"I can't believe it! You had another student all along and I never knew!"
"Wrong. I only have one student and it isn't you."
"What?! Why!"
"I don't want such an old student."
"Old- I AM NOT OLD!"
Xiao Ning Er can only stand and watch as Luo An and Yang Xin start to bicker within Luo An's house. Now that Luo An's identity has been revealed to the City Lord there is no longer a point in keeping certain things a secret anymore. It wasn't long before Luo An told Yang Xin that he had also been teaching Xiao Ning Er as well.
"So I guess that makes us fellow students? You can just call me Big Sister Yang, Ning Er! Don't be shy!"
"Like I said, my only official student is Ning Er. Don't go around slapping labels on yourself without my permission."
"Luo An!"
It didn't take long for the City Lord to come to a decision after he found out from Yang Xin that Luo An was the true reason why the Alchemy Association had been making remarkable improvements in alchemy in recent months. Ye Zong ended up accepting Luo An's proposition with a few added conditions that Luo An agreed to as well.
For one, he will also be taking his daughter, Ye Ziyun, under his wing as well to teach her more about inscriptions, an obscure art that very few people in Glory City have true understanding of. Secondly, he will select and help to nurture Glory City's inscriptionists to improve their expertise. Thirdly, he will leave behind inscriptions for Glory City that can help in its defense against future demon beast hordes. Fourthly, he will tell Ye Zong all he knows about the Dark Guild.
Luo An simply added another condition at the end, that nobody will stop him when he chooses to leave after fulfilling all of the conditions listed by Ye Zong above, something which he reluctantly agreed to because it is a fact that nobody can really stop Luo An if he wants to leave.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
Xiao Ning Er recoiled a little when she felt his knuckle lightly tapping on the top of her head, bringing her out of her thoughts. It seems like Yang Xin had taken her leave when she was spacing out.
"Not much, really. Just thinking that it has been a long while since I last saw Ziyun and…"
"And now's as good a time as any to restore your friendship, am I right? Think positive, my dear girl." He reassured her with a smile, an action which she reciprocated.
"I will. Thank you."
"Your family hasn't been giving you any trouble, are they?"
"They did not. Ever since they found out about my true cultivation rank their attitudes have taken a complete turn. They even encourage me to spend more time with you after hearing that you single handedly drove the demon beast horde away and that you are probably a demon spiritualist that can match even City Lord Ye. However, I heard the Sacred Family is very displeased about the arrangement you forced upon them so you need to be careful. They have no qualms using underhanded means to get back at you."
"I like to see them try." He drawled in a lazy tone as he started to move out of his seat. "But oh well, that is unimportant. What is important is that it is going to be dinner soon and I'm hungry. I need to go get some grub."
"I-I can cook dinner!" She quickly volunteered as she quickly stood up from her seat and blocked his way forward. This is a golden opportunity.
"Don't you have to return home before sundown?"
"My family rescinded that rule after knowing that I am your student. They view my association with someone powerful like you as beneficial to the family, so…"
"I get it. Trying to latch onto my newfound fame, I take it?"
"Yes."
"Then let them be. I don't really care either way." He replied with a smile as he walked towards the kitchen and she quickly followed after him.
"Now, what can we cook with the available ingredients? Hmm…"
"Just leave the cooking to me."
"Or we can cook together." He offered. "Come to think about it, I have never let you try my cooking, have I? We both cook a dish each?"
She lit up in joy. This is more than she could ask for.
"Okay!"
She has no idea what to think about her new tutor that her father had appointed for her.
Very few are privy about his true identity but she is the daughter of the City Lord. An escapee from the Dark Guild, someone who has travelled far and wide across the Divine Continent, braved its dangers, and came back with proof that Glory City is not the only remaining human settlement out there in the world. Somebody like him would no doubt be dangerous. Anybody who had survived the harshness of the Divine Continent out there alone for seven whole years without any protection would be.
He looked surprisingly normal and harmless.
Her childhood friend stood by his side. She had heard from her father about how Ning Er had made miraculous improvements in her cultivation with him as her teacher. She still doesn't know if having someone previously affiliated with the Dark Guild teaching her is really a wise choice but she is not going to question her father's decisions right now.
