"So you have never been to this part of the city before?"
"I don't think so." Luo An replied, content to simply spend the day strolling around Glory City in an area where he had not explored previously. Glory City is impossibly huge and it is a wonder that such a huge settlement had managed to survive the attacks from demon beast hordes for thousands of years. He would have thought that it would have been reduced to size after so long.
"Then let me be your guide for today!" Xiao Ning Er said excitedly with a clap of her hands, eagerly skipping ahead and beckoning for Luo An to hurry and follow. Luo An can only smile as he hastened his pace a little.
It is obvious to him that Xiao Ning Er has a huge crush on him ever since he cured her from the Arctic Disease. It is very much like what had happened in canon when Nie Li freed her from her pain. If her behaviour wasn't obvious enough then her attire is. Today is not a day where they are having lessons and knowing this, Xiao Ning Er took this opportunity to dress up to the nines, probably to impress him.
Luo An admits that Xiao Ning Er is really beautiful even at the age of twelve but the reincarnated soul in him kept reminding him that her current age is only those of a child, even if the people in this world married exceptionally early which can be from as young as ten or eleven. Maybe if he waited a few more years for her to grow he could then try to bring himself to see her as a woman and not a girl, but that time is not now.
Besides, in a year from now canon would kick off and he would be out of here by then. He wouldn't be here to stay and see her grow up into the powerful demon spiritualist that he knows she will grow to be. He does not desire to venture beyond the Tiny World and into the Draconic Ruin Realms because power is not something he wishes for. All he ever wants is to live his life in peace. The Tiny World is big enough for someone like him, someone who is perfectly content to settle for a mediocre life as long as he can do what he enjoys most.
But she is different. Unlike him, she is destined for greatness. He won't hold her back because he knows just what and who she can be if given the opportunity.
"Luo An! Hurry hurry!"
"Coming!" He called back as he caught up to her. Her hand grabbed onto his arm as she dragged him over to a food stand selling all kinds of sweets and pastries. They both have a shared love for anything sweet and it was how they broke the ice when they first got to know more about each other.
Before long, they are both gorging themselves on the sweets they had bought for themselves. They sat themselves on the city walls on the southern side of the city where citizens are allowed to climb up and get a glimpse of the world outside the walls that protect them. The view from the northern side of the city is nothing but desolate wastelands and mountains but it has a certain charm to it as well.
"My family helps to protect the city in the south as well. There is also the Snow Wind Family, of course, and then there is the Sacred Family. They are in charge of the protection of the west side. Then there is also the Heavenly Marks family to the north-"
Luo An is content to just remain silent and listen to Ning Er explaining to him about the city which she had grown up in. In his unqualified opinion, it would be more accurate to call Glory City a kingdom rather than a city because Glory City is made up of two major cities and six towns. A very crude estimation on his end would place its size at about anywhere between 12,000 to 15,000 square kilometers. That is about the size of a small state if he has to compare it to something from his previous world.
Luo An continues to listen to Ning Er talking about her hometown. He knows just how much she hates being trapped here by her family and from her arranged marriage but he also knows very clearly that this does not necessarily mean that she hates staying in Glory City. Just like how he hates being shackled by the Dark Guild in the past does not mean that he hated Blackrock City or the Nether Realm, it is the same for her and Glory City as well.
All she wants is to be free and to be able to make her own choice. Luo An can understand that feeling very well.
"Glory City is impressive." Luo An admitted truthfully when Xiao Ning Er had finished talking. Comparing the Nether Realm to Glory City, it is obvious that Glory City is much more livable than the Nether Realm although the Nether Realm has a lot more diversity when it comes to the types and species of beings that made their homes there. There are the turtle humanoids, fiery elves, xuyu, infernal birds, so many different beings living there other than humans.
They both continue to sit on the top of the southern city walls, talking about anything under the sun as they enjoy the sights laid out right in front of them. It wasn't until about an hour or two later that horns were blared and drums were beaten and that caught their immediate attention.
"Demon beast horde! Demon beast horde! Evacuate and take shelter! Spiritualists and soldiers, in arms! Defend our city!"
