Chapter 6 - 3: Have a nice trip! See you next fall! (pt 2)

Waking up, a sweet scent invaded my nose from underneath me. My attempt to open my eyes was unfortunately prevented by some rays of orange light and feeling a little sore from the previous events I decided to stretch a little and groan. As my hands moved upwards they bounced off something. That was strange… I took to feeling around, finally managing to grab onto something pointy a moment later 'Funny, since when was my bed's headboard this soft?" I gave the unfamiliar object a light squeeze

"Ah~n!"

Ahn!? Either my bed creaks like a h.e.n.t.a.i girl or…

My eyes shot open, sunlight be damned. Looking around I was still in the forest clearing lying down surrounded by the people I trusted the most, each wearing their own odd expression. Nie Li was looking at me with a knowing smirk, while Ning'er was giggling a bit behind her sleeve and sporting a neon red blush, Ziyun covered her face with both her hands, however each part of exposed skin was as red as Ning'er's, and Chen Linjian had his back turned and was looking at the sky, but the skin on the back of his neck was also beet red. That was all of them so I guess Lanruo returned to her friends…

"Mnnn~…" I heard another muffled m.o.a.n and realized I haven't removed my hand from the before place. Looking up I saw that the sky was being obstructed by two large spheres with two smaller pointy parts protruding from them. One such part was still in my hand. Oh~ shit~!

"Ah! L-Long Wan. This is v-very bold of you but I-I don't thi-ah! think we should d-do this here…" I heard Lanruo speaking to me behind the two spheres.

My body shot up but about halfway there my vision became slightly blurry again. Two delicate but firm hands grabbed my shoulders and pulled me back onto the earlier pillow. The angle that I landed finally allowed me to see that it was no pillow, but a pair of slender, m.a.t.u.r.e and beautiful t.h.i.g.hs, and the socks that covered the rest of the legs definitely belonged to Lanruo.

I could see Ning'er looking at me with dear concern but the only thing that went through my mind was that I was either so dead or so single at this point.

"You shouldn't move too much yet." came Nie Li's stern voice "You've taken in too much energy and overexerted your soul realm. A normal human's soul realm would've exploded had they attempted something like this. What were you thinking?" he scolded me, but his expression was more amused then upset.

Sighing I made to imaginarily grab a cloud "It's one of my soul realm's basic characteristic: the ability to grow by eating other energies. So… I figured that I could handle what Chu Yuan would throw at me. Now I guess I understood why you can't get fat in one meal."

Nie Li moved closer and touched his index and middle finger on my forehead, the location of my soul ocean. The same fingers lit up with the Daoyin technique for a few seconds before he sighed and smiled "I tried prodding your soul realm for instabilities but it gobbled up even my energies, so I guess it should be fine. Though I've never met such a ravenous soul form. Any idea on how to name it?"

Thinking a moment I decided to continue with the Dragon theme for no other reason than because dragons are awesome "Black Dragon's Maw soul form."

"A soul realm that can swallow up energies coupled with your family name. Once again, a very solid choice." The geriatric ginger nodded.

"What are you two talking about?" Asked Lanruo with puckered lips and a cutesy expression.

Sighing I summoned my demon crystal and focused some energy inside. She was someone who supported Nie Li and the city lord in the novel so she is trustworthy. It took a few seconds for the crystal to shine orange with the intensity of a 4 star Bronze

"Only thirteen and already at 436 soul force. Long Wan is very amazing!" She said and Chen Linjian nodded.

Sighing I smiled "That's not what I wanted to show you. Look closer..." I said and she moved her face closer to see that in the middle of the glow there was something twisting and writhing, something of an impossibly dark nature.

"What is that?" She asked, looking a little scared at the sight of it.

"That is the true form of my soul realm. It can only be seen though a crystal that only I have ever used and it grants me the abilities you saw me use." I explained before putting away the crystal "It also tells the attribute I'm most aligned with."

Her expression told me she understood only half of it but still something clicked in her mind "A crystal that only you have used? I have one too." She said as she took out an intermediate crystal and filled it with a little of her own inner force. Instantly, the crystal shone green to show her 2 star Silver strength. The center of the crystal however showed an closed ephemeral eye shining with pink energy.

"Yin attribute, Eye of Saṃsara soul form." whispered Nie Li, shock causing his words to sound raspy "It's a very rare soul form, with only one in every generation being in possession of it. And what's more, it's a perfect match for your Yin attribute which best fits illusion type demon spirits. Once you cultivate to 3 star Legend, the eye will slowly begin to open and you will be able to turn illusions into reality and vice-versa. The changes you will be able to make will increase in scale as your power grows."

Lanruo dropped the crystal in shock and it bounced on the ground before rolling near her b.u.t.t. She continued to stare in absolute disbelief at Nie Li and nobody could blame her. This is godlike levels of power.

Nie Li crossed his hands in front of him in thought before smiling "I have the perfect technique for you." he inhaled and started chanting. Moving my soul realm according to this technique I got the same feeling from the Void God technique: powerful but incomplete.

But this was not for me to practice and so, as he finished transferring the chant Lanruo gasped "This technique… it's incredibly strong!" she whisper-shouted, the loudness of her voice leaving her due to shock.

Nie Li nodded "It's called the Astral Yin technique." he said smiling.

Lanruo's eyes watered "Little brother, thank you! This is an incredibly valuable thing you have shared with me. I could kiss you right now!"

The ginger paled a bit then pointed at me "If you want to thank someone, thank him. Long Wan is the one who convinced me to trusts you!" he said with a knowing smirk and threw me a discreet wink. This little snake wanted to throw her on me so that Ziyun wouldn't be pissy about it.

Next thing I knew Lanruo squished me into her in a bone crushing hug, her huge knockers blocking out my sight, and her valley gobbled up my nose, luckily though leaving my mouth open to breathe. She smelled so nice though…

"Ah, b-big sis Lanruo, Long Wan is currently recovering. Please be gentler!" I heard Ning'er call out, her voice firm but respectful.

