a loud, inhumane roar that generated a shockwave with him in its epicentre, blasting us away from him.

I managed to flip myself up on my feet before I hit the ground, the twins and Brendan weren't so lucky though.

I turned back to focus on the scruffy kid.

He was hunched over with blood dripping from all the wounds that Sylphy had inflicted on him, making it a rather gruesome sight to look at.

Just before I could assume that the kid manifested some kind of special power at the last moment, his arms lifted into the air unnaturally before splitting open into two halves.

I watched on as his body started to expand upwards, his face and torso lengthening and gaining more muscle mass with antler-like horns growing from his head. His first pair of arms tripled in size though his second pair remained human sized, the bones shifting visibly to attach itself to the underside of his first arm.

His legs began to elongate as well, his ankles poking out from the back and transforming him into a digitigrade monster.

"An Elder Wendigo… I should've known," Sylphy spat out in disgust.

Wendigo? Those monsters that can transform into other humans and have a great liking to eating other humans? Those pseudo immortal monsters that are impervious to almost any physical damage?

Oh wow… Rest in peace Tekiteh. I'm assuming the real him must have been possessed or eaten by one before this thing took his place.

Great. I thought we could have a simple lesson for once and apparently that was too much to ask too.

I hope my disciples are at least having a good vacation and not having to deal with bullshit like this.

Chapter 172 - Meanwhile, The Vacationers

(Kiyomi POV)

"What do you think about this? I think this would make a great set of pajamas~"

I turned to look at what was held in my dearest sister's hands.

"Dear sister… That is nothing more than underwear… It's not even functional underwear even..." I pointed out.

The piece of clothing my sister had presented to me hid nothing for the viewers' imagination. It would leave all our most intimate parts on display, covering just the barest of skin. A rather scandalous piece of clothing even if I do say so myself.

Manami looked at it with pride, her tails waving sporadically behind her, "Yes! I'm sure Master would be overjoyed to see me in this no? Should I get a matching set for you as well?"

I stared at her without saying anything.

"Oh? You like that too? Ufufufu~ Alright, big sister shall get one for you too! White? Or should I get blue for you? Which one would you like, Kiyomi?"

I sighed, "I'll leave the decision to you, dear sister."

"Ara, ara? My cute little Kiyomi is shy? Ufufufu~ Don't worry, leave this to your big sister~ Now, turn around so I can see which one suits you more~"

I pursed my lips at her but did as I was told without complaint.

Just as she was about to hold up one of the lingerie to check, Eris appeared from the entrance of the store and headed straight for us.

"Oh, good day Eris. Are you here to find enticing clothes for your night sessions too?" Manami asked.

The swordswoman stopped, as though she just had something profound revealed to her.

"Oh damn I did'na think of that! I'll come back and grab some later!"

Manami tilted her head slightly, "If not because of that then… Perhaps because there's somewhere you need to go?"

"Hehehe~ You know me so well!" Eris grinned, pulling out a map from her sleeve.

She unfurled the map to show us what I recognised as the Death Mountains, though there was a landmark for a town that I did not know existed marked on it.

"I need to get to that town," Eris explained. "There's some people I need to take care of before they inconvenience Master."

"Ara? You're going to do such a thing and no one else is invited? How cruel of you, Eris," Manami gasped, faking an expression of disbelief. "Shouldn't we call the rest if that's the case?"

Eris giggled at her antics, she obviously knew my sister well enough to realise when she was joking.

"Ehehe~ It's just that they were also a part of my personal problems in the past, so I'd like to at least settle it myself."

Manami patted her head, "Ara, ara, my poor little Eris. If you need help just give us a call, ok? I can send you to the main road a few metres down from the village, will that be fine?"

Eris nodded, "I'll make my way back here in a few days so no need to worry."

"Ufufu~ Same thing as before. I will read your memories to get an idea of the location," Manami placed her palms together and a circle of light appeared below Eris's feet.

I panicked slightly from my sister's blatant display of her Technique inside the shop, my head swivelling around to see if there were any witnesses to the event.

I'm quite surprised that my sister would make a blunder as big as this. Teleportation isn't a Technique that is common and even the masters of the Major Sects struggle with it. To date, I don't think there is a reliable Teleportation Technique outside of Master's.

When I first saw my sister use it I was absolutely shocked. It seems like they have yet to understand the implications of such a Technique.

A teleportation Technique that can transfer a large group of people over any distance as long as the Practitioner has an idea of where the location is. If one of the teleporters have been to the location before, all the Practitioner needs to do is to read their memories and they would get a picture of the location, allowing them to repeat the Technique for others without the memory reading after that.

Whole armies can be moved with this Technique and assassinations would be an absolute breeze too. This is a Technique that empires would wage war over!

And she told me that Master had just casually taught it to her?

Well… Though it is certainly true that any adversary of our Master would most certainly meet their demise, but that doesn't mean we don't need to be careful either.

What will happen if we bring back undesirables because of our carelessness?

Fortunately, it seems the store was empty of customers. In fact, I'm quite surprised that we were the only ones to have come into this store so far, seeing how high quality the clothes in this boutique were.

Unfortunately, there was a single female staff that saw our exchange in the corner of the shop. Our eyes met and she gave me a small nod without breaking her business-like smile.

I took note of her face, fully intending to silence her later.

"Ufufufu~ Shall we continue our little shopping trip, Kiyomi?" Manami asked behind me.

Eris had already disappeared from sight, leaving only Manami, the female staff and I inside the store.

"Sister… What were you doing? Aren't you being careless by showing others your teleportation Technique?"

She tilted her head at me, "Hmmm? What are you talking about? The store is empty, no?"

I jerked my head slightly at the store clerk who has remained at her position ever since we came in.

Glancing in that direction, Manami smiled when she saw who I was referring to.

"Ah… I forgot you are still not aware yet. This store is ours and so are the staff."

I stared blankly at her.

"Ufufufu~ Oh my cute little Kiyomi! You should see the face you're making now~" she giggled.

My sister waved her hand at the clerk, prompting the girl to make her way towards us with a sincere smile.

The clerk bowed low to us, "Greetings High Priestesses, how may I help?"

Manami smirked at me, "Mmmm, I just wanted to ask how is business going?"

The clerk raised her head, "It is doing quite well! We have already established a connection with a few ladies of the noble court with our wares, as per High Priestess Diao Chan's instructions. Lady Elaria has also established a business plan with us so we will be able to market her goods within the week."

My sister nodded her head, "Mmm… And how are our collaborators doing?"

At the mention of the word 'collaborators', the clerk stiffened up noticeably.

Manami furrowed her brows, "What's wrong? Did something happen to them?"

"No, no!" The girl denied quickly. "We found out that they had an elder son that had just taken his steps to being a Practitioner. We just aren't sure where the son ended up."

"Ara? Did we not ask them to give us everything?"

The girl nodded, "Yes, we did. But they had requested that we don't involve their son in our business by promising more offerings… We are still in the midst of investigating that son's background so we have not yet reported it to the High Priestesses."

I pulled at Manami's sleeve, "I'm sorry, I'm still a little bit lost?"

"Oh my dear little Kiyomi. You see, we found a little merchant family some time ago that needed a little help. So we, like how Master has taught us, went to help them by kick starting their business. The fact that we needed a few merchants to put pressure on the Xi Family was just a happy coincidence~"

I raised an eyebrow, "I don't suppose the payment of such help offered is their souls?"

"Ufufufu! My, my! I wonder where my dear little Kiyomi learnt that sense of humour from? Whatever will we do with their souls? No, no, no. All we need is for them to praise the same glorious God as we have and for our business to come first before anything else!"

Hmmm… I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised, my sisters are quite resourceful after all.

But the son is a Practitioner too hmm? What are the chances that he could be at Heaven Sect right now?

"Could you be a dear and help me package these two lovely clothes for me? I still have places to be~" Manami requested, handing the aforementioned clothes to the clerk.

"Where else are we going?" I asked.

"Ufufufu~ There was someone who called for a hit on Master back at his hometown. We had a lead that brought us back here and we're going to follow up on it."

What?

A little bug with no power dares to try and take down the epitome of power?

Kukukuku...

How cute~

Chapter 173 - Having Fun With My Sister

(Manami POV)

Kiyomi and I looked up at the worn down building in front of us.

The sign board with the word "Inn" etched onto it hung loosely on a single chain by the doorway, swaying slightly from the breeze.

"It's falling apart," Kiyomi pointed out.

Sure enough, just as those words left her mouth, the chain snapped from a sudden gust and the sign clattered noisily onto the ground.

Both of us watched the broken sign for a moment before turning our attention to the doorway.

There was a shout and a curse before the door was flung open by a young man that stank of alcohol and smoke.

"Yeah, yeah! I heard you, damnit! What's the point of fixing the sign if there isn't any…" He stopped when he noticed both of us standing by the doorway.

We stared at each other for a moment, my sister and I out of curiosity on what he would do and him obviously not expecting to see anyone outside.

The man was the first to break the silence.

"Well… Well, well, well! Two pretty ladies at our inn's doorstep! Umm… Would you two by any chance be looking for a room or two?" He asked with a sickeningly sweet, fake smile, both his hands clasped in front of him.

"You're not wrong," Kiyomi answered him monotonously. "We are here to meet a friend."

Almost instantly, the man's smile changed into a frown, "Tch… And I thought we'll have business for once… Should've known that everybody that comes here is only looking for that guy."

He loses interest in us and proceeds to pick up the sign that had fallen off its hinges, tying one part of the chain to the other in a reef knot.

He turned around to see us still standing behind him.

"Well what are ya still standing out 'ere for?"

I gave him my most pleasant smile, "If you are a staff of the inn, we would greatly appreciate you to guide us to our friend."

He waved his hand dismissively, "Bah! I have better things to do than guide a couple of time wasters! Especially when they're disgusting youkais!"

"Ufufufu~ Would this perhaps change your mind?" I fished out a single silver coin from my sleeve.

His eyes lit up and he moved to swipe the coin away but I moved it out of reach before he could. It's not surprising that he would be so eager. After all, a slum dweller like him might not even be able to earn a single silver after working for a whole year.

Normally, that is.

"Ara, ara? Payment after service, are you not aware of such a rule? Are you truly a staff of this inn?"

He scowled at my words, obviously trying to scheme of a way to trick us for the coin.

"Dear sister, why do we need to negotiate with such a person?" Kiyomi asked, her tail snaking out to wrap around one of the wooden pillars on the building next to us. "It's obvious he is nothing but a nobody, won't even be missed if we just…"

Her tail constricted, snapping the pillar in half.

The man took a step back from the display, his brow starting to sweat.

I pretended not to see his panic and turned to 'chastise' Kiyomi, "Oh my cute little sister, we should at least be a little civilized and give these nobodies a chance. They may be useful to us, you know?"

I swiveled back to him, "Now, how about this? There's another coin in it for you if you just answer a few simple questions for us. If you do, we can remain civilized. If not…"

He gulped and quickly nodded his head.

"Now, we're looking for our good friend named Finch. We know he's in your inn's last room on the second floor. We just want to know who else has been meeting him?"

The man hesitated, but a twitch of Kiyomi's tail quickly got him talking, "Ok, ok… I… I'll talk… There were a few of 'em who came by... But they left after spending a few 'ere minutes in da room. Aye'm not sure what dey talked about!"

I took out two silver coins to play with my fingers, making sure they were in view, "Mmhmm… Names? Looks? Anything else?"

His eyes were now glued to the coins but quickly snapped back to me when I hid it in my fist, "That… I don't know, dey were hiding their faces with cloaks and dey didn't even talk to me before dey went 'ere to dat room. That's all I know, I swear on me life!"

"Hmm… And when was this? Anyone else before that?"

He paused to think, "About… Two days ago. Another group came by but… These guys... I don't know when they left since dey came in the middle of the night…"

I hummed before turning to my sister "What do you think, Kiyomi?"

"I think this insect knows nothing and is worth even less," my cute sister muttered disinterestedly.

"Ufufufu~ Oh well… I suppose you can get at least one silver coin~" I chuckled, tossing one of the coins into the air.

He reached out to try and catch it like an overexcited child, only to have it slip and clink audibly on the ground before rolling away.

We slipped past him towards the door, just as I saw in my peripheral vision the man taking out a knife from under his sleeve.

He flipped the knife around to an underhand grip, his eyes locking on to my cute little sister's back.

Just as his hand was raised into the air, the other coin that I had been holding on to was flicked out from between my fingers.

There was a loud crack as his wrist broke from the impact, forcing him to drop his knife while he clutched at his broken wrist.

"Weak," Kiyomi muttered, disdain evident on her face.

"Ara, ara? I wonder what you were trying to do? Let me guess…You don't happen to be a member of the Dark Sect are you?"

The little insect growled at us, his eyes full of hate, "I know the two of you… You're both part of that stupid Church… Always meddling with our affairs! This city's slums used to be our haunt but you guys took everyone away and ruined everything! You think I'll let you waltz in here just like that?!"

"Ufufufu~ Finally being honest now are we?" I giggled. "It was honestly painful to watch you fake that accent you know? And you're way too well-dressed to be in the slums."

"The little act of you being desperate for the coin is commendable though," Kiyomi added. "Unless you were actually desperate for it because the Dark Sect pays you nothing?"

"You damn bitch! Just you wait, I'll--"

We didn't get to hear what else he had to say since Kiyomi quickly sliced off his head with a quick wave of her arm.

I watched with slight morbid fascination at how the head spun in the air before hitting the ground with a soft thump, the body following a few moments later.

I reached out and summoned the silver coins I had tossed away back into my hand, pocketing it with the rest in my coin pouch. No reason to let Master's money go to waste, after all.

Snapping my fingers, the corpse began to burn, slowly disintegrating into ashes to leave no trace of whoever this guy used to be.

"Are the Dark Sect people always this pathetic and weak?" Kiyomi asked after the body burnt into nothingness.

"Ufufufu~ Most of them, yes. They're truly detestable stains on Master's world isn't it?"

Kiyomi nodded, a look of disgust materialising on her face.

I gestured towards the open door, "Now, shall we find out who's the trash that dared try and hunt our darling Master?"

Kiyomi stepped through the doorway without another word, obviously as eager as I was.

Waiting inside was a group of ten adult men, all of them obviously hostile towards us. No doubt they are associated with the first guy and already overheard our little scuffle outside.

I chuckled, "Ara? I wonder what these men would like to do with two helpless girls like us?"

"Seems like we have more trash to clear out," Kiyomi sighed, a layer of ice already forming beneath her feet.

Ufufufu~ This sisterly bonding time is so fun!

Chapter 174 - Old Men To The Rescue!

(MC POV)

Lian Li, Manami, Cai Hong, Eris, Diao Chan, Kiyomi, I hope all of you are enjoying your vacation right now because I most certainly am not.

The Elder Wendigo, as Sylphy had called it, roared at us before pouncing on the nearest target which just happened to be Sylphy.

Unfortunately for that monster, Sylphy was more than prepared for it.

"Don't you dare touch me, you abomination!"

A whirlwind formed in front of her, blowing the giant monster back to it's starting point.

At this point, I'm just wondering how she failed the initial entry test if she's showing so much power now? Is there such a big difference when a goddess is using a body as a vessel compared to when she resides within it?

Well, not that I would know anyway.

"An Elder Wendigo… And here I've always thought they were just a myth…" Elder Gong muttered.

"Oh you better believe they are real, old man," Sylphy grumbled, her eyes never leaving the monster in front of her. "They've just adapted over the years and became better at hiding amongst humans. This one in particular... Probably has been around for at least a few centuries."

Elder Gong summoned his sword in his hands, only to receive a sneer from the former goddess.

"Put that toy away, all you'll be doing with that is breaking your sword in half. Their skin is too thick for physical weapons to even make a dent on them."

Brendan stood pushed himself off the ground, groaning in pain, "Damn… Where did it even come from? What even is a Wendigo?"

"Former humans possessed by spirits," Sylphy explained helpfully. "They possess inhuman strength, speed and endurance, have an almost indestructible layer of skin but are driven mostly by their instincts to sate their hunger. The older ones might regain a small semblance of their humanity back but--"

The Wendigo roared again, leaping at the girl once more.

Once again, another blast of wind sent it crashing back down onto the ground a little further than where it had been.

"They're still mostly ruled by their bestial nature when the hunger strikes, as evidenced here," Sylphy continued, gesturing towards the monster.

"How do we kill it?!" Chris all but shrieked, hiding behind his twin.

"It's body is weak to fire but--"

"Then kill it with fire!" Chris screeched, waving his arms around in the air to summon a small ball of flames.

It seemed to work as the Elder Wendigo started screeching even louder when it saw the flames.

Perhaps spurred on by what seems to be the monster's fear, Chris had a sadistic smile before he tossed the small fireball at the monster.

Unfortunately, the monster's screech was more like screeches of contempt than fear since it easily swatted aside the fire ball with the back of its hand.

Sylphy gave him an extremely irritated look, "I was just about to mention that Elder Wendigos are resistant to even fire because their skin would've strengthened over the years."

"Alright… Then how do we deal with that thing?" I asked, A little concerned about this monster running loose within the Sect.

Don't get me wrong, I am completely ready to contain it or kill it if I have to, the only thing is that I've never met an Elder Wendigo before. For all I know, there may be some convoluted or specific way to get rid of it and I may just screw it up if I don't know the way.

From what I know about normal Wendigos, fire should be enough to kill them, but that also releases the spirit from the body which allows it to potentially possess someone near them if you can't contain the spirit.

Not to say that I've actually met them before myself, just read about them in the Royal Spiritual Family's archives.

The Wendigo switched its sights to Chris, probably offended by his attempt at burning it.

It leapt at him without any warning, all four of its arms reaching out as if to embrace him.

There was the sound of the earth cracking before roots appeared from the ground beneath it, entangling the monster's limbs and leaving it suspended in the air.

"Don't look down on this old man now," Elder Gong grunted from behind us, both his hands raised to maintain his Technique. "Now, Sylphy! How do we get rid of it?"

Well, I guess we're beyond questioning how she knows so much about something we had assumed was merely a myth at this point in time? I guess having a giant flesh eating monster thrashing around while being restrained by tree roots in front of you helps.

Sylphy frowned, "There's nothing much we can do, we can only keep pushing it back and hopefully it will leave us alone."

"And put the rest of the Sect in danger?! No, we must do something about it! Would a stronger blast of fire help?"

Sylphy shook her head, "It would slow it down, but they would still regenerate from its wounds quickly."

"Then I guess we just need to make sure we out pace its regeneration!"

Elder Gong clenched his fist in front of him, summoning a small ball of fire that quickly expanded in size to match half his height.

The Wendigo started thrashing even harder, breaking off most of the roots that had been holding it captive.

Thrusting his hand towards the monster, Elder Gong let a steady stream of flames blow at the Wendigo, engulfing it entirely.

The roots that had been holding the monster were quickly burnt to a crisp, but the fire managed to keep the monster back.

If anyone in the Sect wasn't aware of the monster's existence by now, the inhuman screams of pain that is currently ringing out from our courtyard would ensure that its presence is known.

Elder… I mean Sect Master Qing soon appeared with a few other Elders in tow, watching Elder Gong burn away at something with all his might.

"What is going on here?!" Sect Master Qing demanded.

"Monster! Burn it!" Elder Gong explained with supreme eloquence.

Without hesitation, all the Elders joined in on burning the Elder Wendigo, its screams getting softer and softer by the moment.

Sect Master Qing noticed that we were still standing nearby, "What are you guys waiting for? Fly, you fools!"

Not needing a second prompting, all of us made a run for it out of the courtyard.

I did send Sect Master Qing a telepathic message to call for me if they needed help though.

We paused a distance away to catch our breaths, the dying screams of the monster getting fainter and fainter in the background.

"They'll kill it right?" 'Chris with a K' gasped, visibly shaken from the experience. "That thing will… Die, right?"

Sylphy shook her head, "It'll be back… It has already survived for hundreds of years, it won't allow itself to be killed so easily… What's more… It knows our faces, it will definitely come back for us..."

Ok…

Why did things take a horror turn now?

I expected this to be the school arc, not the start of the horror arc!

Just as that thought came to mind, a loud shriek echoed throughout the Sect followed by a boom that shook the earth.

And then, there was silence.

Chapter 175 - Face Slapping Is Crucial For Plot

(MC POV)

Night fell and the event soon became the hottest of news throughout the Sect.

It wasn't often that you heard one of the students turned into a giant, mythical, cannibalistic monster and your Sect Master and several other Elders had to go burn it to death after all.

Except they didn't actually burn it to death.

As Sylphy had predicted, just when they thought the monster was dead when it had gone quiet, the Wendigo destroyed the ground and used a piece of earth as a barrier from the flames. With the improvised shield in place, the Wendigo then leapt away from them with inhuman speed and disappeared outside the Sect.

Apparently it had curled itself up when it was being burnt to protect its face from the flames, indicating it might be it's only weak point.

Now that we know Tekiteh was actually a monster, it kind of explained why he was acting like that.

Since he seemed to have a rather bad memory with names as he had trouble remembering both mine and Brendan's, that might be an indication to the monster's simple mind not being able to recognise or remember this kind of information.

Ah… But then again, he had no trouble remembering Sylphy's name didn't he?

Maybe the fact that he was acting like an arrogant prick to everyone else shows his lack of empathy as a monster?

Scratch that, it actually doesn't explain his prior attitude at all. He probably was a rather horrible human being even before his possession.

I suppose the only thing that sort of hinted at his true identity was his rather scruffy clothing that didn't match his attitude at all. Most likely Tekiteh really was an arrogant young master in the past but got possessed by it on the way to Heaven Sect.

The monster itself probably didn't care much about clothing itself probably and continued its host initial goal of coming here to find more victims.

Something tells me that if we hadn't tied him up that night, he might have tried to eat all of us in our sleep.

Not that that would've happened while I was there anyway.

