Chapter 1363: Skipping Tiles

Davis moved in the narrow pathway, moving to the place where Fiora was likely to be.

'Damn, that kind of thought process had become almost dangerous for me.'

'This Heart Intent is crazy... That's a heart demon formed from my own understanding and introspection... I can't keep digging holes for myself like this, or I might feel doubt about my way of doing things...'

Davis almost felt threatened by his own heart demon. It was because he felt terrible for Evelynn at that moment when he placed himself in her shoes with Heart Intent. However, even if that heart demon had formed, he felt that it was unlikely that his cultivation would be impeded, but it was possible that his conviction could've taken a dent.

At one point, he could be like: 'What am I even doing...?'

He didn't want to think like that as it was fatal for a cultivator to lose his way.

'In any case, since I already adopted a polygamous way of living the moment I accepted Natalya, I will see to it that I love all of them!'

He inwardly affirmed himself for the nth time as he thought of their Natalya. Isabella, Shirley, Fiora, and the others, their faces flashing past his mind before he once again knew that he was also in love with them, shamelessly as it may be.

This strengthened his conviction.

At this moment, his legs stopped moving as he passed by a pathway, entering the hall. He didn't stop because he had suddenly thought of something, but he saw a small silhouette pacing around, looking rather bored.

It was a teenage girl. She had her head lowered, looking at the meter-sized tiles as she skipped, jumping on one tile over another while crossing the tile in between. 

Davis blinked before his expression turned into an odd smile. His body flashed as he suddenly appeared behind the teenage girl.

"Little aunt!"

"Ahhh!~"

Tia Alstreim shivered and jumped afar as if she was a cat that had its tail stepped on! Her trembling body that was in mid-air twisted as she regained balance and turned around, looking at Davis with an alarmed expression on her face.

Clear yet agitated purple pupils adorned her two eyes while her looks were as if chiseled to purposefully make a captivating and graceful beauty. Her developing assets seem to have become a bit bigger already, making her look quite grown up from the time he had seen her more than a year ago.

Davis recalled that she turned sixteen right around the time he returned from his training but missed it about a month later or so.

"Little aunt, what are you doing here? Roaming the palace?" 

He smilingly asked as he stayed put, careful that he might scare her away.

Tia Alstreim's alarmed expression faded, replaced with a tinge of hesitation as she stared at Davis for a few seconds before she stood straight.

"Big brother... I want to talk to you..."

Davis blinked as his smiling expression faded.

Looking at the silent Davis, Tia became a bit fidgety in an awkward manner.

"Father said that I could share our secret with you, but he also said not to disturb you. I... Therefore... I was waiting to meet you..."

Tia Alstreim shyly spoke, causing Davis to understand. So she wanted to talk to him about her unique constitution and was loitering around in hopes of meeting him. 

However, he was with Evelynn, Natalya, and Fiora the last time, so she ran away, probably overwhelmed.

Nevertheless, why didn't Edgar Alstreim come to talk to him about it?

He didn't think of much before he smiled and walked towards her.

"Little aunt, you should call me nephew or Davis if you prefer names..."

Tia Alstreim adorably blinked, "But... Big brother is strong. According to my mother, I must give respect to strength in priority, not relations, so I will call you big brother."

Davis was tongue-tied to her answer because he agreed with her mother, Lia Alstreim. The cultivation world was also like this to his liking, but there was an exception, which is, of course, giving respect to the ancestors.

'Well, they were mostly respected before of their long life and strength anyway...'

He shrugged and questioned, "Alright, but if you wanted to talk to me, you could've said so when I saw you a few days ago..."

Tia Alstreim looked taken aback before her expression possessed a tinge of a healthy blush.

"Big brother was with his wives and another woman, and father specifically warned me to not disturb you when you're with your wives, so-"

"Say no more... I understand..."

Davis raised his hand and stopped her from speaking further. It is unknown if her father and mother would've dwelled further on the topic of adults, and he didn't want to corrupt the cute little image of his little aunt in his mind.

Tia Alstreim shyly nodded her head before she possessed a hesitant expression on her face again.

Davis wondered what it was this time when he heard her speak.

"Mhm... Can I meet the Dragon Queen?"

"Haha, so you miss Isabella..." Davis reached out his hand and rubbed her head, causing Tia Alstreim to freeze. She could only let him pat her head while she felt rather strange, not uncomfortable or comfortable.

It was more like affection from a family member she didn't expect to have.

She raised her head and looked at his foolish smiling face.

'So this is my father's grandson...'

Somehow, she didn't feel pushed away, perhaps because her Whisper of Fate Phenomenon was still reveling in her ears to approach him. 

Davis took away his hand, but Tia was rather strange that she looked around before her small lips moved.

"Big brother, my Whisper of Fate Phenomenon is still active and points at you..."

"Oh...?" Davis's expression became solemn as he recalled Tia Alstreim's Physique.