Lanruo immediately let me go, but still kept my head in her l.a.p and began running her hand in my hair. It felt divine but I couldn't do this anymore. Making movements to stand up, dizziness once again overtook me but I pushed forward, regardless of the lady's protests. Turning to her I tried to smile but sweat was heavily pouring on my face as nausea was rising from my belly to my throat "I'm sorry big sis Lanruo but I have someone I like and this feels like I'm cheating." I said as I tried to take a step away but my knee gave out and I fell forward like a warrior being knighted.

Ning'er was first to step forward and stared hard in my face with concern and shook her head, the small corners of her mouth slightly curved upwards and her cheeks rosy. She then pushed my head back into Lanruo's l.a.p before saying "You need to rest. Your beloved will understand. If not I'll help explain it to her."

Ziyun's hands moved to cover her mouth in shock and even Nie Li lifted an eyebrow and grinned, teeth showing and all. He threw me a pill but I was too dizzy to catch it and it struck me right in the middle of the forehead. "Nie Li, you!" Ziyun shot forward in his face, metaphorical steam coming out of his ears and began to give him a scolding as he sweat bullets.

I shook my head, both at the scene and to recover my senses, before taking the pill into my mouth preparing to swallow it when Lanruo quickly declared in all her feminine fury "Long Wan, I've decided. You'll be my man and I'll be your woman!" I immediately started coughing, the pill that was aiming to go down the esophagus taking a sharp 'surprise deepthroat' detour towards my trachea. 'Funny how a recovery pill will be my end' is what I thought until Nie Li came over and tapped the tip of his foot on a specific part of my ribs that made the pill jump back on it's correct trajectory.

"Big sis Lanruo I already…" I couldn't form a complete sentence since my lungs were still starved for air so all I could do was gasp.

She calmly patted my c.h.e.s.t and held my forehead to calm me down "Great men are destined for great futures. I don't care how many women you'll have in the future as long as I'm one of them!" she declared without a fear in the world "And I'll fight anyone who gets in the way!" she continued as she raised her hand and squeezed it with full-on fury.

'I'm too sober for this shit!' is what I thought as I turned my body to the side and fell asleep...

It was some time later that I woke up covered by a blanket and having my head resting on a sack of clothes. Looking at the sky I could see that the stars were just coming out meaning it was late evening. I probably slept about two hours.

"Ah, sir, you're awake." A twenty year old man bowed to me, an action repeated by his two comrades.

"Sir?" I tilted my head in curiosity.

"Young master Chen Linjian told us to watch over you as if we were protecting him." he clarified.

Nodding I stood up and checked myself and my soul realm. It seems that I had fully recovered as my stance was no longer unsteady. Looking at the men I nodded and took out three bottles of pills, tossing one to each man. They gave the pills a sniff and instantly their eyes widened. Those were simple soul nurturing pills but even those weren't cheap so they naturally were very grateful.

"You can go first but please help me return the items to their owners." I said motioning to my makeshift bed.

They immediately cupped their hands, picked up the goods and took off. Deciding that some stretching was in order I took to the trees, jumping from branch to branch like an oversized macaque. A few minutes later my stomach sounded the alarm letting me know that I've missed dinner so I settled down on top of a large tree and took out some demon beast jerky plus some wine and proceeded to snack down on them until they were all gone.

Well, after a good meal comes a good rest. As a consequence I sat down and rested my back against the tree, dozens of meters above ground. The stars were so gorgeous here without light pollution or smog. Suddenly hoards of feminine voices filled my ears so I peeked out from behind the branches to see the women from our adventuring group walking together. Considering how their clothes were lightly sticking to their bodies and how there were tiny drops of water dripping from their hair I would say I was close to their bathing area. If there was some sort of misunderstanding here it would mean social suicide for me so I decided to remain as quiet and still as possible, my skin becoming one with the bark of the tree.

"Ah~ this feel nice!" said one girl of which I knew the voice. It belonged to Lanruo.

"En." came the shy reply of the girl that I wouldn't ever mistake: Ning'er. They took a few more paces in silence until they were right at the base of the tree that I stood at. My soul froze. Of all the girls to come close, it would be these two... "Umm miss Huyan Lanruo, you said you wanted to talk to me." asked Ning'er.

This peaked my curiosity as I discreetly moved to just barely make out their figures through the leaves. "You don't have to be so distant. Call me sis from now on." the older girl said as she moved slightly away from Ning'er to gaze at the stars that seemed to come out more by the second. "You're the one Long Wan loves, am I right?" she asked the younger girl.

"I-I..." Ning'er responded quietly, words failing to leave her "I'm...engaged to Shen Fei..." tears dripped from her eyes as she reminisced about that horrible deal her family made with the Sacred family.

Lanruo spun on her heel and, with lightning fast speed, embraced the younger girl tightly, letting her wet her shoulder with tears. After Ning'er was done, Lanruo took her by the shoulders before fl.i.c.k.i.n.g her nose making Ning'er yip in surprise "Do you really think Long Wan will let that happen to you?" she said softly before bursting into soft laughter "I know Shen Fei quite well. He may be from the Sacred family but comparing between him and Long Wan is like comparing a stale pond to a vast ocean. The man we chose isn't so simple." she smiled and dropped down to Ning'er's level "Until Long Wan fixes this mess just tell this big sis of yours if Shen Fei gives you any grief and see how I'll waste him!" she declared with both kindness and malice in her voice, making such a special flex of the word 'waste' that even I tightened my a.s.s in the hopes that my nuts would get s.u.c.k.e.d back in my body.

Both girls shared a good giggle at the thought of ending Shen Fei's linage whilst I just puckered my lips and cringed at how vicious girls could be. Seriously, if girls had gonads then they wouldn't aim so carelessly for them anymore.