Speaking of which, I'm currently heading towards the Grand Hall since Elder… I mean Sect Master Qing had called for a meeting.

I really need to get used to remembering him as Sect Master.

It was rather late at night already, so I had to sneak out of the students' room while they were asleep.

Remembering that Sylphy had said the Wendigo would come back for us, I had left an alarm inscription inside the room that would tip me off in case it chose to come back tonight.

Just as the Grand Hall came into view, I heard the voice of someone shouting in the distance, "Hey! Student! Where do you think you're going at this hour?!"

Hmm, seems like a Student Practitioner was caught wandering outside by an Enforcer. Although we don't actually have a curfew in place normally, it doesn't mean one can just be wandering around the Sect in the dead of the night.

But with this Wendigo problem on the loose right now, Sect Master Qing had imposed a curfew in place until the monster is dealt with for their own safety.

I guess there's always the group of people who still think they know better and just go against the regulations for the sake of going against it, even if it means they die a horrible death because of that.

Well, it's none of my business, pretty sure they don't need me to get involved in something as trivial as this anyway.

And honestly, we can do with a few less self-absorbed people around here.

"Hey! Did you not hear me?! Where are you going?!"

Huh, the student's pretending not to hear the call to try and run away? A classic move but futile nevertheless.

I know for a fact that our Enforcers are quite stubborn. If I didn't know better, I would even think they each had a stick up their ass for how bitchy they were about everything.

Why, I remember that time when I was still a student I--

"Are you deaf?! I'm talking to you!"

My shoulder was violently jerked back, causing me to spin around and face the Enforcer.

He looked rather young, probably in his late thirties or early forties with a rather clean shaven face. He was dressed in the uniform of an Elite Practitioner while the black coloured armband of an Enforcer was tied neatly on his left arm.

I blinked at him, only realising now that he had been calling out to me all this while.

Hey, can't blame me ok? I thought all the important Sect Members were informed of my condition by now.

Sect Master Qing even claimed that news of me travels exceptionally fast within the Sect, I didn't even have time to relax on my bed after coming back before he intruded in my courtyard you know?!

Ah… Maybe this guy isn't an 'important Sect Member'?

"What do you think you're doing wandering around at this time of the night? You're a new student aren't you?" He interrogated.

"Er… No. I'm Master Lin."

The Enforcer raised an eyebrow at me, "What kind of drugs have you been taking? Who are you?"

"I'm telling you, I am Master Lin. I got transformed into my younger form so I look like this right now."

"Yes, a very likely story indeed. Now stop with the jokes. Who's your group mentor?"

"It was Elder Qing but now--"

"That's Sect Master Qing to you. Have a little respect for your betters, would you? Also, I don't believe Sect Master Qing is taking any more students at this time so nice try. Who is your mentor?"

Oh no, I can already see where this is going.

I sighed, "Elder Gong."

"That means you're part of the special class? Well young man, you're in big trouble now. Don't you know there's a curfew in place because some student in your class turned into a monster that's still stalking about?"

I tried my best not to roll my eyes, "Yes, I am aware of such a thing since I was there."

"Then this makes it even worse! Were you not aware that we had issued a curfew out? To be blatantly breaking it like that… I hope you're ready for the consequences!"

I sucked in a deep breath before sighing slowly, "Listen, buddy…"

He scowled, "I am not your buddy! You will call me sir! The lack of respect you have is genuinely appalling! Do you think just because you are admitted into the special class gives you special privileges?!"

Ignoring his words, I grabbed him by his shoulders, "Listen! Everything I told you about me being Master Lin is true. I'm on my way right now to meet with Elder… I mean Sect Master Qing. What do I need to do to prove to you that I am Master Lin so you can stop bothering me?"

"Nothing at all," He scoffed. "I already know you're just full of crap."

Did I mention how the Enforcers all act like they have a stick up their ass? What I meant was they have a giant wooden rod filled with spikes stuffed so far up that it probably reached all the way to their throats.

Since I wasn't sure when the stupid Wendigo would come back and Sect Master Qing was waiting for me to join their little meeting, I did the next best thing I could do right now.

I pulled my right arm behind me, making sure my fingers were straight and my palm was as flat as it could be before swinging it forward.

I slapped his face.

Chapter 176 - The Not So Literal Face Slap

(MC POV)

The Enforcer was so stunned by my action he released me without a second though, his face still tilted to the side from the force of my slap.

I brushed my sleeves to straighten them out before turning around to walk away, not even giving him a backwards glance.

It only managed to walk about five steps away before a voice full of rage and indignation rang out behind me.

"YOUNGSTER, YOU DARE?!"

I gave him a backwards wave, "Save it buddy, I'm giving you the chance to walk away now before something happens. Trust me, it will not end well for you."

I took two more steps before I was forced to a stop, my legs unable to move for some reason.

Looking down, I realised both my feet were now encased in mounds of earth and dirt, wrapped all the way up my shins.

It seems this guy is proficient in Earth Techniques.

"I'm telling you again," I repeated, letting a little bit of frustration bleed into my voice. "I am going to the Grand Hall to see Sect Master Qing because he called for me. Are you sure you want to get in the way of that?"

He stomped up to me dramatically, "If that is true, you should know that Sect Master Qing and the Elders are holding a meeting right now. Someone like you shouldn't even be there!"

I sighed, "They're meeting to talk about the Wendigo and I'm supposed to be there to talk about it too as a witness."

Not really true, but not really a lie either. At this point in time I just want him to get out of my face, really.

"Hmph! Why would they need someone like you when Elder Hong was there as well?"

Why does this guy have so much sense? Well… I guess it's a good thing to know our Enforcers take their job seriously at least but this situation is really getting on my nerves. I want to go back to bed ok?

Ok… Deep breaths. I can slap him again later if I have to.

He grabbed me by the collar, "Also! How dare you?! You really are full of yourself to think you can get away with hitting an Enforcer! I'm going to have you brought up to the Disciplinary Elder and you'll definitely be kicked out of here!"

Oh? That gives me an idea.

"Well then, I believe he's at the Grand Hall right now, so why don't we go see him?" I suggested.

"Hmph! You must be an absolute fool to even suggest such a thing! Very well, let us go and meet Elder Xu right now!"

Ah yes, Elder Xu. I still have yet to thank him properly for helping me teach Eris her sword arts. She had told me that training with him granted her insight into the intricacy of swordsmanship, although she did add at the end that she would still prefer my teaching methods over his.

Not sure if she was just being polite about it though.

He took out a length of rope and began tying my wrists together behind my back. I made no move to stop him and just waited patiently until he was done.

The Enforcer rough-handled me away towards my initial destination after removing my leg restraints. I remained quiet this time, already knowing that whatever I say at this point in time is equivalent to talking to a rock.

The Grand Hall was surprisingly quiet, I'd had thought it would be bustling with the Elders debating about the Elder Wendigo situation right now.

Both the Enforcer and I stepped through the doors of the hall and more than fifty pairs of eyes settled on us.

To be honest, seeing how quickly Sect Master Qing's face went from relief to confusion then terror made this entire thing worth it.

Most of the other Elders don't seem to have understood what was going on yet so they're still stuck on the relief and confusion part.

The Enforcer bowed his head towards the hall, "Good evening Elders, I've caught a student wandering around suspiciously outside and thought to report this to Elder Xu."

Elder Xu raised an eyebrow, "Where is the student then?"

The Enforcer turned to me and pushed my head downwards to make me bow as well.

"This one here, Elder Xu."

It was too bad I wasn't able to see their faces, but the chorus of gasps was enough to clue me into what happened.

"YOU IMBECILE!" Elder Xu roared, slapping his hand away from me. It was also then he realised that my hands were bound behind me back.

Elder Xu turned on the Enforcer with furrowed brows, "Did you not read the memo I posted out in the Enforcement Hall?!"

The Enforcer's mouth was opening and closing like a fish on dry land, "Me… Me… Memo? There… There was one?"

Elder Xu sucked in a breath through his teeth and smacked him hard on the head.

Well, I suppose the only reason why this guy doesn't know is because of his own ignorance. I'm pretty sure this guy is in a lot of trouble right now.

Elder Xu turned and made a perfect ninety degree bow to me, "Master Lin! Please accept my most sincerest of apologies and forgive this stupid Enforcer of mine! I accept all responsibilities for his failure!"

That was the moment it clicked for the Enforcer.

He was immediately on his knees and did a similarly perfect dogeza, too dramatic of a response if you ask me.

"Master Lin! This imbecile apologizes! My useless eyes are unable to see the Mount Tai that was in front of me! I accept any punishment you see fit to give!"

Ok, that really was a damn big change of attitude that even I'm impressed.

But seriously though, why are they being so desperate about this? It's not like anything will happen to me even if this guy arrested me right? Or were they expecting me to do something to them? I'm not that scary am I?

I broke out of my restraints easily by burning through the ropes, waving my arm in the air to feign nonchalance, "It's alright, he was just doing his job anyway, no big deal. Just make sure the information gets disseminated properly next time. It's already quite late so let's just get on with the meeting."

"Thank you Master Lin for your benevolence!" Both of them said in unison.

I took my place beside Sect Master Qing as the Advisor, giving him a nod as a greeting which he returned with a smile and a nod of his own.

Looking back, it used to feel weird that I was the only one that was in his twenties within this hall whenever a meeting was called. Now that I'm in this even younger body… Well, you can understand how much more disconcerting it is.

That is ignoring the female Elders who have chosen to use youth pills to make themselves look younger, though none of them chose to regress to my current age group anyway.

Don't ask me why most of the males chose not to use them, I always suspected it was because of the beard.

Elder Xu whispered a few words to the Enforcer before returning back to his spot, the Enforcer leaving quickly with his complexion a little paler than before.

Sect Master Qing nodded, "Now that Master Lin is here, let's begin."

Wait.

All of you were really just sitting here and staring at each other while waiting for me? Oh come on!

I want to get back to bed already!

Chapter 177 - Of Course Going Out When A Monster Is Around Is A Great Idea

(Brendan POV)

I stirred, finding myself suddenly awake in the middle of the night for reasons unknown.

For some reason, it felt a little colder tonight as compared to yesterday. Was it because of the Wendigo incident yesterday?

I looked to my right at the empty bed where Tekiteh should have been.

The twins had tied him to the bed last night with a strip of cloth stuck in his mouth in an attempt to make him learn his lesson in humility. Unfortunately all we got was him thrashing around all throughout the night.

It was so bad that I had to sleep with earplugs on that night, not that I regretted having him tied up though.

I still can't believe that he was actually a Wendigo.

I wonder... If we hadn't had him restrained last night, would we have woken up to him feasting on us?

Pushing that morbid thought away, I turned to the other side in order to make myself more comfortable in an attempt to fall back asleep.

But the empty bed that I saw and the slightly ajar window behind it quickly snuffed out any thoughts I had of doing just that.

I remember we had closed and locked the window on purpose in case the Elder Wendigo came back, so why is it opened?

And the fact that Mark is missing from his bed and is the closest to the window…

"Mark's been taken!" I yelled, leaping out of bed in a hurry.

My shout immediately woke up the rest of the people in the room, the twins falling out of their beds while Sylphy immediately rushed towards Mark's empty bed.

As expected of a retainer, she is quick on the response of her lord being in danger.

"Where?! What happened?! Who?!" Sylphy began her barrage of questions.

I pointed towards the window behind her just as quickly.

She swivelled around, frowning as soon as she saw the slightly open window.

She ran towards it to throw it open, looking all around for any traces of him. I didn't even have time to stop her when she vaulted over the window, kneeling down on the ground as though to inspect something.

I followed after her, peering over the ledge to see her dusting the ground for something.

Since our building was located in the corner of the Sect, our window was overlooking a dirt track that led towards a garden nearby. It was rather isolated as well, the next closest dormitory being a good hundred metres away.

"Tracks…" She muttered. "Rather fresh too… But they look human."

"You're quite knowledgeable about this, huh?" I pointed out.

She dusted her hands as she stood back up, "When one is attuned to nature, such things come naturally."

Attuned to nature? Did she come from a family of hunters?

"This is strange though," She muttered. "The tracks indicate a single person of unladen weight moving away from our room… Did sire leave the room voluntarily?"

Before I could give a response to her claim, the twins stumbled up to me, still groggy from having been woken up.

"Wha… Wha 'appened?" Chris yawned.

"Mark is missing and the window was opened, we're not sure why he left the room though," I explained, gesturing to Sylphy.

Kris waved his hand, "Ah, he probably went to the toilet or something. Maybe he went through the window 'cause it's closer to his bed. He'll probably come back in a minute or two."

Saying his piece, Kris proceeded back to collapse onto his bed, already starting to snore into his pillow.

Chris moved to join his brother in his own bed, "Yeah man, my bro's right. You guys worry too much. The Elders and Masters probably have that monster under control already."

I frowned at their actions, "Aren't you guys worried that he might be taken by that Elder Wendigo?"

"He'll be fine…" Chris muttered before falling back to sleep.

Damn it, I know they were scared of the Wendigo but… I have a bad feeling about this.

"Forget them," Sylphy waved her hand in the air dismissively. "Are you coming with me to find him or not?"

Well, I suppose I don't want to have his death on my conscience so I'll just have to follow. Besides, it's not like I could sleep well knowing I let Sylphy go on alone.

I nodded to show that I was coming, climbing over the window after Sylphy.

She beckoned for me to follow and we treaded down the dirt path towards the garden, Sylphy looking at the ground the entire time while I just followed behind her.

"You said he went alone?" I asked, hoping to at least strike up a conversation instead of just following awkwardly.

"Yes, the tracks look human and the depth of prints do not indicate it was carrying something heavy. That's what led me to believe he had left our room voluntarily, though the reason for such an action eludes me."

"Maybe… What the twins said was true?" I suggested, though I don't even believe my own suggestion for a second.

She snorted, "I highly doubt sire would do something as uncouth as that."

My curiosity got the better of me, "You keep calling him 'sire'. What exactly is your relationship? You didn't seem to know him before he er… Made those plants sprout from the ground."

She shook her head, "You wouldn't understand. He is much more… Profound… Than you can comprehend. Even I did not know the extent of it myself until he confirmed it."

I raised my eyebrow at her cryptic words but decided not to comment on that.

"Who is his family, really?" I asked.

She stopped and turned around to face me, "Why are you suddenly so interested in him? I remembered you rushing to his side yesterday as well and I don't recall him mentioning anything about you either. Who are you, really?"

"I am just a regular merchant's son. Truth be told, I've come to see him as a close friend after he came to talk to me during my confinement. I realised he is a really interesting and reliable person. At least better than the other guys I've met so far."

She nodded, "Yes, that he is. At least you're not blind like a certain pair of twins. I suppose I can understand why you would try and get closer to him in that case. I don't suppose you know his background?"

I was just about to answer a negative when a soft cry of help whispered through the air.

"You hear that?" I asked, a little unsure if I had been imagining it.

Both of us stopped and listened, the cry came back a little later. It was Mark groaning out for help.

"Sire!" Sylphy immediately rushed towards the source of the voice with me hot on her heels.

The groaning got louder as we got deeper into the garden, both of us searching for our friend who must be in trouble.

Just as we got to where we thought the source of the voice was supposed to be, I noticed something moving in the corner of my eye.

Trusting my instincts, I dove forward and pushed the two of us to the ground, just in time as something huge flew over my head.

I made sure my hands were on her shoulders so that we did not land in any kind of awkward position of course.

She furrowed her brows at me, probably intending to murder me for pushing her down but the sound of a low growl caught her attention instead.

The two of us turned to see the unmistakable form of the Elder Wendigo crawling out of the shrubbery, its glowing red eyes locked onto us.

Sylphy and I alone in a garden with no help whatsoever. The only people who know that we are here had chosen to fall back asleep and not give a damn about our other missing person.

And of course, the unkillable, mythical monster just had to show up in front of us...

Well, shit.

Chapter 178 - A Practitioner Is Never Late, He Arrives Exactly When He Means To

(Brendan POV)

Ok… Sylphy is behind me. Check.

We're alone in an isolated area of the Sect. Check.

There's a giant monster that can easily rip us to pieces that we currently do not have the means of fighting back against standing right in front of us. Check.

Now, what would be the most sensible thing to do in this sort of situation?

"HELP! THE WENDIGO IS IN THE GARDEN AND WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!" I screamed as loud as I could.

Spurred by my voice, the Wendigo lunged towards us, one of its giant arms swinging through the air towards me.

Sylphy tried to blast it back with a wall of air like she had done before, but this time, it was too close for it to be effective.

Though the wind was insufficient to blast it back, it was still able to slow it down enough for me to summon a ball of water to protect us from its strike.

The Wendigo's arm struck my barrier, the shockwave was enough to blast both Sylphy and I off our feet.

Thankfully the barrier managed to cushion our fall so nothing was broken at least.

"I don't remember him being this strong…" I groaned, crawling back on to my feet.

"He must have fed earlier. He had been starving when he first transformed and was much weaker then," Sylphy muttered from beside me.

That was when he was weak? His weak self was able to shrug off the flames of several Elders and the Sect Master! What chance did we have if he's strong now then?

But… Didn't he eat on that day as well? As Tekiteh?

"Starving? Wasn't he eating properly alongside us in the canteen?"

She shook her head, "The only kind of meat that can sate a Wendigo's hunger is human flesh."

Wait… If he fed recently… Does that mean that Mark is already...

As though reading my thoughts, the Wendigo slowly turned its head towards us, a cackling sound that might have been laughter emanating from its exposed teeth.

Revealing its head under the light of the moon, we were granted a full view of its blood-stained teeth. There was no doubt that we were next on its list of prey.

I raised my hands again, attempting to summon a wall of water to at least block the Wendigo from attacking us directly.

As though sensing my intentions, the monster in front of me immediately charged towards us on all its limbs, leaping up into the air with one of its claws reaching towards me.

There was no way I could get the wall up in time.

"Get down!" Sylphy shouted from behind me.

Placing my trust in her, I hit the dirt without a second thought.

There was the sound of something slicing through the air as a blade made of wind passed through where I had been moments before.

The wind blade smashed into the Wendigo's outstretched arm with the sound of clashing metal, deflecting him slightly off course towards its left.

The monster landed on all six of its limbs, digging its hands into the ground to stop itself from skidding away.

With surprising agility for its size, it leapt towards Sylphy, its jaws opening wide as possible as if to devour her whole.

It was obvious Sylphy had not expected the Wendigo from the surprised look on her face. It probably already knows that between Sylphy and I, she was the bigger threat to it.

With all the strength that I could muster, I leapt to my feet and pushed her away from it, placing myself in its range instead.

Looking up at the gaping maws of the monster that was going to clamp down on my head, a certain sense of calm had enveloped me.

It wasn't that I had come to terms with my death, no. It was just that I knew there was absolutely nothing we could have done with this thing as an enemy.

Just as I braced myself for the inevitable impact, a voice shouted out from my right.

"Fireball!"

A ball of fire struck the Wendigo in the face, the blast forcing its head to the side.

Fortunately, that means its jaws were no longer going to close around my head and bite it off.

Unfortunately, the fireball did not halt the Wendigo's flight path towards me.

It's full weight crashed into me, sending me flying off to the side and hitting the dirt with a loud crack. I swallowed the scream that almost spilled out of my mouth, the pain in my left arm I had landed on clued me in that it was broken.

I turned to see Chris standing a few distance away, both his hands raised in front of him. No doubt that he was the one who threw the fireball.

The Wendigo switched its sights to Chris, its right hand smashing into the ground to tear out a chunk of earth.

The improvised projectile was tossed towards Chris with blinding speed, hitting him square in the chest.

The poor guy was flung away like a rag doll, his body crashing into the trunk of a tree and snapping it in half.

"Brother!" Kris cried out in dismay, appearing a distance away from behind some rocks.

I guess the twins must have came running when they heard my shout but chose to hide at first.

When the Wendigo was going to kill me, Chris probably chose to step out to try and save me.

"You've done enough, monster!" Sylphy roared, a little worse for wear from when I pushed her away. "You will harm these mortals no longer! Be gone!"

She pointed her palm at the Wendigo, promoting a huge gale of wind to blast towards it.

Seeming to have learnt from its previous encounters, the Wendigo smashed the ground with its left fist, using it as an anchor to stop itself from flying away.

What was most unexpected, however, was the right hand that it raised that had electrical sparks gathering around its fingers.

Oh right… It also used Techniques while possessing Tekiteh's body.

I stuck the fingers of my good hand into the ground, using my Quarks to draw out all the water that I could from below the ground and redirecting ittowards Sylphy.

Just as the Wendigo punched its lightning clad fist forward, my water shot out from the ground beneath Sylphy, forming a thin wall in front of her.

It was still not enough to fully protect her from the knock back of the blast though, as she was sent flying back the moment the Wendigo's lightning exploded on my shield.

At least she's alive.

That thought disappeared when I saw her hit the tree behind her head first with an audible crack before slumping down on to the ground, unmoving.

She's just unconscious right? That wasn't the sound of her breaking her neck right?

The Wendigo turned its sights to me, snarling.

My breath was stuck in my throat, watching as the monster took its first step towards me.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a small ball of light speeding its way towards the space between the monster and I.

Already guessing what was going to happen, I shut my eyes and covered my face with my right arm.

Even with all that, the explosion of light still seared through my retinas, blinding me for a moment.

"Come on! Let's go!" I heard Kris shout out from a distance in front of me.

I stumbled to my feet, trying to get as far away from the monster I knew was right beside me at the moment as quickly as I could.

But just as my vision began to clear, a large figure barreled past me and went straight for Kris.

I could only watch as the Wendigo pierced its arm through Kris's abdomen and lifted him up into the air.

The young man sputtered and choked on his own blood, his hand grasping onto the Wendigo's arm that was embedded inside him.

The monster tossed the dying twin away, leaving him to bleed out in the dirt.

Now there was nothing left to stop it from finishing me off.

