Chapter 31: Marrying Shi Shun!? Ehh...

.......

Inside the Earth Spiritual Cave, a cold, perceptive gleam flashed in Lucifer's blood-red eyes as he passed through a filament.

'I bet you find these absurd prices you charge quite amusing, huh?'

'500 lowest-ranked spiritual stones for just a single hour...'

'That is on a whole new level of greed. But fret not, for you can hold onto my money for now.'

With this bitter thought, Lucifer ventured deeper into the Earth Spiritual Cave, inhaling a deep breath of the earthly breeze.

"Spells like a fresh mountain top... But it also holds a deep intent... One that embodies the concept of fortitude," he mused, appreciating the atmosphere as he found himself a suitable spot to sit and rest.

With time passing ceaselessly, Lucifer's cultivation made great strides, ultimately reaching a point where every single one of his Elemental Bodies had reached Stage 8.

Thus, a total of 3 weeks passed by. And it was also on this day that he finally received the invitation to that little 'meetup' his father had mentioned about.

The gathering was originally supposed to follow shortly after the Family Competition's conclusion, but out of nowhere, Lord Xiao was suddenly recalled to the Barracks. Three weeks later, on a Saturday, he finally returned to the Mansion.

The reason for his early return was the Fire Nation's Royal Army's misunderstanding of being attacked by the Water Nation, which turned out to just be a false alarm.

Of course, the first thing that the Devilduke did upon his return was summon Lucifer. His intentions for this were quite clear...

"You will marry Shi Shun, daughter of General Long! And that is final!" Lord Xiao roared, his voice thunderous, clearly irritated by something.

That 'something' was the distraught young man sitting opposite him.

"F-Father... You play a hard bargain... But since this is your command, as your filial son, of course, I will obey..." Lucifer mumbled despondently, his fists clenched, tears welling in the corner of his eyes.

"It's good that you understand. The details of your marriage will be disclosed within the next few days. Prepare yourself, for this marriage shall happen a lot sooner than you expect."

With those words, Lord Xiao sent his sixth son out of his lavishly decorated office.

Lucifer was close to landing on his butt, but before such a humiliating scenario could occur, he executed a quick quadruple backflip and tucked in his legs.

*Tap*

He landed gracefully like a professional, not even scratching up the hardwood floor. This elegant maneuver was followed by a leisurely stroll through the expansive mansion as he made his way toward his room.

Once inside, he found himself a chair and decided to pass the night while scrolling through his system interface.

'To avoid raising suspicion, I should probably meander around tomorrow and wallow over this 'out of the blue' marriage. Then, I will find a sudden burst of determination and return to cultivating, all so as to change my fate!'

"Yeah, something like that should work," Lucifer muttered, observing the area in front of him.

A bright blue and golden light flashed.

BLING!

__________

{[Infinite Clone System]}

[Host: Lucifer]

[Race: Human]

__________

After reviewing his system interface, Lucifer spent the rest of the day secluded in his room. Time seemed to fly by, and in a flash, as the dusk settled, he made his way out of the mansion.

For the next 13 hours, he wandered through the town.

This long and tedious journey finally came to an end on the 13th hour of Tuesday as Lucifer strolled toward the Spiritual Pool Congregation, his head held high!

Anyone passing by could immediately recognize his resolute and determined demeanor. This young man was someone who had a fiery intensity rekindled in his eyes.

"..."

Even Lord Xiao's secret spies took notice of this occurrence and reported it back to their master.

They leapt out of pagoda windows, vanished from cafes and even abandoned their 'jobs'. All to make sure the Lord was informed of the Young Master's transformation.

"It seems like everything is going just as I had expected it would..." Lucifer murmured to himself, a barely perceptible smirk of malevolence on his face.

He watched as the plethora of shadows darted through the crowd, silently leaving the vicinity, not letting anyone notice that they even existed.

Only after all of them were gone did Lucifer's expression return to its usual neutrality. With renewed determination, he surged toward the Spiritual Pool Congregation at an even greater pace.

_____

Upon making it to the towering hill where all the Spiritual Pools resided, Lucifer decided that it was time to try out a new one today.

'It has been a while since I last acquired a new Elemental Body. If I want to collect all of them before my breakthrough, I will need to step things up.'

With this highly ridiculous thought, he moved toward a cave entrance, its dark tan hue marking it as the Sand Spiritual Cave. This was also the place where Lucifer planned to make use of his Sand-attribute Pills.

*Tap! Tap!*

He quickly made his way into the cave and settled down into the sandy water.

As he felt the rough sand brush against his refined physique, something slipped out of his Storage Ring.

BING!

And then more followed suit.

BING! BING! BING!

Over 20,000 small, tannish-colored pills spilled on the ground, concealed from any prying eyes.

"Late-Common Rank Sand Elemental Pills. These will do quite nicely for my destined Stage 9 Sand Elemental Body."

That's right!

Lucifer had more than 20,000 Late-Common Rank Pills, each with 100% pill efficiency, all of which were ready to be devoured en masse!

"Time to feast..."

*Plop.*

Lucifer swallowed a handful of pills and began circulating the energy within them. He transferred the Sand Elemental Qi into his Dantian, repeatedly nourishing it and observing as the transformations took place.

.......