Chapter 3 - All that is precious (pt 1)

The look of disbelief Ning'er shot me was understandable. Her mouth started forming words but it would appear her voice refused to come out.

Sighing with a smile I let the hand that pushed her hair away linger on her cheek. She did flinch at first but then relaxed her head into it and I could feel the warmth of her breath on my wrist "You actually didn't realize I was talking about you, did you?"

She pursed her lips and frowned "How could I?" she nearly sobbed.

"How could you not?" I countered "There isn't a single girl in the city that has braved more than you. There are many girls who sacrificed a lot, and many more who have suffered oppression and pain. However you took it all head on and never gave up. And when the Arctic affliction overcame you, you still pushed forward with the stubbornness of a thunder bull and the determination of a tigress. That is not something achieved by any girl I know, other than you." My thumb moved instinctively to wipe the tear that escaped the corner of her eye "And you are indeed a beauty hard to match."

Ning'er took in the c.a.r.e.s.s from my hand a few more moments before she slowly removed it from her face, so slowly it was as if she was fighting with herself "Long Wan... I ... can't. My family wants me to..." she began crying but I put my index finger on her soft cherry lips and once again she didn't oppose.

"Ning'er, I will share a secret with you. Should anything happen to me I need you to take this secret to the grave with you. Can you promise me? " I said as seriously as I could.

She looked surprised since it was a side of me I never showed her. To her credit she quickly recovered and nodded "I promise to keep your secret."

Nodding I began "I believe that the Sacred Family has allied with the Dark Guild." Hearing her gasp my words continued "I have no solid proof but I saw men dressed in strange robes talking with one of their elders. One of them had a wooden insignia with the Dark Guild's seal. " Technically I 'saw' this in a chapter of the manhwa. Eh, seeing is seeing.

Her gaze became cold "The Dark Guild is an enemy of Glory City. Why would the Sacred Family ally themselves with such scoundrels?"

"The answer is probably too complicated to understand right now." came my answer as I shrugged. It wasn't actually. Shen Hong was dissatisfied with the declining power of the city. Coupled with the impression Gui Sha had left on him and his rivalry with Ye Zong, it became apparent that he wanted to become governor of the city (or what was left of it after the guild destroyed it) by using the power of the Dark Guild. However this will be revealed in time "What is important is that, without any proof these are just baseless accusations."

Ning'er nodded. She wasn't an idiot, quite the opposite "Long Wan, why did you tell me this?"

My gaze moved towards the sky as my face darkened. Summoning my Void blade and turning towards a nearby tree as thick as a man, I cleaved it clean, separating it's trunk from the roots while my aura radiated with a sickly green and black highlights, the signature power of a bronze rank "Because in half a year, at most a full one I will rescue you from your fate. I know it sounds crazy coming from an unknown orphan commoner. But I don't, no… I won't have you do anything other than to not lose hope. Whether its Shen Fei or the entire Sacred Family, be they gods or Buddhas, should they stand in my way, I'll feed them to the void!"

Though I had my back turned to her, I could still see how Ning'er's shadow moved her hands to her mouth and tiny drops traced her cheeks before they dropped. 'Feed them to the Void. How very fitting…' I thought as I took in my beloved's suffering. In this world Void wasn't referring to empty space. It was 'non-existence'. It was that which 'was and wasn't' before the formless but 'existing' cosmic primal chaos egg appeared at the beginning of time. Feeding them to the void meant erasing even the memory of them from the world.

Spinning on my heel I embraced her in my arms and she just let her tears soak into my shirt as I gently c.a.r.e.s.sed her back. When she had finally stopped crying I slowly let her go "It's best if we act like strangers in class for a while. I have a plan to raise my power and prestige but until then, we should be mindful of the Sacred Family. It shouldn't take more than a month before we can be open." looked at her to see her put on a sad expression before she gave me a smile and a nod. Nodding back I turned and jumped away but not before throwing her a wink and leaving her red as a tomato.

The following day I got up early and, after a decent breakfast, made my way to the market square. The place was as busy as an anthill. It was barely the crack of dawn and I could see a lot of people, mostly women, here to buy various necessities for the home. I took a few minutes to scout out the scenario and to my delight, everything was just as expected. Well, I really didn't need to know this considering I had access to Long Wan's memories, but it was refreshing in it's own right. Finishing my sightseeing I went for a general trader and exchanged the demon spirit and crystal I got from that damn goat.

I now had about five thousand demon spirit coins so I went ahead and bought a bucket, two cast iron pots, a ceramic tray, a fine weave cloth, a few other pieces of kitchen equipment, some concentrated flower oil fragrance, a pair of cheap leather gloves and about a kilo of demon beast fat. Since the experts of the city regularly went out to cull the beasts around the city, the market had an excess of animal products so they were generally very cheap. I spent about 30 coins on the cloth, 41 coins on the fragrance, 35 on the pots, 78 for the gloves, 44 on the miscellanea items and only 2 coins on the fat, and this including my tips to the sellers. Hurrying back at the dorms, I went to the courtyard in the back of the kitchen. There I found my target. A giant pile of ash somewhere close to the refuse pile. I used the bucket to scoop up as much ash as I could and then covered it with the cloth. I took all items to my room and stored them away. At this point I wish I had a storage ring. Well I'll be able to get those later.

Thinking about if I should go to class or continue with my work I decided to skip the morning part of the day. It wouldn't help me in the future that much and I was already a step ahead of the rest. I assembled the miscellanea items from before and a pot into a shape I was satisfied with. Filling it up with the earlier ash and pouring a decent amount of water on top of the contraption I let it do it's thing before cleaning up and going to class. Arriving just when Bitch Xiu decided to let the class have a break I managed to slip in without her noticing, taking my place next to the gang.

My gaze shifted to another spot and met with Ning'er's pair of wonderful eyes. She was dressed in her usual training jacket and her hair was held up in a tight ponytail. She shot me a smile and an eye bat that caused my heart to skip a beat. I winked at her in acceptance and she returned to facing the class, blush quickly forming on her face.

The rest of the day went on as per usual, standing in the back of the class together with the gang. Turning to Nie Li I began whispering "How did it go yesterday?"

Nie Li smirked "I was accepted in the association. In two of days we will see the fruit tree b.a.r.e fruit."

"So what rank did you get?" my words continued.

"Senior Alchemy Master." He responded with ease.

"That is surprising." I answered. He looked fake dejected, as if I didn't have any faith in him. "I heard that the Alchemy Association exams are incredibly hard."

Nie Li waved me off "It was nothing difficult." but then turned to me "But how did you know that I would be taking them?"

I made a silly kissing face and put my hands together " 'Long Wan, I could kiss you~!' " I responded trying my best to imitate Nie Li's voice in a whisper.

His face paled in embarrassment "Ahaahaha." he looked away trying to contain his shame. Poor guy, I actually knew for other reasons but this was so much fun.

Then again that wasn't the best choice for an attention diverter. Let's try a different approach "Nie Li…" my words came getting his attention "Now that you're a big shot at the association, would you mind if I mentioned your name when doing some business with them?" I said scratching my cheek. Never was I the kind to ask for favors or loans.

Nie Li for his part smiled and waved "Do you need something from them? I can get anything for you. And don't worry about the cost…" he said while puffing out his c.h.e.s.t.

I widened my eyes "Ah, no no no! It's just that the project I'm working on." He looked at me with curiosity and motioned me to continue "It's an alchemical product I'm hoping to sell through them. My hope was that I would be able to get to skip a few steps and meet with the decision makers faster if I said I had your backing."