I took a deep breath, clenching my fists as I stared him down. If it thinks I was going to go down without a fight--

My vision blurred and the monster was in front of me, two of its arms closed around my throat and squeezing painfully.

It lifted me off the ground easily, bringing me right up to its face as it watched me thrash about in its grip.

I was going to die, no doubt about that. It wasn't even reacting to my kicks to its face, what else could I have done?

But as though fate had just been playing tricks on me all this while, another voice called out from the side.

"I think it's time to drop this damn farce."

Chapter 179 - The Prelude Of A Beatdown

(Brendan POV)

"I think it's time to drop this damn farce."

The Wendigo seemed just as surprised as I was to hear that voice, both of us turning at the same time to see who was the owner of said voice.

"Mark…" I choked, rather glad that he was actually not eaten by the Wendigo already.

But for him to show up in front of the monster like this… He should have just ran and alerted the Elders instead of trying to rescue us. The twins tried it, and they're most probably dead or dying right now.

"Run… Mark…" I gasped through the Wendigo's strangling.

Unfortunately, Mark must have not heard my words since he strode forward instead of running away.

At least the Wendigo seemed to be more interested in the newcomer than killing me through strangulation at the moment, its grip on my throat eased a little and allowed me to breathe somewhat.

Mark raised his hand, revealing that he was holding three pills of some kind between his fingers.

With a deft flick of his hand, the pills flew in three different directions, each of them depositing itself cleanly inside Sylphy's, Chris's and Kris's mouths.

Like a miracle, their wounds began to heal visibly. Even the gaping hole in Kris's stomach was closing up at an astonishing speed. Is that some kind of godlike pill that he received from a powerful being?

"Must feel very proud of yourself huh? Bullying a group of kids?" Mark said, mocking clear in his voice. "Bet your ugly wrinkled butt can't even get laid so that's why you're here to pick on kids like this? Or maybe you just like bullying kids that much?"

The Wendigo dropped me, leaving me gasping for breath on the ground.

"Heh, yeah, that's right. I said your butt was ugly and wrinkled. Oh wait, that's your face. Seems like I mistook your butt for your damn stupid face."

The monster roared and charged towards Mark in a fit of rage.

I thought Mark might take this moment to run but contrary to my expectations, he just smirked at the monster and stood his ground.

I was expecting an Elder or even the Sect Master to pop out and subdue the Wendigo by how confident Mark was, but seeing nothing come up even when the Wendigo was within arms reach of Mark concerned me.

My fears were soon revealed to be unfounded when Mark ducked under the Wendigo's claw swipe smoothly, standing up almost immediately after that to give the monster an uppercut in the jaw.

Having borne the brunt of the monster's weight just moments before, the last thing I expected that punch to do was launching the monster five feet up into the air before crashing back on the ground a good distance away.

The Wendigo leapt back on its feet quickly, snarling at Mark.

"I see your vocabulary is quite limited," Mark snarled back. "Ah, but then again, you weren't really that eloquent in your human form either. Not sure if it has something to do with your host's intelligence or you're just that stupid."

The Wendigo roared again, this time opting to gather another lightning bolt in his fist to throw at Mark.

Mark's grin grew wider, slowly strolling up towards the Wendigo without a care in the world.

Passing by me, he tossed me one of the pills that he had pulled from god knows where, letting me catch it with my good hand.

"Eat that, you'll feel better," He informed me with a full faced smile before continuing his stroll towards the Wendigo.

I didn't even have time to look at the pill before the Wendigo fired off the lightning towards him.

Mark's response was to just casually bring up his arm and smack the lightning away with the back of his fist. The lightning struck the ground a distance away harmlessly, dissipating into nothingness.

"Amateur," Mark sighed. "I'm guessing your Technique proficiency is reliant on your host's. Too bad your host was kind of crap in that department too."

Mark's figure blurred before appearing in the air above the Wendigo, his fist pulled back above him.

I watched in fascination as the young man brought his fist down on top of the monster's head, smashing it into the ground with a loud crack.

He landed in front of the Wendigo's head, his right arm reaching down to grab one of its antlers while bracing his foot against the top of its head.

With a sharp pull, the antler was ripped right off, the monster screaming out in pain while thrashing about on the ground.

"Huh, I didn't actually think that would hurt for you," he remarked, tossing the horn in the air and catching it in an underhand grip. "You want it back? Here."

He stabbed the antler into the monster's left palm that had been reaching for him, the supposedly impenetrable skin broken easily by its own horns.

"Ah, whoops, wrong place, my bad. Hahaha," Mark laughed awkwardly.

His other hand reached up just in time to catch the Wendigo's right wrist, holding the giant limb away from him without any evidence of strain.

Using both the Wendigo's wrist and the impaled antler as leverage, he lifted up the foot that had been stepping on the Wendigo's face before smashing it down again. The impact enough to create a crater in the ground at where its head had been.

"In case you haven't realised, I'm quite pissed. All I wanted was to just have a simple school arc where I get to face slap some upstart young master and what did I get? You. And you think you can go eat what I made without any consequences? Huh? You bet your damn face I'm not going to stop beating you until I'm satisfied."

That… Is not something I thought I'll hear from someone facing an Elder Wendigo.

And eat something he made? What is he talking about? Was he cooking something this late in the night?

He smashed the Wendigo's head one more time with his foot before reaching down to grab its other horn.

This one was broken quickly and stabbed into the Wendigo's other arm even more quickly. The action was so smooth that I almost missed it.

The Wendigo reared upwards, throwing Mark away from him as it roared out in pain.

Mark flipped himself in the air and landed on his feet in front of me, taking the time to look back at my utterly flabbergasted face.

He nodded towards my open palm, "Still not eating the pill yet? It's a healing pill, don't need to worry."

I looked down and quickly tossed the pill in my mouth, swallowing it without a second thought.

Almost immediately I could feel all my wounds healing, something that I had no idea possible even with the most expensive of healing elixirs.

He nodded at me before gesturing to the other unconscious students, "If you're free, help me move those guys together will you? The Elders and Sect Master should be coming soon and I still have quite a lot of anger I'd like to vent on this guy here."

He turned back to face the Wendigo, rolling up his sleeves as he strutted towards the monster. The Wendigo was now hunched over while staring at Mark, two of its larger limbs hanging loosely by its side with its antlers still stuck in its palms.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought the monster here was Mark…

Chapter 180 - You Ate My Candies?!

(MC POV)

A few moments before the attack*

"What do we know about this Elder Wendigo?" Sect Master Qing asked, directing the question to the rest of the room.

One of the Elders raised his hand, "I've tried to find records of Wendigos in our archives. They're supposedly an elusive race of monsters that reclused themselves within the caves of the Death Mountains. Not much is known other than a few descriptions of how they look like and their habit of eating people."

Sect Master Qing frowned, "The Death Mountains? And there's more than one of these things?"

The Elder nodded, "But it seems like the last sighting of such monsters were centuries ago, enough time for people to start dismissing them as a myth entirely. My theory is that these monsters are one of the contributors to the number of deaths in the Death Mountains which was already a hazardous place to begin with."

Sect Master Qing stroked his beard thoughtfully, "Since it isn't unheard of for people to die traversing the Death Mountains, nobody would bat an eye about such reports as well. It's their perfect hunting ground."

Indeed. When one can already die in a variety of ways on the road within Death Mountains, the reports of a party getting slaughtered by some unknown monster wouldn't have garnered much attention. Besides, it's not like those monsters are the only ones that you can meet while up there.

When there's already a thousand and one ways to die while you're up there, what is just one more way?

And when you finally complete the treacherous journey, you'll be too occupied with the feeling of safety to even care about what you've heard or seen when going through that place.

But that drives the question of what made this Elder Wendigo leave its hunting ground? Was there a lack of food? Or was there something even more frightening hunting it?

Could it be that they've already made their way into our society without us knowing?

The Elder continued, "However, I've found no records of the mentioned 'Elder Wendigo'. It seems that they are either a new form of monster or this is the first time one has been sighted. "

"Or it's the first time someone has seen one, recognised it for what it is and lived to tell the tale," Sect Master Qing pointed out. "What do you think, Master Lin?"

"I would also assume that's the case," I agreed. "Before Sylphy had told me about it, I was not even aware that such a monster existed."

Sect Master Qing frowned, "Sylphy? Ah the girl in your class right? How does she know about such a monster when our own Master Lin does not?"

I shrugged, "Hey, never said I knew everything. But it is true that Sylphy has some… Well... Extraordinary circumstances about her."

"I see… I will inform our female Sect members to take extra care when dealing with her then. That is, if she passes the entrance test."

'Deal with her'? Well, it's not like she has special needs, just that her identity's a bit complicated. Oh well, not like our disciples will do anything bad to her, right?

"We also received reports that some of our students reported the monster disappearing into the forest beside our Sect," Elder Gong informed me. "Should we mount an expedition to hunt it down?"

I shook my head, "That will just be endangering the people we send. I suggest we tighten the perimeter security since Sylphy also said that it would return for a marked prey. That means the new students and I."

Sect Master Qing stroked his beard thoughtfully, "In that case, should we concentrate the security around you and the special class?"

"No, the monster might choose to go after other easier prey if it sees the increased security around us. I will take care of it if it comes to hunt us."

Elder Gong looked up, "Master Lin. Would the Wendigo be attacking the new students right now?"

"I left an alarm inscription in the room, so I'll know immediately when the monster breaches the room. As long as the students remain inside they should be--"

"HELP! THE WENDIGO IS IN THE GARDEN AND WE'RE BEING ATTACKED!" Brendan's scream in the distance cut off whatever I was about to say.

"Get over there now!" I ordered quickly, leaping up to my feet. I will not have any Sect members dying here tonight!

I immediately circulated the quarks I needed to teleport myself over to the Sect's peach tree, my vision blurring before shifting to the view of the aforementioned tree in front of me.

I immediately tried to search for them, expanding my senses throughout the entire garden.

Unfortunately, my search revealed nothing within this garden. In fact, it was absolutely empty and devoid of any people at all. Had I imagined Brendan's voice calling for help? He did say he was in the garden right?

Thinking that the Wendigo might have done something to hide itself and its victims from being sensed, I ran through the peach tree garden trying to search for any traces of them.

A good two minutes of me dashing through the entirety of the garden yielded nothing, now I'm half convinced that I had imagined the whole thing.

Just to be sure, I decided to check my own courtyard in case the Wendigo decided to hide there, since there's no one there right now.

What greeted me was the sight of my doors already busted down and its interior absolutely smashed.

My heart sank. It couldn't have come here for that right? Please tell me that I was mistaken…

I dug through the debris, finding the small pot that I was searching for broken to pieces.

It was a pot that I used to contain the candies I have been making for Cai Hong.

Yes, I handmade Cai Hong's candies. She may look like an innocent darling little girl, but she's still a growing Myriad Colours Dragon. I still need to feed her the Spirit and Energy Quarks in order to grow and since I don't want her to suddenly have a growth spurt, I resorted to creating these little candies using the needed Quarks.

This doesn't change the fact that it's Cai Hong's candies and that little bastard ate everything!

I have yet to send any to her tonight and she'll definitely be waiting for some. Now I need to make a new batch!

That damn thing thinks it can eat Cai Hong's candies and get away with it?!

Just as I was about to use a tracking Technique on the traces it left behind, a flash of white light lit up a corner of the Sect.

Ah.

When Brendan said he was in the garden, he probably meant that small yard beside our dorm building. Silly Brendan, that isn't a garden at all.

Oh, I better hurry.

Another quick teleportation showed me what I feared to see.

All but one of my fellow students were either dying or unconscious on the ground, the last one currently being strangled to death by the Wendigo.

Sylphy was collapsed near a tree where there was an obvious indentation in the bark, the steady rise and fall of her chest still clued me in on her state of being.

Chris was over by a pile of rubble, a collapsed tree just beside him. His twin was currently bleeding out a short distance away, a gaping hole at where his stomach should be.

The fact that both of them were still groaning and moaning told me all I needed to know if they could be saved.

Had I been a moment later, they might have been beyond saving. I have yet to tackle the resurrection of someone without a soul anchor after all.

I brought out three of the healing pills from within my storage ring, calling out to the Wendigo to get its attention.

It thinks I'll let it go after eating the candies I made for Cai Hong? Not on my damn watch.

"I think it's time to drop this damn farce."

Chapter 181 - The Beatdown

(Brendan POV)

I dropped Chris beside his unconscious twin, a short distance away from where Sylphy was.

Mark and the Wendigo had been standing still and staring at each other while I worked, it was rather disconcerting to say the least.

The only thing that has happened between them was the Wendigo pulling out the horns that were stuck in its palms, letting new ones grow out of its head while its palms healed.

Other than that, both of them had just been standing there, silently staring at each other.

"Got them all?" Mark asked, not even taking his eyes off the Wendigo.

I nodded, until I realised that he probably couldn't see me.

"Yeah, they're er… Fine I guess?"

"Good," He cracked his knuckles, tilting his head at the Wendigo. "So, you're supposed to be some mythical creature huh? Time for you to go back to being a myth then."

The Wendigo got into a half crouch, its arms spread out menacingly. It was quite obvious that it thinks Mark was an opponent it should take seriously and this was a battle only one will walk away from.

Mark himself just stood still, his posture entirely relaxed and oozing of confidence.

Well, to be honest, if anyone could beat such a monster barehanded, they'd probably have the same amount of confidence, if not more.

The monster roared, swiping it's left arm at Mark's head.

I noticed that Mark's body glowed for a moment before he lifted his arm to block the swipe.

Watching an eighteen year old block a swipe from a monster three times his height was something you don't get to see everyday.

Unperturbed by its failed attack, the Wendigo raised its other fist and punched at Mark, aiming directly for his face.

That attack was stopped by a raised palm without even a flinch.

As though expecting that attack to fail as well, the Wendigo immediately moved its two smaller arms to swipe at Mark's torso.

Mark reacted by raising his right foot, his leg kicking out twice to deflect both of its hands away.

With the Wendigo slightly off balance, Mark pulled on the monster's right arm, bracing the entire monster on his back before flipping it over his head to smash into the ground.

And if that was not enough, Mark went ahead and delivered a straight punch into the downed Wendigo's head, the impact hard enough to blast a small crater below the monster.

The monster tried to make a grab for his head but the youth merely swatted the arm away like an afterthought before punching the Wendigo in the face again, enlarging the crater.

The monster roared and tried to grab him again with all of its remaining arms.

Most likely just to mock it, Mark punched away each of its arms with his free hand, just so that he could punch it in the face one more time.

Mark released his hold on the Wendigo, stepping back from it to give it a chance to get back up.

The Wendigo did not leave this chance to waste.

Lightning gathered along its right arm, charging up for another attempt at a lightning bolt.

From this distance, I could see Mark roll his eyes before stepping forward, slipping into the Wendigo's reach.

The Wendigo tried to punch out the accumulated lightning at Mark, only to have the youth slap the fist into the air with the back of his hand to redirect the lightning upwards.

Mark crouched low and buried his fist into the Wendigo's abdomen, sending it crashing into a nearby tree with a loud boom. The tree groaned before the trunk snapped, crashing down on top of the Wendigo with an even louder boom.

The tree quickly exploded into half, the monster tearing the wood apart like paper as it let out a roar that shook the ground.

It held both pieces of the tree like clubs, swinging the one in its right hand at Mark.

Mark leapt into the air to avoid it, only to have the other part of the tree thrown at him.

He pulled back his fist and punched forward, smashing the trunk into smithereens.

Unfortunately, right behind the smash trunk was the Wendigo leaping at him, the other part of the tree swinging down from over its head.

Mark was smashed into the ground mercilessly, the Wendigo not giving the chance up to repeatedly hammer Mark with its improvised weapon.

At this point, I had erected a barrier of water around my classmates and I. It probably won't hold for even a second should either of them decide to attack it, but at least I don't need to worry about the debris that have been flying around from their fight.

Watching the Wendigo continue pummeling Mark into the ground got me rather concerned that no one else had shown up yet. Surely the Elders and Sect Master should be here by now right? There's no way such an intense battle wouldn't have woken up the entire Sect by now.

The Wendigo didn't let up on its pounding, each smash of the trunk sending splinters of wood and dirt flying around the garden.

With no signs of it stopping anytime soon, I got ready to cast a Technique to distract it, hopefully buying Mark enough time to escape from the monster's attack.

"Huh, that thing really doesn't get tired huh?" Someone spoke from behind me.

I whirled around to face the voice, finding myself staring straight at Mark leaning against the tree, rolling a stone in between his fingers.

"I thought I'd see how long it'll take for it to get tired but apparently its stamina is as boundless as its stupidity."

"Since… Since when..." I muttered, too surprised to form a sentence.

"Since when I got here? When he tried to hit me with that stupid stick of course. You think I'll actually get hit by something that simple?"

I wisely kept my mouth shut.

He shrugged before stepping forwards to the Wendigo, tossing the stone at it.

The Wendigo stopped when it felt something hit its back, finally looking down to realise that it had been smashing an empty crater all this while.

It was in the midst of turning around when Mark punched it across the face before delivering another punch straight into the Wendigo's abdomen.

The Wendigo took a step back, a little disoriented from the hits it just received.

Mark took the opportunity to wrench the trunk from its hands, lifting it up to smash it over the monster's head.

The impact was enough to completely break the tree apart, raining splinters all around him.

It tried to roar out in rage but Mark just sent an uppercut into the underside of its jaws, snapping its mouth close with enough force to break off a few of its teeth.

The Wendigo stumbled backwards, only to have Mark take hold of its two smaller arms and brace his left foot on its stomach.

His body glowed again before he kicked his foot out, tearing off the Wendigo's limbs from their sockets.

The roar of pain it gave out was deafening to say the least.

Mark tossed the limbs aside, leaping forward to give a roundhouse kick across the Wendigo's face.

Without letting up on his assault, he used the foot that he landed on as a pivot to deliver another straight kick into the Wendigo's knee, breaking the bones with a loud snap.

The Wendigo collapsed on its good knee, its head ending up just slightly above Mark's height.

He grabbed it by its antlers and pulled downwards, his knee going straight to the monster's jaw with a loud crunch, breaking off the rest of its teeth.

"Ate the candies didn't you? You like eating so much, then eat this!"

He reached out his hand and summoned one of the severed limbs into his grasp, stuffing it into the Wendigo's mouth and giving its face another punch when it struggled to push him off.

Mark reached down and grabbed the Wendigo by its throat, his body now glowing visibly with the light getting brighter with each passing second.

The sound of the Wendigo's flesh sizzling could be heard from here, the monster thrashing around frantically, trying and failing to throw Mark off.

All of the punches and clawing just rebounded off of Mark, not even moving him an inch.

Slowly, the monster began to burn up, its body flaking away into ashes to be carried off by the wind.

Mark took a step back to observe his handiwork. It took a good minute before the body was entirely burned up, leaving no trace of it behind.

Just as I thought it was over, a spectral appeared hovering in the air, its shape two times larger than the physical body it had been inhabiting.

"Ah yes. When your physical body dies, the spirit gets released to possess another body huh?" Mark grinned.

Well… This must be why Sylphy said we can't kill it. Even if we burn the body, there's no way we can kill what is ethereal since it--

Mark's body glowed again and he reached his right arm forward, grabbing the spectre by its neck.

At that moment, the plants started to grow around him, even the trees that had been smashed and broken started to sprout out of their broken trunks, almost instantly reaching maturity.

"You think I'm done eh? Fat chance! Get sent to the Abyss you little shit! Tell Abaddon I said hi!" Mark roared.

He squeezed and the spectre gave a final howl of pain before it disappeared.

The garden was dead silent.

"All in a day's work I say," Mark grinned at me, showing no signs of him having killed a supposedly unkillable monster just moments before.

I am a little concerned now...

Chapter 182 - When Even The Judgement In Hell Is Rigged

(Abaddon POV)

Life's been rather simple for me nowadays.

After I got 'educated' by Mistress on who I should bow my head to, the stress of having to deal with the Abyss by myself was gone.

It was a natural outcome since what used to be something I had to do on my own was no more. With Mistress taking over the helm, all I had to do was be her obedient guard and assistant and I don't need to worry about anything else. She does way better work than me anyway so you'll hear no complaints from me.

What about the gods that assigned me to this position?

Ha!

If those arrogant things that abandoned me to this position dare to show their face here, I'll show them what I think of their opinion then!

Do you know how stressed I've been ever since I was dropped here?

The Abyss itself lies within the Spirit Realm, acting as the fields of punishment for souls deserving of it. The gods didn't want to deal with it, so they just picked me and dropped me off here.

What pricks.

Being the responsible demon that I am, I still did the job required of me. Seeing these damned souls do despicable things during their life convinced me to atleast spend the time to condemn them.

As for how it's decided who will end up here to be punished, that is beyond both my job scope and my scope of caring. The only thing I'm in charge of after they are sent here is to decide how long and how deep they will go into the Abyss.

Being sent to the hole where all of the rejects of existence live does a lot to anyone's psyche.

In the past, I had to judge each and every soul myself by investigating their memories. That creates a really long waiting list and I could not count how many lowlifes managed to escape from judgement because of this.

But now with Mistress's and boss's Church's help, I no longer have to shoulder this judgement thing alone. For the first time in years, the waiting list for abyssal judgement was empty.

Not that I haven't been trying to find help all this while but when your recruitment advert consisted of 'reading through memories and judging people to be sent to eternal damnation', it's hard to find one that isn't a complete psychopath for unbiased judgement.

Oh sure, this group of people were basically fanatical worshippers of a certain powerful being but it wasn't like their dedication to him was unfounded. Not even the gods who put me in my current position could do what he did within the Spirit Realm.

I've yet to tell them, but I believe he might actually be one of the fallen gods of a major pantheon though I have no idea who.

No need to drive their fanaticism even further after all. What they have going right now suits me just fine, even if it means serving under one of those damned gods indirectly.

