Chapter 2

* 1 year later *

6 BNL (Before Nie Li)

In the early chapters of the manhua, Nie Li once explained to his friends that any soul-sea color can be about as powerful as any other soul-sea color if you're using the right cultivation technique. It's all about finding a technique that's suitable for you as an individual. One of the ways he was able to power-up his buddies and two girlfriends was by teaching them good cultivation techniques that he'd hand-picked for them.

But I'm not Nie Li.

I have a feeling I'm going to be saying that a lot, accompanied by varying degrees of gloom and misery.

I'm not Nie Li. I really wish I were, dammit, but I'm not. This would be so much easier.

I'm not Nie Li.

Thwack.

I'm not Nie Li.

Thwack.

I'm not Nie Li.

Thwack.

I staunchly ignore the peculiar looks I'm receiving from other students in the library as I thump my forehead against the book laying on the table in front of me over and over again. This isn't getting me anywhere!

For almost an entire year – a year! – my life's revolved around doing everything in my power to avoid flunking out of the Holy Orchid Institute, diligently maintaining my position as Shen Xiu's not-that-useful-but-still-useful-enough-to-keep-around minion, eating, sleeping, pissing, shitting, and studying everything I can get my hands on in this godforsaken library.

I'm doing the best I can with my current cultivation method, but it's quickly becoming obvious that it isn't good enough. I haven't even reached 1 star bronze yet. Why not, you ask? Because I'm not Nie fucking Li!

Sun-Devouring Inferno Tiger simply isn't a suitable technique for me, meaning I need to find a new one that won't keep holding me back. But even though there's a lot of good information squirreled away in the Institute's library, I still haven't unearthed anything truly groundbreaking.

Spending most of my spare time cooped up with these books is giving me an academic edge and catapulting me ahead of many other students, but I'm still below average as a demon spiritualist at the end of the day – especially when compared to powerhouses like Ye Han and rich kids like Shen Xiu, who regularly receives elixirs and other boons from her family to artificially accelerate her cultivation. Those two are in a completely different league.

I've also been hampered by the library's available materials or lack thereof. A lot of this stuff is extremely old, untranslated, or both. On top of that, since the original Hu Xian was such a spud, I'm forced to stick with the most basic texts because they're the only ones I can comprehend with the frankly pathetic amount of knowledge stored in his body's sorry excuse for a brain.

At least I'm not stuck in the Institute's Fighter class anymore, which is the basic introductory class for young spiritualists. Kids usually spend two years there before moving up to a more advanced course, but Shen Xiu was transferred to the Demon Spiritualist class after only one year due to her status as a super special princess and I got tossed in there along with her since I'm her glorified pet. I guess the Institute bigwigs think she deserves special treatment even though she also hasn't attained 1 star bronze rank yet.

Obviously, this promotion wasn't for my sake. It's so Shen Xiu can still have somebody to carry her bags around for her like a glorified butler. That goes without saying.

But it isn't all bad. Instead of sitting through lectures about the most basic principles of cultivation, we're now learning everything there is to know about demon spirits and how to get one. Shen Xiu loves using every chance she gets to brag about the Scarlet Flaming Fox her family is holding in reserve for her, but I've learned to tune her out. I'm already trying to plan ahead for my future demon spirit, but there's only so much I can do without knowing my soul's attribute and form, and I won't be able to figure those out until Nie Li gets here. The only metrics for analyzing soul-seas that the people of Glory City know how to use are by the color and the amount of soul force.

Last time I checked, my soul force was like 60.

:(

Ye Han was also moved into the Demon Spiritualist class same as us, but that's because he reached 1 star bronze by the end of the first year and actually deserved the advancement. Good for him, I guess.

Bah. Thinking about other people's success makes it hard for me to concentrate on being productive, so I give up studying for now and take my leave from the library. It's still too early to return to the dorms, so I think I'll go find Shen Xiu and serve as her obedient dog for the evening. Gotta pay the bills somehow.