"Demon beast horde? Now?!"
Xiao Ning Er's reaction was mirrored by Luo An's own. In canon, the demon beast horde didn't appear until very much later when canon finally started but then again, Glory City has a history of being constantly attacked by demon beasts. This may be one of them, an undocumented demon beast horde attack before the start of canon.
"Let's go, it's no longer safe here." Luo An said as he grabbed onto Ning Er's arm, who was still in a slight shock when the news was dropped on them. It took her a few seconds to finally shake herself out of her stupor and try to free herself from his grip.
"I-I have to stay! I am a member of the Winged Dragon Family! It is my duty to protect the people!"
"I know you made great improvement these past eight months but trust me, you don't have the experience needed to be of any help." Luo An stated matter of factly. "You are still too young, leave this to the experts who are supposed to be guarding the walls. I'm sure they will be here soon enough."
"INCOMING!"
The shout of warning from a soldier forced Luo An to move, the instinct honed from years of adventuring saving them from an aerial attack. Winged demon beasts had arrived earlier than expected and from the looks of it, it is an agility type beast. No wonder they are able to reach the city walls just moments after they were spotted.
"Duck!"
Xiao Ning Er yelled before throwing a bolt of lightning at the nearest bird-like demon beast she could see, saving the life of a city guard in the process. Luo An watched as she activated her Lightning Dragon technique, a powerful high level cultivation technique that he had found and stolen from the Demon Lord when he had made his escape from Blackrock City many years ago and if his memories serves him right, it also happens to be the same cultivation technique that Xiao Ning Er learnt in canon. Guess some things still never change despite his presence.
Xiao Ning Er's retaliation had successfully caught the attention of several bird-like demon beasts that are a weird combination of a vulture and a wolf. They swooped down to attack her and she backpedalled in surprise, her inexperience in live combat quickly showing.
Void God Technique
Luo An quickly activated his technique and merged with his fused demon spirit, the Thousand Myriad Chameleon as he quickly took down the threats coming their way. The Void God Technique is another high level cultivation technique that he had stolen from the Demon Lord among a few others during his escape from the Dark Guild, hidden within the Demon Lord's personal interspatial ring that contains treasures beyond anyone's wildest imaginations. Cultivation techniques, demon spirits, herbs, cultivation materials, anything and everything. They all belonged to Luo An after he stole the ring and forcibly rewrote the ring's ownership to him by abusing his unnatural talent in inscriptions.
"Ning Er, get away from here! You will just be a sitting duck if you continue to stay here!"
"I-I can help!"
"You can in the future, but the future's not now! You are too lacking in experience! Stand back!"
With that, Luo An dove into the fray and made quick work of the demon beasts that were flying above the city walls. Unlike most other demon spiritualists who focus on getting their hands on demon spirits that boast immense firepower, Luo An had never found much of a use for having excessive power. His main goal had always been self-preservation and survival. He is not a fighter, he is a survivor. Having a demon spirit that has unique traits to help him stay alive and escape out of any situation is always a lot more useful than integrating with a demon spirit that has nothing but power to throw about.
In other words, Luo An is an Assassin type demon spiritualist. Go in, score a one-hit KO shot on the target, get out. That had always been his modus operandi no matter where he goes and it had served him well these past seven years. This is also why he is not a suitable teacher for Xiao Ning Er, because unlike him she has immeasurable talent in the field of cultivation. Given the right cultivation technique to learn, she can easily grow into a legendary powerhouse in just a few years whereas he survives his battles only by being sneaky and playing dirty.
Seeing that most of the flying demon beasts had been taken care of, Luo An faded from view as the characteristics of the Thousand Myriad Chameleon came into play and camouflaged him with the surroundings. In the next second, he assassinated three other Gold rank demon beasts that were trying to climb up the wall. He is able to fight and stick on almost any surface thanks to his chameleon characteristics, easily cutting down the demon beasts who are trying to scale the only obstacle between them and the occupants of Glory City.