As long as he doesn't turn out to be one of them that put me here in the first place, I'll be fine with it. Mostly.

Then again, not like I can do anything about it with the metaphorical collar currently latched on me.

While I was still lost in my thoughts, I felt the rift between the Mortal Realm and the Spirit Realm fluctuate, signaling another new blood to be judged.

I readied myself to receive the newcomer, rising to my full height to appear more intimidating to whoever was coming.

A portal opened up in front of me, depositing something that I did not expect to see.

"An Elder Wendigo? My, my… Haven't seen your kind around since… Well, ever. You're not even supposed to be here, your kind does not get to be sent here after death. Unless…"

I took a peek at its memories and sure enough, boss man was there.

I sighed, how the hell did boss send this thing here? As far as I know, if one kills the physical body of a Wendigo, the spirit is released back into the wild, allowing it to possess the next victim of its choosing.

And if there just so happens to be someone who is proficient enough with Astral Quarks, they might be able to exorcise it, freeing it from existence entirely.

These monsters do not go to the Spirit Realm after death and yet, here was one in front of me.

The Wendigo seemed to be just as confused as I was, its translucent head swiveling around to inspect the place. I guess it can be proud to be the first Wendigo in existence to step foot into the Spirit Realm.

I snapped my fingers to get its attention, "Alright, listen here buddy. You pissed off someone you shouldn't and got sent here to suffer. Right now you're the first ever Wendigo to be dropped here so I'm not even sure what will happen if you get sent down into the Abyss."

It swivelled its head back to look at me, its head tilting upwards since I was way bigger than it was.

"Now, I can just do the same to you as what all the others who pissed boss off and ended up here have been getting, but I'm sure Mistress wouldn't have an idea of what to do with you either. I can also just drop you off in one of the--"

The Wendigo raised its claw and took a swipe at my leg.

Unfortunately, it was in its ethereal form so the attack just passed harmlessly through me.

I frowned, "Hey, that's kind of rude, I'm still talking…"

It screeched, probably out of frustration since it tried to swipe at me again, aiming for my other leg this time though the results were the same.

"Hey, you can at least understand me right?" I asked, a little put off by its blatant rudeness.

Completely ignoring me, the Wendigo unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks at me, all of which just passed through me without even doing anything.

I guess this particular spirit was just retarded or something.

Screw it, I don't really care about it anyway.

"Eternity within the Abyss it is then," I decided, snapping my fingers.

The Wendigo disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving no traces of it behind. Whatever happens to it within the Abyss is now absolutely none of my concern.

Just as I was about to relax again, another portal opened up and an elf with silver hair stepped out.

I was immediately on my knees when I saw her, "Mistress! Such a surprise! What… What brings you here?"

She furrowed her brows at me, "I felt something out of the ordinary pass through here just now, what was it?"

I gulped, "That… It was a monster's spirit. A Wendigo to be exact."

She raised an eyebrow, "Oh? I thought you said that monsters don't usually end up here?"

"That… That is correct, it was an anomaly."

"And? Why is this one so special?"

I felt a single drop of sweat gather on my brow, "That… That is… Boss sent it here… Because it tried to eat him…"

"WHAT?! Why didn't you call me?! You just sent it to the Abyss without letting me go through that piece of garbage?!"

"I… I didn't think you would want to deal with an anomaly like that. I… I just assumed…"

Mistress scrunched up her face, "Assumed huh? It seems you need some disciplining of your own."

A whip appeared in her hands, its length unfurling behind her as she stalked towards me.

I panicked, "No! Mistress! Wait! Not the whip! No! I'm sorry! Please! Anything but that!!"

That day, I got reminded again why I was in my current position.

Chapter 183 - I A Big Boy Now

(MC POV)

"How are they?" I asked Brendan, dusting my hands on the side of my pants.

He blinked before turning to the rest of his currently unconscious classmates.

"Oh… Err… Yeah, they're fine. They'll live. Not sure about their mental state though…"

Oh yeah, forgot that normal people like them aren't used to seeing monsters like these.

When you've already seen giant, black, oozing, slimy, multi-legged, hundred-eyed tentacle monsters summoned from the depths of the abyss, everything else just seems so tame.

And if you're wondering, those tentacle monsters aren't the worst things I've seen. I have been to the Abyss briefly before, not of my own volition of course, and the things I've seen in there are better left unsaid.

Oh well, nothing a bit of counselling couldn't heal, I'm sure they'll be fine.

Speaking of which, where the hell is everyone else? I even had time to go check my own courtyard before coming here and beat the crap out of the Wendigo, why aren't Sect Master Qing and the Elders here yet? Did they stop for ice cream or something?

Ah, maybe they also thought the 'garden' was the Peach Tree garden? That would explain it.

And since I doubt any of them could teleport, they would take some time to get from that place to here after seeing that flash of light. I guess we just need to wait for them to arrive for now.

"So… Who are you, really?" Brendan asked, wariness in his voice.

I suppose since we've already reached this point in time, there's no need to hide it anymore.

"I am Master Lin."

He laughed, like actually bellowed out in laughter.

"Ahahahaha! Good one! I did not see that coming! Hahahahaha! Master Lin! Oh, my stomach! Hehehe! You really know how to make someone laugh, Mark!"

I shrugged, I suppose it's not that easy for people to believe you when you claim to be the supposed strongest Practitioner in the continent.

That, and also I'm currently in this younger body.

"Thanks bro, I needed that," Brendan chuckled, wiping a tear away from the corner of his eye. "I didn't actually want to say anything but… That Wendigo scared me more than I am willing to admit. Watching the two of you fighting like that didn't help either."

I nodded, "Anytime… Er… Bro."

He grasped my shoulder with a hand, "I mean it. I came here half expecting most of the people here to be like Tekiteh actually. I didn't expect I could meet someone as nice as you are."

I shrugged, "Heaven Sect is not like other Sects."

"I know. I'm still curious though. From how Sylphy was acting, I assumed that you would be from one of the Major Families and she from a Minor one that is serving yours. It's not too much to ask who you really are right?"

Technically, he's not wrong, considering how I'm actually a son of the Lindulf House. But I've already cut off ties with them despite how much Elaria wants to bring me back.

I suppose I could just use them for now, "I'm from the Lindulf House."

"Lindulf?" Brendan gasped, his eyes widening. "You mean the Lindulf House that is currently ruling over the new Ahkeehar Barah town?"

What.

Wait what?

Since when?

"My family's doing business with you guys too, what a coincidence!" Brendan patted me on the back, laughing heartily. "At first I thought the Lindulf House might be doing some dangerous things since they basically organised a coup on the town's governor. But if you're one of them, I suppose they shouldn't be too bad."

My sisters did what?! I've barely left there for a week! How did I not know about this?!

Not noticing my shock, Brendan continued, "I thought this might trigger a civil war of some sort but apparently they showed how corrupt and evil the previous governor was and the Royal Bei Family just gave them a free pass for their actions. Between you and me, I think they only got that pass because of the potential trade value you guys have."

Well… There's no denying that. The things that my sisters are producing right now can only be found there after all. It would be a hundred percent beneficial to the Bei Family if my sisters were to spread their goods around.

But for my sisters to also engage Brendan's family to facilitate the trade, what were the chances?

"So. I guess you're Mark Lindulf eh?" He nudged me. "I'll just go ahead and guess Sylphy belongs to one of the Minor Houses of your town, right?"

I shook my head, "No… She… She kind of mistook me for someone else and I have no idea how to correct her."

That revelation shocked him, "What? Then aren't you taking advantage of her?"

I think I've dug the hole deep enough.

"Listen, Brendan. I really am Master Lin ok? Syphy realised that I was a Master earlier than you guys so that's why she's respectful to me, she just doesn't know that I am actually Master Lin."

He frowned at me, "You're taking advantage of her aren't you? I thought you were different… Turns out you're not much better than that Tekiteh guy after all."

I face palmed, "Ok, ok. Just wait for the Elders to come, everything will be clear then."

Right on cue, Sect Master Qing and a group of Elders appeared from around the corner.

"Master Lin! Are you alright?!"

I waved my hand, "I'm fine, everybody's fine. I'm guessing you guys went to search at the Peach Tree garden?"

"Unfortunately yes…" Sect Master Qing admitted with a sheepish smile. "We couldn't find anyone and thought the Wendigo might have abducted all of you. But when we saw that flash of light, we rushed here as fast as we could."

"Well, it's over now," I sighed. "Wendigo's dead, students are all safe, just make sure they get their heads checked for mental trauma just in case."

At this point, I could see from the corner of my eye that Brendan is just switching his gaze between the Sect Master and I with an incredulous expression on his face. His jaw was dropping lower and lower by the second.

"Ah, I see… That is good then. I apologise we weren't there to help you, Master Lin. But I think we would have been a burden instead."

I snorted, "Well, you have a point. It got quite violent at the end."

I was just about to turn to Brendan to confirm my identity once more when Elder Gong pointed to where I had disintegrated the Wendigo's body.

"Master Lin? There is… A crystal on the ground?" He informed me.

My head turned to where he had pointed, spotting the familiar outline of a Monster Crystal half hidden in the grass.

Huh, how did I miss that?

I went ahead to pick it up.

The moment my fingers brushed against the crystal, the Quarks contained within burst forth, travelling through the Quark Veins in my fingers and straight into my Cultivation Point.

The power contained within was immense, way much more than the Crystals of that undying fox had.

I immediately settled myself to absorb the Quarks, further expanding my Cultivation Point and empowering myself lest I explode from all that power.

If the Wendigo held this much power, how did I beat it so easily? This doesn't make any sense. Maybe it doesn't know how to use it?

Ah whatever, mystery second, surviving this comes first.

After what seemed like an eternity to me, the flow of power finally cut off and I was left standing there while gasping for breath.

"Ma… Master Lin?" I heard Sect Master Qing call out from behind a wall of earth they had summoned to shield themselves. "Your… Your body. It's back."

I looked down at my hands, finding them much larger than before.

Summoning forth a pocket mirror, I inspected my reflection.

Oh yep, I got my original body back now.

That's er… That's convenient?

Chapter 184 - Candy For The Good Girl

(Cai Hong POV)

"Muuu? Was… Was Cai Hong a bad girl, Papa?" Cai Hong sniffed.

"No, no. Cai Hong has always been a good girl!"

"Then… Why no Papa's candies tonight? Cai Hong was bad girl?"

"Oh, you sweet little thing, come here."

Cai Hong went to Papa.

Papa hugged Cai Hong.

Ehehe~ Papa feels warm~

"Cai Hong is a good girl ok? Just that a very mean monster came and ate the candies before papa could stop it."

Cai Hong looked at Papa, "Mean monster? Papa beat?"

Papa nodded, "Yes, papa beat it already. Cai Hong don't need to worry ok?"

"Okies~ Papa strong!"

"Hahaha, yes your papa is strong. Now don't cry ok?"

"Mn! Cai Hong won't cry!"

"Good girl, now see what I got?"

Papa pulled out something from his pocket.

"Papa's candy! Can Cai Hong have?"

Papa gave the candy to Cai Hong, "Yes, Cai Hong can have it. Papa only managed to make one tonight though, Cai Hong won't hate papa right?"

Cai Hong hugged Papa, "Cai Hong wuvs Papa!"

"Oh you cute little thing, you. Papa loves you too."

Ehehehe~ Papa is patting Cai Hong's head~

"Ok, papa has to go back now. Be a good girl ok?"

Cai Hong nodded, "Mnn! Cai Hong will be good!"

Papa patted Cai Hong's head again, "Umu, tell your sisters to be good too and enjoy their off days. Now remember to brush your teeth after eating your candy and go to bed properly, ok?"

"Okies!"

Papa waved his hands in the air and a big, blue, glowey portal came out. Papa patted Cai Hong's head again before Papa went through the glowey portal.

Cai Hong ate Papa's candy. It was as yummy as Cai Hong remembered! It made Cai Hong feel all happy and full!

Muuu… But how is Cai Hong supposed to tell big sisters to be good too? All of Cai Hong's big sisters are busy!

Big sis Lian Li and Diao Chan were busy with some new lady, teaching her about how great Papa was.

Big sis Manami and Kiyomi were looking for that weird person that wanted Papa for himself. Bad man. Yuck.

Big sis Eris went somewhere far away to find out where the really bad men making Papa sad were.

So Cai Hong is all by herself in this really big room but no one to play with.

Mm… Maybe Cai Hong will go out?

Mm... But Papa said Cai Hong must 'bwush' teeth first, so Cai Hong went to 'bwush' teeth~

Mnnn~ Cai Hong likes it when Papa 'bwushes' Cai Hong's teeth. But Cai Hong wants to be a big girl too, so Cai Hong will do big girl things!

Muuu~ But Cai Hong also misses Papa. Cai Hong wants to go back already~

Maybe Cai Hong will go and see how all the nice people are doing tonight! There's a big 'stwash' of Papa's nice clothes there!

Cai Hong went out of the big sleepy room. Big sisters said this place was an inn that people go to sleep in. But Cai Hong didn't find any of Papa's clothes so Cai Hong don't know how people can sleep here?

The nice lady at the big table looked up, "Oh, High Priestess Cai Hong. Are you heading out?"

This lady had a bad man bullying her, so Cai Hong made the bad man disappear. The lady then followed Cai Hong to learn about how great Papa was!

"Mnn~ Cai Hong is going to Papa's Church~ Cai Hong will sleep in the sleepy room there~"

"I see, should I get someone to accompany your holiness?"

"Buu~ It's ok, Cai Hong is a big girl! Cai Hong will go by herself!"

The nice lady bowed, "Understood, have a safe trip."

"Bai bai~"

Cai Hong went to the back of the inn past the kitchens. A lot of nice men were there.

A big, nice man came up to Cai Hong, he was wearing a very big and tall white hat.

This man is nice. Big sis Diao Chan brought him back saying the man was being bullied by some mean men, so Cai Hong told nice man to cook one of Papa's food. Nice man can cook Papa's food so big sis Eris also taught him a few things.

"High Priestess, would you like something to eat?"

"Cai Hong already 'bwushed' teeth!"

He nodded, "I see, are you going to the Church then?"

Cai Hong nodded, giving the nice man a big smile.

"I shall open the door for you then. Please, this way."

Cai Hong followed the nice man to a big door in the ground. The nice man pulled open the door for Cai Hong.

"Be careful on your way down, High Priestess."

"Okies~"

Cai Hong skipped down the stairs, humming a little song that Papa taught Cai Hong.

At the end of the stairs was a nice lady wearing a veil over her face. Cai Hong remembers that this lady got burned by her very bad sisters because they thought the sister was 'pwettier'.

So big sis Manami went to burn them too and brought the nice lady back.

This nice lady still wears the veil after big sis Manami gave her Papa's pill, but Cai Hong don't know why.

"High Priestess Cai hong, well met. Might you be going to your personal room?"

Cai Hong nodded.

The nice lady bowed, "Understood, please take care."

Cai Hong skipped past the nice lady, turning right and going towards Cai Hong's own sleepy room.

There was a door that was open on the way and some weird sounds were coming out.

Cai Hong looked into the room.

"Oh? Cai Hong? What are you doing here?"

Ah! Big sis Lian Li and big sis Diao Chan!

Mnn? There is a weird lady hanging upside down form the ceiling? Is big sis Lian Li and big sis Diao Chan playing with the weird lady? The weird lady smells a bad...

"Cai Hong going to sleepy room!"

Big sis Lian Li smiled at Cai Hong, "Mmm… Maybe I will join you later. It's been a while since I saw Master, I hope Master is doing well."

"Papa came just now to give Cai Hong candy! Papa said there was a bad monster over there but Papa beat it!"

"Ah? There was a monster that attacked Master?!" big sis Diao Chan gasped. "Who? What? How? When?"

"Cai Hong dunno… Papa say he beat it already~"

Big sis Lian Li and big sis Diao Chan looked at each other.

"We'll need to ask our people back at the Sect, find out who and what was involved," big sis Lian Li told big sis Diao Chan.

Cai Hong jumped, "Oh! Papa said, umm... Papa told Cai hong to tell big sisters to be good and to relax~"

Big sis Diao Chan sniffed, "Oh Master, to be thinking about us even at this point, we truly are undeserving of you!"

"Umm… Umm… And also Papa got big again! Big and umm… Tall!"

Both big sis Lian Li and big sis Diao Chan stopped and looked at Cai Hong.

"This is… Wonderful news indeed!" Big sis Diao Chan clapped her hands. "Ahhh~ I've missed laying myself over Master's lap and getting punished!"

Big sis Lian Li smiled at Cai Hong, "Thank you Cai Hong, you should go to sleep then. It's not good for you to stay up so late. Have you brushed your teeth?"

"Mnn! Cai Hong already 'bwushed' teeth!" Cai Hong said proudly.

"Mm, good girl. I'll come to your room later after I finish with this little student of mine."

Big sis Lian Li turned back to the weird lady.

Cai Hong went out before the weird lady screamed.

What a weird lady.

Mmm… To the sleepy room! Cai Hong wants to hug a lot of Papa's clothes to sleep tonight~

Chapter 185 - You A Sky Full Of Stars

(MC POV)

"Please get up."

"No! This worthless one does not deserve such magnanimity! How could I have been so blind to what was in front of me?! Please accept the cutting of my left hand as my apology!"

"Ok, now you're just being dramatic about it. I'm serious, get up."

"No! I have deemed that this is the most efficient way of both begging for forgiveness and placing myself in your care at the same time! Please! Allow me to atone for this, Master Lin!"

I sighed.

After I regained my original body, I made some excuse to go deliver a candy for my dear little Cai Hong. When I returned, I found Brendan kneeling with his head on the ground back at our dorm room.

A quick questioning revealed that he had been in this position ever since he came back from the yard. The other students were sent to the infirmary by the Elders since they were still unconscious, which left me alone with Brendan inside the room.

The only reason I came back here was to pick up some of my stuff I left behind before heading back to my own courtyard. But I didn't expect to find Brendan in this position.

Not to say we were that close or anything but I believe our little heart to heart talk while he was confined kind of made him attached to me. Maybe it has something to do with his missing brother? Like he's looking for a big brother figure that was missing in his life and found it in me?

I guess that would be the most logical explanation as to why he suddenly got so mushy with me after that day.

It took a little bit more convincing before Brendan finally got his head off the floor, opting to just kneel at where he was.

I sat back down on my bed, giving up on trying to get him to move from his current location.

"I believe you were seeking out to be Master Lin's… I mean... My disciple, yes?"

Brendan nodded his head so quickly I thought he was having a stroke, "Yes! Please! Master Lin, I would do anything to learn under you!"

"Anything?" I asked.

"Anything!" He repeated, obvious enthusiasm in his voice.

No, I don't swing that way, get your mind out of the gutter.

I scratched my chin while I thought about it. He wasn't that bad of a student at least, definitely not the best but not the worst either. He also has a firm grasp on most of the theory aspects which is much more than what most new students can say.

With the fact that he was the son of a wealthy merchant family also helps his case a lot. Who wouldn't want the support of an influential group of people eh?

I've said it once and I'll say it again, networking is important.

Not to mention the fact that this might be the prelude to his villain origin story as well if things go wrong.

Oh you know the one, a really dedicated and hardcore fan that keeps following his idol around hoping for recognition. Then the idol rejects him, causing him to take the rejection way more harshly than he should have.

Said fan then vows to take revenge on the idol by gaining power through insidious means, eventually putting the idol in a situation to make them regret ever rejecting him back then.

Yeah, I definitely don't want to put myself in that situation if I can help it.

But that doesn't mean I'll just give him everything that he asked for so easily. It's not like I'll just take in anybody who asks to be my disciple after all.

I accepted Lian Li since she had the potential to destroy the world, I had no choice but to keep a close eye on her just in case. She turned out to be a heaven sent genius in the Practitioner arts which sort of confirmed my assumptions.

I had initially taken in Eris to make her into a masterchef, which she has been making really big strides in I must say. But she has also shown herself to be extremely proficient in swordplay which is a nice bonus.

Diao Chan is a witch. A rarity by itself and her exceptionally flexible mind has guaranteed her great success in the magical field. If there was a magician's academy here, she would have already graduated as the valedictorian.

Manami and Kiyomi have fluff. Like a lot of fluff. That's nuff said.

And Cai Hong is a cute loli dragon. Who doesn't want to have a cute loli dragon as a daughter?

So obviously my standards for accepting disciples are quite high as you can see.

"Tell you what," I said after some time of thinking. "I'll take over Elder Gong's classes until the final exam. Among everyone in this class, I'll take the student I think most suited to be my disciple."

I half expected him to get a little upset about me giving the other students the opportunity, but Brendan merely just bowed his head again.

"Thank you Master Lin for the chance! I will not disappoint your expectations!"

I nodded, "The other students should be fine by tomorrow, so make sure to tell them what has happened."

"Understood!"

Picking up the clothes I had left here, I returned back to my own courtyard through teleportation. It is just unfortunate that my room's door is still broken and the inside's still a mess.

I cleaned up as best I could but the door's going to have to wait till tomorrow before it gets fixed.

Now that I've regained back my former adult body, I settled down in my room to focus on my Cultivation Point, trying to find out if anything changed after absorbing the Wendigo's Monster Crystal that resulted in my body accelerating its age to that of an adult's.

Once more, my sight shifted to that of stars, all of them blinking in unison at my arrival.

This time, instead of just sitting there, I opted to look around instead.

At first glance, it looks and feels like the space is infinite. But somehow, the connection between the stars and myself seem to suggest that they were almost within an arm's reach, prompting me to try and walk towards one.

For the first few minutes, the sense of infinity held. No matter how much I tried to move towards the stars, they still remained at where they were in the distance.

But just as I was about to think it was a fruitless endeavor, one of the stars shined brighter than the rest, detaching itself from the darkness and moving straight towards me.

There was a bright flash of light before everything dimmed to blackness.