"What kind of project is it?" he looked at me expectantly. It seems like his thirst for knowledge didn't diminish even after hundreds of years.

Crossing my arms in thought "It's not something that is really helpful for cultivation but it's really useful to have in the house. I will have a sample for you ready in the next days."

The ginger didn't say anything. He fished around in his jacket and discretely passed it to me. It was a medal "When you want to meet with the association show them this and tell them I sent you." he said with a smile.

My mind reset immediately and I pocketed the medal in order to prevent Shen Xiu from seeing it. If I wasn't mistaken, this was Nie Li's Alchemy Master medal. He would've gotten it together with a robe when he traded those lost superpill recipes.

Nie Li also quickly changed the subject "I received some pills and primary demon spirit crystals from them as a congratulatory gift. Our session will be much more fruitful tonight." he smiled holding up his storage ring.

Fruitful indeed. I also suspect that tonight I will finish my project which will hopefully make me, in lack of better words, motherf.u.c.k.i.n.g filthy rich.

I swallowed a pill and the rush of energy hit me. If this was a junk pill of the Snow-Wind Empire alchemists, I shudder to think what a high level elixir will feel like. "Interesting..." I heard Nie Li say next to me. My senses fully returned to reality as I turned to face him with a raised eyebrow. He continued "The Heavenly God Technique is the most efficient when communicating with heaven and earth. This also applies to energy from pills which is extracted from plants that have absorbed and refined said yin-yang. Since the Heavenly Void Dragon God inherited the ability to communicate from the Heavenly God technique, then you're also able to absorb the pill with a hundred percent efficiency."

"Eh?" Asked (or grunted maybe?) Lu Piao. You could see him struggle with what Nie Li just said.

My breath escaped my teeth in a sigh "You wouldn't understand anyway…" and this caused a snicker to come from Nie Li, Zhang Ming, Zhu Xiangjun and Wei Nan. Du Ze was obediently cultivating.

"I felt this when I tried practicing it. The Heavenly God is a technique that is designed to create a solid foundation which then evolves into versatility. It focuses on efficiency and core building. A person practicing this technique needs a lot more energy to step up so the Heavenly God technique was born to absorb every bit of energy without wasting anything, including pills. However there is an advantage as each step will be at least half a step stronger than someone at the same level cultivating a different technique. The Heavenly Void Dragon God inherited this trait from the former technique." I explained.

Lu Piao nodded with an arrogant expression. He wanted to pretend he understood. I sighed, this blockhead didn't understand anything I just said. Nie Li on the other hand looked at me with more respect than before. We finished up our cultivations for the evening. Taking the time to check my soul force, I saw it was at 142 and it jumped to 143 as I held the crystal. It seems like 2 star bronze was only a few days away. Pushing myself was not an answer but I needed to grow stronger, for Ning'er and my own's futures. My plans also included joining Nie Li in a few days to the Holy Orchid city ruins. There were quite a bit of goodies there, and even if the Shadow Devil demon spirit was Nie Li's, there should still be some other weapons and tools that could help.

Returning to my dorm I resumed my project, moving locations to the training ground forest later that night to finish up. It was something I did a lot back on Earth, together with my grandmother from my mother's side. This also brought a little sadness in my soul as I thought about my life that I lost, which I couldn't even remember how I lost. Finishing everything up, I just needed to let it rest until the next day. It quickly became morning and as soon as I woke up I excitedly went to a covered ceramic tray that contained a strange, sweet smelling substance. I poked at the substance and confirmed it was solid so I gently scooped it out, cut it into pieces and thoroughly tested it out as I was getting ready for school.

Making it to school earlier than usual, I sought an opportunity to catch a girl when she was alone. Long Wan knew her from the orphanage so we were relatively familiar with each other but not particularly close. What was known to me was that: a) she sat next to Ning'er and b) she was incredibly avaricious so there were few moral things she would refuse to do when offered the right sum. At one point she pretended to be someone's girlfriend for a day for fifteen demon spirit coins. She didn't engage in anything like prostitution… well at least if she did she was discrete enough that nobody found out, another trait I found valuable in this moment. "Chao Xing." I nodded and she smiled and nodded back, saying my name in acknowledgement "I have a favor to ask you…" she tilted her head in curiosity. Like I said, whether this life or the other, I was a lone wolf so this was unusual for her to see me like this. Removing my hand to her pocket I passed her a card for 500 demon spirit coins and a small nicely wrapped square package the size of her palm in my other.

She understandably looked shocked. That was enough money for a single person to live decently for a year. Before she could voice her questions I continued "The money is yours. In exchange I want you to give this small package to Xiao Ning'er as discretely as possible, preferably when no-one is looking. Don't tell her it's from me just in case someone is listening. If it all goes well, I will give you ten thousand coins in the next month. Can I trust you?" If my project didn't work out I could always sell a pill or two and get the money. Rich or not, I will keep my word.

Her brain seemed to have gone into meltdown but quickly reset at the sight of the money. Tiny hands moved so fast that both the package and the card were gone in an instant. She put a finger on her lips and winked at me with a smile before doing a one-eighty and walking away. Blinking twice, I looked at my now empty palms wondering just what the hell happened, and more importantly where did the card and the package go as they were nowhere to be seen. Scanning her attire you could see that she was dressed in a form fitting aquamarine cheongsam with something similar to leather biker shorts so even if she had pockets they would be mushed. Eh another unsolvable mystery to file under 'women' secrets'.

Joining the gang at the top of the amphitheater, I was greeted by a grinning Lu Piao. The gang was smiling knowingly, even the cool Du Ze's mouth curved slightly upwards as he rested his back on the wall, hands together. "Long Wan, you're already a man?" If you opened a dictionary and looked at tactful and discreet, you would see Lu Piao's picture… in the antonyms section. This guy had the delicacy of sandpaper.

Sadly I was already used to these antics of his "Chao Xing is someone whom I grew up with at the orphanage, and is someone I view somewhat as family. I didn't know you had such i.n.c.e.s.tuous fantasies Lu Piao." came my retort as I looked away with a hand on my mouth. His face lit up like a Christmas light, red and purple covering his skin. I chuckled a little and continued "Jokes aside, she recently did me a valuable favor and so I simply compensated a job well done. Ah! Speaking of that…" I fished out some cubes, similar to the one I indirectly gave to Ning'er, but smaller and less neatly packed. Turning to Nie Li I continued "This is the result of the project I was talking about…" my words came explaining the uses and at the end even Nie Li had to admit that this was incredibly valuable.

Nie Li pocketed his sample before telling me "This is indeed worth a lot. Do you want me to join you at the Association? I could ensure you get a good price for it." he said in all seriousness.

Smiling I bowed slightly but waved my hand in dismissal "Thank you brother Li but I couldn't possibly ask that of you. Don't worry, I can manage a couple of crusty old farts. Besides, you need to keep up with your cultivation. At this pace, within the next three days I will step into two star bronze. If you don't put some effort I will leave you in the dust." I teased and he whisper laughed as we were still in class.

"Well my technique is slower than yours so that's natural." he dismissed and I nodded. It was somewhat true. While the Heavenly Void Dragon God technique shared it's origin in the Heavenly God technique, it mutated into it's own form with some special particularities.

Lu Piao fisted his c.h.e.s.t "Heh, I will soon break into bronze too. My heaven granted talents allow me to cultivate even sleeping."