The Karmic Guardian Physique has five levels of breakthrough, and when the fifth level is reached, the physique awakens and calls a heavenly tribulation that was of unknown nature to him!

He contemplated for a moment before he asked, "If it points to me, then there must certainly be a reason."

Tia Alstreim shook her head, "I don't know... It only points to you..."

Davis placed his hand on his forehead as he felt a headache.

He understood that the Karmic Guardian Physique helps the host cultivator to avert life-threatening scenarios or something dangerous that could happen in their life or allow them to grow to a splendid powerhouse in the future by allowing them to find resources or a person to stick to in its early years. 

It wasn't restricted to the points he mentioned, but if it was pointing to him, who was freaking invisible to fate's grasp as he could forcefully change people's fate by using Fallen Heaven, then he couldn't possibly know what he should do as there were so many things he can do.

He possessed a difficult expression when he heard Tia's charming voice.

"Big brother... Can I ask you something, like a favor...?"

"Mhm?" Davis came out of his reverie, "Go ahead..."

Tia Alstreim really looked hesitant yet hopeful as her purple eyes shined with expectations.

"Big brother... can you heal my mother like you healed my father?"

Davis became taken aback before he smiled amusingly.

"What do you mean...?"

Edgar Alstreim shouldn't have revealed his secret of being able to heal dantians to that level unless, of course, he really needed to explain how he recovered as no one would just believe if he said that he recovered just like that.

"Father said that big brother might possibly have had a top-tier pill that could regenerate a dantian to its previous self, a life-saving measure that could save big brother's life."

Tia looked rather despondent on him while her expectant eyes revealed her wish.

"I... I am extremely thankful to big brother for using it and saving my father, but does big brother have a way to save my mother...? Please have one... I'm willing to pay back the fav-"

"Wait, wait, wait..." 

Davis became flabbergasted as he stopped Tia from speaking further. Her sweet voice echoed with pleading, making him melt a bit.

It was evident that Edgar Alstreim didn't know how he got his dantian back, so he settled that for a top-tier life-saving pill? It was fine with him that Edgar Alstreim thought that way as he didn't want anyone other than his parents and wives learning about his life-like energy.

But, he was already intent on healing Lia Alstreim but was waiting to check her true personality. He had initially waited to see if Lia Alstreim would turn into a scheming stepmother for his mother and demand the assets and deeds that they had got from Grand Elder Valdrey Alstreim, but instead of something like that happening, she got sick.

However, with sickness as the reason, Lia Alstreim could've asked more wealth from them to cope up with the treatment costs that would go towards physicians, but it seemed something like that is yet to happen, or she had no intentions of troubling them in the first place, and it was just him vainly suspecting people for no apparent reason.

"What happened to your mother?" He curiously asked.

"In truth, my mother's health is already worse because of her shattered middle dantian, but it's becoming even more worse because of her illness." 

Tia began to speak worriedly, "Father had physicians check on mother after bringing her out of this Purple Guest Palace, but they all said that they were helpless to do anything against mother's physical illness that seems to deteriorate with time."

"I thought the Dragon Queen could help mother, but I can't seem to meet her, so I can only rely on big brother for help." Tia Alstreim openly spoke everything.

"What's the illness's name?" Davis narrowed his eyes.

"I don't know..." Tia shook her head, "I only managed to hear them speak all of this while overhearing..."

"I see..." 

Davis nodded, feeling like that it was enough that he stopped waiting and healed Lia Alstreim. However, to think that the little Tia would be the one to ask him for this favor instead of Edgar Alstreim. 

Was the situation still salvageable, or had it gone worse since even Tia was imploring him in her father's stead?

He couldn't understand what was stopping his grandfather from at least saying something to him or his mother. They both didn't say anything about it to him, making him feel that they were probably too ashamed to ask him.

"Alright, Tia. After I finish a little matter, I'll come to meet your father and see what I can do for your mother. Is that alright with you!?"

Tia's expression brightened as she nodded her head thrice, "I will wait! Big brother must definitely come...or.. or..."

Tia Alstreim pointed at his face as she indignantly stammered, "I w-will cry!"

Davis smilingly shook his head, "That's something that your big brother would not be able to digest, so you can rest assured that I would visit you. Now go back home instead of loitering around..."

"Mhm..."

Tia nodded her head and happily skipped away as she left, her slim figure disappearing into the corner.

Davis smiled, thinking that she was still a kid while being a teenager. She did not have much interaction with others before, so it made sense to him that she was a bit naive, not knowing anything about the world as she remained innocent.

Honestly, he didn't know if she should praise or berate Edgar Alstreim for overprotecting her.

However, he inwardly cried, knowing that he could not become intimate with Natalya or Fiora after hearing about Tia's mother's condition worsening for some reason, as that would be remarkably rude and insensitive of him to leave a sick relative to go enjoy carnal pleasures.

'Well, the least I can do is help Fiora absorb the Wind Elemental...'

Davis continued to walk as he moved forward.