Not even a second passed before the darkness receded again to show me a scene of battle.

Two dragons that I did not recognise were embroiled in a fight with the horrors of the abyss.

The scene was frozen in time but I could see clearly that there were hundreds, if not thousands of those tentacled monsters alongside various other abyssal creatures on one side of the scene. And facing this army was just these two dragons.

Before I could even start to make sense of this scene, my vision shifted once more and I found myself back in my room again.

What the hell was that?

Chapter 186 - Time To Teach These Kids

(MC POV)

Even after I analyzed it from every angle I could see, I could not come up with a concrete answer for the scene I saw. Was it something that happened in the past? Was it a premonition of the future? Would that scene happen in the near or far future? What does it have to do with me?

What are those stars, really?

Why is all of this even happening to me?

Of course after coming up with no answers for the entire night, I did the most sensible thing that anyone would do.

I forgot about it.

Hey, it's a simple reasoning ok?

This is the perfect guide to a stress-free life. If a problem comes up there are two outcomes, whether I can solve it, or I can't.

If I can solve the problem, there's no need to worry. But if I can't solve the problem, then worrying wouldn't help either. So don't worry!

Simple, easy and straightforward.

So that's why I'm now on my way to take over the special class without a worry in the world, strutting straight into Elder Gong's courtyard with a carefree smile on my face.

"Ah, Master Lin, there you are," Elder Gong greeted me with a respectful nod. "Brendan has already informed me about your decision to take over this class to look for a prospective student. Is that correct?"

I nodded, "Yes. I hope you don't mind?"

"Oh not at all! Do you require this old man's assistance or shall I take my leave?"

I thought for a moment, "I could use some help if you don't mind? I'm not the best teacher around here after all."

"Hahaha! No need to be so modest Master Lin! But this old man shall stay around just in case you need anything, although I'd wager I would just be a student as well!"

Elder Gong chuckled to himself and went to sit at the pavilion in his courtyard, a tea set already laid out and waiting for him.

I turned back to look at my former classmates, all of them just staring at me like they saw something they had yet to comprehend.

"Mas… Master Lin… In the flesh…" Chris gaped.

"We were… Classmates with Master Lin?" 'Chris with a K' muttered beside his twin.

Instead of paying attention to those two, I was more interested in what was going on with the other pair.

I pointed to Brendan, "So… Any reason why Sylphy is hugging your arm?"

He just gave me a sheepish smile, "That is… She er…"

"He saved this life of mine and I have come to realise my adoration for him," Sylphy explained in his stead. "I sincerely hope sire can give us your blessing."

Huh… Ok.

Suspension bridge effect maybe? But whatever floats their boat I suppose.

It wasn't like I had an interest in her or anything. In fact, this suits me just fine since I really don't want this self-proclaimed goddess to continue with the 'sire' thing. And if it turns out what she said was true about gods 'falling', then it's just going to bring even more problems for me so no thank you.

"But sire… I never knew you were Master Lin! That means your 'fall' was--"

"Ah, ah, ah, let's just move on from there," I interrupted her.

Seriously, is she some kind of dunce? I don't believe a normal mortal should be aware of whatever she has already revealed to me. If she really was a goddess, she must have been one hell of an airhead.

Maybe she's just a useless goddess?

Or maybe she had hit her head somewhere?

"I believe Brendan has informed all of you about the special circumstances regarding your class?"

All of them nodded.

"We… We thought he was joking…" Chris admitted.

His twin nodded his head, "It was… Hard to believe that Mark… Er… Was actually Master Lin…"

"Yes! It makes sense that only Master Lin would be able to achieve Perfect Circulation for his techniques!" Brendan added enthusiastically.

I decided not to comment on that, "Alright, let's just continue from yesterday from where we left off. We'll proceed with the live combat demo."

I waved my arm in front of me and an inscription appeared on the ground, turning this section of the courtyard into a safe zone just like the one used in the Grand Courtyard.

"Master Lin's… Instant inscription Technique!" 'Chris with a K' gasped, staring at the ground slack-jawed.

"It's true! It really is true! Master Lin is really right in front of us!" Chris squealed almost girlishly.

Even Brendan was gaping beside them, "Such… Such mastery! As expected of the Legendary Immortal Master Lin!"

I tried my best to not cringe at the name.

Unfortunately, once that name was uttered, it spurred everyone else on.

Chris ran up to me, "Master Lin! Is it true you summoned a dragon that killed a giant demon in one hit?!"

"Master Lin! I heard you defeated a thousand Elders and Masters in the last Sect Showcase Festival, is that true?!" 'Chris with a K' asked with sparkles in his eyes.

"I also heard Master Lin was the one who revolutionised the Practitioner way with new Techniques and inscriptions!" Brendan enthused. "I've read through all your published works!"

"Me too! I heard sire called down two giant meteors on top of Abaddon! As expected of sire!" Sylphy added.

Ok… How did she know about that one? Seeing how she knew Abaddon by name… I am already quite convinced that she might be the goddess she claims to be, albeit not a really smart one for that matter.

I raised my hands, "Ok, calm down. Most of those were exaggerated. I did not summon a dragon. It was most likely one of my disciples using an attack that looked like a dragon to take down the demon. I did not fight with a thousand Elders and Masters, the number was only a hundred. Yes, it is true I wrote a few manuals on new Techniques since those were needed to prove my expertise before my promotion to Master rank, I can affirm that. As for Sylphy's… That is a very active imagination you have there."

I thought that this might quell their excitement a bit but instead, upon hearing my words, the twins got even more excited.

"Did you hear that brother?! His disciples used a Technique that killed a demon in one hit!"

"Yeah! And he took on a hundred different Elders and Masters! That is so wicked!"

I clapped my hands together to get their attention again. Really, I barely started my lesson and I'm already struggling to keep them in control. Really makes me appreciate my disciples even more now.

"As planned, let's continue with the live combat we were doing from yesterday. The incident all of you have gone through already shows how much all of you are lacking in experience so this is much more important for you. We shall do this a little different from yesterday since we have… Well, two established pairs now."

Yeah, with how Sylphy is clinging on to Brendan, I doubt she would be letting him go any time soon.

I gestured to them, "It shall be a two versus two combat, the twins against Brendan and Sylphy. Both teams may enter the formation when ready."

Both sides looked at each other and nodded, moving a distance away from each other to begin their impromptu team battle.

Now this should be interesting.

Chapter 187 - Time To Beat These Kids

(MC POV)

The twins were standing side by side, both of them ready to either charge in or hold their ground.

Sylphy and Brendan had adopted a more defensive position with Sylphy standing in front of Brendan, no doubt to either protect her new love interest or to give him time to cast his Techniques since he was slower in materializing them.

All I needed to do was to raise my hand before letting it drop in a descending motion, "Begin!"

Sylphy was the first to act, her Quark circulation being the fastest amongst them.

She raised her arms and a wall of air materialised in front of her, shielding both Brendan and her from the fireball that flew towards them a few moments later.

Noticing that Chris was shielding his eyes with the crook of his arm, I temporarily blinded myself by summoning a layer of darkness in front of my eyes.

The cry of surprise and pain from Brendan and Sylphy was enough to clue me in on what happened. A similar sounding curse from the pavilion also suggested an unfortunate bystander's predicament.

Just as I dispelled the blindfold, Brendan had shouted, "Throw the wall to our right!"

Sylphy showed no hesitation in her actions, swinging her hand in an arc to cause the wall of air blasting out in the same direction.

Chris, who had been in the midst of trying to flank them, was caught completely off guard and received a direct hit from the blast. The poor guy was sent tumbling head over heels away from them, crashing into the wall nearby.

Unexpectedly, the other twin did not panic, opting to send another ball of light their way instead.

Again, I protected my eyes before the ball of light detonated, blinding both of the other students again when they were trying to clear their vision.

This time, there was the sound of something shattering on the ground in the pavilion followed by another curse.

Once I removed the darkness again, 'Chris with a K' was already pulling his twin up, supporting him to let him materialise another fireball in front of him.

At this moment, Brendan knelt down to punch the ground with his fist.

At first I thought it was out of frustration but a water pillar burst forth from the ground underneath Chris, sending both him and his twin flying high up into the air

I realised a second later what he did. A really crafty fellow he was.

With the unexpected attack from below, the fireball that Chris had been created was blasted off course, heading directly towards me.

I managed to side step it in time but the pavilion behind me was not so fortunate. The fireball swerved up and exploded on its roof, setting it ablaze.

Perhaps I should have added a barrier inscription as well… Oh well, a little too late for that.

Not sure what's wrong with Elder Gong today but everything seemed out to get him for some reason.

Feeling a little sorry for him, I summoned a blob of water to help Elder Gong put out the fire on the roof of his pavilion.

Both the twins fell down towards the earth a distance away, both of them trying and failing to keep themselves airborne.

Taking advantage of their panic, Sylphy created two needles made of air and sent each one piercing through their heads.

The attack was considered fatal so they were teleported just outside the inscription safe and sound.

"Quite an interesting turn of events, but Brendan and Sylphy wins the duel," I announced, amusement in my voice.

Well, their performance weren't stellar but they're new, so it'll be unreasonable to expect them to be able to effectively use their skills right now. I mean, if they could they wouldn't be students anymore.

It's been a while since I last saw newbie Practitioners learning to use their Techniques practically that I already forgot how I struggled back then. When the Wendigo was trying to cast its lightning bolt, it was so slow and predictable it just looked so bad.

But Brendan has been quite a surprise though. It's obvious his cultivation is the worst amongst them but he makes up for it by using it the most efficiently as possible.

Still can't compare to Lian Li though, she had learned what most people will take years in months and could already be seen as a master in her own right. Then again, she has that cheat Divine Lightning Quarks inside her, one of the probable reasons why she learned and advanced so fast.

I think I've mentioned this before, but she's really a heaven sent genius.

Out of all the other girls, I think she has the most potential to overtake me as a Practitioner if given the right circumstances.

Oops, I should concentrate on the current students instead of my disciples right now.

I clapped my hands together, "So, let's do an after action review. I'm guessing the twins have no idea what happened?"

Chris groaned as he got up from the ground, "How… He couldn't have seen us with that light blinding him right?"

I smiled, "Well you see, Brendan is quite attuned to the water element. Since the start of the battle, he had been manipulating the water that was underground to build up pressure. That punch you saw him do at the end was a sensory Technique. Is that right?"

Brendan nodded, his eyes wide in obvious disbelief.

I continued, "Using the water veins to sense the subtle vibrations in the ground caused by your movements, he pinpointed where the two of you were before unleashing that water sprout right underneath the both of you. Quite an ingenious, if not difficult, Technique to pull off."

"As expected of Master Lin, nothing escapes your eyes. I didn't think anyone would have known what I did," Brendan bowed to me with cupped hands. "What you said was correct and I have Sylphy to thank for to buy me the time I needed."

I nodded at his words, tapping the ground with the heel of my foot, "Indeed. Though it seems your attunement with water is quite high, but your Quark circulation is just a little slower than it should be. We will need to work on that."

Now that I think about it, It is rather intriguing how he takes the longest to fully circulate his Quarks. I had initially chalked it up to inexperience but something tells me there's more to it than just that.

"As for the twins, it's obvious you two know each other well enough to support each other like that, although I will have to dissuade you from using this blinding tactic all the time."

Chris and 'Chris with a K' looked at each other before turning back to me.

"Why not?" Both of them asked at the same time.

I grinned at them, snapping my fingers to enlarge the inscription alongside adding a barrier to it as well.

"Well… You guys are about to find out."

Chapter 188 - Time To Get Beaten By The Kids

(MC POV)

Some of you might call me a bully for this but you must understand, this is the fastest and best way to learn.

It is but a simple thing for the mind to memorise something theoretical, but when you want to put it into practice, the body must be able to keep up as well.

We learn the fastest when we are put under pressure.

These students have faced death and returned from its embrace before, it is here that I will know whether that experience broke them or made them stronger.

If they were unable to walk away from that as a stronger person, they will not survive long as a Practitioner. So before they meet another adversary that will make them get the same feeling of death under much more unfavourable conditions, I shall be the one to resolve that trauma here.

I gave them some time to discuss amongst themselves on how they would fight a four on one battle, opting to join Elder Gong in his half burnt pavilion for some tea.

"Truly Master Lin, your teaching methods continue to astound me," Elder Gong mused, sipping on his tea. "I would not have thought about their state of mind as far as you have, using such an experience to improve them even further."

I brought my own cup of tea to my lips. I had to use my own cup since the other one he prepared had shattered on the floor a few moments ago.

"Mmm… It is nothing big. I have personal experience in this matter after all."

"Personal experience?" Elder Gong parroted, shock in his voice.

Oh whoops, slip of the tongue there.

"That… Yeah. I er… Came across some things when I went out with my disciples. Learned a lot, really."

Elder Gong's eyes only widened, "You… Found something that actually threatened your life? What sort of demonic monster did you encounter?! For such a thing to exist, it must surely pose a threat to everyone! We must inform all the Grand Sects about this!"

I almost choked on my tea, "Ahem! Cough! No, that's not needed. I already dealt with it. It was a tough battle but I managed to triumph in the end. So there's absolutely no need for anyone to worry, really!"

Technically, the tentacle monster could be classified as a world calamity which I had the very unfortunate luck of running into back when I was powerless. Since I managed to banish it back to the abyss when one got summoned here, I'm technically not lying right?

Elder Gong sighed in relief, "I see, that's good to hear. As expected of our Go… Ahem… As expected from Master Lin."

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow but he averted his eyes by sipping his tea.

Before I could question him about that odd pause, Brendan stepped into the pavilion and bowed to us respectfully.

"Master Lin, we are ready."

I nodded to him before downing the rest of my tea with a single gulp. Returning the cup to my storage ring, I followed Brendan out of the pavilion and back to the courtyard.

The four of them stood before me, all of them obviously nervous with how they're fidgeting. I'm rather surprised to see Sylphy in a similar state though. I would have thought she would be the calm and collected one.

"So, this will be simple," I clapped my hands together to get their attention. "Protection inscription and barrier is set up, anything goes in this battle. I will only resort to defending myself for the first five minutes and as long as you can land a hit on me, it will be your win. Fail to do it in five minutes and I will start to retaliate. Clear?"

The four of them nodded their heads quickly.

"Perfect, in that case, the five minutes start now."

As soon as those words left my lips, the four of them were already moving to my front and flanks.

Both the twins had split to my left and right while Brendan and Sylphy remained in front of me, Brendan standing slightly behind the self-proclaimed goddess.

I felt the fluctuation of Quarks coming from my left and right. I did not even need to look to know that Chris was most likely preparing a fire Technique while 'Chris with a K' was going with his usual light flash Technique.

The fact that Sylphy and Brendan were covering their eyes was enough of an indication to me about their plan. If this was what they managed to come up with after such a long time of planning, I would be quite disappointed.

Again, I circulated Dark Quarks to cover my eyes with a layer of darkness, shielding me from the light that I expected to come while readying a shield of air on my right where Chris was.

A second passed and yet the tell tale burst of quarks that signaled the Light Technique going off never came. Instead, I heard the whisper of wind coming from in front of me.

Instinct guided me to bend at the waist, just in time to feel something brush past above me.

Before I could recover from my position, a source of heat came from my right. Chris must have moved himself to the side of my shield.

Kicking myself off the ground, I just managed to dodge whatever was fired at me from Chris, the heat passing right underneath me.

The sound of running water came from below, clueing me in to what Brendan had planned for me.

I am honestly impressed by what they have shown thus far.

Brendan must have coordinated everything here.

He already knew that I had something to protect myself against the flash of light and bet on me using it the first chance I got.

They even acted like that was the plan by blocking their own sight with their arms, further convincing me of their ruse.

With my eyesight blocked, he had Sylphy attack me with her wind Technique since she has the fastest speed. And just in case that attack missed, Chris would attack me from another direction with his fire Technique.

And if that's not enough, Brendan had also prepared his own Water Technique to bind or attack me if that attack failed to connect.

With the fact that I can't tell if the Light Technique was still in place, I can't remove the protection on my eyes either and Brendan is probably aware of this as well.

What a well thought out plan.

You must understand, these four were students that barely learnt how to materialise their Techniques properly a scant few days ago. They barely knew each other aside from their names and looks but yet they were able to coordinate such a plan despite that.

Right now, they are just cubs who have just learnt how to hunt. And yet, they had already taken account of each of their specialties and formulated a plan for a successful hunt.

If that doesn't impress you, I don't know what else will.

On all accounts, this Water Technique of his should have gotten a normal Practitioner right here, rendering them immovable and open to an attack from either Sylphy or Chris.

But of course, if something like this was enough to get me, I would have perished long ago.

Gathering a ball of air around my fist, I slammed it downwards and blasted away whatever was below me.

There was the splashing sound of water crashing all around me, though not a drop of it managed to get past my shield.

Raising my free hand up, a wall made of earth sprung up from the ground, just in time to block a hastily thrown blast of air that no doubt came from Sylphy.

Well, well, well. It seems I can take this thing a little bit more seriously to educate them after all~

Chapter 189 - Time To Traumatise The Kids

(Brendan POV)

I bit back a curse when I saw the last part of our plan fail to even faze Master Lin.

I wasn't even sure if the first part of the plan would work since Master Lin might just have something on him that negates blinding attacks. But seeing the slight delay in his dodging of Sylphy's attack gave me all the information I needed to know that he had blinded himself.

Despite knowing that our trick had succeeded, I knew Master Lin would not go down so easily and prepared even more traps to follow up on it.

But even with his handicap, he had effortlessly deflected and avoided everything we had thrown at him.

Even the last blast of wind that Sylphy summoned to shift his balance had been blocked by a wall of earth.

I have no doubts that Master Lin is already aware of our plans by now and the only reason why we are still standing is because of his no retaliation rule he set on himself.

Since his head was still bowed down, he probably thinks that Kris still has his light ball prepared to blind him at any time and is keeping his sight blocked to deny us the possibility of stunning him.

I signaled to the rest to initiate plan B which was made in case Plan A fails.

All of them nodded their heads.

Chris raised his hand to materialise another ball of fire above his head.

I noted that Master Lin's head turned slightly in that direction.

I raised my own hand to summon a ball of water and Master Lin's head twitched again.

Kris summoned his ball of light, letting it float in the air just in front of him. Once more, Master Lin's head turned slightly towards his direction.

The others looked at me and I nodded to them, indicating the next phase of the plan is good to go.

Chris pulled back his hand before tossing the fireball forward, the projectile missing Master Lin when he took a step backwards.

Sylphy followed up the attack with a wind blade, the invisible blade slicing straight towards Master Lin's midsection.

At the same time, I threw my ball of water at the ground, the ball exploding outwards to create a small wave that rushed towards Master Lin's feet.

He lifted his right arm and chopped downwards in a slicing motion, deflecting the wind blade effortlessly towards the ground.

The wind blade crashed against my wave, causing it to split in the middle and pass by Master Lin's sides without even wetting his shoes.

While that was going on, Chris had switched positions with Kris, the latter leaving his ball of light floating at where he had been.

Once they were in position, Kris made the ball of light fly in front of Master Lin, waiting for us to shield our eyes before letting the light burst out in a brilliant flash.

I peeked out to see Master Lin standing at the exact same spot, not even showing any signs of having reacted to the burst of light.

With less than two minutes on the clock, we have to make the next phase of the plan succeed no matter what.

Both Chris and Kris called forth their own elements at the side while I placed my hands on the ground.

I would need some time to move the underground water beneath Master Lin's feet and that would be the time Sylphy would start her barrage of attacks.

Raising her arms, multiple blades made of air appeared all around her, all of them pointing themselves at our teacher in front of us.

Sylphy threw each and every one of them at Master Lin without mercy, the blades throwing up clouds of dust as they shaved across the ground towards him.

In response to that barrage of attacks, Master Lin summoned his own mass of wind blades and accurately countered each one of the attacks thrown at him, not even allowing any of the blades to reach half the distance between us.

If we weren't trying to land a hit on him right now, I would have taken the time to admire the display of absolute skill and power right in front of me.

The clash of wind blades was so fierce that a miniature tornado had formed in between, blowing a fierce gale throughout the courtyard.

I highly doubt that any other Practitioner could do what he was doing with or without the use of their sight.

I signaled to the twins with a jerk of my head, prompting them to start their attack as well.

Kris threw his ball of light towards the side of Master Lin's head while Kris let his own ball of fire float slowly towards Master Lin's front.

If this goes to plan, Master Lin will still be under the assumption that the twins still remained where they were and the speeding ball was a fireball while the gently floating one was a ball of light.

To further spread his concentration, I manipulated the water to burst out from the ground at almost the exact same moment.

Master Lin stomped his foot on the ground, a layer of frost spreading around him as my water was instantly frozen right as they were appearing from the cracks in the ground.

He then threw his right hand up to point his palm at Kris, a wall of earth appearing in between them to block the ball of light from reaching him.

He made no move to stop the slow moving fireball that was still on its way towards him. Once it reaches a near enough distance, Chris will have the ball explode and that should at least singe the edge of Master Lin's clothing, securing our victory.

Meanwhile, Sylphy still kept him occupied with her barrage of wind blades, their attacks and defense equally matched to the point of a stalemate.

I had no doubts that should Master Lin wanted to, he could've easily overwhelmed Sylphy without breaking a sweat. Thankfully, we're only relying on this to distract him.

The seconds continued counting down as the fireball floated even closer to Master Lin. We only had less than a minute on the clock now and the ball needed a few more seconds to get into position.

Kris had tried to throw another ball of light at him, which served no purpose other than to direct his attention away from our real attack since it could not break the earthen wall in front of him anyway.

I tried to break my water out of the ice but Master Lin's ice held strong, not even allowing me to unfreeze them.

There was just a single metre to go before Chris would detonate it.

The rest of us were holding our breaths as we watched on with anticipation, expecting the blast to happen any time soon.