Luo An leapt down the city walls to face the horde. Frankly speaking, this demon beast horde isn't very huge. If it were any other situations Luo An would simply turn and flee because it's a hassle to fight all of them. He is confident that he could still easily win if he had to force himself to fight against all of them on his lonesome but the problem is that he is not alone. Lives are at stake here. Behind him and the city walls are people that are largely defenceless and the main defence force are taking too long to respond to the sudden threat. The horde's approach had been sighted too late and there was not enough time to mobilise the city's experts to reach the city walls and help repel the horde.
Him and his stupid bleeding heart. He should have just left the city months ago. It would have saved him from being stuck in such a troublesome situation.
The demon beasts are starting to congregate towards him because he is the only prey that has jumped over the city walls to meet them in battle. Luo An's experienced eyes narrowed as he quickly came up with the best course of action. He is alone and outnumbered. That is fine, that means that he can unleash his full strength without fear of friendly fire. To kill them all, he simply needs to unleash something big. Something big that is able to do lots and lots of damage indiscriminately.
Whipping out an inscription scroll from his interspatial ring, it only took him a grand total of two seconds to activate it before throwing it at where the largest number of demon beasts are congregating. A massive explosion erupted soon after, taking most of the demon beasts down.
Then things went to shit again.
Luo An frowned when an Abyss Bear leapt out from within the smoke and lunged at him. Abyss Bear is a black gold rank demon beast and is well known for its ferocious temper and tenacity. This is not a favourable match-up for him, because the Thousand Myriad Chameleon is not a demon spirit that specialises in combat.
But he wouldn't have survived this long without a few tricks up his sleeves.
He faded from view once again, confusing the Abyss Bear for a short moment before he latched himself onto the back of the Abyss Bear, using the tail in his demon beast form to secure his position on the demon beast before thrusting his fingers into the eyes of the Abyss Bear, effectively blinding it. The Abyss Bear roared in pain and thrashed about in fury, trying to get him off his back. Luo An simply unsheathed a sharp dagger that he always brings about on his person before plunging it into its skull in one smooth motion, ending its life instantly.
One Black Gold rank demon beast down.
He had now successfully caught the attention of the surviving members of the horde now that he is the only human down below the city walls on the outside. They lunged at him as one and Luo An was forced to vanish from their view once again before reappearing closer to the city walls. He was trying to figure out a good way to end them all in one move when he heard a loud and authoritative voice barking out commands.
"Protect that demon spiritualist! Drive the demon beasts away from the walls!"
Reinforcements had finally arrived. More and more demon spiritualists started to appear and rush out from the city to aid him, pushing the remainder of the horde back. Luo An calmly watched on and decided that this is the best time for him to silently pull out of here before he gets too intimately involved with the affairs of Glory City. Helping the city to repel the horde was never his plan in the first place. Besides, the city's experts look like they have things handled.
It's really time for him to get out of here.
He was about to vanish from view once again when he sensed a presence behind him and he instinctively leapt to a side, ready to strike at a moment's notice.
"Hold it, young warrior! I'm not your enemy!"
Luo An cannot help but mentally recite a string of choice words when he saw who it is that had approached him. There's only so many people he knows in Glory City that have purple hair and possess that level of cultivation.
"I'm Ye Zong, the City Lord of Glory City. I don't think I have seen you before, may I know your name?"
Luo An can only stare in a mixture of disbelief and resignation.
Fuck his life.
The first time he ever came into contact with a living demon beast was shortly after he escaped from Blackrock City.
The beast was admittedly nothing special, just an overgrown ape that any other Bronze rank spiritualist can easily take down without effort but he was just a child in body, too weak to do anything else but to run. The only things he has on his person is the interspatial ring he had stolen from the Demon Lord and some necessities that he had hastily packed and brought along with him, that was all.
Maybe the Gods took pity on him, maybe he is their chosen one or maybe he simply was lucky. Everything was a feral haze with him doing whatever he can to stay alive but after what seemed like a struggle that lasted an eternity, he finally managed to bury the dagger in his hand right in the skull of the ape, the blade going all the way in until it reaches the hilt.
He couldn't fight back the urge that followed next. He retched and puked everything out. Never had he felt so sick before in both his lives.
That was his very first kill.