"Ning Er."

"Morning, father." Xiao Ning Er greeted her father with barely a hint of emotion in her voice. The only reason why she got up so early today was partly to avoid meeting any of her family members. Guess she drew the short end of the straw today.

"Where are you going so early in the morning?"

"To train." She replied with a half-truth. Technically, she isn't lying. She is going out to train.

Her father's eyebrows rose ever so slightly and she met his questioning gaze without flinching. After what seemed like an eternity, he simply dismissed her with a casual wave of his hand.

"Don't stay out too late."

She gave a bow in his direction before taking her leave. She left the manor with a slight skip in her steps with a lunchbox in hand, humming a merry tune as she did so. She cannot help it, she's just that happy to be out of there even if it's just for a short while.

She quickly took another look at her attire today. She is in her training attire but she made sure to choose a fancier looking one, hoping that it may catch his eye. He had never said a single thing about her attire before and while he can be very open about certain things about himself, he is also strangely secretive in many other areas. There are many things that she really couldn't tell when it comes to him.

What she does know is that she is probably his most trusted person in the whole of Glory City and that she is important to him in some ways. He didn't make an effort to hide that he was initially planning to stay in Glory City for a maximum of six months but eight months had already passed since they first met, and that was a month after he had reached Glory City before they met each other. It only takes her a week of knowing him to realise that he has the spirit of an adventurer and a mind of a wanderer. He is not one to stay in one place for long without a very good reason and yet here he is, still here in Glory City.

She just knows that he is staying here just for her and that alone makes her very happy. She will do all she can to keep him by her side.

It wasn't long before she reached his residence located at the edge of the city. He should be up by now, but it is still polite to knock on the door.

"Luo An? It's me, Ning Er. Can I come in?"

"Yeah sure."

She pushed the door open with a happy smile on her face. From the looks of it he probably only just woke up minutes ago, just like she planned.

"Good morning. I've prepared breakfast."

"You don't need to keep doing that." He gave another yawn before moving off to quickly freshen up. Soon after, the both of them are seated at the table, enjoying the breakfast she prepared. It's a routine by now. Whenever she has lessons with him she will wake up early to prepare breakfast, leave the manor before any of her family members realise what is going on, and then spend the rest of the day under his tutelage and only heading back home just right before sunset.

He isn't free every single day of the week because he does have another student who also happens to be the Director of the Alchemy Association, Yang Xin. Teaching Yang Xin alone occupies Luo An's time three days out of seven, leaving her with a maximum of four days with Luo An. Luo An doesn't necessarily teach her every single day during those four days either. Sometimes when he feels like it he might, but oftentimes it's either three days or two and sometimes none at all.

Even then, she is more than just grateful to him. Not only because he cured her of the Arctic Disease that was plaguing her, but also agreeing to her request to teach her and giving her the strength to one day free herself from her arranged marriage with Shen Fei. That is her first step taken to achieving true freedom and it is only possible because of him.

It wasn't long before she found herself more and more enthralled by him. She loves it when he goes all serious during their lessons and teaches her whatever he can, especially when it comes to inscriptions and alchemy, the two areas which he has the largest interest in. She loves listening to his tales of adventure that he had embarked on ever since he escaped from the Dark Guild when she asked him to recount it for her. She enjoys the way he looks out for her in the little things that he does and she wants nothing but to spend time alone with him every single day.

All she wants is for them to be by each other's side.

She felt oddly smug and satisfied when she learnt that she is the only person who knew that he has two students, namely her and Yang Xin. Even Yang Xin is not privy to what he does during his supposed off days nor does she know that he had taken Xiao Ning Er as his second student, but Xiao Ning Er knows about the details of the arrangements he had hashed out with Yang Xin. It became their unsaid little secret that she will not reveal a single thing about him and he in turn, will keep quiet about anything related to her if anyone asked.

It surprised her that he is merely four years older than him. She still cannot fathom how he had managed to accomplish this much at such a young age but she guess that is his charm. She cannot help but wonder if she would one day grow strong enough to stand by his side as his equal. She cannot help but wonder if there is ever a chance that they would go out and explore the world together, just the two of them alone.