Just as we thought we would actually succeed with this plan, Master Lin thrusted out his left palm, causing the fireball to explode prematurely just a few inches short of its destination.

"Time's up." He grinned, turning towards me and blinking.

He… He hadn't blinded himself?

We were tricked!

He had already released his blindness after the first engagement! Pretending to react to our materialisation of elements to make us think he was still blind!

When Kris sent his light ball forward, he had already known the twins had switched places and temporarily blinded himself before undoing it again! The plan was a failure from the start!

"Now, let's see how you deal with this."

He let out a low growl before his body suddenly contorted and shifted, quickly expanding in size to transform into the exact same shape of the Wendigo that Tekiteh had transformed into.

All of us could only stand frozen to the spot as the monster of our nightmares reappeared before us, this time even more intimidating than ever.

It let out a soft growl before turning its head to me, the darkness in its eye sockets boring straight into my very soul.

The fear I felt there was much more than the first time I saw the Wendigo.

Judging by the look on everyone else's faces, I was not alone in that regard.

Chapter 190 - Get Wrecked Son

(Brendan POV)

Despite the fact that the back of my mind was repeatedly screaming at me that this Wendigo was not real, everything else convinced me that it was very much the real thing.

Images of how the original one shrugged aside our attacks before proceeding to kill each and every one of us flashed before my eyes.

The fact that it was even bigger and more frightening than the first one did not help.

The twins had already collapsed on their haunches, being absolutely terrified of the monster that had appeared before them.

Sylphy had also frozen up in front of me, the pressure the monster was exuding must have been too much for her to handle as well.

I only remembered to breathe when it turned its eyes away from me, its sight locking on to Chris instead.

It took a step forward towards the frightened young man, its right claw making a grab for his head.

When I saw how Chris was still frozen in fear even when death was approaching him, it woke me up from my own stupor.

The memory of Mark calling out the Wendigo when it had me in its grasp surfaced in my mind. I remembered his face very vividly, the defiant pose of a young man standing up to a giant monster with a hand placed on his hips.

There had been no fear in those eyes of his and the slightly crooked smile showed absolute confidence in his actions.

The way he fought the monster bare handed, beating it down without mercy every time it tried to stand up against him… That was power.

I could not do something like that in the same situation.

But…

To know that Master Lin had done it for me without hesitation, I want to be able to do that too.

Seeing how slowly he was reaching out to Chris, there must be a reason why he had transformed himself into the monster that is the source of our nightmares.

Could it be? He wants us to fight this fear? Did he plan this from the start?

If that's the case...

Grabbing a fistful of dirt from the ground, I threw it at the Wendigo that was standing over Chris.

The little ball of dirt hit the side of the Wendigo's head, causing him to pause in his grabbing motion. His head slowly swiveled around to level at me, the creaking sound of its bones making the action much more disconcerting.

I gulped, trying to calm my nerves even as the black pools within its skull focused on me.

Steeling myself as much as I could, I took a step forward closer to it.

It tilted its head at me, as though intrigued by what I was going to do.

By now, all eyes were on the two of us, it felt like the whole world was holding its breath waiting for something to happen.

I sucked in another breath, trying as best I could to stop my hands from shaking.

Exhaling, I called forth a small ball of water hidden in my palms, making sure to keep my sights on the Wendigo the entire time.

"You… You don't scare me…" I whispered, trying more to convince myself than anything else.

It let out what could have been a chuckle. It was hard to tell when it sounded like nails dragging across a chalkboard.

I breathed in again, "You don't scare me…"

His answer to my proclamation was to take another step forward, bringing me within his arm's reach.

I stared right at its eyes, "You don't scare me!"

It raised its arm, clenching his fingers to form a fist.

If I am right about Master Lin wanting to help us get over this trauma, this thing should be nothing more than an illusion. Therefore, I will stand here and do absolutely nothing!

This fist will definitely pass through me without doing any--

Pain erupted from my abdomen as the fist connected, sending me flying back and crashing a distance away. It was a good thing I decided to shield my body with a layer of water to absorb the impact just a few moments ago, I have no doubts I would have turned into paste had I not done so.

"Brendan!" Sylphy cried, her eyes filled with worry and despair when she saw the sorry state I was in.

She turned back to glare at the Wendigo, "Foul monster! I made the mistake of allowing you to run rampant the last time… This time… This time I will make you pay!"

She punched her fist forwards, causing a powerful blast of air to explode on the Wendigo's chest and sending him skidding backwards.

Kris leapt up from the ground, his brows furrowed with rage, "I won't cower anymore!"

He proceeded to do the one thing I never thought I would see him do. He jumped onto the Wendigo's back, scurrying up the monster s neck before bracing himself on one of the antlers.

He covered the Wendigo's eyes with his hands, releasing a blast of light from his palm that shone straight into the dark depths of his eyes.

The Wendigo gave a loud roar, throwing his head back in pain and flinging Kris off his back.

Chris got up to his feet after seeing his twin brother getting thrown off, his eyes ablaze with determination, "I will… I will not let you beat me again!"

He raised his hands, calling forth a fireball that was way bigger than I've ever seen him summon before.

The Fire Practitioner tossed the projectile at the Wendigo while it was still recovering from its blindness.

Not wanting his efforts to go to waste, I sent a few tendrils of water to hold the monster in place by wrapping them along its legs.

The fireball exploded when it hit the Wendigo's skin, instantly enveloping the monster inside its fiery embrace.

It let out a wail of pain as it tried and failed to put out the fire.

All of us watched with bated breath as the Wendigo slowly burned out of existence, the fire disappearing once there was nothing left to burn.

It took a good minute before the realisation of what happened finally hit us.

"We… We beat it…" Kris muttered.

"We… We did it!" Chris exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air.

All of us let out a cheer of victory, celebrating our success at overcoming what we thought would haunt us forever. The feeling of it was... Liberating.

It only took me another minute before I realised…

"Oh my god! We killed Master Lin!"

No, this can't be true right?! We couldn't have accidentally killed him right?!

Since Master Lin never appeared outside the inscription even after burning away, does that mean he actually turned into a real Wendigo and died since the protection inscription does not apply to monsters or something?

Just as I was about to slip into a panic mode, the sound of a pair of hands clapping entered our ears.

All of us turned to see Master Lin standing at the edge of the inscription while clapping his hands slowly.

"Well done! I see the illusion has helped you four get rid of your fears!" He chirped merrily.

I sighed in relief. It seems I was right about the fact that the Wendigo was indeed an illusion and Master Lin was using it to help us get over the trauma.

Still doesn't explain why its punch hurt though… Or was the pain part of the illusion as well? Now that I look at myself, there isn't a mark on where the Wendigo had punched me.

What does that mean?

"However, as impressive as this is, I will still need to tell you all that dropping your guard in battle is the worst thing that you can do. You never know when someone might place an explosion inscription right at where you're standing."

I looked down, just as the tell-tale sign of an explosion inscription activating glowed under mine and my classmates' feet.

Oh shi--

BOOM.

Chapter 191 - You Doing It Wrong

(MC POV)

I got to say, they outdid themselves.

Yeah true, they still got wrecked in the end but let's face it, they were never going to win.

No, it's not because I'm petty, ok? They needed to lose to understand humility.

It's definitely not because I don't want them to claim they had beaten me in a mock battle, most definitely not. I'm really not that petty, really.

I made my way to the four of them, giving them time to regain their bearings from their "deaths".

Brendan looked up at me from the ground, still rather out of it himself.

"When?" He asked, still a little bewildered.

I let a simple smile materialise on my lips, "When you guys were too preoccupied with the Wendigo's appearance. You're not the only one who knows how to divert other people's attention, you know?"

He chuckled, "It seems that I still have a lot to learn."

"Indeed," I agreed. "But as long as one lives, the learning does not stop."

I turned my head to the rest of the class, "You guys alright?"

The twins nodded, though they seem to be staring at me with eyes filled with awe.

Sylphy on the other hand, stood up and bowed to me, "My deepest apologies sire, for showing you such an unsightly side of me."

I waved a hand at her, "Think nothing of it. I can understand your feelings towards the monster. I believe all of you are feeling much better about it already?"

All four of them nodded quickly.

"Perfect, because from what I've seen, you guys are still severely lacking. Every Technique that was thrown out was so basic and straightforward that they might as well be something little kids might use. I will need to change that today."

All of them gaped at me, most probably not expecting those harsh words from my mouth.

"Air is more than just wind blades and blasting people away with gusts of air. Water is more than just a binding tool for you to exploit. Light could be used in many more ways than just blinding someone and Fire could be used in so many more ways than just chucking boring fireballs."

I raised my palm in front of me, creating a barrier in the air a few feet away.

"Air is made up of lots of different elements. The most inelegant way is to make use of all of them as an instrument of force. Another way is to separate them into different elements, manipulate the different ones apart so that you can get the really combustible ones to do this."

The air within the barrier exploded violently, shocking the four onlookers.

If the barrier wasn't there, the whole courtyard might have been caught up in the blast, probably destroying it entirely.

"Now for water, it can exist in many different states. What you have been doing so far is to use its malleability to create a binding Technique on your opponents. But there is so much more to its flexibility than just material for tentacle p… I mean for binding your opponent."

I created a rod of water in my hands that instantly froze to become an ice spear.

Grasping it with my right hand, I tossed the spear away, impaling it in the ground a short distance away from us.

At the moment of impact, the spear cracked and disintegrated, causing the temperature in the area around it to instantly plummet and freeze over a large chunk of the courtyard.

Brendan gulped, "That… Master Lin, isn't that an Ice Technique?"

I wagged my finger at him, "All of the Elemental Quarks are connected to another in some way, discovering those connections is what will allow you to learn the other Elements faster and easier."

I reformed the spear of ice again, "Take a closer look at the spear, what do you see inside?"

The four of them gathered closer to me and gazed at the weapon in my hand.

"There are… Water pockets inside?" Sylphy answered.

"That is correct," I praised, patting her on the head. An action that seemed to surprise her though she did not protest against it.

Ah, I got too used to doing this for my disciples that I did it to her without thinking. At least she does not seem to mind?

Continuing my lecture, I pointed to the little pockets of water, "These pockets of water is what causes the flash freeze effect you saw earlier. If you had just used Ice Quarks to create an ice spear, you might get a similar effect but that would require a much higher level of mastery over the element as compared to utilizing this Technique."

I dismissed the ice spear and turned to 'Chris with a K', "As I mentioned, the Light Element can be used for much more than just depriving your opponents of their sight."

I created a wall of earth a short distance away before summoning an orb of light in my hands.

"With a little inclusion of heat into the Technique, something like this is a simple thing to do as well."

I chucked the ball towards the wall casually, letting it float towards it.

The light ball hit the earthen wall and instead of dissipating like normal light balls, it simply phased through it, leaving a perfectly circular hole behind.

'Chris with a K' just stared at me with wide, disbelieving eyes, "How?"

I sighed, "Well… That will require me to talk about the laws of thermodynamics which I think is still too early for you guys. Just know that it is possible for now. Speaking of thermodynamics..."

I snapped my fingers, creating a small flame at the tip of my index finger.

"Fire can burn, but it can also do so much more than that. It is just as malleable as water as long as you have the mind to do so."

Pointing my finger at the wall I created, the small flame immediately latched itself to its surface, expanding into multiple fiery chains that wrapped around it.

The chains quickly burned away the lump of earth, leaving nothing more than a few clumps of dirt on the ground.

The four of them just gazed at the destroyed earth quietly,

"Now, let's move on and apply what you've just learnt practically."

They turned to look at me, it was obvious from their looks that they were still trying to comprehend what I just taught them.

"Practical?" Brendan repeated.

"It's not something hard right?" Chris asked, a little wary.

"What? Of course not!" I chortled. "All you guys need to do is run a lap around the Sect with something chasing you, making sure none of you get caught along the way. Simple right?"

'Chris with a K' glanced at this fellow students, "I… I guess?"

"Perfect! You guys get a head start. Go on then! Remember, one entire lap around the perimeter and ending back here! All of you fail if even one person gets caught."

All of them glanced at each other before proceeding to jog away at a relaxed pace.

I waited until they were out of sight before I summoned the thing that will chase them.

Oh don't look at me, I made sure to tell the rest of the Sect that this will be happening today so there shouldn't be any panic.

Probably.

Well, back to drinking my tea.

Chapter 192 - When You Expect The Worst But It Even Worse Than You Thought

(Brendan POV)

When Master Lin said that 'something' will chase us, I already had a feeling what that 'something might be.

But even so, nothing prepared us for the monster with the shape of a Wendigo that had extra tentacles growing out of its back, four pairs of arms, six sets of eye sockets on its skull and fire coming out of its nostrils. Did I mention that there were five of them?

"Say… Do you think Master Lin actually wants us dead? I expected one… But five?" Chris asked, his gaze locked on the five monsters that had begun stalking towards us.

Sylphy chuckled, though there was a distinct lack of humour in her laughter, "I believe this might be what they call 'tough love'?"

"They're… They're illusions aren't they?" I asked hopefully.

"Illusions that can punch you half to death, yeah," Kris reminded me. "If you don't mind, I would rather not try it. Especially since it doesn't look like Master Lin set up a Sect-sized Protection Inscription this time..."

"So… We run?" Chris suggested.

"We run," I confirmed.

All of us took to our heels, the mutated Wendigo monsters roaring and immediately giving chase.

Out of desperation, I tossed a ball of water at them in an attempt to slow them down. But that got swatted aside by the leading monster like it was nothing, thus confirming the theory that they can punch the lights out of us just as easily.

"It's one round around the perimeter right?!" Kris screeched, running faster than any of us. "But where do we go?!"

"Maybe there?" Sylphy pointed ahead.

I looked at where she pointed to see a rather prominent wooden signboard stuck to the ground with the words "One lap around the Sect: Turn Right Here" painted on it. Right below the words was a squiggly arrow pointing towards our right.

With no other options, all of us opted to follow the signboard and turned right, the monsters following right behind us.

I chanced a look behind me and instantly regretted it, the leading one was almost within arm's reach of me, its tentacles reaching out towards me. At the rate we were running, they will definitely catch up to us soon.

Noticing our predicament, Sylphy gathered a ball of air in her hands before throwing it backwards.

I half expected the ball to receive the same treatment as mine did, but when the ball got close to the monster, it changed into a ball of fire without warning and stuck itself to the monster's tentacle.

The tentacled monster gave a shriek of pain, stopping in its tracks to try and put out the fire.

Unfortunately for the monster, its own brethren behind could not stop in time and ended up crashing into it, all of them falling over each other in an entanglement of limbs.

With all of them trying to get up and away from each other, that should at least buy us some time.

"Good one Sylphy!" Chris called out, grinning from ear to ear.

She waved the compliment away, "It is nothing. Did sire not instruct us on other ways we can use our Techniques just moments earlier? It will not do if you were to forget that so quickly."

Ah that's right, the appearance of the monsters made me panic so much that I almost forgot about it…

This must be the way that Master Lin is getting us to adapt more quickly to our new knowledge. As strict as it is, I can't deny the fact that it is really efficient and effective.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, the roars of five mutated Wendigos rang out behind us.

Looks like they have already recovered enough to continue the chase again. With their agility, they will no doubt catch up to us soon.

We continued along the path around the Sect, throwing glances behind us every once in a while and hoping against all hope that we wouldn't see one breathing down our necks when we did so.

We followed the directions of another signboard, taking a left turn into an alley in between two buildings. Unfortunately, that made us come face to face with a dead end with a high wall that was impossible to climb out of.

We didn't even have time to process our crisis when the crashing of something barrelling towards us could be heard not far around the corner

"What do we do now?!" Kris shrieked.

I glanced at the top of the wall, "We have to get over this wall… But the wall is too smooth and high... Sylphy? Could you send all of us over with your wind?"

She nodded quickly, "For you, darling. I can. But I am only strong enough to send over one at a time right now…"

"We need to slow them down somehow then!" I yelled, trying my best to replicate the ice spear Technique that Master Lin had shown us.

Unfortunately, all I got was a normal water spear that failed to even maintain its shape. Seriously, Master Lin made it look way too easy than it actually is…

Still it was better than nothing. I tossed the water 'spear' towards the end of the alley, just in time to catch the leading monster in the face.

Though it did nothing in terms of damage, it was enough to surprise the monster into stopping for a few precious seconds.

"I'll send you over first, darling!" Sylphy declared before pointing her finger at me.

Almost immediately, I felt myself lifted up into the air, the winds cradling me carefully as it lifted me over the wall.

While I was being lifted, Kris had also tried to replicate the light ball that Master Lin had shown him.

Of course, his ball merely exploded into a flash of light rather than burning a hole through them. At least it still managed to stun them enough to prevent them from attacking us.

I guess it's going to take a while longer before any of us can actually put what Master Lin taught us to practical use.

The wind safely deposited me on top of the wall, allowing Sylphy to immediately begin lifting Kris up. It was quite obvious that there was a little favoritism involved since Kris was basically just chucked over the wall by a mini tornado.

While his twin was being man-handled by the air, Chris managed to finish his materializing his Technique of creating a fire wall in front of him, blocking the monsters from proceeding further.

I watched as Kris was flung over the wall unceremoniously, landing on the other side on his butt with a soft thump.

"I resent the difference of treatment!" He whined, rubbing his sore butt.

The other twin was soon lifted by Sylphy as well before being thrown over the wall, the winds depositing him right on top of his brother.

Just as the monsters started to leap over the fire, Sylphy shot herself up into the air, stopping on top of the wall to carry me in her arms before dropping down on the other side.

A tentacle had tried to catch us mid flight but I managed to deflect it with a whip of water.

The twins were still busy untangling themselves from each other when we landed.

"We can't stop now, they'll get over the wall in no time!" I reminded them, freeing myself from Sylphy's grasp.

As if on cue, the first of the monsters were already clawing its way over the wall, growling menacingly at us. A mass of its tentacles were spread out behind it, holding on to the walls around to support its ascend.

Just to spite it, I tossed another water spear at it with full force, enough to knock it back and away from the wall.

At this point of time, I have to admit the effectiveness of Master Lin's lessons. Before this, the sight of a single Wendigo was enough to make me freeze up in fear.

Now, even when faced with five absolute monstrosities that should have been much more frightening and were currently chasing us down, I felt nothing more than irritation at their pursuit. These monsters had become nothing more than just annoyances in my path to learning under Master Lin rather than the demonic monsters that they should be.

For him to be able to turn our fear around so quickly, it really is remarkable.

Master Lin truly is beyond comprehension… I will do whatever it takes to learn under him!

Chapter 193 - Poking The Vacationing Dragon

(MC POV)

"And they succeeded, just like you said, Master Lin," Elder Gong nodded towards the entrance to his courtyard.

I placed the tea that I had been sipping back onto the saucer in front of me, just in time to see four dripping wet, gasping and worn out students stumble back into the courtyard.

The illusions that had been chasing behind them disappeared into mist the moment they stepped foot inside.

Strolling up to them, I waited for them to catch their breaths before dropping the prepared bottles of water before them.

All of them made grateful noises while trying to drown themselves in their drinks.

"I didn't think… Ha… Ha… They would… Throw each other at us…" Brendan gasped.

Well yeah... Under normal circumstances they most likely won't. But the four of them were doing so well that I decided to bump up the difficulty a little at the end.

Though Brendan wasn't able to utilise the freezing aspect of water even till the end, he had learnt how to reshape the water into other forms to place traps along their route to slow their pursuers down.

When the ending point was in sight, they had predictably let down their guard.

Thus, when two of the monsters hefted one of their brethren and threw it in front of them over the traps, the students were understandably stupefied.

To be fair, I let the monster give out a roar to snap them out of it.

Chris tried to circulate a Fire Technique while Sylphy immediately used a block of air to try and smash it to the ground.

The tentacled Wendigo raised all of its arms and tentacles to resist against Sylphy's attack, holding up the block of air through its strength alone.

That gave them enough time for Chris to create a rope made of fire to tie its legs together. Although it wasn't as strong as the chain I had shown them before, it still managed to do its job of restraining and burning the target at the same time.

Right as they were thinking about running past it, another monster was thrown over their heads and landed right behind the first one.

A punch from its fist was enough to dispel the block of air that was holding down the first one, allowing it to rip the fire bindings off like paper.

And if having two of such monsters standing in front of them wasn't enough, a third soared through the air to land right behind them.

I honestly expected them to have a tough fight over there where they might show me some kind of struggle or maybe even just straight up fail there.

But Brendan hadn't been idle when the first monster landed in front of them.

Once more, by making use of the water veins, he had created a tunnel underneath the earth that led straight past the two illusions guarding the courtyard entrance.

When the tunnel was complete, he blasted out both ends of the hole and immediately got everyone to jump in. Kris had thrown up a flash of light to distract the monsters from following them, not like they could anyway with a hole that small.

Fortunately for them, the current was flowing in the direction of their destination. Unfortunately for them, it wasa long ride without space for breath once they got in there.

Brendan ended up having to shorten the tunnel or be at risk of drowning his entire class inside, all of them ending up just a few metres away from the end point.

The roars that echoed from behind them prompted all four of them to claw their way to the courtyard entrance, pulling and pushing each other across the finish line which led to their current state.

"Interesting run. I see you guys made quite a lot of improvements from just that trip alone." I praised them. "The water tunnel was an interesting one. I'll admit I thought Sylphy would be the one to get you guys out of that with her air throwing again. Still, an inventive use of the water veins to your advantage. Though I really have to recommend that you stop doing that."

Brendan looked up at me, "Eh? Why?Is it bad?"

"Because I have to fix it everytime you alter the flow of it. Do you not think there are no consequences to that? What will you do if my peach tree dies huh?" I snapped my fingers, filling up the hole that they made and reverting the water vein back to its original course.

At least he had the decency to give me an apologetic smile.

"For the task, I'd say you guys did quite well. If you continue this standard, the upcoming test shouldn't be a problem for any of you."