After regaining her breath Ning'er launched at Lanruo to squeeze her into a big hug which was returned in full. Seconds later they broke apart and Lanruo once again flicked Ning'er's nose eliciting another big yip from the girl "This doesn't mean that I'll give up on Long Wan though. So you better get used to having a real big sister or start finding another man because this boss lady isn't a quitter!" She said with a grin making Ning'er's brain shut down for a moment. She blinked twice before bursting into a giggling fit, followed shortly by Lanruo.

As soon as she finished laughing Ning'er nodded to her, determination showing in how she carried herself. They then started to walk in the direction of the camp while talking about things which I couldn't hear. Finally, after a while they moved out of range of my senses and I could finally breathe easy and unclench my asscheeks.

The next day we were back on the move, although there was a major change. Each time we would stop for a break Huyan Lanruo would come barrelling towards me with some scheme to make me fall pray to her charms.

Speaking of the she-devil, here she comes again "Long Wan, I have some peach cake here. Do you want a bite?" she asked, batting her eyelashes at me.

I smiled and nodded "Thank you, I would love some but only if you share some with everyone. Eating together is more fun." I said pointing to our friends. She puffed her cheeks in frustration but ultimately everyone got a piece of the cake. Deciding to take a slice out of her repertoire I smirked and said "It's very good. Did you make it?" She answered with a nod before I continued "You'll make a great wife one day." This caused her to go through three shades of red on her face. She was used to being praised and courted but was never on the attack so what I did now seriously caught her off-guard.

"What about Ning'er?" Nie Li poked. He really knows when not to shut up. Just you wait you reincarnated redhead, I'll get you for this.

Sadly for him I had expected this so I turned to my dear girl and spoke lovingly "We already discussed things before we left Glory City, correct?" I smiled.

Ning'er's blood rushed to her face and steam began coming out of her ears as she nodded shyly. Meanwhile Lanruo recovered and, seeing the younger girl's reaction, tilted her head in curiosity and asked "What did you talk about?" causing Ning'er to somehow blush harder until she looked like a ripe tomato.

"N-n-nothing really.." the Xiao girl said as she moved away from Lanruo who quickly gave chase.

Huyan Lanruo smirked as she went after Ning'er "Didn't I tell you that I don't quit so fess up!" This went on for a little while before they both returned to the group, slightly out of breath. However both girls were smiling widely, Lanruo even more so while Ning'er was doing her best to keep up a lady-like appearance "If this would be what it's like to have a lil' sibling, then I should've pushed my dad to get another wife haha!" she declared wildly before wrapping an arm around Ning'er's neck to which the younger girl responded by grabbing her forearm with both hands but didn't fight back.

Both Nie Li and Ziyun turned to the both of them with questioning stares. In response Ning'er just nodded with a smile and mouthed 'she knows' silently. Nie Li shrugged and returned to fawning over Ziyun while the latter's eyes shot open, shock overtaking her gentle expression.

We continued making marry for the remaining days along the way to our destination. A few, including Nie Li, Ziyun, Ning'er, Lanruo and a couple of Linjian's men even made breakthroughs, the men did so since Linjian shared some of the pills he got from me, so now our group was relatively stronger than we were when we set off. Our pace was kept until we entered a clearing that was filled with a sombre aura. As we walked down the overgrown ancient path I could feel an unnatural chill in the air and I could see that the mood shifted from the one from before as everyone was on high alert. Further down we came upon the sight of countless humanoid bones, sun-bleached and partially buried in the ground. Most of the people in the group looked away and I was tempted to follow but this was a good opportunity.

"All of you, don't look away!" I barked out with steel in my voice causing a lot of people to flinch " This is the fate that awaits Glory City if you don't take your training seriously. Lord Ye Mo is getting older and even if he was in his prime, there are many times more beasts than there are of his lordship. Take a good long look at these remains for they could one day be joined by your loved ones if you don't have the strength and courage to protect them!"

My friends faces turned dark, especially Nie Li. He didn't need to imagine the pain of loss for he had felt it before. His fist clenched so hard that you can hear his knuckles popping and his bones creaking "Never again..." he growled in a whispered tone. Even Ziyun took his sleeve tightly in her fingers.

Ning'er approached my side, longing for a comforting embrace but couldn't due to Shen Yue and his acolytes being here.

Just then Lanruo appeared silently between us, took us both by the waist and brought us tightly to each of her sides, all the while throwing a knowing look at Ning'er. To be honest, I was starting to appreciate this woman more and more.

"Remind me to pay some gold and black gold experts to come and dig them proper graves." I said to no one in particular to which Nie Li put a hand on my shoulder and nodded. We both had more than enough funds which would serve little to no purpose in the Draconic Ruins Realm. So, while I was a cheapskate in my previous life, I was feeling pretty open handed here. It didn't help that I was filthy rich either. I did have some plans to improve Glory City's situation, especially for non-combatants but that didn't mean I couldn't splurge a little... a lot...

Anyway, we were just crossing the ruins of the city walls, getting surrounded by roars of bronze and silver rank demon spirits. This was when Linjian motioned for the group to stop. "We've finally arrived at the ancient Orchid city ruins." each word coming out with a hint of relief "Here is the map to the city created by those previous experts that visited this place. Our main target is the city core, so the best path would be along these walls." he said pointing to some lines "And along the way we can explore some houses to see if we can find some loot."

"I agree!" came from the crowd. "Young master is wise!" another followed.

Chen Linjian then turned towards our small group, specifically towards Nie Li and I "What do you guys think?"

Sighing I pointed at the map "Searching the houses would be a waste of time. The outer buildings are most likely to have already been searched. Besides that, if we take Glory City as a template then the perimeter is usually where less wealthy families live, while the center is for the nobility."

Nie Li nodded "We need to consider other places. Look at these buildings, they're the largest but are also the sparsest. They're also in the center of the city."

