Having only needing to teach Yang Xin three days a week means four days left for him to do whatever he wants. Luo An made good use of his free time wandering around Glory City and cannot help but appreciate the efforts that had been put into building it ever since its founding. This is by far the most prosperous human settlement that Luo An had ever come across during his travels.
He had sold several of his self-made elixirs and potions to the Alchemy Association through Yang Xin, which fetched quite a sum and thus earning him some spending money during his stay here. Nothing much in the city had really caught his eye but Luo An did use this opportunity to stock up on essentials. There's no saying when he would continue the life of a nomad again.
Before he knew it, he had stayed in Glory City for more than a month. The lessons with Yang Xin are pretty pleasant overall and the comfortable atmosphere Glory City gave him had made him reconsider his options in favour of staying here for good several times. However, his foreknowledge told him enough that Glory City is a magnet for troubles and calamities, something which Luo An has no wish to tangle himself in.
Protect Glory City from demon beast horde? Sorry, he's not that noble. Team up with the protags and go up against what is possibly the strongest entity across all worlds? He doesn't have a death wish thank you very much. Plot armour doesn't apply to him.
Luo An knows that he doesn't have much of an ambition. Everything that he does in his second life, it is either out of necessity or purely out of interest. He doesn't particularly wish to become extremely powerful and be the next Gary Stu like Nie Li, all he asks for is having the power to protect himself should things come down to it. He doesn't particularly clamour for fame or wealth as long as he has enough to get by and some leftovers to splurge on the occasional luxuries when he feels like it.
And it's easy to meet those criteria as long as you don't poke the figurative sleeping dragons. He had already angered the Demon Lord but it has been seven long years. Escaping out of the Nether Realm was necessary because he had seen how the Demon Lord killed his underlings out of nothing but a whim simply because they could not meet his demands. Luo An is certain that he does not want to suffer such a fate, so escaping out of the Dark Guild was necessary. As long as he doesn't cross paths with the Dark Guild ever again then everything is fine.
But the real final boss isn't the Demon Lord. It is this obscure entity called the Sage Emperor that killed even Nie Li, someone who was extremely close to reaching the peak of cultivation for what is possible for mortals. Like hell Luo An would make an enemy out of someone like that. Being a reincarnated soul doesn't automatically grant him any plot armour or the sorts. He's not Nie Li.
Thus, Long An had long since decided that he will do what his heart desires. He had once wasted his life away in his previous life, he would not make that same mistake as Long An. He will go out and explore this dangerous yet interestingly wondrous world as his heart wishes. He will try his best to not make any enemies because fighting in life-and-death battles is the last thing he wants even if he is no stranger to it. He will just live a normal life as another normal cultivator that had just taken a glimpse into the Heavenly Fate Realm rank.
Uh, then again, he's probably the only human here with such a spiritual rank. That does not make him normal at all. He technically shouldn't be afraid of the Demon Lord by this point but it's the Demon Lord he is looking at here, someone who lived for centuries through using an Orochimaru-ish take-over-another-person's-body technique. Even without taking into consideration the strength of the Dark Guild, the Demon Lord has centuries of experience above him and that is not something to underestimate either.
So, the best case scenario would be to avoid the Demon Lord entirely, escape the notice of the Sage Emperor, and not make any new enemies. Problem solved.
Luo An had seen most of the sights Glory City has to offer by the end of the first month of his stay here. He likes this kind of life. Relaxed, sedentary, peaceful. However, he knows that this wouldn't continue for long and as such, there's no way he is going to stay in Glory City for long. In about two years things will start going to shit and the last thing he needs is to get himself involved in that mess. Nie Li can have the honour of cleaning things up, Luo An is more than happy to stand aside.
It was a night of a full moon when Luo An decided to take a walk around Glory City. Escaping the notice of the guards that patrol the streets at night was easy for a Heavenly Fate Realm expert like him. He happened to pass by a lavish looking manor when something caught his attention.
They have an entire forest for their own use. The alchemist within Luo An gave a very unbecoming childish squeal of delight, because forests like this means herbs, and herbs are one of the main ingredients in concocting elixirs and potions.
He has to go in there.
He easily slipped past the guards that are guarding the manor. From the looks of it whoever is living here must be a part of some sort of noble family because this manor is simply too grand. He might snoop into their treasury at a later date when he felt like it, but for now exploring their forest is of the highest priority. It's not like they would know if he plucked a herb or two from there anyway.
And pluck he did. Whoever kept watch of this forest probably wouldn't notice the absence of the herbs come tomorrow morning.
Probably.