-x-

Shen Xiu plants her hands on her hips, jumps into a wide stance with her feet spread apart, and beams up at the sky like she's the most important person in the world. "Hu Xian!" she announces to the entire street. "Buy five of those peaches for me!"

"…Alright. Five peaches, coming right up." Still preoccupied with my earlier thoughts about my future plans, I amble over to the fruit stall and begin counting out a few coins. It's a struggle to keep the young Lady Shen's three bags and lunchbox balanced in my arms without dropping anything, but I manage it somehow. It's amazing what you can accomplish with months of consistent practice. "You heard her," I sigh to the merchant. He smirks good-naturedly and starts bagging up a few of the fuzzy fruits.

But before I can fork over the coins, a delicate hand snakes in from the left and snatches them from my grasp. Shen Xiu's face enters my field of vision from behind one of her bags – a red leather monstrosity that she adores for some reason. "Don't you 'alright' me!" she yowls. "You should know by now that it's either 'yes Lady Shen' or 'of course my dear mistress in whom I eternally delight, it shall be done at once!' I am an heiress of the Sacred Family and I will be treated as such! Why do I keep having to tell you this?! Is it really so difficult to get the concept of basic courtesy through your thick skull?!"

I'm sure you're wondering why I still put up with her. In my weakest moments, I often find myself asking the same question.

As much as I wish it weren't so, the sole reason Hu Xian's family sent him to Holy Orchid Institute was to form political connections, not because they actually had hope in him as a cultivator. If those connections aren't forthcoming, then the money for his – now my – tuition will be cut off and I'll be trudging away into the sunset as a failure. Three thousand demon spirit coins per annum is a lot of cash and there's no way I could pay that off by myself, not even by hunting horned sheep at the training grounds all day every day.

I normally wouldn't care about any of those tedious details, but I'm still depending on the lessons and resources I'm receiving at the Institute to keep advancing my cultivation at an acceptable pace. I've improved in this past year, even if it hasn't been as much as I'd originally hoped, and I need to keep it up as long as I can.

And so, I need to keep this up.

I stare blankly into the sharp rust-red eyes of Shen Xiu, the bane of my existence, Long May Her Name Be Reviled, and slowly reach back into my pocket for another stack of coins. "Yes, Lady Shen," I grind out.

She bares her teeth victoriously and spins around with my hard-earned money clutched to her chest like it's some great prize seized from a demon beast. This girl is as rich as rich can be, so it isn't like she needs the coins. She'll probably toss them in her nightstand and forget about them for the rest of her life. Nope, for her it's all about being as annoying as humanly possible. That's what gives her life meaning.

At least she isn't an evil bitch yet. I feel like that's an apt descriptor for the adult character of Shen Xiu in Tales of Demons and Gods. Right now as a teenaged brat, she's only mischievous, selfish, and generally unbearable.

I'm the last man standing of her original crew of sycophants from a year ago. After my transmigratory arrival in this world, poor Huang Gongwang only lasted another few months until he couldn't handle Shen Xiu's constant maltreatment anymore and called it quits. Then the others started dropping like flies one after the other, with some leaving the Institute entirely while others resigned themselves to being third-rate nobodies for the rest of their student careers. Only I remain, which means I'm now bearing the brunt of Shen Xiu's ridiculousness.

I feel so lucky.

No, really. I'm serious.

…I mean come on, why did it have to be Shen Xiu? Why am I being subjected to this when instead I could've gotten shoved into the body of someone who was, I don't know, already BFFs with alchemist milf extraordinaire Yang Xin or… or maybe even Huyan Lanruo. Hell yeah dude, I'd be down for that. She's a 10/10 hottie and even if she's a bit crazy, at least she actually knows how to be nice to people – unlike someone – from what I remember in the manhua.

She's also like ten or eleven years old right now, so maybe I shouldn't be saying that yet. I don't know if Glory City has its own version of the FBI and I don't want to find out either.