"Rich families usually have large courtyards." Ning'er intervened and I nodded with a smile.

Lanruo followed soon after "And this one is right in the middle and is the largest so it should be the mansion of the ruling family." she said pointing to the building in the middle of the map.

Linjian nodded with a sad expression "Those places were already explored by other experts before us."

"Yes, so our best bet would definitely be inconspicuous places in proximity to the central mansion. Within sight of the main building lie three places that seem ordinary enough to be overlooked, namely here, here and here!" said Nie Li while pointing at three open areas on the map.

Linjian looked at the said places and frowned "The first is a training ground where the ruling family trained their soldiers. The second is an open and unmaintained field. fort made of obsidian. It is very durable and hard to penetrate and could house a treasure." he said, his face scrunched deep in thought.

I shook my head "That fort would be too obvious. The best place to hide something would be somewhere where nobody would think to look for it."

Nie Li nodded in acceptance of my reasoning "The second location would be a trap field which is why it's unmaintained compared to the rest of the city. It would give any beast or enemy easy cover but then take them out when they least expect it."

Moving my finger, I traced a line from the central mansion to the training field "Both the fort as well as the trap field are within sight of the mansion but there are some buildings in between. However, the training field is directly down the main road of the city from the mansion. My guess is that there is a hidden chamber underneath it with a tunnel connecting it to the mansion under the road."

Shen Yue appeared from behind us with a scowl "Those areas have been explored before. The experts have even dug down a height of a man without any result. We would just be wasting time. I say we continue with the original plan." His words bore hatred for us like fire.

Shaking my head I turned to him "If the Sacred Family's treasure vaults are buried only the height of a man I'm surprised you guys aren't poor yet. However unlike some others, the people of Orchid City were actually intelligent so the underground facilities they built were hidden deep to ensure that they can support both the traffic on the road and the training drills. During their times, they had many Legend Rank experts so you can tell what kind of damage the training ground would suffer during their practice."

Shen Yue's face turned a boiling red and his teeth crunched so hard you can hear them creaking. Before he could retort Chen Linjian approached him and put a hand on his "Get lost!" he said, his voice sharper than any blade. I could tell Linjian was still royally pissed at Shen Yue and the Sacred family for his men getting injured.

The said Sacred family member smartly withdrew backwards, fearing Linjian's wrath. Hells, even I had a shiver go down my spine. Well, it was either that or from Lanruo's admiring gaze that was firmly locked onto me.

Linjian nodded "Agreed. We will make that training ground our main target."

Nie Li suddenly took out his crossbow and dipped the arrows in the poison he shared the moment we left the city. Seeing this I also took out some empty ceramic bottles from my ring and filled them with the same substance.

"What are you guys doing?" Asked Ziyun.

Ning'er's eyebrows furrowed a bit "Isn't that the poison for the Giant Blue Armed Apes?" she asked, the expression on her face telling us that she remembered what was discussed a few days ago.

I nodded "Those roars are mostly from those apes so we should be prepared. I have the means to fight them off but a little surprise back-up wouldn't hurt. In case I need it I can just chuck some of these bottles at them."

"Good idea!" beamed Nie Li as he took some bottles out and copied my action. Of course it was a good idea! I stole... Inspired it from one of your future weapons.

Lanruo turned to us "Giant Blue Armed Apes?" she asked with both curiosity and a little fear. She wasn't a sheltered princess by any means but she was still a 20 year old young woman. That and beasts were terrifying regardless of age.

Making sure to throw a reassuring smile towards her "Don't worry, I won't let those dear to me die due to some overgrown monkeys!"

She jumped forward with incredible speed while yelling out my name affectionately before once again suffocating me in with her t.i.t.s. I squirmed a few times to get air before Ning'er and Ziyun wrestled her off of me, letting me catch my breath. If this chick continues to threaten my life like this, then I can't wait to grow out a beard. A nice, stubby, -prickly- beard.

The first ape appeared from behind the buildings as we started walking towards the training ground. That one was then followed by one after another, the apes manoeuvring from building to building with grace and agility that would be uncanny for an animal of their size, light-blue fur shining in the sun. I guess their preferred mode of hunting is to descend from the treetops onto unsuspecting prey, their blue coloration helping camouflage them with a sky-like pattern.

An arrow whooshed by courtesy of Nie Li's crossbow and struck an ape cleanly in the side. It grunted a bit in pain before drunkenly stumbling to the ground to which Linjian responded by drawing his sword and decapitating it, his sword now dripping with blood and poison. Seeing their fallen comrade, the remaining apes roared in anger and made moves to flank us before two of them met the same fate as the one before and they smartly retreated some distance away.

Smirking, I turned towards Nie Li to congratulate his marksmanship but just as he was taking aim at another gorilla, I spotted something in the corner of my eye. Shen Yue was in a position where the blue armed ape and Nie Li's head were relatively aligned and he was taking aim. It would be pretty simple to claim an accident while trying to shoot for the beasts. And I knew it would be even easier for Nie Li to sense and dodge. But I refused to take that one in a million chance so I teleported behind Shen Yue in a position where I could pretend to protect him from some approaching apes.

"If your finger comes anywhere near that trigger while Nie Li is in your sights, your linage will end with you, Sacred family or not!" I growled like a demon beast from the lowest depths of hell, Void tendril extending and c.a.r.e.s.sing his right cheek which was away from the group's eyes. Nie Li was my brother in this world, to hell with the consequences! There was so much rage emanating from me that even some Blue-armed apes slowly retreated away.

Not bothering with him anymore as Nie Li was no longer within his sights I teleported away and easily skewered three Bronze rank apes that were within my range. The rest started swerving through buildings and windows so it would only mean wasted energy to give chase.

"Everyone, use your crossbows!" Linjian called out seeing more and more apes approaching.