Luo An was about to leave when he sensed a presence not far from where he is. Curious as to who will be wandering about in this forest at this time of the night, Luo An carefully crept closer to whoever had caught his attention.
He soon found it. A young girl with waist length ginger coloured hair is standing still in the middle of a small clearing, too busy concentrating on trying to raise her cultivation levels to even notice him. Not like she could notice him anyway even with her on alert because somebody of her spiritual rank could not possibly sense a Heavenly Fate Realm expert like him without him purposefully revealing himself, but it's the figure of speech that matters.
The longer Luo An watched, the stronger the urge for him to wrinkle his nose in disgust at the cultivation technique the girl is using. It's crude, unrefined, and possibly detrimental to the cultivator. Just what on earth is she cultivating?! Nobody should be cultivating that sort of trash technique!
And no, it does not end there. It's late into the night and for the life of him Luo An could not understand why the girl is so diligently cultivating at such an hour. Doesn't she know about the risk of doing so? Hadn't she heard of the Arctic Disease? The various settlements and tribes he had come across during his travels all knew about that particular piece of information. It's common sense to avoid training at night if you do not want to catch the Arctic Disease.
It was then Luo An froze. He had forgotten many things and people regarding the plot but there are three people that he remembered about more than the others, the three main protags. He squinted his eyes a little and observed the girl a little more carefully.
Ginger coloured hair that reaches the waist? Check. Possible age range as compared to canon characters? Check. Location? This is a lavish looking manor he is sneaking about in and Xiao Ning Er was from some sort of noble family if he recalls his facts right, so that checked out too.
Oh shit, this is the legendary Xiao Ning Er he is looking at here, isn't it?
If Luo An has to choose a favourite character from the series it undoubtedly has to be Xiao Ning Er. While he enjoys reading Nie Li's adventures and seeing him easily beating all his oppositions into the dirt is satisfying to watch from a reader's point of view, for someone who had lived a century or two Nie Li can be surprisingly bratty at times. Ye Ziyun is alright but her indecisiveness really irks him too on several occasions.
Only Xiao Ning Er really ticks all his right boxes. She's unyielding, hardworking, passionate, loyal, determined, and loving. She's everything anyone could ask from a friend or a lover and many times Luo An cannot help but feel that Nie Li is blind for not looking at Xiao Ning Er like how she looked at him.
Then again, love is blind. Nie Li loves Ye Ziyun and to an extent, Luo An cannot help but respect the dedication Nie Li has for Ziyun for no other reason than his love for her. His eyes has her and only her and such dedication is an admirable trait in Luo An's eyes. It's just a pity for Xiao Ning Er. She had met and fell in love with the wrong person at the wrong time. In the end, even when Nie Li finally accepted her as his fiancee it seems more like an act out of pity for her than any true love. It's a somewhat sad fate for someone like Xiao Ning Er. She obviously deserves more.
Luo An continues to observe the girl a little longer. By now he is certain that the girl already is starting to exhibit several symptoms of the Arctic Disease. It was a mild surprise, because he wasn't expecting her to contract the disease so early on. There are supposedly two more years before the start of the plot. The inner doctor in him is also screaming for the girl to just stop, because it is plain as day to him that what she is doing is allowing the Arctic Disease to worsen even faster than she could possibly raise her cultivation levels.
In the end, Luo An simply cannot bear to witness such travesty to continue any longer. He put up a simple noise cancelling barrier around them before announcing his appearance.
"You should really stop training in the middle of the night if you don't want to die a dog's death."
There was a shocked gasp and the girl turned around, her eyes now fully opened in full alertness. Luo An's gaze met the girl's light brown eye and he is more convinced that this girl has to be Xiao Ning Er.
"Who are you?! What are you doing here on my family's grounds?!" The girl all but growled, already armed with a dagger poised in a defensive stance. In response, Luo An simply shrugged
"Would you believe me if I simply walked in here? I guess not." Luo An sighed before adopting a slightly sterner tone. "But no matter. Have you heard of the Arctic Disease?"
The girl made no response other than giving him a harsh glare. Seeing that, Luo An continued.
"The symptoms of the Arctic Disease often made themselves known at night. Your legs would feel as though they are on fire while the rest of your body feels cold. At midnight, you feel so much pain that cultivating becomes impossible. You will start to find bruises on your body that does not dissipate no matter what you do and it will only spread further. Need I go on?"
The change in her facial expressions were obvious.
"You… You know about… What is happening to me?"
"I learnt a thing or two from a wandering doctor during my travels." Luo An replied. "And honestly, the only reason why I decided to announce my presence instead of walking away quietly is because I really could not ignore such a stupid act being conducted so reckless in front of me. Training at night should be avoided unless you are Black Gold rank or higher and even then, it is a calculated risk that you are taking. For someone like you who hasn't even reached Bronze rank? It's akin to asking for a death wish. You either fall seriously ill, or you might cause your body to implode from within."