But you get the point. Why did my finances and by extension my future have to fall under the indirect control of this she-devil? Why, oh why…

Having said that, I also recognize this opportunity for what it is. The Sacred Family were unambiguously villains in both timelines of Tales of Demons and Gods. In the version of events where Glory City was destroyed by the snow wind demons, they retreated early with their tails between their legs and did nothing to aid in the city's defense, resulting in a catastrophic defeat. Nie Li held that misdeed against them for the rest of his life.

In the timeline where Nie Li is all-powerful and manages to save Glory City, they're revealed to be allies of the Dark Guild and actively try to bring down the city from within multiple times, among other nefarious things.

So, and hear me out… what if I can leverage this situation to somehow become an inside man within the Sacred Family? There are so many dirty little secrets I could dig up and so many connections I could unravel. Think of the possibilities if I could pull off something like that!

It can't be that dangerous, right? What's the worst that could happen?

Okay, in all seriousness, do I admit this is a terrible and suicidal idea? Yes. The presence of the Dark Guild makes this a very sketchy proposition.

But does it have some potential for helping the good guys prevent the destruction of Glory City? Also yes.

One thing I'm still worried about is that my actions could alter the flow of events so much that my foreknowledge becomes useless. I don't want that to happen, but at the same time there are some things that need to change in order for Glory City to be better protected from mayhem like Shen Hong. Keeping my distance from the main good guys and instead becoming involved with the main bad guys would still allow me to make a positive difference without upsetting the main plot too much. Maybe.

Or I could hide in a hole and do nothing while hoping this is the version of events where Nie Li awakens as his younger self. That's always an option too, but not much of one if you ask me. The risks are too great.

Of course, this is all theoretical right now since I'm still the powerless little minion of a minor villainess. I don't have the ability to change things in a big way, not unless I go out into the streets and start screaming at the top of my lungs that the Dark Guild is in league with the Sacred Family or some other important secret. But that would be a phenomenal way to get myself brutally stabbed to death in my bed at night, which I can't say is a fate I'm looking forward to.

Back in the present, I fork over another handful of my distressingly limited money, take the sack of peaches from the merchant, and go tramping after Shen Xiu with all of her stuff weighing me down like an abused pack mule.

She marches purposefully down the street ahead of me with her chin held high, never once missing a step and ceaselessly grinning with smug satisfaction at the hapless people scurrying out of her path. Today she's wearing a vibrant purple dress with complex patterns of silver embroidery that sets her apart from the common folk at a glance. Thankfully it's much more modest than her glorified stripper costume from the manhua. If I had to work for a woman who dressed like that out in public everyday, I'd probably just blow my brains out and be done with it. Sometimes the sheer outrageousness of an outfit overshadows the sexiness. Take notes, ladies.

This younger version of Shen Xiu is an objectively beautiful girl with a dense mane of sleek red hair and long pale legs. I've always found her hairstyle to be way over the top, what with the crimson waterfall tumbling down her back all the way to her knees, the long bangs, and the fiery high ponytail held in place with a Chinese-style hairpin. But she never asked me for fashion advice and I can only assume she never will.

She also hasn't yet developed the… assets… that she'll have later in life. She's very attractive – there, I said it – but she also makes my life a living hell, so I can't say I've developed a favorable impression of her despite being imprisoned in the body of a hormonal teenager. Quite the opposite in fact.

The young Lady Shen never tells me where she's going, but from her current heading I can deduce she's walking to the Institute's dormitory. Sometimes she goes all the way to the Sacred Family's manor, which is never a fun time for me since it's much farther away from the Institute. Looks like I won't have to crawl back to my dorm after sundown today, exhausted from lugging her belongings such a long distance. I count my blessings and quicken my steps. It's the little things after all.

…Then not even three seconds later, my steps slow down again as a group of older boys blunder into the middle of the street, blocking Shen Xiu's path.

"Uh, excuse me!" she exclaims with enough sass to kill an elephant. "Do you know who I am? Get out of my way!"

They either don't hear her or elect to ignore her, which I can tell makes her furious without needing to see her expression. Her shoulders go as stiff as a board and she clenches her fists. And then one of the dumbasses goes and bumps into her when he backs up a few steps without looking.