Sylphy bowed, "We shall depend on sire for your much needed guidance."

I nodded, "Umu, I think that's enough excitement for you guys as well. Spend the rest of the day reviewing what you've learnt, lest you forget."

The four of them gave acknowledging remarks before wishing me a good day.

Just as I was about to leave for my own courtyard to make more candies for Cai Hong, I spotted Brendan taking out a small vial and emptying its contents into his mouth.

From the smell that wafted out from the bottle and how he looked more energized, I identified it as a stamina potion. Quite a rare sight for a Practitioner to carry one around since they're more useful for warriors than us.

"Did you buy that from our Sect's Alchemy shop?" I asked, pointing at his empty bottle.

The young man looked down at the bottle, "Ah… No, Master Lin. I made this myself. I learnt how to make some potions on my own."

Made it himself? Without any manuals or teachers? Even I needed to refer and learn from old scripts before I went on to discover new mixtures on my own. Could he be actually talented in alchemy?

Before I could question him further, a messenger boy came running into the courtyard.

"Master Lin! Sect Master Qing is seeking your presence!"

"Oh? Where is he?"

"He is already waiting in your courtyard, Master Lin!"

Well, it must be quite important if he had personally gone to my courtyard to seek me out. I waved the messenger boy off and immediately headed for my courtyard, entering it to see Sect Master Qing seated rather calmly at my pavilion with his own tea set laid out.

Godamnit, don't go to other people's courtyard and start having tea on your own. As much as I like tea, I don't carry a tea set around you know? What's with them and carrying their tea sets all around just so they can drink it whenever?

Ah wait… Manami is the one that carries my tea set around so she can make tea for me whenever… I er… Guess I should retract that statement then.

Sect Master Qing stood up the moment he saw me, "Ah! Master Lin! Please sit, I've prepared tea for the both of us! There was something I needed to talk to you about!"

Well I sure hope so, you're obstructing my candy making time.

I took a seat and sipped at the tea.

Of course, it's not as good as Manami's but it's still good enough.

"You know about the country of Dong right?" Sect Master Qing started, seating himself after me.

I nodded, it was the place Diao Chan came from so of course I know.

"Last I heard they were going through a civil war are they not?" I remarked.

"That is correct, though that information is a little outdated. The civil war ended quite a while ago and someone else has already taken over."

"Someone else? Who?"

"That we do not know… It seems to be a well kept secret but fact remains that the power vacuum has been filled."

I raised my eyebrow, "Alright… Good for them. And that matters to us because?"

Sect Master Qing sighed, "That… Well… It's not entirely confirmed yet but, there are rumours that they are planning to invade us."

"They plan to cross the Death Mountains with their army? The trip alone will wipe out half their army, if not more."

He shook his head, "No, Master Lin. They're tunneling their way through the mountains."

I was just about to comment on the absurdity of such an endeavor when I felt one of the safety inscriptions I inscribed on my disciples get removed, followed closely by a second one.

I immediately tried to activate the tracking inscription connected to the removed inscriptions, pinpointing the location to Jin city's outskirts before those got removed as well.

The inscriptions that were removed had been inscribed on Kiyomi and Manami...

Chapter 194 - Sounds Like Another Purge Is In Order

(Manami POV)

I dragged the half dead piece of trash behind me to the second floor of the inn, stopping at one of the doors.

"Ufufufu~ Is it this one?"

The trash glared at me, opting to spit on the floor instead.

"Ara, ara? It seems like you haven't had enough yet?"

Kiyomi tilted her head at me, "Dear sister… Is that really necessary?

I gave her an innocent smile, "Oh, my dear sweet little Kiyomi, whatever do you mean?"

"I meant leaving something like him alive. If we wanted an incentive to get that trash to talk, the threat of torture would be enough."

"Ufufufu~ My darling little Kiyomi~ You are still new to this, let your big sister take care of it ok?"

She sighed but did not rebut my comments.

I nodded to the currently headless body she was dragging behind her, "Mmhmm, just remember what to do with that ok?"

"Yes, dear sister…"

I returned my attention to the piece of trash that was in my hands, "So, that little guy named Finch is here, right?"

The little trash just glared at me again. Not like he can do much when all his limbs are severed and his tongue had already been cut off.

A little annoyed at his non-compliance, I let one of my tails stab him in his eye, muffling his scream by strangling him with another tail.

I let my tail twist within his eye socket for a few more times before releasing him.

I smiled at him, "Now do you feel like being a bit more cooperative?"

He groaned and made no other movements.

Satisfied, I proceeded to kick down the door, holding the trash in front of me.

I didn't actually needed him to confirm if the room was the correct one since we already knew it was. I only wanted to see if he was a little bit more cooperative to decide if I would allow his suffering to end earlier or not.

Since we already did a check around the inn earlier, we noted that there were a lack of windows at the rooms' side of the building, so we didn't need to worry about him sneaking off while we came in from the front.

Once the door was broken in I felt the dull thud of something hitting against the body that I had been using as a shield.

I tossed the still groaning trash forward, using it as an improvised projectile to knock over the guy inside the room, his crossbow clattering to the ground noisily.

I flicked my tail to block the throwing knife he tossed at me, deflecting it back to stab into his shoulder.

Who I assume to be Finch barely reacted to his injury as he tossed the body aside, his hand reaching up to point his palm at me.

There was a soft 'zwip' as some kind of miniature crossbow popped out from under his wrist, shooting an even smaller needle at me.

I caught the needle in between my fingers, careful to only touch the non-poisoned end before flinging it to the side.

Taking advantage of the time I was throwing the needle away, he had already leapt up to his feet to throw a black coloured ball at the ground.

The ball exploded into a cloud of smoke, hiding him from our view.

Unfortunately for him, I could sense the heat of his body running towards the side of the room very clearly.

Just as he was stepping into the wardrobe, my tail had snagged him up from the ankle, lifting him up to throw him back into the middle of the room.

I swept my arm in an arc, dispersing the smoke cloud away through the door behind me.

Finch groaned as he clutched at his obviously broken ankle, writhing on the ground in pain.

I stepped towards him, my hand stretched out to the side at an angle.

When I was halfway towards him, he rolled to his back and flung another knife at me, aiming for my throat.

The hand that I had held at the side flew up, catching the dagger at the handle before twirling it in my fingers to hold it by the blade.

In one smooth motion, the dagger was tossed back at Finch, imbedding itself into his thigh.

He grunted in pain while he glared at me, though he made no more movements after that.

I smiled and tilted my head slightly, taunting him to try again.

"Dear sister… I do advise you not to play with your victims," Kiyomi muttered from behind me, breaking the atmosphere.

I turned to smile at her, "Ara, ara~ It's quite fun to see the little rodents scurrying around sometimes. The face they make when you let them think they have a chance of escaping before you thoroughly crush their hopes is quite refreshing to see~"

"It is much more efficient to crush them first so they won't struggle so much," Kiyomi protested, pointing her palm at Finch.

The man who had been in the midst of lunging towards me had his legs frozen to the ground, causing him to stumble and fall just short of me.

I pouted at her while I relaxed the tail I had prepared to impale his leg with, "You're no fun, Kiyomi."

"We are not here to have fun, dear sister," She admonished me, snapping her fingers.

The man's legs broke apart inside the ice, disintegrating into diamond dust.

To his credit, he neither screamed nor begged for mercy, his glare only intensifying when he lost half his limbs.

"Ufufufu~ You are quite interesting… Finch right? We are here just to ask a few questions that we would like you to answer for us."

He clenched his jaw and glared straight at me, showing no sign of cooperating.

"See? I doubt using this headless body as a threat will work on someone like him either," Kiyomi sighed.

She tossed the corpse she brought with her into the room, the body landing beside the other limbless trash that was in the midst of bleeding out.

I crouched down in front of him, "Let me start, we would like to know who gave you the order to hunt our beloved Master?"

The little rat continued to glare at me.

"Ara… What a stubborn little boy. If you don't answer me, I will do bad things to you, you know?"

Kiyomi sighed from behind me, "Dear sister… I would very much like to leave this dump of a place as soon as possible. Could we just take his memories, kill him and leave?"

"Ufufufu~ I suppose you are right. This place really is quite full of trash. But for some piece of trash like him to have a swift death? I don't think so."

I picked him up by the neck before focusing my Technique of ripping his memories out of his head.

The images were projected outside his body in a sort of translucent screen, showing me the memory we needed to track down the insolent pieces of trash we needed to purge.

The scene showed him meeting up with a cloaked man in the corner of an alley, the man passing him a poster of our dear Master painted on it.

He then stabbed his finger at the poster, "Our Sect wants him captured. He's at his most vulnerable right now so it will be the best time to do it."

He shifted his head upwards and I frowned when I saw the face under the hood.

It was Elder Tisi, the one that Master had personally busted the balls of way back at the Sect Showcase Festival.

It seems the Fiery Flames Sect really wants to be burned into the ground.

Chapter 195 - Foxhunting

(Kiyomi POV)

"You know him?" I asked, seeing the sense of familiarity cross Manami's face when the hooded man was revealed.

Manami nodded, "Indeed. He was an idiot that dared to try and provoke Master and got his manhood crushed in turn."

"Let me guess… Cai Hong?"

"Ufufufu~ You would think so wouldn't you? Nope. It was Master himself that kicked him in between the legs~ That was where our dear little Cai Hong picked up the skill from~"

I jolted a little, "Master did? That is quite... Interesting…"

"This just proves that this world is just choked full of trash that needs to be purged," Manami chuckled, dropping the weakling to the ground.

I raised an eyebrow at the trash that was still alive, "Are you not going to kill him?"

"Ara? , ara? Is my cute little Kiyomi afraid that the little rat will come back and take revenge? Ufufufu~ I do intend to burn this whole place down you know? Or perhaps you wish to take him back and have some more fun with him?"

I sniffed, "No, I do not intend to do something as pointless as that. But little Cai Hong might want to have a go at him."

Ufufufu! That is true~ Alright then…" Manami waved her hand over the bug, creating a circular glow underneath his prone form that teleported him away.

I looked down at the trash left inside the room, "I suppose now we make it look like an accident?"

"Oh, my darling little Kiyomi learns so fast!"

Manami pulled me into her embrace, hugging my head to her chest.

"Dear sister… We are not little girls anymore. Please stop…"

"Ufufufu~ Don't need to be so reserved Kiyomi~ I know you did this with Master too~"

"This and that are two different things."

My sister stroked me tenderly on the cheek, "Oh? How so? Should we have some fun of our own when we get back?"

"Without Master in between us? I will have to pass," I scoffed.

"Ara, ara? What a wonderful idea~ I shall request that with Master when we get back!"

I tried my best to hide the smile that creeped on to my face.

"Now, let's do a clean up and head back, hmmm?" Manami booped me on the nose.

I scowled at her,rubbing my nose with the back of my hand. As much as I love my sister, I do hate it when she does that.

Both of us set to work around the inn, dragging bodies around to make it look like a fight had occurred within.

That means taking their weapons and stabbing into each others' corpses and breaking apart a few of the furniture around the room.

Even though we were planning to burn this place down anyway, we can't be too careful that someone might be able to investigate this scene and discover our involvement. After all, we have yet to infiltrate our members into any of the positions of authority yet.

That will change as soon as Elaria starts her business here of course.

After everything was set up, Manami lit a candle with a flick of her finger before dropping it near a barrel of alcohol.

We moved to the entrance of the inn, stopping there to let Manami toss a dagger she had swiped from one of the men, the blade burying itself in the barrel's side to cause a leak.

Soon, that puddle will catch fire and eventually spread to the rest of the building, destroying everything.

Oh don't worry, we made sure the barrel's alcohol were one of the strongest ones, so it will definitely burn.

I sighed as we stepped out into the night air within the slums. I never imagined that I would do such things after leaving my acting career behind.

Not that I regretted a single moment of it though, just that I never expected it.

"What a nice night, should we go out for a stroll?" My dear sister asked me with a mischievous smile.

Before I could answer her, I felt a presence step out from the shadows of an alley nearby.

The unmistakable form of Master stood at the alley's entrance, staring at the currently burning building behind us in horror.

"Mas… Master? What are you doing here?" I gasped.

He ignored me, opting to gape at the scene behind us instead, "What… What have you girls done?"

Manami held up her hands in a placating gesture, "Mas… I can explain! Please wait!"

He furrowed his brows at us, "Did you girls just burn down a building with people still inside?! What is wrong with you?!"

"It's not what it looks like!" I protested, joining my sister's side.

He stormed towards us, anger clear on his face, "I am disappointed in both of you! Come here so I can punish you!"

I watched him step within our tail's reach of us before both mine and my sister's tail pierced through his body, stopping him dead in his tracks.

"Wha… Why…" He gasped, coughing up blood.

Manami's face was filled with rage, "Do you think we do not know our Master's scent?! You smell absolutely disgusting as compared to Master!"

My previously panic-stricken face smoothed out to my normal emotionless one, "And the acting too… Master will never behave with such inelegance like you have done. Now spill, who are you?"

The imposter's face that had originally been filled with pain turned to one of mocking laughter.

"Kekeke! It seems my acting is still too poor to pass, even though Master Lin had so helpfully pointed it out for me not so long ago."

Both my sister and I frowned at his words.

"You are that guy who killed Sect Master Long," I recalled

"Kekeke~ I am honored that you have remembered me!"

"What did you do to Master?" Manami demanded.

He smirked at us, "Nothing, really. I learnt my lesson that I can't touch him. His reputation is not unfounded, after all~"

"I suppose you're here to take revenge on us burning down one of your hideouts?" I asked, jerking my head in the direction of the burning building.

"Oh that? Kekeke~ Not at all! They can be easily replaced. I'm more interested in you two! When I first saw the both of you, I could already sense the sealed beasts within you! That raw energy within… If we can control them we will be able to destroy even Master Lin witho--"

I channeled Ice Quarks through my tail, freezing his entire body in an instant.

Manami then channeled Fire Quarks through her own tail, blowing up the ice statue from within.

"That trash was really annoying," I sighed.

"Fufufu~ Well, at least he's done now. Let's go back… Nooow?"

I noticed Manami's words were rather slurred at the end.

I turned to see her stumbling on her feet before she collapsed, my arms barely thrusting out in time to catch her.

"Kekeke~ It looks like your ice actually slowed the poison in your body~" The annoying voice echoed from around me. "No matter, it will hit you soon enough."

As if on cue, my entire body began to feel heavy as well, prompting me to drop my sister before I collapsed right on top of her, the darkness claiming my vision moments later.

The last thing I remembered was hearing that piece of trash's laughter getting closer and closer to me.

Chapter 196 - I Not Trapped Here With You, You Are Trapped Here With Me

(Manami POV)

I awoke to the sight of a damp, stone ground and the sound of water dripping nearby.

My mind instantly recalled back to the events leading up to my unconsciousness and I immediately leapt to my feet, trying to summon a few balls of fire to protect myself.

But the moment I tried to circulate my quarks, an intense feeling of pain overwhelmed my senses that brought me to my knees.

"Don't try it sister... " Kiyomi's voice entered my ears. "They poisoned our Quark Veins."

I glanced up from my position, quickly registering that I was trapped in a cage within a dungeon. Directly opposite me was my dear little sister, trapped in another cage that was similar to mine. At least the cage was big enough for us to stand and pace around in, instead of being cramped to the point of squatting.

I looked around the dungeon, trying to find something that might aid us.

It should be safe to assume that we are locked in an underground dungeon somewhere, with how rundown this place was and how badly maintained it is, I would wager we are in a fort that had been abandoned.

Chains and torture devices hung on the nails hammered into the wall while water leaked from the roof to splatter somewhere in the room, the sound amplified a hundred times in this confined space. Without any windows, I can only assume the water meant it is currently raining outside, or this place actually had a form of sewage system which is odd for an abandoned fort.

A flight of stairs led upwards to a single heavy metal door, no doubt bolted shut.

"What happened?" I asked, moving closer towards the bars.

She sighed, "That thing we stabbed with our tails was another body double he filled with poison… Contact with our tail's fur was enough to let it enter our bodies…"

I slumped against the bars, I can't believe we were caught so easily… It seems we have really grown a little too arrogant...

"How long have we been here?" I chanced.

Kiyomi shrugged, "There are no windows and I've only been awake for a short while myself. I would guess that someone would come gloat over us soon."

Expectedly on cue, the only door leading out of this place was flung open, a cloaked man with his hood thrown over his head entering the dungeon. Behind him was a comically large man with rippling muscles that gave him a frame so huge he barely fit in through the door frame.

"Ah, Seems like the lovely ladies are awake! Hope you girls slept well!"

Both Kiyomi and I scowled at him, opting not to reply to his taunts.

"Kekeke~ If either of you are expecting help to come, you can perish that thought. I have already removed the tracking and protective inscriptions laid on you. Even if they followed your last known position, they will be looking at the wrong place!"

My eyebrow raised slightly, a tracking and protective inscription? None of us knew of such an inscription nor applied it to any of us… That means…

AHHH~~ Master! For you to care so much about us! This one is not worthy! Ufufufufu~ Master is truly cute! When I go back, I'll make sure to smother him as much as I can with my tails!

While I was still in my fantasy of having a great mofu mofu time with Master, the piece of trash came up and smacked the bars of my cage with his knuckle.

"If you would just give up the sealed beast within you, I might be inclined to even let both of you walk away scot-free. If you continue to be stubborn… Kekeke~ My associate here will get to know both of you very intimately~"

At the mention of that, the big trash licked his lips in an absolutely disgusting manner, there was no doubt on what he was planning to do to us.

"Wouldn't it be a shame if Master Lin's precious disciples become nothing more than damaged goods right? Or maybe… Kekeke~ You two might start to like it and stay with us willingly?"

I ignored him in favour of planning how I would like to have Master brush my tails again. Then imagining him lying down on my lap and letting me clean his ears, just the two of us alone in his room...

Ahhh~ Wouldn't that be absolutely perfect?!

Ufufufu~ I never knew Master was so protective of us~ I will definitely need to share this piece of news with the other girls later!

"I see both of you still choose to be stubborn… Kekeke~ Doesn't matter to me! It just makes it so much more fun to watch two arrogant and pompous girls slowly break down to nothing more than mindless whores!"

He snapped his fingers, causing chains to appear from the ground underneath the two of us that locked our limbs in place, suspending us slightly in the air.

I barely noticed the action since I am now picturing how great it would be if Master allowed me to bathe with him. I will wash his back and he would wash my tails, then we would soak in the water in each other's embrace, all the while whispering sweet nothings into each others' ears.

Ufufufufu~ I really need to do that when I get back~

"Kekeke, You can scream all you want, but this dungeon is sound proof! Go ahead and have fun Wan Dan! Make sure you break them in good!"

The big trash grinned, "Don't worry, I will make sure they start begging for it in the next few minutes!"

"Kekeke! I'm sure they will! Hope you don't mind me watching right over he--"

The door was flung open again, "Boss! We got trouble! There's something outside that we… We can't handle by ourselves!"

The trash clicked his teeth in annoyance, "Fine… I'll be right there. You have fun without me Wan Dan, I'll come back later."

"Hehehe~ I hope you don't mind them already broken on your return!"

He gave a backwards wave before leaving with the newcomer, slamming the door shut behind him.

The big trash opened the hatch to my cage, squeezing himself in.

I finally took notice of him after I finished my fantasy of Master giving me plenty of headpats in bed, a scowl materialising on my face the moment my eyes met his.

"Lay a hand on me and I will rip your tongue out of your mouth and make you beg for the sweet release of death," I warned.

The big trash laughed, "You're all chained up and your cultivation is locked! You're nothing but a helpless little fox!"

I sneered, "Am I? Try."

Confident of his own claims, he reached out and grabbed me by my left arm, attempting to pull me closer towards him.

I responded by breaking the chains that held my right wrist through sheer force, my hands latching on to his wrist and twisting it with a loud crack.

For a man his size, the high-pitched scream he gave is really quite pathetic.

I tore away the other chain with my free hand before breaking the two chains that held my ankles.

"Ho… How?!" The big trash croaked, stepping away from me.

"Ara? You didn't really think Master never had us train without our cultivation before? Even without my Techniques, I can still tear you apart quite easily. And for you to dare defile this body that should belong to Master… I hope you are prepared~ Fufufu~"

He lifted his fist to try and punch me, only for me to duck underneath it and deliver a straight punch into his throat.

He gagged and choked, taking two steps back while his hands grasped at his neck.

My hand immediately reached into his mouth, grabbing on to the muscle that I was looking for before yanking it out.

Blood spurted from his mouth as his tongue was ripped past his lips mercilessly, the crimson liquid staining the bars of the cage.

I belong to Master, thus only Master can touch me!

For this piece of trash who thinks he can touch me so carelessly… I will make sure he wishes he was never born!

I ignored his face of terror and descended upon him, beginning his brutal little punishment with my own two hands.

Chapter 197 - You Have Unsealed The Beast

(Kiyomi POV)

I watch as my sister sauntered out of her cage casually, not even throwing a backwards glance at the mangled mess of flesh that used to be human inside the cage. Bits of him were littered all around the cage, some stuck on the floor, a few on the bars and I know the ceiling had some of him too.

"Was that really necessary, dear sister?" I asked.

"Ufufufu~ Of course! How else would you punish an imbecile like him?"

I tried not to roll my eyes, "A simple ripping out of the heart would have sufficed."

"But less satisfying~" she giggled. "And he wouldn't have the time to regret and give praise to Master if he dies too quickly~"

I sighed, "I suppose that's a point."

Both of us just stared at each other for a minute, me still being suspended in the air by the chains the weakling from before had summoned while Manami stood just outside my prison.

My sister tilted her head, "Are you not going to break out of that?"

"My dearest sister… Unlike you who had several months, I have yet to fully enhance my physical body using the method Master has so graciously taught us. So no, I am not able to break free of this by myself."