Hearing this I turned towards them "Delay that! The apes are too agile and intelligent so you would only be wasting arrows. Silver ranks should go after them up close. As for the rest, group up close together and protect all sides! If they scatter us we're done for since they know the area much better than we do. Don't let them pick us off alone!"

"Why should we listen to you?" one of the older teens shouted back with slight arrogance in his tone.

Just as he finished saying this, two apes came crashing down on the place where I was standing a mere moment ago only to find otherworldly smoke already dissipating. I appeared above them, calling out tendrils from my foot and my hand stabbing each one in their backs. The next moment I teleported behind the teen, right hand lodged deep in an ambushing ape's brain through under it's jaw.

The teen blinked for a second before shouting to the group "Get close and form up! Peak Bronze ranks protect the perimeter!"

Everyone grouped up tightly including Ning'er much to my relief. Seeing this, the apes started getting more cautious and they started prodding the defences. Unfortunately for them, this also meant that they couldn't pay attention to Nie Li who started raining arrows on them without missing a shot.

I heard Shen Yue growl "Even if they're agile, they're also big. If he can hit them..." he said pointing to Nie Li before taking aim at a beast "... then so can I!". The tip of his arrow shone in the sun as it flew in a slight arch towards a demon beast that was hanging from a window frame. Seeing this the beast in question just lightly moved it's left leg up, letting the arrow fly past and gave Shen Yue a taunting look. The youth took another arrow and fired again, this time missing completely since he was too angry to aim properly.

The ape must've had enough since the next thing I saw was a fistful of the beast's faces flying fast and hitting Shen Yue square in the face, this in turn making him fall on his a.s.s while screaming in disgust. This probably would've caused me to laugh my a.s.s off if the situation wasn't so serious. Talk about going apeshit...

I remembered that Ziyun took pity on him in the novel so I shot her a gaze

Void energies enveloped me as my hands became coated in darkness. Tearing holes into the very fabric of reality I pounced on the apes like an angel of death, delivering precise but deadly strikes at their heads or necks. Ever since my confrontation with Chu Yuan I could use my skills a lot more before getting tired. Being a 4 star Bronze meant that I had a lot more energy and stamina than when I first summoned my tendrils.

Taking out another beast I moved to scan the area for more when I noticed that my shadow was getting bigger and bigger before an ape entered my void sense area directly above me. I prepared to teleport away, when a metallic shine cut through the air and hit the ape in the side of it's ribs making it go limp before it could hit the ground. Jumping sideways I avoided the 500 kilos of pure muscle falling on top of me. Gazing to my right I saw Nie Li give me a two finger salute and then turning to reload and fire some more bolts on the apes, each one hitting a vital area on their targets.

Turning back to the group I called out "Those in the middle of the perimeter, take out your ranged weapons. Don't aim at where they are, aim at where you think they will be when the arrow reaches them. Be careful not to hit allies!" Playing shooter games really helps some times.

A hail of arrows came following my words, most of them missing but a good few hit their targets. The arrows weren't poisoned unfortunately so they didn't kill outright but they did manage to stagger them enough that the Silver ranks had a much easier time killing them off and allowing me to catch my breath. While I was stronger now, the usage of my skills drained a lot of energy, so after only a few minutes of killing beasts I had about two thirds of my soul force remaining.

Just then an incredible roar filled the area with beastly rage "Spirit grade demon beast!" Nie Li an I said at the same time. These were beasts that have formed a demon spirit inside, raising their intelligence to human levels and increasing their overall strength.

Linjian frowned and turned to me "How strong?"

Shrugging I answered "I don't know. At least Silver rank." that's all I could remember from the novel.

"5-star Silver, a step away from Gold." answered Nie Li as the beast came crashing down on our location.

The demon beast immediately set his eyes on Chen Linjian and threw a massive fist towards him. Seeing this, one of his men, the only demon spiritualist of our group with a demon spirit pushed him away, intent on taking the blow "Not good!" I thought as I teleported in between him and the demon beast, it's strike impacting me in the back with more force than Xiong's. This launched me into Linjian's man and together we flew towards a tree. Seeing the tree approaching in virtual slow motion I took full advantage of the mental fortitude that the Void God part of my cultivation technique granted me and kicked my legs around, effectively twisting us so that I would impact the tree first since I would suffer the least due to my armor.

With a resounding bang the air was forced out of me as my organs respected Newton's law of inertia, meaning that while my body stopped, they continued to dance around inside of me. Tasting some iron I coughed out a little blood, an action mirrored by the man in my hands. Summoning two Nine-Transformation Pills I swallowed one, the blood in my mouth lubricating it's passage down my oesophagus, and shoved the second pill down the throat of the teen.

Instantly, both of us were lit up by a bright aura and I could see color return to the teen's face. He g.r.o.a.n.e.d a bit before blinking himself awake "Are we dead?"

"You will be if you don't get off of me." I laughed as I got up and helped him up as well.

"What happened?" he asked with mild surprise while checking himself out.

Dusting myself a bit "I caught the ape's punch before it hit you and then healed both of us. Can you still fight?" I said, my gaze steely as I aimed it at the ape who was busy with Linjian and three of his Silver ranks.

To answer he simply transformed into his lemur like demon beast. I nodded and threw him two bottles "The less ornate one is poison for the demon beasts. Throw it at their face if you need an opening. The more ornate one contains three Nine-Transformation Pills. Use them well!"

My legs tensed as I jumped away towards my friends hearing him say "Call for me if you need anything. I, Luo Ming owe you my life!"

The Silver rank continued to rage on. "We can't defeat it with our strength. Everyone scatter, I'll draw it away!" Nie Li yelled before firing a bolt at the ape and running away.

"Wai..!" I called out but he was already gone.

The silver rank ape avoided the weapon before it roared in anger and started giving chase. Meanwhile Chen Linjian reinforced his words and ordered everyone to set out in different directions in groups.