We're only a couple of blocks away from the dorms, for god's sake. We were so close! Come on Xiu, throw aside your aristocratic pride for the sake of convenience just this once. Please, I'm begging you…

"That's it!" she screams. "I command you to defend my honor, Hu Xian! Remove these miscreants from my sight and show them in excruciating detail why it's a mistake to cross the Sacred Family!"

The group of five boys turn around to stare at her, clearly taken off-guard by her outburst, but they don't back down. They might not believe her claim, or maybe they just don't care. The two tallest boys among them are giving me major young master vibes. They might be from the Divine Family, and from what I've seen they're usually a bunch of rich pricks.

Unfortunately for us, both Shen Xiu and I are fourteen-year-old kids without demon spirits and these guys are each at least sixteen or seventeen.

I give Xiu a deadpan glare. "You know they're gonna beat my ass, right? I'm pretty sure two of them are bronze ranks." Judging by their age and high-quality attire, it's a fair assumption. "Or am I wrong?" I address the two tall dudes.

"You've got a good eye, kiddo," one of them smirks. "We both hit 3 star bronze rank just last month."

"Oh, nice. That's some impressive cultivation speed. Congrats."

"Why thank you."

"That's no way to talk to a lady," Xiu sniffs at me, ignoring my exchange with our would-be enemy. "Your place in this hierarchy is to do what I say when I say it without complaint. You're a commoner. It's your duty. Now chop chop." She claps twice. "Get to it."

I hold the glare for a few seconds longer before sighing loudly, carefully setting down her bags one by one, and stretching my arms while stepping forward. The five boys watch me with amused anticipation.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen," I drawl. "The pleasure is mine, but if you're in a generous mood today, I humbly ask that you would have mercy upon this poor soul and take it easy on me. I still need to carry all this shit home for the young miss after we're finished here, so you'd be doing me a huge favor. How about it?"

They collectively share smug looks and burst into laughter. The two older guys grin evilly like sharks smelling blood. Dammit. I was hoping to butter them up enough to make a good impression.

"…Not even if I throw in a few peaches? It'll be a package deal. I promise you won't regret it."

Needless to say, they don't take it easy on me.

Back in my old life, there were a few times in my younger years where I got dragged into fights and ate a few punches, and I've gotta say I prefer those by a wide margin to punches from spiritualists. Regular people can do some damage when they really want to, but spiritualists are on a whole other level when it comes to dishing out punishment.

Once they're through with me, the five boys stroll away with my remaining money weighing down their pockets while chuckling and throwing barbed insults about my lack of ability over their shoulders. At least they were nice enough to stop at giving me a few nasty bruises before calling it a day. A broken bone would've made my life much less enjoyable for the next month or two.

As I lay in an algae-coated gutter on the edge of the street, beaten and bloodied with rain pouring down from the overcast sky and Shen Xiu screeching angrily at me from beneath the cover of a nearby awning for letting her belongings get wet, I reach the foregone conclusion that this just isn't going to work anymore. I need to do something to change the dynamic here. I'm not going to survive in Glory City if I stay weak and subservient forever. If the local spiritualists don't kill me, then the encroaching despair brought on by my weakness and ineptitude probably will.

Now I'm sure a bunch of you are sitting there thinking 'Bruh, why are you such a loser? Stop being a crybaby and go kick some ass. I'm not going to read this if you're such a worthless little bitch boy.'

On the one hand, that's fair. On the other hand, fuck you. These are cultivators, and right now I'm barely more powerful than a standard human being. I'm a small fish in a big pond. Actually, I'm more of a minnow in a damn lake.

But it won't stay this way forever, that I'll promise you right now. I just need to buckle down and get ready to work my ass off. From here on out, no more hiding in the library with my nose in a book – I'm going to get out there and cultivate like a real demon spiritualist.

Also, it would be nice if Nie Li could hurry the hell up.

I silently cry out to the heavens with a short, simple prayer, ignoring the rivulets of cool rainwater streaking across my face and Shen Xiu's irate squawking. Nie Li, bro. I'm begging you. Please wake up soon.