I crossed my hands and nodded "Yup, mine as well…" I said to nobody but Nie Li heard me and looked at me expectantly, waiting for my explanation "It seemed that my new mutated soul form likes Yin energy so it started to absorb it during the night. Every morning, I would wake up with two to three more points in my soul realm, and once during full moon I got a five point boost just by sleeping."

"Very amazing…" gasped Nie Li. I can understand why. My technique had too many advantages, not to mention built in void element DRM. We spent the rest of the time discussing alchemy when the subject of Purple Haze Grass came into play. From Nie Li I managed to understand about thirteen uses, most of them for cultivation with two of them for beautification. After this we talked a little about cultivation. Unintentionally because of the flow of the conversation Nie Li shared with us two more high-level cultivation techniques, named Yin-Yang Revolving technique and Soul Reforming technique . They weren't element aligned and, although pathetic when compared to what the gang and I were practicing, they were leagues above anything Glory City had. Nie Li didn't know how useful these techniques would be in the future in saving countless lives. As soon as I heard them I remember planning to raise an elite team to guard Glory City while the gang is in the Draconic Ruins Realm, especially against those five Heavenly Fate demon beast bitches.

Evening came quick and I found myself at the reception of the Alchemy Association. Everyone above the rank of initiate apprentice was running around carrying herbs and rushing to refine. Probably going to refine the pills from Nie Li. Making my way slowly to the desk, I bowed gently "Good evening. I would like to request an audience with director Yang Xin."

Bringing out the medal and showing it to her, before I could say any more a voice came from behind me "Young one, where did you get that?!"

Turning around I was met by an aged man with gray hair, probably in his sixties. "Hello honorable master, I am Long Wan. With whom do I have the p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e of speaking?" I cupped my hands and bowed, the medal dangling from my fist.

The old man stroked his short stub and answered "Greetings young Long Wan. I am known as Huyan Ming." . Huyan Ming, Huyan… Ming, Huyan… Lanruo. Ah! I remembered. Nie Li did consider that he could be related to Lanruo. He was also the elder examined Nie Li and knew of his identity in the association

Nodding I held the medal to his vision "To answer your question honorable master, I am seeking an audience with director Yang Xin and I was told by my good brother Nie Li that this would prove of some use in securing it. It seems though that I have at a bad time. Perhaps I should return at another date."

Moving at a speed that betrayed his age Huyan Ming grabbed my shoulders and smiled grandfatherly "Ah! No! It's no problem at all. Please stay." he said before turning to the receptionist "Director Yang Xin said that all matters related to Nie Li to be passed directly to her. I will handle it from here." he said before ushering me down a corridor. As we were walking he took the opportunity and asked "If you don't mind, what business do *you* have with the director?" he said in a polite speech. This was a funny thing here that had no structural analog in English. For example, *you* had multiple words that meant the same thing but one word could show great respect and another could be very insulting . He was using the former, rather than the later.

Smiling I cupped my hands again in respect "Great master, I am a simple kid so please don't speak so politely to me. " I said and he smirked and nodded before I continued "Besides, people speaking politely to me makes me feel old." This earned a hearty laugh from Huyan Ming. Seems like I was making a good impression. "As for my business, I wish to sell a recipe."

"A recipe? For what?" he spoke, his tone much more familiar now.

I put a finger on my lips and winked "With all due respect, we business men shouldn't give up secrets easily." Huyan Ming nodded in acceptance just as we reached a paper and wood sliding door.

"President Yang Xin, are you in? This is Huyan Ming. A friend of Nie Li's has come to see you. " the old man announced and not even a split second later a thud-like crash was heard, preceded by a feminine yelp.

"Ah! Thank you!" the woman said, holding her forehead and dusting herself with her other hand "Sorry you had to see me in this state."

I waved my hands in front of my c.h.e.s.t "No. I must apologize for coming without an appointment." I bowed cupping my hands.

She waved me off and said with a smile "Don't worry about it. Nie Li and his friends are always welcome." she said before turning to a man in the side of the room "Chu Ning, go brew some tea for our guest!" The man didn't say anything. He took a judging look at me before scurrying off like a c.o.c.kroach. What? This guy looked at me like I was some snot nosed brat, so I won't describe him nicely. "Anyway, please have a seat." she motioned to a couch and I nodded and sat down. She took an empty seat opposite of a low table. Huyan Ming retired himself to go refine more pills. "So, what can I do for you?" asked Yang Xin.

Fishing in my jacket pocket I pulled out a sample piece wrapped relatively nicely in paper before laying down on the table and sliding it to her. She took it in her hands and gave a long inhale through her nose, as if to judge the fragrance. "This is something I discovered recently. It is very easy to make, pretty adaptable and has a very useful property. And before you ask, it's not edible." I said, sipping a freshly brought cup of tea. Yang Xing dismissed her assistant before returning to the package and eying it closely "Ah, please open it." I motioned and she gently unwrapped the package to find a yellow-gray solid block.

"What is it?" she asked curiously, feeling it in her hands and quite enjoying the texture considering how fast her hands were moving on it's surface.

"It is a cleaning product. It has the ability to allow oils and water to mix to some degree. I call it 'Soap'." Who would've guessed.

She eyed the block carefully before turning to me "You say it's a cleaning product. What can it clean?"

Smirking I nodded "Personally, I've used different variations to wash my hair, my skin, my clothes, my kitchen and dining equipment and the floor of my dorm room." I said taking another sip of tea. Who woulda thought that c.o.c.kroaches can brew such fine tea. "There are a couple of things it can't clean, baked in grease for example. However those usually don't come out with anything other than a hammer and chisel or a sharp knife. Also, if you combine it with a couple of other herbs it can beautify the skin."

Yang Xin slapped her hands on the table and moved forward "This is amazing! How is it made." she shouted at me, her knockers swaying side to side. In her position, her cleavage looked more like a canyon. Transmigration or not, I was still a 13 year old boy with a teenage d.i.c.k and it was waking up.

Moving my head to the side and shielding my eyes I coughed "Director, not to sound rude but please show more modesty." I stated in an attempt to be gentlemanly.

Yang Xin scoffed "Forget that, it's not like I'll lose any skin from you looking. More importantly is this... Soap..." She said letting the unfamiliar word roll off her tongue. This woman is incredible, no wonder she was the director of this Alchemists Association.

Swallowing hard I calmed myself down and said "It can be made by anyone at home so even initiates at the association can make it. I know that Nie Li occupied the senior ones and the masters with the new pills. So this would provide a source of income for the lesser ones. It would also be beneficial to the association in the whole."

She looked like a kid in the candy store "Enough beating around the bush. What do you want for the recipe?" The director said with a business smile.

"20% of the profits." I said nodding.

"No." Yang Xin answered taking me by surprise. "We made a deal with Nie Li and his master for 30% on the pills. We will not take advantage of one of his friends and a potential partner. We will give 30%." She said sipping her tea as well.

This woman. I had no reason to refuse so I've simply passed on my notes on the subject. She took a look at them and her mouth hit the floor. "This, is stupidly cheap to make...". After finishing the tea we bid each other farewell after telling me to return in three days to collect my first cut.

The next day I returned Nie Li's medal and from there on was just a basic routine, same for the following day. On the third day I visited the Alchemy Association again, and this time I was escorted to Xin's offic by the receptionist without any delay. "Ah, Long Wan. How are you?" She asked kindly.

"Fate has been favorable towards me recently. Hope it treated you the same." I replied as she handed me an ornate storage ring.