"Nie Li!" Ziyun called out in fright, tears framing her eyes. She tried to chase after him but was held in place by Ning'er and Lanruo.

Smiling I turned to her "Fret not. Nie Li is too cunning to fall to some banana breath." I said and got a giggle from Lanruo and a smile from Ning'er "Besides, he has a Gold rank armor so even if that ape was even stronger then there wouldn't be much danger." I saw relief wash over Ziyun's face as she nodded . However we were starting to get surrounded by beasts as they were inching closer and closer. Frowning I turned to them "You follow Linjian's group. I'll cover you then go assist Nie Li."

"Long Wan!" Ning'er called out, her outstretched palm wanting to grab hold of me but hesitating "Be... Be careful!" she whispered, worry seeping in her voice.

Nodding with a smile I gave a wink and a moment later all that was left in my place was an outline of dark smoke, my body appearing in between a group of four apes, tendrils outstretched from my body like a hellish porcupine. Those apes died before they even knew what was up.

Seeing the girls go further in the forest I sped up through the treetops, following the trail of destruction left behind by the Silver rank ape, the sounds of rampage getting closer and closer. Finally, I managed to find Nie Li just as he was preparing to dodge the ape.

Teleporting behind the ape, I prepared a Void spike to impale the beast and let gravity carry me forward. However, just as the tip was a nail's width from the ape's hide it stopped as if repelled by an unknown force, blinding light spiralling towards the spike. A second later the spike dissolved into fine black sand and the ape turned, swatting me on the side and sending me crashing towards Nie Li.

I gasped hard as I recovered, my left nostril filled with liquid and a metallic taste slowly filling my mouth and throat. Spitting out a blob of blood and saliva I glared hard at the beast who started to bang his c.h.e.s.t like an overweight Tarzan. "What happened?" I asked in a whisper, still dazed from the shock of the impact.

Nie Li growled "You said those tendrils consume anything they touch. It seems they ate through some of the Giant Blue Armed ape's spiritual aura before becoming over-saturated. It's close to Gold rank so it has much more energy than you have." he clarified before turning to me "What are you doing here anyway?"

Keeping my gaze on the ape I answered "Figured you could use a hand. The girls will be safe with their armors and Linjian by their side."

My friend nodded just as the ape pounced on us yet again.

"Shit, dodge!" Nie Li yelled out as he jumped away but I just flexed my hand, a scroll appearing in it. The ape was now in mid-fall, with no possibility to avoid.

"Surprise motherf.u.c.ker!" I yelled out as I spit on in my hand, blood from the earlier hit covering it and unfurled the scroll "Gold rank forbidden technique: Blooming Frost Fangs!" came my war cry as an inscription pattern appeared in front of the scroll with dozens upon dozens of icicles raining out of it and heading straight for the ape who could do nothing but roar out with spiritual force to try to suppress the technique. However, it was above it's grade so the icicles ignored the roar before reaching the fur of the ape and piercing deep into it's skin. Wherever it did so, a flower made of pink blood-and-water ice erupted outwards, taking some of the surrounding flesh with it.

A few moments later Nie Li and I were looking at a melting sculpture of flowery gore. As the flower on top of it's head started melting and a shining flame-like substance started rising from it, the beast's demon spirit. Nie Li took it and handed it to me which I graciously accepted. Looking deep into it I could see that it had a dull shine 'I wonder what grade it is?' I thought.

A split second later I found myself pushed out of the way by Nie Li as another Giant Blue armed ape crashed down on our location. This one with a lighter coloration and a more unique facial structure. It took a few slow steps towards the mass of melting ice and flesh and gave a few sniffs. Instantly it's eyes turned neon red before giving out a raged and pained roar. "Shit, that must be his mate!" Nie Li whispered with worry "And it's 3-star Silver."

Oh crapbaskets, I wasn't expecting this. This was outside of the novel timeline so I only prepared one scroll. Who knew that the f.u.c.ker had a c.o.c.k-sleeve.

The she-ape turned and pounced on us like a demonic tiger from hell with Nie Li dodging and myself teleporting away a mere moment before she turned the rock underneath us to gravel. It didn't take long for her to find us again and we started dodging and weaving through the forest, taking turns distracting her so that the other could escape.

Whenever Nie Li was close to be pinned I would jump in and strike her from behind before teleporting away and likewise, whenever I was close to being in danger my friend would expertly throw a rock or a tree branch aimed at her eye or other s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e spots.

Finally, after a few minutes of running, I felt a group of living beings enter the range of my sense and I remembered something from the novel. "Nie Li, there is a large group of experts up ahead. At least five Silver ranks." I said and he focused before nodding as we sped up slightly, followed closely by that furious female.

Just as we were about to enter the clearing Nie Li whispered out in shock "Those are Dark Guild cloaks..."

Squinting, I pretended to be confused by their appearance here before grinning "Well then, how about we leave them a nice surprise?" Shifting my center of mass I made a slight turn before teleporting above the bitch. I summoned all the ceramic poison bottles I had prepared before and rained them down on her.

To her credit, she dodged most of them but two which landed right in her mouth and right eye. This caused her to crash into the ground while gasping and wiping her eyes.

Nie Li grinned as he turned to me "She's too high level. That won't incapacitate her on her for long."

Shaking my head I answered "It's not supposed to incapacitate her."

Just as I finished saying that, she let out a murderous roar and jumped high towards us as we sped up and landed in the middle of the Dark Guild group "It's supposed to piss her off." I whispered to my friend.

Nie Li rolled out of the way and I teleported just as the bitch landed where we were and kicked up a lot of dust. While she did take a second to wipe away the confusion she soon roared out in rage that only a demon beast female scorned to produce.

Smirking widely I turned to Nie Li "Shen Yue, let's get out of here!" I yelled out loud, my voice booming hard enough for them to hear me "Let them take care of it!" to which my friend raised an eyebrow at me before grinning even more sinisterly "Yeah! They should be honored to do it for the great me, Shen Yue!" he repeated, soul force amplifying his voice.