But that cannot happen with the current arrangements still in place. First, she needs to somehow break off her engagement to Shen Fei. Luo An had given her the tools and knowledge needed to do so, so now it is on her to work hard for it.

"We will be going through inscriptions again. Hopefully after today we can start you on recognising and decoding inscriptions of the Black Gold rank next week."

She nodded eagerly. Their lessons had always been more focused on inscriptions and alchemy rather than on cultivation techniques. His reasoning was that she is a genius in her own right and she needs no further coaching on how to cultivate. All she needs is the perfect cultivation technique that suits her and he has given her that. He had admitted that he would not make a good teacher when it comes to cultivation because a lot of his cultivation had relied on some absurdly good luck and elixirs to increase his soul force and consequently his rank. Thus, his decision to focus his teachings on inscriptions and alchemy instead.

She isn't sure just what rank he had attained as a demon spiritualist because he had never been forthcoming about it but even then, she has a sneaking suspicion that not many in Glory City can match him in a serious battle. He is someone who had survived countless punishments the Divine Continent could possibly throw at him for almost a decade. There's no way anybody could survive out there that long by himself without possessing a certain level of strength.

She doesn't mind that much that he had given her minimal help in guiding her on how to cultivate because the technique he had shared with her is something that even families like the Sacred Family and Snow Wind Family will kill for. Not only that, whatever he is teaching her can also be considered priceless in Glory City and she is honoured that he is sharing all of it with her with no strings attached. What he is imparting to her are the more obscure arts that could hardly be learnt anywhere else which so happens to be his areas of expertise.

"This is an array?"

"Wrong. The inscription patterns are those of a battle pattern. See the lines here? This is probably where you confused the pattern for an array because of the similarities but if you look closer at this area where I'm now pointing at, do you see a difference?"

"I see now. While the overall pattern looks like an array, that section there has inscription patterns that can only be found in those of a battle pattern."

"Yes. So don't get yourself tricked the next time. If you try activating this as an array inscription instead of a battle inscription you would find yourself facing some nasty consequences."

He continues to explain the subtle differences between the different types of inscription patterns that she should be aware of when dealing with inscriptions of the Black Gold rank level and she tries her best to follow. If she can be considered a genius as a cultivator then he is a prodigy when it comes to inscriptions. She doesn't know anything about the Nether Realm which he said that he came from, but to be a master inscriptionist by the age of eight is something unheard of in the history of Glory City.

"North Heavenly Ice Plains?"

After lunch would be the typical storytelling session. She would ask him to share with her the things he experienced in places that she had never heard before outside far away from Glory City. Every recount of every single story makes her heart yearning to go out of the city's walls more and more. Like him, she wants to see what the world has to offer despite the danger it holds.

She won't take long. One day, she will accumulate the strength necessary to rid herself of the shackles binding her down to the Sacred Family and to her own. One day, she will gain the strength needed to stand by his side as an equal so that she will not be a burden to him when they travel across the Divine Continent searching for the next big adventure.

One day, she will be free and will finally be able to make her own choices.

And she will choose to follow him. She will make the same choice again and again no matter how many times she has to choose.

It will always be him.

The North Heavenly Ice Plains is as its name suggests, a huge plain covered in snow and ice and where the blizzard never stops raging. Food is scarce and the only demon beasts living here are those who had evolved and adapted over the centuries to survive the winter's harshness.

He is here for one thing and one thing only. The Heavenly Snow Lotus that is said to be able to cure almost any kind of poison or at the very least, protect the victim from certain death for 24 hours after consumption. The alchemist in him demands that he get his hands on the Heavenly Snow Lotus somehow the moment he learnt that the rare herb can be found here.

He lost count on how many days it has been, how many demon beasts he had fought, but it was all worth it when he finally found a fully matured Heavenly Snow Lotus at the top of a snowy mountain.

The cherry on top would be the view of the rising sun from there.

It is a sight that he wouldn't forget anytime soon.