"This is your cut, there should be about 350 million demon spirit coins. I've included a few new pills as a bonus." She said smiling. Nodding I accepted. WAIT! 350 MILLION? The surprised caused the tea to deepthoat me hard. After a few coughs and a another few more breaths of air I turned to Yang Xin to hopefully get an explanation on this. Returning my gaze with a warm smile she read my mind and didn't wait for me to ask "A batch was sold the day before yesterday and it became unbelievably popular overnight. We received large orders from many stores and aristocratic families. Our initiates will be very busy the next few weeks." she took a sip of the tea before continuing "And by the way, this is just from the 10% down payment we requested."

This was incredible. If 350 f.u.c.k.i.n.g million coins was just the down payment, doesn't that mean that when the order is finished I'll be a demon spirit coin billionaire? Talk about an untapped market "Thank you. This is, a lot more than I've expected." We chatted a bit more before I bid them farewell. But before I left I turned back and informed her of an event in a few days and for a small favor. Hearing me out, she raised an eyebrow but then shot me back the smile of a troublemaker. Ah, if I had a sister I would've definitely loved her being it.

Feeling the metaphorical weight of the cash in my ring, I decided to visit the general smith store. I saluted the shopkeeper who looked annoyed that I was there. He probably thought I was just some poor brat wasting his time buying some cheap knife or something. After looking around I retreated from the heavily ornate items sections. Gold was pretty to look at but its soft, heavy and stands out too much. Those are three traits too many in a battle. As a major nerd, I wanted something like those found in videogames but this wasn't a game. I didn't have the option to save and reload so I needed to think practical. However, I also had little to no experience in this world's smithing so I went straight to the shopkeeper. "Sir. Do you have a set or preferably two or three of Gold rank armor or higher?"

Hearing my question, the aged salesman nearly fell from his seat "Brat, don't startle me like that! Do you know how much that would costs?" he stated angrily at me.

Smiling I pulled out five cards of ten thousand coins each and waved them in front of him to state the point that I was not some poor brat "Each set should be around nine hundred thousand coins. In the auction, it would probably reach one million." I said remembering how Nie Li broke Nie Hai's heart during the auction with the Gold rank set.

Seeing the big cards the shopkeeper's expression went from sour to incredibly sweet in a few seconds "Ah, young master, unfortunately we don't stock any Gold rank armor. We bring them to order in a week. We only have Bronze rank sets." he said apologetically.

Cupping my chin in thought for a second I thought about the timeline. That armor was necessary for the trip to the Holy Orchid ruins, and that would happen in the next few days. At worst I had about three, maybe four days until then. Turning to the shopkeeper's desk I willed 3 million demon spirit coins to appear. The man was visibly shocked to see so much money "Consider this my submission for an order of three sets, one should fit a female. If you can bring them in 4 days I will pay you this amount again extra and double this if you can do it in three days or less."

"Young master, I shall do my very best!" he said as he put the money away. Money burns fast but it's the best fuel to get the job done, especially when you know more is coming your way "Would there be anything else?"

Nodding I continued "I need five sets of the best Bronze Rank armor you have and five decent Bronze Rank spears , ten of the largest sizes storage rings you have on you and a Gold Rank forbidden technique, sufficiently strong enough to kill a an agile 1 star Gold Rank beast" I listed. Spears were the best weapons for beginners. You didn't need much practice to point a pointy thing at something. Swords needed much more finesse and practice.

"Young master I have everything you need except the storage scroll. I can get you one in three days but it will cost three million coins. The rest of your order totals to five million two hundred thousand and seventy five. I've put everything inside a ring which is on the house." The shopkeeper handed me the ring with two hands and I bid farewell after making ten million spirit coins appear on his desk and telling him I will check every day for the order. He offered to send someone to notify me but I said I valued discretion which he understood.

It was pretty late when I returned to the dorm. As I was walking down the corridor towards my room I passed by a door when I felt a familiar presence. Knocking twice I waited a bit before hearing a male voice ask for my identity. "It's Long Wan."

The door immediately opened to reveal Du Ze on the other side. "Long Wan, good to see you. What can I do for you?" he said extending a hand.

I smiled and met his forearm with mine in a friendly greeting "I have something for you." I said as I made a ring appear from my ring (ringception).

His eyes widened fast "Long Wan, I can't. That's way to expensive." he said but took his hand and shoved the ring in it.

"Just take it. I got it for you and can't return it." said as he took to looking at it "Besides, the ring is not the gift but the wrapping. Inside the ring you will find a set of top quality bronze rank armor, invincible under Silver Rank, as well as a somewhat mediocre bronze rank spear and twenty-five million demon spirit coins." I said watching his jaw drop to the floor.

"Long Wan, this is too much! I won't be able to repay yo..." he said but I stopped him by raising a hand in his face.

Grabbing his shoulders I looked at him dead in the eye "An amount of money like this is nothing compared to my friend's life. Use those items and grow into a great man." I said as he looked at the ring again and tightened his fist around it. "Besides I know you and your family are facing some difficulties right now. Didn't your sisters sold themselves into marriage to fund your studies? Perhaps this will help getting them the life they deserve."

He looked absolutely shocked. It was natural of course since that was his greatest shame. Turning to me with a stunned look he opened his mouth but no words came out.

Tightening my grip on his shoulders I continued "How could I not know if my good brother is suffering. Besides the sisters of my brother are my sisters as well and it's natural to help family. So don't even think about paying me back." This guy was a lot of work to convince to take a gift that honestly didn't have any strings attached. I just wanted to raise his opinion of me a little. And considering I had at least a three billion coins to come, this was truly chickenfeed for my bank account.

Tears leaked from the corner of his eyes as he looked into mine and nodded "Then, I will accept this gift. Please let me know if I can do anything for you in the future."

"Haha! The only thing I need from you is your friendship. Let's grow old and give our wives headaches together." I said bumping my fist on his c.h.e.s.t causing a little laughter to escape his throat. After a while I bid him goodnight and went ahead and visited Lu Piao and the trio to give them their gifts as well, getting similar reactions in return. Lu Piao was the easiest to convince and we even shared some baiju that I bought from the market. All hail no drinking age restrictions!

Next morning I awoke with a boom, quite literally as my Soul Realm had absorbed the night's energies and shot me up to two star Bronze and blew the covers off my bed. As I made my way to class and up the stairs I wondered what Bitch Xiu would say if she saw this lowly orange realm commoner get to two star bronze on his own in a little over a week. And speaking of said woman, she came in and immediately ordered us to sit down. Ah, so today is that day. Chanting the words of the Heavenly Void Dragon God Technique whilst limiting my soul realm I began to slowly absorb the soul force around me when I felt a distortion. Imagine that soul force is like air and you become a vacuum when cultivating. If something solid gets in between you and the wind then you will naturally feel less draft coming from that direction. It was akin to a biological radar.

Turning around I was met with empty air. It seems that the elders were indeed masking their presence but unlike the Shadow Devil who could become intangible, they only projected an intent to be ignored so the senses of weaker beings would naturally disregard whatever they detected. Looking around I also saw that Nie Li had turned and we met gazes halfway. He looked surprised that I reacted but it quickly turned into a knowing smirk before deciding to rest his head on the desk.

"Nie LI!" Shen Xiu screamed out loud. She was in the process of explaining inscription patterns, specifically her family's Scarlet Sunburst pattern. As a side note, during the days I waited for the Alchemist Association to sell the soap, I began reading on arrays and foundation patterns. What I had discovered was that they essentially functioned as visual programming blocks. Having had mild experience with a program called Labview during my days in collage, I found them easier than most in deciphering them. Coupled with my new supercharged memory I found it actually enjoyable to study them. Sadly, my calligraphy though was abysmal to say the least, so theory was as far as I could go.