We bolted away, leaving sounds of battle behind us, stopping at the base of a large tree only when those battle cries and roars were but a distant memory. We gasped and heaved, the escape nearly depleting my soul realm. I was maybe a little bit over one tenth of my full power so my engine was basically running on fumes right now.

A rustle came from the bushes and we turned, guard up at the ready, when we noticed that the people who had snuck up on us were the girls, namely Ziyun, Ning'er and Lanruo.

I let my knees buckle and my back hit the tree as I slid down to sit, relieved that it wasn't another enemy.

"What are you girls doing here?" Nie Li asked with worry-born annoyance, like you would scold a child or a lover when they refused to listen to your warnings.

Ning'er rushed over to me followed by Lanruo while Ziyun went to check Nie Li. We had a few scuffs and scratches but nothing too serious "We were worried." Answered Ning'er as she used an embroidered handkerchief to wipe away the sweat that was dripping down my forehead and into my eyes "The roars and explosions seemed endless. We wanted to back you up."

My heart surged before I calmed it down and checked the surroundings. Thankfully there were none other than us so I took her handkerchief filled hand and brought it to my lips. After pecking it I s.u.c.k.e.d in my lower lip and ran over it with my tongue. She tasted like almonds, mint and honey mixed with a sweet girl.

Ning'er turned her head away from me and sank it low, as if she was trying to hide it inside her clothes. At the same time her skin's temperature rose and the coloration took on a deep pink hue with virtual steam coming off of it.

It was so adorable to see strong girls behave like girls. Back on Earth you would be hard pressed to find one reserved and feminine like her. I remembered a quote from a movie about the new first base in the 2010s being anal.

Lanruo puffed her cheeks and softly glared at us. She would've voiced her disputes if not for the beastly roars that filled the area that we were resting in. "We should move. It's not safe here." Nie Li announced, his voice filled with worry as he took hold of Ziyun's hand and made to leave.

"Nie Li, let go!" Ziyun protested, a blush heating up her face.

I took hold of both Ning'er and Lanruo's hands and turned to her "It's for safety. Getting separated here would be suicidal." I spoke seriously which caused Ziyun to stop struggling. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your p.o.v.) Lanruo took this as a sign to be more aggressive, judging by how she basically coiled around my entire arm and leaned her cheek on top of my head. My growth spurt was sure taking it's sweet time…

Soon enough it was nightfall so we decided to make camp in the shade of a large tree. "What's that?" I heard Ning'er whisper. We all made our way to her side and looked in the direction she was pointing in.

"It looks like an obelisk…" answered Nie Li.

From the novel I remembered that this must be Emperor Kong Ming's memorial site "Careful, there could be traps." The ground underneath the memorial had caved in, reaching the underground shelter but there was no way to credibly explain how I knew this.

Nie Li examined the area but didn't find anything suspicious or dangerous so he made his way closer. Ning'er and Ziyun wanted to approach together but I stuck my hand out in front of them "Wait. Let Nie Li confirm it is safe. Be ready to help him if he's ever in need!" Hopefully I can fish him out before he falls out of range in the sinkhole.

The girls nodded and tensed up a bit ready to jump in at a moment's notice. Gazing at the writing on the large stone slab, Lanruo narrowed her eyes "I wonder what it says…"

There were few words that I could understand on the wall but I still had my otherworldly knowledge "I've been studying the lost languages for a few weeks now so I can barely make it out: 'Those who follow me be honored! Those who go against me be destroyed!' or something like that…"

Nie Li nodded "Indeed. The person who wrote this was full of hubris." he hummed as he looked for more clues about the writing's origins.

I turned to him while saying "You see it as either hubris, while I see confidence. This is Emperor Kong Ming's letter to the world."

"What!?" Nie Li's eyes widened. He took an urgent step towards me but the tile under his shoe sunk in and so did the surrounding ones, taking him with them on a ride on Newton's gravity express.

"Nie Li!" Ning'er and Ziyun yelled out. I made to summon a void tendril to catch him when the later moved towards him and unfortunately the slabs under her feet fell as well. This made Ning'er jump towards her and she met the same fate as well.

My heart sank. Moving on instinct I rocketed towards her, unwittingly taking Lanruo with me as she was still glued to my arm. While falling, my mind was blank as my only thought was to save them, especially Ning'er. There were some luminous rocks on the edges so I could see how Nie Li tried to grab onto them while jabbing a dagger into the wall. The wall however was too crumbly so he couldn't get a good grip.

I had enough. Focusing my energy I teleported underneath them all and summoned a mass of void tendrils and wove them together instantly while sticking them deep in the walls on all sides. This made them into a safety net that they all fell into. Shifting my hand slightly I moved a few strands of hair from Ning'er face. Her trembling eyes told me that this was no skydiving experience for her but she slowly recovered as I gave her cheek a reassuring c.a.r.e.s.s.

"Uuuu…" I heard a soft murmur on my side and finally noticed the heat in my other palm. Turning that way I could see Lanruo clutching my hand with a vice grip, while she was curled like a ball in my net. What surprised me though was that I was also holding onto her own soft fingers and realized that I had done that on pure instinct. At the same time I felt an immense relief, on the same level as that of Ning'er at knowing the fact that she was now safe as well.

"Is anyone hurt?" I asked, dispelling my own selfish feelings away. This was no time to ponder the qualms of the heart.

Lanruo slowly recovered "I think so…" she said softly.

"I'm fine. Ziyun, are you okay?" He asked while taking hold of her shoulder and shaking her lightly. He was as gentle as possible, his love coming out with every word. She nodded softly before slowly using her hands to stand up and look around, finally moving her eyes up where the sky was nowhere to be seen, especially considering that it was nighttime.

"Can we climb back up?" she asked, still not taking her eyes away from where we fell.

