Chapter 130 The Dao Of Rhymes Is The Only Dao That Matters

After returning to his hotel room and greeting his two guards, Ryan activated his heavenly portal to his palace and stepped inside.

Stepping into the palace's garden area, Ryan looked at his lovely meadows, orchards, and fields.

Behind the garden was a building Ryan had designed to house his servants and knights.

Besides the main housing, a luxurious building sat, which Ryan had built with his own two hands, 'Or thoughts,' he chuckled.

The luxurious building houses his Harem Members, including Lizzy, Izzy, Emily, and Zoey, and soon would house Ester and Grace. 'I still have to claim Grace, although I doubt she would reject it,' Ryan thought, remembering he technically hadn't claimed Grace yet.

Sitting on a bench, Ryan was just about to relax when…

"Ryan, you're finally back!" Veronica wailed.

"Technically, you've been inside me this whole time," Ryan said, chuckling as Veronica hugged him tight.

"Don't say it like that," Veronica grumbled, nuzzling her cat ears against his chest.

"Where's Joy?" Ryan asked, looking around.

At the sound of her name, a head poked out from the top of a tree, looking at Ryan, then eagerly climbing down the trunk before running toward him.

Just like Emily loved to do, Joy got a running start and leaped up onto Ryan's chest. This, of course, would have been fine if not for the cat woman clung to his chest.

Twisting his body, Ryan caught the girl on his back and used his free arm to hold her up until she warped her arms around his neck.

"Ladies, I love the attention and all, but could you go one at a time?" Ryan pleaded, trying not to let Joy fall.

"If you wanted that, why did you make a Harem?" Victoria asked, giggling as Ryan narrowed his brow.

"Is my Master back?" Zoey asked as she walked out from the luxurious building she had been resting in.

"Oh my gosh!" Zoey yelled, startling Joy, who quickly buried her face into Ryan's neck. "You already have a baby? She's so cute! How old is she? What's her race? Tell me, is she…"

As Zoey's questions rambled on and on, Ryan coughed, interrupting the bunny girl. "She's not my daughter," Ryan said.

"Ouch!" Ryan yelped, feeling a bite on his neck.

Reaching behind him, Ryan grabbed onto the culprit, swinging his arm until Joy pouted in front of him.

"What was that for?" Ryan asked, touching the bite mark on his neck.

His only response from the little miscreant was a look that said, 'I don't know, why don't you figure it out.'

Glaring at the five-year-old, Ryan sighed and turned to Zoey. "She's someone I rescued from a slave trader who I saw promise in."

"Promise, huh," Zoey said, raising an eyebrow.

"You get a girl pregnant but can't wait a few months, so you go out to adopt," Zoey muttered, shaking her head.

"That's not what-"

"Ryan, is that you?!" Grace's voice came from the entrance of the same building Zoey had just walked out of.

Standing at the entrance were Lizzy, Izzy, Emily, and Grace.

Flustered at her own shout, Grace's face reddened, but she didn't give up and started stalking forward, her fists clenched.

Getting in front of the bewildered Ryan, she planted her feet and shouted, "Make me your woman!"

Ryan blinked.

Joy, still being held by Ryan, blinked.

Zoey, who was still rubbing on Ryan, intoxicated by his scent, blinked.

"Yeah, I think I could manage that," Ryan said, coming out of his reverie. 'This woman sure is unique.'

"But," Ryan said, trying to throw her off her game, "what's in it for me?"

As if expecting this, Grace replied, "Not only will you get this amazing body of mine," while running her hands over her luscious curves that were not too big nor too small. "You'll also get my unwavering and undying loyalty," Grace said as she dropped to one knee.

"Although I don't know much about the things Lizzy, Izzy, and Emily have tried to tell me, I know what faith and love look like," Grace said, staring Ryan into his eyes. "These girls are head over heels for you, and… I think I am too."

"You were always on my mind, ever since my first time. I checked the clock every hour of every day, but all I felt was sour while I tried to downplay my feelings for you," Grace said, getting into her rhyme rhythm.

"At first, I hated you, but then I debated the truth. Finally, I found out through self-reflection that my inspection was flawed through an act of god; I found the truth: I had to get rid of everything up above for my true love to shine true for you."

Ryan sat, stunned at the rhymes he had just heard.

He remembered his love for the Dao, the Dao of rhymes. He remembered Grace's face as they laughed and played.

"Thank you for that," Ryan said. "I needed something to cheer me up."

Even with everything seeming alright for Ryan, he still felt tired of having the human empire looming over him seemingly at every turn.

"I accept you as my own. Even when I ascend to the throne, I will love your every bone."

"Now, let's skip the small talk, and girls, don't you dare cockblock while I take Grace and undo this deadlock."

After finishing his rhymes, Ryan advanced, scooped up Grace, and teleported away to his private room, leaving the girls happy he stopped his rhymes but sad that they weren't in Grace's shoes.

===

A few minutes… I mean hours later…

After leaving Grace panting, begging, and spent, Ryan converted her and successfully added his sixth harem member to his ever-growing family.

Exiting his private room, Ryan decided he needed to start training in the tower, gain knowledge about this world, and increase his energy levels.

If he could combine the tower training, his daily yield from his palace, and his trips to the BCN, he figured he could rank up three times before his two-week trip was over, placing him at a solid A-Rank.

'Although that isn't enough for me to go against the empire myself, Ester gave me a rundown of what I would need to take on the human empire.'

After his romp with the Frost General, she had been gracious and provided Ryan with how the rankings worked.

Unlike what he expected, Ryan found that SSS-Rank's only difference from S-Rank or even A-Rank was simply the amount of energy inside one's body.

After he asked his cat knights about it, he received the answer that the letter ranks (F-SSS) were more of a foundation stage, and only when one became a 'Master-Ranked' cultivator did one truly step onto the path.

'I wonder how the people of this world would react if they knew the truth,' Ryan thought, arriving in front of the tower.

[Select Training Category]

[Knowledge]

[Combat]

[Specialty]

Selecting knowledge, Ryan was transported into an empty room with four unadorned white walls.

Knowing what to do, Ryan said, "Open knowledge test."

[Knowledge Test Initiated]

[Select Difficulty]

[Easy / Medium / Hard]

[Note: Must Pass F-Rank Memory Test before selecting 'Easy' Difficulty]