The ginger groggily raised his head and looked at her half asleep "What do you want?" he asked rudely, no hint of respect in his tone.

This made Shen Xiu boiling mad. The students began to speak of his imminent demise. Du Ze and Pu Liao awkwardly smiled at each other. Seems like they wouldn't dare be caught sleeping in class. As for me, I just bid my time waiting for the right moment.

Shen Xiu said in a deep voice, "You are actually sleeping in my class. Do you already know all of this stuff?"

"Yeah," Nie Li calmly said.

"You….." Shen Xiu became speechless from being choked by Nie Li's words. Since the start of the lesson Nie Li has been sleeping so naturally he seemed just an average troublemaker. Shen Xiu coldly sneered, "Since you already know, why don't you tell us about the inscription pattern on the board?"

Nie Li's eyes swept across the inscription pattern and said, "This is a low-graded Sacred Flaming Pattern. It can barely be considered a Bronze pattern. With 38 patterns in it's structure " Hearing what Nie Li just said, the whole class started laughing

"Haha, I almost died from laughing. He really did not listen to anything teacher said. To actually say that this Scarlet Sunburst Pattern has 38 foundation pattern in it's structure when, earlier on, teacher Shen Xiu just introduced that there are 36 foundation patterns in it's structure!" one of the other kids, a noble said while he's laughing.

Growling, I turned to him and said loudly "Amateurs!" causing the class to stop and turn to me "The two mirroring boundary foundation patterns are actually made of two patterns each, making them actually four. However since nobody knew how to use them other than together for Sacred Flame , they are considered as one pattern." I had studied the book of Divine Lightning Fire in preparation for this day. Specifically, I memorized all the patterns in chapter seven of that book, even though I barely understood part of them "The bottom pattern is a link one, allowing flame attribute to be merged with some other attribute." When I read the Divine Lightning Fire book I noticed that those patterns were always at the end of Sacred Flame inscriptions and continued on with some other unknown scribblings, which I suspected were lightning attributed, duh. But since during the Age of Darkness Glory City lost most other attribute inscriptions except for a small portion of them, coming from three categories. Snow Wind Patterns, Sacred Flaming Patterns, War Prime Patterns. The linked inscriptions belonged to none of them if my new supermemory worked as I expected.

However, I wasn't done there with the Sacred Family. I was an important business partner with the Alchemy Association. Yesterday they caused a huge uproar and got a surge in power due to releasing Nie Li's pills to market. Nie Li got his share and gifted each of us with a bottle of one thousand Soul Nurturing Pills, six hundred Soul Concentrating Pills, two hundred Soul Temper Pills, a hundred Nine Transformation Pills, and a hundred Scarlet Body Enhancing Pill and also told us not to hesitate to let him know when we ran out. Total estimated value: nearly two hundred million per person. Conclusion: Nie Li was filthy rich now and would get richer.

To continue tearing into the Sacred Family I continued "That inscription pattern that you showed us, I saw it before in a book from the Snow Wind Empire era." This made many in the class gasp "Volume seven of the Book of Divine Lightning Fire to be exact. It was part of a much more complex inscription that I couldn't understand. Some idiot that also couldn't understand it ripped out the Sacred Flame part the rest, added another fire attribute inscription to the boundary pattern to essentially cork it and turned it into this thing that is only useful for lighting incense."

Nie Li backed me up "The original name of this inscription pattern is called Lightning Flame Burst Pattern and is a pattern of Lightning Fire attribute . It is a Silver Ranked pattern that consists of 60 foundation patterns. It can be considered a little complicated, merging Divine Lightning inscriptions patterns with Sacred Flame ones. With no real combat capabilities, it could only be given to the Sacred Flame Pattern practitioners to study."

The students in the class looked at each other. You could tell that they had some difficulty understanding what I've said. Truthfully even I didn't understand it completely but I was still comfortably above Shen Xiu. She was still ten years too young to mess with me, and a couple of centuries behind Nie Li.

"Ridiculous! Such a book does not exist in the world! And what are you talking about with that Divine Lightning inscription?" Shen Xiu thought for awhile and countered.

Seeing how furious Shen Xiu was, Nie Li chuckled lightly and said, "Teacher Shen Xiu is so knowledgeable, saying the book doesn't exist because you've never seen it before. Does that mean that teacher Shen Xiu has read all the books in the world?"

"Book of Divine Lightning Fire? Oh I remembered, I think I've borrowed such a book from the library!" a commoner student suddenly said in a frightened voice. The voice of this commoner student caused Shen Xiu's face to darken. This commoner student flipped the Book of Divine Lightning Fire open. This book is a copied version, not the original copy. It was written with words that belonged to the language of Snow Wind Empire. I could also feel the hidden experts in the back shift. The vice-principal probably sent his subordinate Lu Ye to retrieve the book.

The novel stated that when roaming the continent during his previous life, Nie Li became proficient with seven languages. Upon reaching Legend rank, he read various books and never forgot their content. Not to mention, in his previous life, Nie Li stayed in the stationary space-time realm within the Temporal Demon Spirit Book for hundreds of years, reading millions of books while he's inside. There isn't any obstacle in reading the words written by the language of Snow Wind Empire for Nie Li. Every student in the class focused their eyes on the Book of Divine Lightning Fire that the commoner student was holding. Both Ye Ziyun and Shen Yue were also showing very surprised looks on their faces. Being members of the three major families, they also read a lot of books, but they didn't know that such a book called the Book of Divine Lightning Fire existed. This book is too obscure, therefore very few would take the initiative to learn from it. Since Lightning Fire inscription patterns have been long lost during the Age of Darkness, there were only a few books, such as the Book of Divine Lightning Fire, lying around. All of these were untranslated, so they were shelved. Occasionally, there would be some students borrowing them, but after realizing that they couldn't understand the content, they would immediately put them back.

"Let me see, Book of Divine Lightning Fire volume seven." The commoner student immediately began rummaging through the book. This Book of Divine Lightning Fire was several hundred pages thick. Inside, the book was filled with ill.u.s.trations, text, and Lightning Fire inscription pattern diagrams. There was no translation for it after the first volume. The complex, ancient words caused many people to have a headache just by looking at it. After turning to volume seven, the commoner student realized that this volume alone had hundreds of inscription patterns. He started comparing them one by one with the one on the board, searching for the one that looked similar to the Scarlet Sunburst inscription pattern.

Everyone in the class looked like they were getting impatient.

Shen Xiu's face frosted coldly and said, "You probably found this book in some corner of the library and don't even know what was written in it. Yet, you say that the Scarlet Sunburst originated from that book! Arrogant children, you dare defile the ancestors of my Sacred family! If you can't find the inscription pattern, I'll go to the Judgement Hall to sue you two for slandering my family's reputation!"

Frowning I met her frosty gaze with my own "Teacher Shen Xiu, you are being a bully! You threaten us with such punishment. You will need to sincerely apologize after we are proven correct, otherwise *I* will sue you and the Sacred Family for defamation and threats." putting emphasis on the I part.

Nie Li laughed loudly and said, "Teacher Shen Xiu, it's still too early to say this kind of stuff. This book was left over during the Snow Wind Empire's time, existing over a few thousand years. It was written long before the creation of the Sacred family, right?"