The girl visibly flinched at his words, but not before quickly calming herself down and asking him a question.
"Do you know of a cure for this Arctic Disease?"
"Of course." Luo An retorted, feeling slightly offended that he would not know the existence of such an easy cure. With a flick of his fingers, a pen and paper materialised from his interspatial ring and he quickly wrote down the remedy for the Arctic Disease.
"You will need to consume medicine made from Golden Striped Grass and Imperial Sky Grass for ten days. I will write the prescription here. Until then, do not cultivate at night until you have fully recovered and even after that, only cultivate if you truly need it because if you ever contract the Arctic Disease again the consequence will only be worse as compared to the first time you suffer from it. Lastly, someone who knows the Daoyin technique needs to massage the bruised areas every few days. I suggest you find someone you trust because this requires physical contact."
Prescription written, Luo An handed it over to the girl, who took it with slight apprehension but no less grateful.
"Thank you."
"Don't sweat it. It's not like it's a very difficult thing to do anyway. You should count yourself lucky that your Arctic Disease is only in the early stages and is relatively easy to cure. Any later and I will have to increase the dosage of your medicine and that may not necessarily be a good thing. When mixed wrongly in large amounts, Golden Striped Grass and Imperial Sky Grass might produce toxins instead."
The girl nodded to every single thing Luo An said, her face is one of seriousness and for some reason Luo An cannot help but find it cute.
"Then about this Daoyin technique…"
"I suppose I can teach you, and then you can teach someone else to help with removing the bruises…" Luo An offered, because it felt wrong to grope an eleven year old girl no matter how mature she looks right now. If the person standing in front of him is of Yang Xin's age he would have immediately jumped at the opportunity to feel her all over but as far as he is concerned, this girl is nothing but a little girl right now.
"But that does not mean that we can replicate the effects that you can produce, right? Even I have never heard of such a technique, so it must not be easy to learn."
Luo An found himself stumped. She does have a point. While the medicine is easy to concoct, the Daoyin technique is not necessarily easy to learn.
"Can… Can you… help me to remove my bruises with the Daoyin technique?" The girl asked shyly, her face starting to flush a bright red. It's taking all of Luo An's self-restraint to not harbour any weird thoughts right now because eleven year old or not, there's no denying that this girl will grow up to be a real beauty in the near future. Furthermore, she is way mature than girls her age should be.
Fuck, it's almost a crime for an eleven year old girl to be born with such attractive looks in the first place.
"I'm repeating this again, this requires physical contact and if your bruises happens to form somewhere on your body where it is inconvenient… I will have to touch it in order for the Daoyin technique to work."
"I understand." The girl gave another shy nod. "Uhm, I have one bruise here on my foot…"
Soon, Luo An found himself sitting on the ground together with the girl, who he now knows is really Xiao Ning Er after they had briefly introduced themselves. They engaged in a brief conversation while waiting for the Daoyin technique to take effect and it wasn't long before Xiao Ning Er told him the reason why she is working so hard. She simply wants to free herself from the arranged marriage to Shen Fei that she never agreed to.
"Funnily enough, your situation was somewhat similar to mine. From how I see it, you have two choices. One, accept your fate. Two, defy it."
"I will defy it." Xiao Ning Er declared without hesitation. "Using whatever means necessary."
"Then good for you." Luo An replied with a faint smile which he sent her way, causing Xiao Ning Er to blush once more.
"You said that you once faced a similar situation? Were you…"
"Huh? Oh, no. I was from the Dark Guild, you see."
The shocked look in her eyes was priceless. The Dark Guild and Glory City are mortal enemies.
"Obviously, I escaped out of there. The leader of the Dark Guild, the Demon Lord, he is not a benevolent ruler. How long you can last in there depends on how long your usefulness to him can last. You may think that I am good at medicine for knowing the Daoyin technique but the truth is, my expertise lies in inscriptions. I am a natural born inscriptionist, comprehending the art of inscriptions at such a high level that allows me to become a master inscriptionist by the age of seven and as such, was invaluable to the Demon Lord."
"Then why run from him?"
"Because I know that even being a master inscriptionist wouldn't save me from the Demon Lord's wrath if he ever asks me to write up an impossible inscription. He kills people on a whim for no other reason than he feels like it, no matter their value. Every single day there could be my last. There's no way I would want to stay by his side for long and so I have to escape in order to live."
