Both me and Master Rain were sitting inside a massive room. The size of the room alone is comparable to a noble person's palace. But this was nothing but a room in the giant Wind Palace.
"Where is Yuyu?" I asked master Rain.
"You don't need to worry about her. She had already been here before, and will not lose her way inside the palace. If she didn't come here, then that means she had somewhere else to be. Anyway..."
Master Rain trailed before he said, "We should head back as soon as possible," he said.
"You're right, we should," I replied.
Master Rain frowned, "I didn't expect you to be so agreeable."
"Well, why not, there is no point in staying here," I said shrugging.
"Are you dense? Zhang Tian, the prince of the Wind Realm publicly proclaimed you as his sworn brother, which means that you have power and influence right now, if you wish to live a life of lavishness and richness you'd only need to ask, why do you want to go back to the academy?" he asked.
"Because whatever I obtain here, it won't be thanks to my efforts, and I don't like that. I'm not that shameless to ask for treasures and materials to improve my cultivation." I replied.
"It has nothing to do with shamelessness, you earned the right to ask for whatever you wish from the Wind Realm,"
"Even so," I said as I crossed my hands behind my head and relaxed back on the chair I was sitting on. "It just doesn't feel right. It's as if my cultivation journey will lose all purpose once I ask Zhang Tian for help in procuring materials. Not to mention, I still have something to do," I said.
"What thing? Master Rain asked.
"I need to fully claim Du Shen's heritage. And you know that we don't have much time left," I said.
"It's too early for you," Master Rain said.
"I know, that's why I'll need to improve myself. I'll need to head out and find my own opportunities."
"That will not be easy, if you're saying it like this, that means that you wish to venture out into the world. Aren't you worried that you'll be chased and hunted by other Poison God cultivators?" Master Rain said.
"I'll need to be careful," I said "But it's something I must do, if I were to stay cuddled up in safety then what is the point of cultivating?"
Master Rain rubbed the bridge of his nose as if to calm down a headache, "I'll need to improve the Demon Slaying Puppet if you wish to travel alone," he said.
"No need, I figured out a few things and a method to improve both Y, and X. So don't worry old man, I won't just die in a random ditch," I said.
"People who say that are usually the ones that die in random ditches. Well, I can't stop you if you want to gain experience. The least I can do is guide you into your advent. So far, you've been cultivating the Path of Poison. There exists a planet that's in the wind realm, it's a poison planet where everything that exists there is pure poison. It used to be the hideout of Du Shen when things didn't go his way. Right now, it's inhabited by the Neutral Poison Sect. this sect rarely ventures out in the world and would keep to themselves and confined within their sect. I had a few dealings with them some time ago, and earned this," Master Rain said as he handed me a wooden token.
It had the word Poison engraved on it.
"Wouldn't they be interested in my Poison God's heritage?" I asked.
"About that, yes, they will, so try and keep it a secret, at least until you are strong enough to openly proclaim your position as one of the Inheritors of the Poison God."
"Seems like an interesting place, I might head there and see what I can find. I've been thinking of further improving my poisons. The problem is, with what happened today, I'm too well known. I'll have to make adjustments," I said.
"You'll need a face mask, I can get you one," said Master Rain.
But as he was speaking, I was already poking around my face with my fingers.
"What are you doing?" asked Master Rain.
"You'll see in a minute," I said.
Then soon, the bones on my face began to slightly change, fully reforming my facial bone structure. This caused me to have a completely different face than before. Then I closed my eyes and opened them, I didn't even need to see to know that the green color of my eyes had already changed to a plain brown color.
"Interesting, you used your poisons to affect your own biological structure, impressive," he said.
"Good, this should be enough to help me hide my identity," I said.
"That will only hide your physical appearance, your Qi signature is still too distinguished," Master Rain shook his head.
"I already have a method to deal with that," I said.
I went inside my sea of consciousness and drew upon the black soul that was sitting in chains next to the dragon soul. Just as I manifested a portion of it, Master Rain spoke.
"Interesting, I had a hunch that it was something like this. You cultivated the second persona of sorts... with Demonic essence. Still, do be careful, walking down the Demonic Path is not something that can be done haphazardly."
"I know what I'm doing," I replied.
Soon I heard a knock on the door.
"Brother Shen Bao."
"Please come in brother Zhang Tian," I said.
Once the immortal scholar entered he took a deep breath, "Sigh, that was very bothersome." He said.
"Not a fan of birthdays?" I replied.
"Yes, too much socializing and faking amicability can corrupt one's soul, still, it was a good day to have finally met you brother Shen Bao. Also, what's with that face?" he asked.
I pressed my fingers on my face and reverted the changes. "I was testing things out, so how have you been?" I asked.
"So and so, a lot of things happened, and I had to deal with many matters in the Wind Realm. Not to mention that my interference when your home planet was being invaded was little, I have to apologize for that. I didn't think that the Fire King will play such a dirty hand," he said.
"That's of no concern, for now, still you seem different from the last time we spoke," I said.
"Different how?" he asked.
"You look more at peace," I said.
"You noticed?" he smiled.
"Yeah, I guess a thousand years of imprisonment can make a person grouchy," I said.
Master Rain coughed.
"Well, that's a matter between you and Master Rain to discuss, for me, I'll need to head out. I have many matters to attend to," I said.
"Shouldn't you at least stay for a bit, I'll make sure to make your stay worth the while, at least let me help you out," Zhang Tian said.
"When did you ever think of me as a leech? I'll obtain my own opportunities, and I already have a destination in mind," I said.
"Still, It will never sit well with me to send off my junior brother without at least a small present," he said.
He then handed me a ring. I checked the content of the ring and my heart almost dropped.
"I can't accept that," I said.
"You have to, it's the least I can do, or do you think that the life of this Lord isn't worth anything?"
"But that's a lot. I mean who the hell keeps that much Saint Qi around, don't you need it to cultivate?" I asked.
He shook his head, "I already went past the stage where I need Saint Qi, my cultivation requires the enlightenment of Dao and Law, Qi is not that much of an issue to obtain especially in planets like this one. As for you, you'll probably need it, even if not to cultivate with it personally, but for your tools and trinkets, do you not?" he asked.
"You're right about that. Still..."
"I already realized that you wouldn't accept any form of treasure or materials, but you cannot deny Saint Qi. Because it isn't going to directly empower you or give you a shortcut to cultivating since you can't use it directly. Consider this as a small gift between brothers. You had already given me something far more precious," he said.
He must be talking about the Stone-Aged Milk.
"That was a birthday Gift," I said.
"Then this is your belated birthday gift from me, you cannot refuse it," he said.
I sighed, "Thank you then, I'll make good use of it."
"I know you will. I'll also prepare a method for you to leave the planet. Since many eyes will be focused on you, for the time being, I'm sure you'll want to go unnoticed in your venture," he said.
"That is much appreciated," I said nodding.
"Then so be it, as for you Master Rain, we have some matters to discuss," he said.
"I have nothing to speak to you about," Master Rain shrugged.
"I'm asking this because my dear mother is impatiently waiting for a chance to also have a discussion with you, I might as well take the first turn and perhaps you might find an opportunity where I'm not paying attention to skip planets,"
"Then I'll take you up on your offer, I really don't want to deal with that woman," Master Rain spoke in a shiver.
'Damn, only god knows what the Queen did to Master Rain to make him act like this.'
Looking ahead, the future is seemingly turbulent. But I can only move forward.