"Correct!" answered Shen Xiu nodding her head. This was a hard fact that she couldn't deny. However she still kept her glare aimed at me.

"Then, it's simple." Nie Li looked at the commoner student. At the same time, looking directly into her eyes with the most defiant look I had, my words came echoing Nie Li's "Flip thirty pages backwards from volume seven. The sixth diagram on page thirty. " we both said before turning to face each other with raised eyebrows. Those expressions quickly turned into knowing smirks.

Shen Xiu's face lost all traces of blood. She maybe had some small doubts if we were each alone, but together she just couldn't keep believing in herself. If our words were true, it would be the stain of Sacred family. Because Sacred family had publicly announced that the Scarlet Sunburst inscription pattern, as well as 16 other inscription patterns, were self-created by the first generation house master of the Sacred family. This caused a huge increase in the Sacred family's reputation. If the public were to find out that Sacred family's inscription patterns were plagiarized from the ancient book, then the reputation of the Sacred family would be greatly affected. Seeing Shen Xiu's face show traces of fear, Nie Li secretly smiled. The Sacred family's fame mostly came from being the bearer of the Sacred Flame inscription patterns, which was claimed by many past house masters, to have been self-created inscription patterns. Their extraordinary talent is said to have saved the Glory City from distress.

In Nie Li's previous life, during the destruction of Glory City, every family was fighting for the survival of the city. The Sacred family was supposed to guard the west gate of the Glory City, but during the outbreak of the war, in order to save their own strength, they got every single one of the family's experts to leave, most likely to the Abyss Prison Realm .This caused the breach of the west gate, and allowed the Snow Wind demon beasts to rampage into the city. In the novel it was said that Nie Li still remembers the horrifying scene caused by the demon beasts massacre. He and the rest of the survivors had no choice but to leave leaving Glory City! There was no doubt that after his rebirth, Nie Li didn't have any good impressions towards the Sacred family. And neither did I.

"Page thirty, sixth diagram…" The commoner student murmured. After being guided he found the Lightning Fire inscription pattern. "Ah!" he exclaimed. The crowd of students also let out a sound of surprise. My guess would be that they saw the pattern matched what we said.

Just then Shen Yue who was among the crowd, looked towards the both of us, his eyes full of hatred. Can't really blame him, we are discrediting their family.

"So what if the first generation house master of my Sacred family took it from the Book of Divine Lightning Fire?" Shen Xiu coldly replied.

"The Demon Spiritualist code of conduct…" I began and paused to wait for Nie Li. I didn't wait long though as he read my thoughts " Article 161: When taking inscription patterns or copying inscription patterns from other demon spiritualists…" we then continued together as if one voice "One must indicate their source and cannot claim them to be self-created. This is the basics of Demon Spiritualist ethics!" we shot each other a side glance before returning to Shen Xiu

"You….you..." Shen Xiu trembled from the anger.

Nie Li didn't let it end there " The Demon Spiritualist code of conduct has been around for three thousands years. It long predates the Sacred Family." he said with venom in his sweet voice. "If they were learning from the Lightning Flame inscription patterns in order to create their own inscription pattern, then it's fine. However, the Sacred family's first generation house master directly took half of it and claimed it to be his own. Isn't it a little too….. absurd? Could the first generation house master of the Sacred family have some unmentionable difficulties?" Nie Li blinked his eyes as he spoke innocently. Shen Xiu and her nephew now had murder written all over their faces.

The students also started to whisper "So the first generation house master of Sacred family was such a person." "It's said that, although the first house master of the Sacred family was only a Gold Rank demon spiritualist, in the studies of inscription patterns, he was a great master who self-created several Sacred Flame inscription patterns. Has the Sacred family always been at the forefront of Sacred Flame Inscriptions?" "Never thought that the Scarlet Sunburst is actually copied from an ancient book." "I looked at the Snow Wind inscription pattern's record. The inscriptions inside has been reproduced or taken from ancient books but they always indicated their source. They never claimed it to be self-created." "This is the ethics of Demon Spiritualists. Every noble Demon Spiritualist would do the same!"

Shen Yue stood up from his seat and said with a dark expression, "You two! My Sacred family has existed for three hundred years. We are one of the three major families in Glory City. We aren't a family that the likes of you, ordinary people, can criticize! This Scarlet Sunburst was written in the first house master's notes. Originally, it was not to be publicly announced. We younger generations found it when we were arranging the first house master's notes, so we thought that it was created by him. That's normal." Shen Yue deepened his voice when he mentioned "Major Family", and pointed out that we had mediocre origins, all this loud and clear. If we were to pursue it further, then, as the Sacred family, being one of the major families definitely wouldn't let us off.

My rage boiled. I expected this reaction from Shen Yue, as per the novel but reading a something on the web and listening to it live is like watching road rage videos and actually getting cut off. This little brat actually dared to do it so, for once, I couldn't take it lying down. I stood up myself "First teacher Shen threatens me with prosecution for being a good student. Now classmate Shen wants to say that pointing out careless copyright infringements are not some things commoners should do because of one's family's prestige. In this time when Glory City is facing attacks on all sides from demon beasts, is this showing the true face the Sacred family!?" I said pushing back, nearly yelling the last part back at him making him do a double take.

The classmates began to frown as they looked at the Sacred family members. Their futures were at stake and these people only knew how to sow discord. Even Ning'er and Ye Ziyun couldn't help look at both Shen in anger and disgust.

Hearing Shen Yue's words, Nie Li became visibly unhappy "Student Shen Yue is an arrogant bully. Ah, fortunately the law in Glory City is strict . Otherwise, I'd really be worried about what the Sacred family would do… I have faith that a big family like the Sacred Family would protect our safety. If anything were to happen to us, I'm afraid the Sacred family wouldn't be able to escape with their face intact." Nie Li put it in a way that if Sacred family were to go after us, then wouldn't that be as if they were admitting their guilt?

I noticed that Ye Ziyun couldn't help but to look at Nie Li again. Recently, Nie Li's actions made her unable to ignore his existence. On the other hand Ning'er eyes were glued on me, admiration and care showing all the way. Her family has always been wanting to marry her off to the Sacred family so seeing her hope filled vision made me boil on the inside. However, I suppressed it. There was no way to face off against the Sacred family yet. The current me had the funds but was lacking in strength.

My focus snapped when I once again felt movement from the experts behind me. Lu Ye probably had returned with the book from the library and presented it to Ye Xiu. My guess would be that at this moment they were lamenting on Nie Li's and mine's poor talent.

Shen Xiu looked at me with a vision that would make a lesser man tremble. I suspected that her hatred for Nie Li and myself had reached the limit, and she coldly said , "Today's matters, I will remember it!" Shen Xiu is a vindictive person. BUT SO AM I!

Smiling viscously I began "Teacher Shen Xiu! How about a bet?"

She sneered but raised an eyebrow "A bet?"

"I bet I can reach 3 star Bronze in two months." Gasps were heard from the class "If you win, I will leave the school and stop following the martial Dao." Who are we kidding, with the pills from Nie Li and my Heavenly Void Dragon God, I was worried I would be knocking on the door to Gold rank by then.

"You actually think you can reach Bronze rank within two months from a soul force of 11? More so you think you can reach 3 star Bronze?" she said. I suspect she would be laughing if not for the earlier humiliation.

Nodding I continued "I do. And I'm a man of my word. However, if I win the bet, you will resign from this school the same day I win. Do you dare?"

"That being the case, why would I not dare? I will meet your bet." she flicked her hair at me.