Contrary to what most people who are not in the know believe in, his expertise does not lie in cultivation, his true talent and specialisation lies in inscriptions. He is an inscription master that is leagues above her Aunt Xue Yin, the most skilled inscription master that Ye Ziyun knows of in Glory City and who is like a mother figure to her. Even her Aunt Xue cannot help but sigh in defeat when she sees the inscriptions Luo An offered to her father for the city's protection as part of their agreement. According to Aunt Xue, those inscriptions are on a level way beyond her ability to comprehend.
His inscription lessons are by no means easy to comprehend because there is too little surviving information about inscription patterns that are still around after the Age of Darkness. Still, his explanations about inscriptions are always easy to grasp no matter how complicated they may look like. He is a good teacher.
However, in her opinion the biggest takeaway from her lessons with Luo An would be the restoration of her friendship with her childhood friend.
Ning Er and her had drifted apart due to Ning Er's family decline in power but that gap within their relationship is now closing. She has no doubt Luo An is behind it somehow and for that alone, she is grateful to him. Now, it feels like she and Ning Er had never drifted apart in the first place. They are still as close to each other as they were before. They even had sleepovers with Ning Er sleeping over at her place because she doesn't like her family all that much after they forced her into an arranged marriage with Shen Fei, even if that had recently been forcefully annulled thanks to Luo An's interference.
Ye Ziyun doesn't need to be a genius to tell that her best friend is hopelessly in love with Luo An. She only has eyes for him and it really isn't hard to understand why. He was the one who pulled her up when she was at her lowest, he was the one who showed her the way forward when she was lost and saved her from a fate she never wanted. Any girl would fall in love with a man who did so much for her, going so far as to sacrifice the one thing he values the most, his freedom. According to Ning Er's admission, Luo An would have already left Glory City months earlier if it wasn't for her. He is not a person to stay in one place for long.
Ye Ziyun also found herself rooting for her childhood friend because the pair do look good together. The age gap isn't big either, with Luo An only four years older than Ning Er. He may not have hailed from any prominent family or have any influential backing but his power and knowledge is more than enough to carve an important position for himself within Glory City should he ever choose to settle down here for good. He will be able to protect Ning Er from anything and everything because he is just that capable.
Ye Ziyun watched on with a smile on her face as her childhood friend talked excitedly to Luo An after their lessons were over, with Luo An patiently listening on with occasional nods of his head to show that he is following. She cheered for her best friend within the confines of her mind.
Do your best, Ning Er. I will be rooting for you.
"Useless trash! Fools! Garbage! Can't even complete a simple errand!"
Luo An watched in fear as the Demon Lord slaughtered his subordinates that had failed to complete the latest task he had given them. He recognised some of those corpses. They belonged to the people that are unquestioningly loyal and had been working for the Dark Guild for a long time and the Demon Lord killed them out of nothing but a whim, all because he is too angry to care even if the mission had failed for reasons beyond anyone's control.
If this fate could happen to the Demon Lord's most loyal followers, who is to say he wouldn't be next? Yes, as a master inscriptionist he is a lot more valuable than most despite his age but given the Demon Lord's temperament, all it takes is one small slip up on his part and it will be game over for him for the second time. He is human, he will err. He is bound to slip up one day and when that happens he can do nothing but to face the Demon Lord's wrath.
Most likely, what awaits him in the face of the Demon Lord's wrath is death, and he felt incredibly suffocated at the thought of it, that no matter what he does death is all that awaits him no matter what he does to try and please the Demon Lord in a desperate attempt to survive the crappy hand he has been dealt with.
Seeing how the Demon Lord ripped off the head of another loyal subordinate, Luo An made up his mind. He will not continue to stay here in fear. He will take the risk and venture out of the Nether Realm, escape to somewhere that the Demon Lord can never reach and never come back. He will release himself from his shackles.
He will be free.
AN: Can't believe it's been almost a year since I updated this story. Ooops, I guess? In any case, a chapter to celebrate (?) 2022. Happy new year!