"Glory City will benefit from what you know about the Dark Guild. The City Lord has been trying to track-"
"I'm not getting myself involved in this mess. If you are truly grateful to me, then do not speak about me or what has happened tonight to anyone else."
Xiao Ning Er remained silent. Moments later, Luo An ended the Daoyin technique when the bruise on Ning Er's foot dissipated considerably. The ecstatic look on Ning Er's face made Luo An feel that it was worth the trouble. Helping people in need does make him feel good.
"Feeling better?"
"Yes." Xiao Ning Er nodded happily before freezing up and blushing once more.
"T-There's another..."
Luo An's right eye cannot help but twitch as Xiao Ning Er gestured to the area around her left ribs. He had thought that since he encountered Xiao Ning Er two years earlier than Nie Li did, maybe the bruise had not formed on such an inconvenient spot. Guess he's wrong.
"If you are sure you don't mind a man touching you, we can proceed."
Xiao Ning Er nodded mutely before slowly unbuttoning the top of her training attire. Luo An did an uncontrollable gulp at the sight. Her flawless pale white skin that shone under the moonlight, those curves, the bulges of her twin mounds under the cloth binding around her chest.
Luo An respectfully averted his gaze and did his best to shove all those erotic thoughts aside. He is no saint. Far from one, actually. He is a healthy man with needs and wants. He isn't sure if he can control himself the longer he stares at the body of such an unparalleled beauty, even if said beauty is only an eleven year old girl. He had always been a little lacking when it comes to controlling his impulses.
The tips of his fingers glowed with soul force as Luo An activated the Daoyin technique and slowly massaged the bruise around Ning Er's chest. He accidentally came into contact with Ning Er's chest a few times and goddamn, are they soft and bouncy.
"Done."
"Thank you." Xiao Ning Er thanked Luo An the moment they were finally done, her voice softer than a whisper as she wore her shirt once more. They both sat there in an awkward silence before she spoke up.
"How did you escape the Dark Guild?"
"Planning. Months and months of careful planning."
"That cannot be all. It's impossible to survive out there on your own in the Divine Continent without possessing a certain level of strength. How did you attain it?"
"Hm? Well, I am a master inscriptionist. My inscriptions were what kept me safe during my early years after I escaped the Dark Guild. I wandered around, visited a few settlements where I learnt a thing or two from the people there. The Daoyin technique I used on you earlier? I learnt it from a travelling healer by trading some of my knowledge of inscriptions for some of his medical knowledge."
"So I need to be good at something before I could even consider planning my escape. Something that can allow me to protect myself and survive out there."
"Basically, yes."
"Then can you teach me?"
When Luo An turned his head to face her, her eyes were full of determination with hints of a slight glimmer of hope. He found himself unable to reject her request.
"And what will you do with the knowledge I taught you?"
"Free myself from my shackles. I will escape this place if I have to, find another place to settle down where I can just be myself and be free. That is all."
Luo An let out a soft sigh. From the looks of it he had already screwed canon up six days to Sunday. Still, this isn't the worst that can happen.
"Fine. I will contact you again on where and when to meet. I'm warning you, I'm a strict teacher."
She smiled.
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
The desert is unforgiving, harsh. He wouldn't have travelled all the way here if he wasn't trying to escape his pursuers from the Dark Guild. Hopefully, this is enough to dissuade them from pursuing him any further.
His body was on autopilot at this point, constantly moving forward at a slow pace with the fear of getting dragged back to the Nether Realm the sole force that was driving him forward. He pushed himself further. A step forward is a step further away from the hell known as the Dark Guild.
He kept moving forward, unable to keep track of his surroundings in that half-delirious state. It wasn't until he nearly bumped into a wall did he jolt himself back to reality.
Why is there a wall here?
He looked up, only to gape his mouth in awe when he saw the sights in front of him. In hindsight, that was a bad idea because the winds blew the sand into his mouth the moment he did so, forcing him to gag and spit them all out.
This is a palace, no other words could describe the building in front of him. Eagerly, he pushed the giant golden doors open with renewed vigour and was nearly blinded by a dazzling glow of golden light when he did so. A path opened itself up to him, lined with many elaborate sculptures that are unique from each other. He didn't stop walking until he reached the end of the path and found an altar at the end of the path.
Countless scrolls were placed at the altar, each written with powerfully dense words that he has no idea if he could ever learn to comprehend. However, that is not what caught his attention. What caught his attention is what sits at the middle of this altar and the words on it that labelled the title of the scroll. It was at this moment that he realised that his mere presence alone had interfered way too much with the natural order of this world, willingly or not.
The title of the item sitting in the middle of the altar has only four words.
Temporal Demon Spirit Book