Raising an eyebrow I smirked "Actually, let's make it more interesting." I said and she reflected my eyebrow raise "I also bet I can reach Silver rank at testing. If I can't then I will sign my life as a servant of the Sacred Family to do with as you please, including end." Shen Xiu's visage actually changed to a surprised one "However, if I win, besides you resigning from your teaching position, you will also owe me a favor you won't be able to refuse, even if it means killing yourself or injuring the Sacred Family's reputation."

She trembled a little "You… You would actually bet your life away?!"

Resting my hands on my h.i.p.s I nodded, "I only asked the question. Will you stake yourself as well?"

For a moment, Shen Xiu seemed conflicted . It was a big bet afterall. A slave servant versus a favour that couldn't be refused no matter what. Not to mention that, with the experts here there was no way she could back out if she accepted the deal. She recovered quickly though and returned with a knowing smile "Very well, I accept your conditions. Don't beg for forgiveness afterwards!" she hmphed. From the novel, I could tell that in her mind there was really no way an Orange soul realm could reach such heights. Even that geezer Ye Mo, a cyan soul realm couldn't have such a growth in his prime.

As she turned to leave the class I called out "Teacher Shen Xiu, I said am a man of my word. You slandered me in front of my classmates and friends when discussing the Lightning Flame Burst Pattern inscription, and I said I will sue you for it. If you leave now without apologizing then expect a summon to the Justice Hall to face charges of defamation!" I challenged loudly.

The students became deathly quiet. Most commoners and even some nobles around me sunk in their seats to make themselves as small as possible. Even Ning'er had a terrified image adorning her face as she looked at me, blood drained from her face. It pained my soul to see such a good girl, MY girl frightened by such a lowlife. Trying to calm her down I shot her a kind wink, letting few see it. Well, even if they did, it wouldn't matter anymore. I had Nie Li , the Alchemy Association and money on my side. My backing was far more valuable than the Sacred family. Speaking of Nie Li, he was the only one in class to make a sound, muffling his chuckles but doing so very poorly.

Shen Xiu grit her teeth and growled as she merged with her demon spirit, gaining a beastly appearance. She flexed her nails, as if my throat was in her grasp, enjoying tearing out my imaginary vocal cords. Du Ze, Lu Piao, Zhang Ming, Zhu Xiangjun and Wei Nan shifted in their seats, probably to try and protect me. However before any party could act, the energies behind me shifted once again, growing stronger and aiming for Shen Xiu. Her eyes widened momentarily before releasing her transformation. She clenched her fists so hard a drop of blood flowed from her palms. Shen Xiu aimed her face at the floor while saying, "Shen Xiu… made a grave mistake. This one admits her wrongs." she apologized like a little girl caught with the hand in the cookie jar by her father.

Crossing my hands in front of my c.h.e.s.t, aiming my cold gaze at her before nodding "As long as you admit your wrongs…" No point in pushing this further.

She quickly left the room, the humiliation reaching her breaking point.

Letting out a small chuckle I turned once again to the seemingly empty seats and cupped my hands and whispered "Thank you for your assistance vice-principal Ye Sheng, professor Lu Ye and elder Ye!"

The air shimmered and the three appeared almost out of thin air "Young one, that was reckless." Ye Sheng said with a somber tone.

"How did you know we were here?" Lu Ye asked in surprise. A twelve-thirteen year old kid discovered him so easily when he was hiding his presence.

Rubbing the back of my head I began grinning. I knew about you three from the novel but that wouldn't fly in this situation "If I cultivate, I feel the surrounding soul force shift whenever something comes close. Even if you project your intent to hide, you can't erase your physical presence. I suspected something from how teacher Shen Xiu was behaving so I started cultivating, and every student is familiar with the vice-principal's and the professor's presence. And the presence of the Snow Wind family members, especially one as strong as the elder's is not easily confused nor forgotten."

Reading their expressions, Ye Sheng and Lu Ye seemed to have some insights. This would definitely help them in the future. The elder Ye, Ye Shuo didn't show anything but that was to be expected. He was the City Lord's chief intelligence officer. It wouldn't do well for a spy master to show emotion so easily.

However , he finally opened his eyes and looked at me and Nie Li who was observing us from a distance. He then shifted his eyes to Shen Yue who was visibly shocked at the presence of the elders in the classroom. The rest of the students, seeing the vice principal was here, were all on their best behaviour. Finally returning to me he asked "You said that you suspected Shen Xiu's behaviour." he let those words linger expecting my answer

Nodding I smiled "Teacher Shen Xiu was being an unusually good teacher today. Usually she just spends the day degrading commoners, praising nobles, fawning over her brat of a nephew and generally sowing discord amongst the class."

A loud thud came from Shen Yue as he hit his desk with his fists "Long Wan, you're going too far!" he yelled while pointing at me.

Turning around to meet him I scolded with a disappointed expression "Shen Yue, the a.d.u.l.ts are talking. You should be quiet now. Honestly, brats these days…" I sighed while shaking my head. His hostility was radiating outward so intensely that it nearly tanned the back of my neck. However he couldn't act now with the elders next to me. Said elders chuckled at my antics. I was implying that Shen Yue was nothing but a child to me. Well, I was a 29 year old man in the body of a 13 year old. And don't mess with the situation with Ning'er. If a f.u.c.k.i.n.g centuries old geezer could court Ye Ziyun then so could I. Shen Yue retreated quickly, probably to vent his anger somewhere.

The principle let out a little laugh before his expression turned serious "Is this true?" Shen Xiu was a teacher at the institute so it was his responsibility to monitor her performance. Such an accusation if proven correct would damage it's reputation, and by consequence his.

Shrugging I motioned to the class "If vice-principal inquired about it in class then there wouldn't be a straight answer. Everyone fears upsetting the Sacred Family too much so the students wouldn't admit to it even under the threat of death." I said as he closed his eyes in contemplation. However, I continued "Vice principal needs not do anything. When the testing period comes things will take care of themselves."

Ye Shuo looked at me with some kind of analytical expression "Do you actually believe you can reach Silver rank within two months from a soul force of 11?"

There was no harm in having such powerful people back me up. Nie Li needed secrecy for his family, while I had no such constraints. Focusing, I stirred my soul ocean until a teal green mist surrounded me. The men nearly fell over as this was the glow of a Bronze rank demon spiritualist.

Ye Sheng swallowed hard "We will need to move you to the genius class immediately." he whispered. A twelve year old kid moving from a soul force of 11 to over 100 in less than a week is unheard of so naturally he wants to protect me. However, I lift my hands to stop him.

"This advance is due to my friends, so while I give many tanks to vice-principal, I must decline for now. We will follow the same dao together." I bowed and cupped my hands politely. The genius class would serve no help to me. Actually being in a different class than Nie Li would actually harm my future, so thanks but no thanks!

Ye Shuo turned to the vice-principal and nodded. Thus he left me an impression that he was someone who could respect camaraderie and loyalty, which were bonus points in my book. "Very well…" muttered Ye Shen, disappointment edging his tone "However if you manage to pass the finals, then I expect no refusal." he said sternly. That's fine with me also. By the time the year ends all of us will give him a reason to stick us together.

Nodding I smiled "That's fine" I said cupping my hands.

Ye Sheng hummed a bit before saying, "We elders here admire yours and student Nie Li's thirsts for knowledge. You shall be appointed library clerks. It comes with some benefits and no disadvantages."