"Ara ara~ Forgive your sister's forgetfulness~" She laughed, stepping up to the bars of my cage.

Grasping one of thebars with her delicate hand, she easily ripped it out and tossed it aside, giving her enough room to squeeze through the gaps.

Manami then proceeded to tear apart the chains that bound me, catching me when I fell from the air.

"Ufufufu~ Is my dear little Kiyomi unharmed?"

I rolled my eyes, "Dear sister, do I have to keep reminding you that I am no longer the little girl I once was?"

"Ara? Ufufufu~ But you'll always be my cute little sister to me~"

I pried myself out of her grasp, "You are just a few seconds older."

"Ufufufu~ That still makes me older~"

I sighed, slipping out of the cage from the hole that she had made.

"Ara, ara~ My little Kiyomi is so shy~ It's ok, your big sister understands~"

"... Dear sister, could we focus on getting out of here first? Our Quark Veins are still poisoned in case you forgot."

"Ufufufu~ Don't worry, this big sister will protect you~" Manami sang, hopping out of the cage after me.

"In that case, could you get the door for me, please?" I gestured towards the door.

"Well… There's no need for that, kekeke~" A trashy voice called out from behind us.

We turned just in time to see that trash step out from the shadows, his cloak still thrown over his head so that only the bottom half of his face was visible.

His mouth creased into a frown when he noticed the state that his associate was in within Manami's former prison.

"Seems like you girls were the ones who had the fun huh? But too bad for you I'm done being nice…"

He reached out his hand towards us and pulled, the action causing shadows to appear from beneath our feet and wrapped around us.

"Fufufu~ What's wrong? Scared that we helpless little foxes will hurt you?" Manami taunted him.

"There are so many ways I can break you in…" The trash hissed. "It is only because I thought you might come to see our side's reasoning and join us instead that I refrained from using such extreme methods."

"And your 'mild' method was to have some flea have his way with us," I scoffed, rolling my eyes at him. "Maybe you should switch careers and go into theatre instead. To be able to tell such a lie with such a straight face requires exceptional talent."

"Hmph! Neither of you know the truth behind this world! Your silly little church is nothing more than a gathering of desperate people clinging to a piece of driftwood! You think Master Lin is the epitome of power? There are things out there that could kill him with just a look!"

My ears perked up slightly, though no one else noticed, "Such as?"

"Monsters that you think only exist in myths but prowl around within our very Plane, the various races of Superior Dragons and the monsters of the Abyss. And if you are unfortunate enough to meet a Great One, not even heaven can help you!"

Great One? Why does that name sound familiar? It feels like I have heard of it yet also not… Such a strange feeling.

"Ufufufu~ And where are such monstrosities?" Manmi asked, mocking laughter clear in her voice. "Are you sure you have not taken a children's storybook and mistook fiction as fact?"

He shook his head, "Kekeke… If only you knew. We have already uncovered an artifact that could summon a Great One to this world. Once we learn how to control it, this world will fall to its knees!"

My sister tilted her head, "Ara? I'm guessing that's why you tried to control Abbadon? How devious~"

"Kekeke~ Quite a sharp one. I guess you aren't Master Lin's disciple for nothing. Abbadon's control was supposed to pave the way for us to complete the Great One's summoning. But we all know what happened there hmm? So be proud that you girls manage to delay our plans for just a few months more."

Are all Dark Sect members so loose lipped? Just need to stroke their ego for a bit and all their secret plans fall out of their mouth like a waterfall.

"Well enough of that," The trash spat, pulling out some kind of orb that reeked of darkness and despair. "I only came back to get the sealed beasts from the two of you since some damn complications came up. Kekeke~ I should have just done this from the start instead of trying to bring you over!"

Manami probably didn't like where it was going and acted right then.

She immediately ripped her the shadows binding her apart, leaping towards the flea to try and knock the orb out of his hands.

But it seems it was within his expectations as a beam of light flashed out from the orb to hit my dear sister's chest before she could even reach two feet from him.

She let out a gasp before collapsing on the ground, curling up into a ball as darkness began to cover her body.

The same light hit me as well and my entire body felt extremely lethargic, a slight prickle of pain blossomed out from what I recognised to be my Cultivation Point.

At the back of my mind, I heard the tortured screams of a beast, the wails drowning out every other sound that I could hear.

The pain travelled up towards my chest, as though something was trying to claw itself out of my body.

That something turned out to be a ball of white light bursting out from my chest, just as a similar looking one appeared from my dear sister's chest.

Both of those orbs were immediately captured by two tendrils of darkness from the orb that the trash had been holding, pulling them into it faster than the eye could blink.

The absence of that light also made me feel like something was missing within me, as though there was a void at where it had been.

"Kekeke~ And now, we are ready for the final show! Right on time too~"

The sound of something exploding came from behind me, the metal door that led to the dungeon's exit being blown clean off its hinges and throwing up a cloud of dust.

"Really unfortunate, kekeke~ Never thought someone was dumb enough to summon forth a pack of them. I'm afraid this is the end of the line for the both of you, so goodbye~"

The trash melted back into the shadows, completely disappearing from our sight.

The dust cleared and giant monsters with the head of a deer's skull crawled into the room, the tentacles on its back sweeping aside the debris like it weighed nothing.

I cursed silently, having the ball of light pulled out of me seemed to have drained all of my energy which prevented me from doing anything to save ourselves. No doubt Manami was also experiencing the same thing right now seeing how she was still curled up on the floor.

With both of us powerless, there was no way we could defend ourselves against such monsters.

Will we die here?

As though hearing my inner plea for help, a portal opened up in front of me letting the only person I worship step through.

"Master…" I cried, a little ashamed that he had to see me in this state.

Master only looked at me and gave a reassuring nod, his eyes lighting up as he walked forward to place himself in between us and those monsters.

I knew then that we were already safe and promptly drifted into unconsciousness.

Chapter 198 - Steal My Mofu Mofu, I Make You Into Mapo Tofu

(MC POV)

I waved my hand at the monsters, prompting them to file out of the dungeon obediently to continue their rampage amongst the rest of the Dark Sect.

How did I find this place? Simple really.

The protection and tracking inscriptions were actually disguised alarm inscriptions. There was no need for me to infringe on my disciples' privacy after all, I'm not a stalker. No really, I'm not.

But when someone tries to remove the inscription or the girls feel distressed, it will trigger the alarm to notify me which in turn activates the real tracking inscription hidden under it.

All I had to do then was to wait for Manami and Kiyomi to stop moving before teleporting myself to a location nearby.

It seemed like the kidnappers had taken over an abandoned fort deep inside a forest, a short distance away to the East of Jin City.

The tracking inscription told me that they are below ground, that means they're most likely being locked in some kind of dungeon within the fort.

As much as I would like to just charge in and massacre everyone right now, I don't want to let my cute disciples see me commit murder in broad daylight. Monsters would be a different case since that's not seen as murder, but if they were to pick up the habit of looking down on human life, that would be a big no no.

Oh, you must be wondering why I'm caring about such inane things when the safety of my disciples comes first.

I'm way ahead of you in that department.

As mentioned, under one of the alarm inscriptions was the tracking one. The other hidden inscription was the protection inscription. So right at this moment, the protection inscriptions are active on both of them.

Should their physical bodies come under threat, a barrier will be activated around them immediately. In other words. there's no need to worry about some sick fat man trying to lay their hands on my disciples' purity. And if those barriers get activated, I would of course make reaching my disciples the utmost priority.

Of course, that doesn't mean I'll take my own sweet time rescuing them, it just means I need to do things a little bit more smartly.

Oh, that's right! Since it is fine for them to see me kill monsters, I just need to make monsters do the work for me! All I need is for an alibi for one such group to appear…

Now, if only there was some conveniently placed dark artifact that I can make use of around here?

Oh who am I kidding? I'm at an outpost of the Dark Sect, of course there are dark artifacts just laying around!

As luck would have it, a group of them seem to be performing some kind of ritual just outside the fort walls. A ring of five cloaked members gathered around what seemed to be a chalice filled with an inky black substance, chanting in low voices.

Although I have no idea what they were actually doing, this little ceremony of theirs would serve my purpose quite well.

The five of them were so focused on their chanting that they did not notice their own shadows getting longer, making space for the first of the monsters to appear.

Previously, I had used illusions to create the monsters to chase the students. It was a simple mind trick to hypnotise them into thinking there was actually a monster in front of them even when there were none.

You heard that right, the monsters that chased them around the Sect were completely imaginary and could only be seen by them, that was why I wasn't worried about other Sect members panicking from the monsters since they don't actually exist.

And if any of the students in Brendan's group get hit by the illusion, their brain will still register the pain and force even though nothing hit them physically. What? Did you think I would actually put their lives at risk from summoning real monsters?

I am a certified teacher ok? Just look at how well my disciples are doing!

As for the current monsters I'm summoning right now, they are definitely not illusions.

Using Dark Quarks to give the monsters a physical shape before using Astral Quarks to implant enraged spirits into the body, it won't be a matter of just having your brain registering the pain when one of these hit you.

Only when the monsters were halfway out of the ground did one of the Dark Sect idiots notice something was wrong.

"What in the… Monsters!"

The monster nearest to him grabbed him by the head and tossed him aside, smashing him against a wall.

Did I mention that the spirits implanted in these monsters were the victims of the Dark Sect? Yeah, there were quite a lot of them just wandering around here so I bet more than a few of them have a bone to pick with these guys.

And I just provided them the means to do so.

Three of the acolytes were immediately ripped apart by the monsters that stepped out from their shadows, the last one I let run back into the fort to warn their boss.

All of the monsters then turned their heads to me.

"Don't look at me, you're free to do whatever but finding my girls is priority. Once you do that, you guys can go knock yourselves out."

They cackled in glee before dashing towards the fort, the place quickly filling up with screams of pain and despair.

I strolled in behind them, ignoring the brutally murdered corpses that littered the area outside the fort and stepping over the smashed in gates.

It didn't take long for the summons to find the dungeons my disciples were being kept, both them seemingly being restrained by whom I suppose is the boss of this place.

I originally intended to appear in front of them to protect my disciples from the monsters and make it seem like they were not related to me, but seeing both of them pass out immediately after seeing me made me dismiss that plan.

I immediately set to checking on their state of being, finding nothing amiss with their physical health.

Tails and ears are still very fuwah fuwah so there's absolutely no issues.

It was only after I checked their Cultivation Points do I realise that the sealed foxes were no longer there.

That bloody bastard took my mofu mofu!

Oh no no no, some people are going to die today!

Chapter 199 - Kill Him

(The bloody bastard's POV)

I stepped out from the shadow tunnel I created, the orb that contains the sealed beasts grasped firmly in my hands. Around me were stone cold greyish walls that looked similar to the fort that I had just came from, only that these were obviously more well-maintained.

The room itself was huge, big enough to contain an entire army. It was filled with obsidian columns reaching far up into the darkness of the ceiling dispersed at uniform intervals with torches hung on each of them.

Right now I was standing in the middle of it on a sort of raised platform, since this room was specifically designed to direct all forms of shadow travel here to protect ourselves from unwanted intruders.

I looked down at the orb, extending my senses to feel the energy radiating from it.

Kekeke~ The power being contained within this orb was so immense I thought it might not even be enough to hold the beasts within, but it seems this sealing orb lives up to its name of being able to trap any creature inside it and contain it there.

"So you're back," A deep voice rumbled from my left. "I assume you found something?"

I turned to see a man twice my height step out of one of the column's shadows, his hood thrown back to reveal his scarred, angular face.

He was a Cardinal of the Dark Sect like me, both of us being quite highly ranked and strong within the Dark sect itself. While I was the Dark Cardinal of Deception, he Was the Dark Cardinal of Pride.

"Kekeke~ More than that. Found two really nice sealed beasts while I was out. Potentially cataclysmic class even."

"Truly? We mustn't waste time then, you should bring that to the Initiation Chamber right away! With them, the plan is finally ready!"

Ah yes, the place where we brainwash captured monsters to do our bidding, a very convenient place if I do say so myself.

"Kekeke~ That was my plan all along."

I stepped off the platform while tucking the orb under my arm, my compatriot following after me.

"So where did you get them? I doubt you can find two cataclysmic class monsters lying around by the roadside."

"Got them off a pair of foxes from our most hated church. It's only because I felt the pull from the sealing stone when I got near them that one time that I even knew they had something inside them, or else I wouldn't even have suspected."

"Oh? Wouldn't the meddler do something about it?"

I smirked, "Kekeke~ Some idiot at my place summoned a pack of Wendigos, those foxes will get devoured by them and leave no trace behind. No one will know."

"Wahahaha! Perfect! That will definitely give that stupid church a blow! Speaking of which, have you heard from the outpost that is trying to summon a Great One?"

"Hmph, nope and never cared. I don't think they can do it anyway so I wouldn't be expecting anything."

"Wahaha! You're right about that! Never knew why the Bishops let them go ahead with it. Oh! By the way, I heard the country of Dong will be making a move soon."

"Kekeke~ That means chaos and an easier time for us, perfect!"

"My thoughts exactly!"

We strode down the corridor, the torches on both sides of the wall lighting up automatically as we passed by.

"Se we gonna be heading to the final phase? How many are there within the orb now?"

I glanced at the orb, "Probably about three hundred or so. I don't remember the exact number."

"Wahahaha! That is impressive enough! With our army, we could even take over the whole continent by force if we want to!"

"Kekeke~ It is just a matter of time."

It was a short walk for us before we reached our destination, the room locked behind a set of thick stone doors.

I had just placed my hand on the surface of the door when a shrill whistle echoed throughout the corridor.

We froze.

That sound meant that someone foreign had just entered our base through our teleportation hall and something tells me that I would most definitely not be glad to see who it was.

As per protocol, we used a shadow tunnel to teleport ourselves to the hall where a large crowd had already gathered, a contrast to the previously empty hall when I had arrived.

And who else should the intruder be but the man, the myth, the legend, Master Lin himself.

"Now… I know who you guys are and you know who I am. I don't know what you are doing here and nor do I really care. If you are looking for a ransom, I can tell you I have the money. But I also have a particular set of skills, skills that I have acquired after long years of cultivation. Return to me my mofu mofu and that will be the end of it, I will not kill you today. Don't, and I will kill each and everyone of you in this place."

A particularly brave, dumb, but brave, acolyte stepped forward, "There's more than a thousand of us in here, Master Lin. Surely you don't think you can take all of us on?"

The strongest Practitioner in our Plane turned his head slowly towards the person that spoke.

"I will. Personally. Kill. Each. And every one. Of you." He repeated, emphasizing on each word that he spoke.

Usually, this would be where I would step up and mock him for his arrogance, but the aura that he was giving off felt vastly different from that night I infiltrated into his room.

It felt more… Malicious? No… It was more suffocating.

That was when I realised…

For him to come here using the shadow tunnel, it means he is capable of using Dark Quarks as well, the element that is supposed to be avoided and despised by every other Practitioner not of our Sect.

This… This is not good. We have severely underestimated Master Lin.

As slowly as possible, I moved the orb underneath my cloak, hiding it from view.

Someone else stepped forward, "Here's a counter proposal Master Lin, you join us and we won't kill you. And maybe you can get that er… Mofu? That mofu whatever thing from us if you behave well enough."

Master Lin merely returned his head to stare straight ahead, "Last warning from me before people start dying here."

"The only one who will die is you!" The brave but oh so foolish one brought his hand up to summon an arc of dark lightning.

Before he could even throw it at his target, Master Lin had already stretched out his hand towards the acolyte and pulled.

That Dark Sect member's throat was ripped out, the man needing another second longer to register what had happened before he collapsed on his knees, clutching at his throat and drowning in his own blood.

Master Lin waved his hand again and the acolyte's face caved in like something had punched it in, breaking possibly everything in his body before flinging him away.

He crashed into the column at lightning speed, his entire body a mangled mess with almost every bone sticking out of his body. Needless to say, he's already quite dead.

Master Lin sighed, "I guess death it is then."

"Kill him!"

Chapter 200 - We Will Get Right Back To The Purge After This Intermission

(MC POV)

"Kill him!" Some guy shouted from within the crowd.

That prompted everyone to surge forwards, a few of them bearing weapons while others started circulating their own Techniques.

Now, if you ask whether I expected to face a thousand enemies when I teleported here, I can tell you that I most definitely did not.

Back when I noticed that the sealed beasts were taken, I knew there was no stopping me until I got them back.

No, it's not just because of the fluff ok? I admit that it's part of the reason, but not the biggest reason as to why I'm like this.

…

Ok, it is a rather big reason, but not the whole reason.

Come on, don't tell me you wouldn't do the same for a thousand tails of fluff!

Yeah I thought so.

So there's the issue of needing to rescue those giant foxes, but there's no way I'll just leave my two cute disciples unconscious on the ground in some random dungeon too.

Thus, I picked both of them up under my arms before teleporting back to my courtyard, intending to let them sleep in their rooms.

What I most definitely did not expect was for someone to be squatting down at the corner of my courtyard's entrance.

"Brendan? What the hell are doing here?"

The youth jumped up in surprise, "Ma… Master Lin?! This is… Wait… Is this your courtyard?! Oh no… I am so, so sorry! I didn't know!"

I shook my head, "It's fine. Just tell me why you're hiding there. You better not be trying to steal my underwear."

"I… I would never! I… I was just hiding from Sylphy…"

I raised my eyebrow at him. Suspecting this isn't a simple situation, I jerked my head in the direction of my disciples' rooms, prompting him to follow me without question.

"Hiding from her? Why? I thought you two were a thing?"

He sighed, "That's… Only to her. I was never interested in her."

"Why not? She seems like a lovely girl."

"That's what I thought at first… But when I tried to tell her that I really wasn't interested in her… She tried to stab me with a knife."

I stopped, "She tried to what?"

"Stab me. With a damn knife. While saying things like 'if you can't love me, then I'll make sure you don't love anybody else'."

Woah woah woah… I thought she was just a useless goddess, not a useless goddess with yandere tendencies.

"What the hell did you do to her?"

He just shrugged at me, "I don't know… She became like this ever since she hit her head on the tree that day…"

What? Is that it? Severe head trauma that caused a shift in her personality? How hard did she hit her head?

I sighed, "I take it nothing you say will convince her otherwise?"

He nodded, shivering slightly.

I resisted the urge to drag my hand down my face, not that I could anyway since both my hands are occupied with carrying my fox disciples.

I continued forward, Brendan helping me open the door to my disciples' quarters, stepping aside to let me place Kiyomi and Manami in their respective beds.

"You can hide here first then, I still have some things to do so I'll talk to her when I get back. In the meantime, help me look after these two."

He glanced at the two girls that are currently unconscious, "I've been meaning to ask about that… Are they your disciples?"

"Indeed they are, so if I find out you do anything untowards while I'm absent, don't even dream about seeing your family again. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, now excuse me, I need to go take something back from some people."

With those words, I sent myself back to the dungeon, scanning the area for any residual of Elemental Quarks that might suggest where the bloody bastard went to.

It didn't take long for me to find the shadow tunnel in the corner of the room. Though it was already closed, I can still trace it back to its destination by following its trail.

With that much information, it was a simple matter for me to just create my own tunnel leading towards wherever that guy went. I could only hope that I'm not too late.

And that's how I ended up in my current situation of facing a literal army once I came here.

I actually expected someone with authority to step up to confront me first, not who is obviously a grunt to attack me without an order. I suppose the Dark Sect is way less organised than I thought them to be.

But with everyone wearing the same damned black cloak, it's going to be a hassle for me to find the one who took my mofu mofu away.

So of course, the most simplest solution would be to just kill them all and loot them later.

First, rip out the throat and punch in the face of that upstart, then taunt them into charging me to make it a chaotic mess.

Everything's proceeding just as I had planned.

One of the Dark Sect members closest to me charged forward with a dagger that was obviously laced with poison.

He leapt up, stabbing the dagger downwards from over his head with both hands.

A lightning bolt blasting towards his midsection was enough to send him flying back, crashing and tripping another group of charging Practitioners below the platform.

Another one of them charged at me with a sword, its tip pointing straight towards my abdomen. I suppose these are the low ranked members who aren't that great at circulating Dark Quarks so they resorted to distracting me with their suicidal charge.

Or they might actually be thinking they stood a chance of gutting me in this mess.

Either way, it's not like I will show them any mercy anyway.

I side-stepped the stab, thrusting my left hand through his chest until my arm appeared through his back. I tilted my head to the side to avoid the spray of blood that came out of his mouth, can't this guy die with the decency of not making a mess?

I flung my arm in an arc, tossing the dying Practitioner aside to crash into another group of attackers trying to climb up the platform.

I swung my arm up to the side, creating a portal that absorbed the dark spear that tried to impale me before opening the exit right below its summoner.

The spear skewered him right between the legs, the momentum sending him straight up to be stuck on top of the ceiling.

Another fighter wannabe charged at me with his fists raised, dark miasma coating both of his arms.

I ducked underneath his wild swing, hooking my arm around his neck to pivot him around as a human shield.

The poison needles fired from somewhere in the crowd hit him in the chest, causing the man to start to convulse and foam at the mouth.

Shoving his dead body away, I summoned fire in both my palms before clapping them in front of me, heating up the air exactly five metres in front of me.

The air exploded into flames, burning a good number of them into ashes before they could even start to scream.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I noticed the air around me shimmering slightly, prompting me to leap upwards into the air.

Not even a second later, the ground where I had been at cracked under the sudden increase of gravity.

I raised my palm before pushing downwards, using the exact same Technique on the guy who tried to use it on me.

The guy, and the people unfortunate enough to be around him, was immediately squashed into the ground and flattened into meat paste within the new crater I made.

Just as I was considering inscribing a few explosion inscriptions on the columns as my next move, a beam of light shot out from an orb some guy had been holding, hitting me square in the chest.

The world spun around me before a suction force pulled me towards the orb faster than I could think, my entire vision turning black.

Well shit.