I bowed in thanks "I think I speak honestly on behalf of my friend by saying our thanks to the elders!". The men nodded and disappeared into thin air. A library clerk position means you get a decent amount of coins, about enough to keep a commoner family well fed but still a measly sum compared to what Nie Li and I were worth. But more valuably, we could reserve any section of the library as we so wished, provided we didn't abuse the ability. This meant that the library was now our official base of operations…

Hold on, that wouldn't do. I'm, for f.u.c.k-all, stinking rich right now. And being an orphan was a cruel thing but it had small perks (To all the orphans out there I am sorry for this. I can understand you would these 'perks' and probably an arm to have a family). One of which was that I was my own man… boy… ah f.u.c.k it! I was my own person. I should be buying my own house, probably tonight.

On second thought, cancel that idea. The Sacred family was now as pissed-off as a hornet with a hernia so living alone might as well be equal to putting my neck on the chopping block. Yeah… that house would have to wait. Better stay in the institute grounds, while outside I'll stick to the populated sections.

Bidding farewell to the group I made my way to the dorms as I wanted to wash before meeting them at the library to cultivate. A man should be clean at all times. By this time Shen Xiu should be barging in Ye Sheng's office bitching up a storm. But since Ye Shuo supported me and he was witness to what had happened, Shen Xiu could only put on her period p.a.n.t.i.e.s and endure. The path to the dorms passed through a garden of sorts. As I was walking I noticed that my Void radar… crappy name, let's change it. Let's see~ Void… sonar. No, even worse. Hmm I can sense things around me so… sense? Void sense. Rolls off the tongue better. Anyway, I noticed that my void sense was still active even though I wasn't cultivating and I actually had to will it to stop. Meditating inwards a bit, I noticed that my new soul form had changed yet again, this time it seemed that it constantly absorbed waves of translucid mist from all around it. When I mentally ordered it to stop, so did my void sense.

I began to speculate that my soul realm was semi-sentient. It instinctually knew what techniques and abilities would be useful to me and would transform itself to better suit my needs. What the f.u.c.k? What is this, a Prototype ripoff? Next thing you know, I'll be ripping living things in pieces and absorbing their biomass, while questi-screaming 'where is my daughter?'. Eww… Well, I'm definitely someone who doesn't look a gift horse in the teeth.

The sense was useful. Besides giving me 360 degree awareness, it also worked by absorbing soul force so it actually powered me instead of consuming my stamina and gave me an minimal increase to my cultivation speed. While not nearly enough to match Lu Piao's technique, every little bit helps. Letting it run, I slowly got used to the feeling. The range was no more than fifteen meters, maybe eighteen if I focused hard enough. Anyway, as I studied this technique I noticed that a group of seven people entered it's area of effect and were getting closer. One of those people I was really familiar with by now…

Stopping in a clearing at the garden I turned around "Classmate Brat, I mean… Classmate Shen Yue. How nice to meet you here." I said with a brave front but was actually pissing myself internally. In this world or the former I had no experience fighting. The only punches I threw were made with alcohol and I threw them down my throat. This f.u.c.ker brought six people with him and there was no doubt what he intended to do with them.

"Bastard, we've finally caught you!" Shen Yue sneered. The six lackeys behind Shen Yue also looked at me with ridicule in their eyes.

"Is there anything you want from me?" I said with a scared expression while scanning my surroundings looking for an escape root.

"So you finally know fear you bastard! Damn, have I been unhappy with you all these days. Today you're seeing your own death! Beat him up! Show no mercy!" Shen Yue thundered towards his lackeys. They didn't wait for a second order as they pounced on me like vultures. Damn, if this had happened a few days later I would've been wearing my Gold Rank armor. But I will not give this asshole any satisfaction to beg for mercy! I stood straight and waited for the imminent beating.

As the one lackey in the front reached me, he threw a punch aimed straight at my nose. 'That's… so slow.' I thought as I tilted my head out of the way before dancing away from him, leaving him to stumble forward. He recovered a bit and threw a mule kick which once again I avoided by twisting my body away. Feeling something in the back of my head thanks to the void sense I ducked and the tallest of Shen Yue's gorillas flew above me like Maito Gai from Naruto doing a dynamic entry, and kicking his friend in the nuts in the process. This dancing continued a few more seconds with the rest of the group.

Well, well, well…. Apparently, Shen Yue's bunch were all 1 star Bronze Rank or below. Maybe they had a 2 star but that made no difference. I was also a 2 star Bronze but my technique grants me increased power than the average cultivator at the same level. I was already leagues above them, so much so that they appeared to me to move like old ladies with bad h.i.p.s.

"You bunch of useless idiots! Do you even lift?" Yelled Shen Yue at his cronies. He actually asked if they 'eat meat', a.k.a are they strong predators, but remembering this way is much more funny.

Deciding that they had enough fun with me I decided to rip another page from Nie Li's book and inhaled a f.u.c.kton of air. Mixing soul force with it , I let out the most ungodly roar "MU~RDER~!". The vibrations of my loud voice disorientated the lackeys as they stepped a half-step back while clutching their ears "HE~LP! THE SACRED FAMILY WANTS TO MURDER ME!"

"Damn, shut that bastard's mouth! Hurry and shut him up!" Hearing my shouts, Shen Yue's face twitched violently. My pleas could be heard throughout the whole Holy Orchid Institute. It sounded even more miserable than pigs to the slaughter. The apes started raining blows after blows on me which I danced around or blocked. My moves were clumsy at best. One time I tripped on a twig making me roll around in some dirt and rip my shirt in the side before getting up using that fancy leg flick from martial arts movies, unintentionally heeling one lackey in the solar plexus. It was nice to have a body that moved according to your imagination, just like when I was jumping on top of trees in the hunting grounds looking for Ning'er.

I could see Shen Yue's frustration boiling. No doubt he imagined that this would be over quickly but, though my clothes were now ruined, I was still unharmed. They were throwing hit after hit but I jumped, dodged and ducked under each of them, not once stopping from screaming bloody murder (hehe, see what I did there?). However, all they hit was air as I was buzzing around their limbs like a mosquito. Some tried to sneak up on me to grab me. If they managed that then it would be the end for me, but since I could sense them I always ran away before they could manage to get close enough.

"Isn't that Nie Li's friend, Long Wan?"

"I heard that they offended the Sacred Family!"

"I heard that because of them exposing the plagiarism behind the Scarlet Sunburst Inscription Pattern, the Sacred Family is planning to secretly get rid of them!"

"The Sacred Family is too evil. They're actually trying to kill a student within the Holy Orchid Institute!"

"Hurry and report this to the Principal!"

Students began talking among themselves and approaching the scene to get better looks. One of the said people was a little older and looked somewhat regal. He was watching this with an expressionless frown on his face. That's ok, come and see the show. The more people seeing this the better I'll look and the worse Shen Yue will be. Brat, you're a few decades too green to mess with me. I unskillfully made my way to a wall and ducked away at the last moment , letting one of them smash his fist on the tough stone. Unlike Nie Li however I couldn't fight back and defend at the same time so all I did was cry out murder and keep focusing on defense.

"Beat him up, ruthlessly beat him up!" Shen Yue roared. He was starting to foam at the mouth and his face was getting redder and redder.

One 2 star Bronze fighter jumped again and aimed his knee at me. As I was preparing to roll out of the way I heard a lovable voice come to my aid followed by a miserable feminine yelp soon after. Looking in absolute terror at the source a slender figure skimmed over my gaze. It was Xiao Ning'er. And she was flying at high speed towards a wall. My world darkened….