Summoning a handful of coins I let them drop, hearing the ping after mentally counting one to five Mississippi. Five seconds fall means about a hundred meters, give or take. Judging how long it took to catch them… "The end of this hole is about three times closer than the top and I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up." I said with raspy breath as my energies still hadn't had the chance to replenish. To emphasize this, some of the tendrils started to crumble into sand. "Move close and hold onto me. I think I can make it down."

They moved close, with me grabbing Ning'er and Lanruo by wrapping my hands around their waists. Meanwhile Ziyun and Nie Li took up residence on my back. As soon as they were secure I willed my tendrils to move like spider legs, jabbing them into the walls into steps to descend.

It took a couple of minutes to reach solid ground, at which point I collapsed on my hands and knees, sweat pouring out from each pore of my skin. Everything inside me screamed at me to just go to sleep but I refused to give in so I took out a Nine Transformations Pill and swallowed it, recovering a bit of stamina.

Nie Li shook his head "You should rest." he chided, concern evident in his actions.

I looked at him tiredly but firmly "This entire area could collapse on us. We should find a safer place."

He looked at me with a concerned annoyance for a second but nodded afterwards and produced two torches from his ring, one of which was handed to Lanruo. After lighting them he motioned for her to follow him, with myself supported by Ning'er and Ziyun close behind. This would've been something to remember with two beauties by my side but right now I didn't even have the energy to pop a boner.

"Looks like brother Wan was right. This is the tomb of Emperor Kong Ming." Nie Li hummed while reading some inscriptions etched on a wall.

"Long Wan, you mentioned this Emperor Kong Ming before." Ye Ziyun reminded, curiosity edging her voice.

"En." I said, feeling my eyes droop a bit. That pill may heal but it doesn't fully replenish stamina. Nothing beats a good meal and a long sleep for that. "Emperor Kong Ming of the Sacred Empire. One of the most powerful beings to have ever lived." came my answer.

"Right" Nie Li slightly nodded and continued, "Within the history of the Sacred Empire there have been many emperors. He adopted his title in his name, as strange as that may sound. Also, he abdicated in middle of his rule and his throne was inherited by his son. Legend has it that he cultivated to the point of immortality as nobody could find a trace of where he was buried, not even his descendants. I never thought that he would actually be buried here."

"Is there any way to cultivate immortality?" Ye Ziyun questioned, looking towards Nie Li.

Shaking my head, I beat Nie Li to the point of answering "This world has been sealed off eons ago by a supreme expert of unfathomable power. In doing so that expert set some rules, including limiting the energies of this world so that Legend rank would be the level that you would normally max out at. However, there are steps beyond that with some exploits existing to overcome that limitation. What I want to get at is that somewhere there might be a way achieve true immortality."

"There isn't." Nie Li answered abruptly "Even if one were to cultivate past Legend rank, the most that they can expect is to extend their lives with one or two hundred years." he continued while scanning the writings on the wall with their hands.

Shaking my head I reached out of the grasps of the girls and supported myself on his shoulder "I know a way for one to potentially to live for as long as the world lives."

He turned to me with shock "How!?" was the only thing he could say.

Chuckling slightly I looked at the writings with a mused face "This world was structured by that supreme expert when they refined their own spiritual energies into a purified soul force called the Power of Laws, such as the Laws of Fire or Light. If one manages to cultivate a said Law above Legend rank then their own soul would become part of the law. As long as one doesn't cultivate the Law to a level above them or their own soul isn't disrupted then their bodies would be able to reform from pure Law energy. In essence, as long as that Law structure exists then so would they. Some Spiritual Gods are millennia years old, some even older."

Ning'er who remained silent, admiration shining in her eyes as she looked into mine.

"A realm beyond Legend rank…" Ziyun gasped softly.

I nodded "Honestly, I'm surprised that you and Nie Li don't know about this yet. Both your dad and that old fart of a gramps of yours should know about the power of law."

Ziyun's eyes widened and her cheeks puffed "Long Wan! How dare you talk about grandfather that way!"

Shakily I moved my hands up in surrender while resting against the wall "My mistake, I shouldn't have done that in your presence." Annoying her right now would serve no purpose.

She however wouldn't let this rest "Are you saying you'll do it when I'm not around?"

Sighing I looked at her seriously "I recognize your respect for him but I don't share it. Let's have this conversation in more favorable conditions. Having any animosity here could be fatal." I pointed out to the caverns.

Ziyun is a smart girl. Her indignation washed away from her face as she nodded "En. But don't think I'll forget this."

Nodding back I smiled "You're more than welcome to enlighten me about your family's successes when we return to Glory City. But keep in mind that I will point out the failures that I noticed as well. I hope you won't be obstinate about them."

We continued making our way down the maze like corridors following Nie Li's lead. I had also recovered enough to walk on my own. On the way, he turned slightly towards me while still keeping his senses sharpened for any danger "Long Wan, earlier you mentioned the Power of Law…"

"It's something that's incredibly difficult as well as absurdly simple to cultivate. To be completely honest I still haven't gotten a grasp of it yet. When we reach Glory City I will share everything I know about it and maybe we can work it out." I had just remembered earlier about the Power of Law when Nie Li mentioned immortality so I hadn't had the chance to experiment with it. I did know that, at it's core it was structured as simple rune-like inscription patterns and some other minor things but I had no idea how they looked like. Nie Li should be able to decipher that part on his own. If we start cultivating the power of law now then we should reach Black Gold rank before the Dark Guild starts the demon beast hoard.

Nie Li nodded and said nothing more. Soon we reached a crossroads with multiple paths splitting from the center.

"There are six passages here so which one should we enter?" Asked Lanruo while looking at the entrances to each passage.

"Simple." answered Nie Li "Based on the Sacred Empire's Book of Numerology, Emperor Kong Ming's tomb should be facing south so we should head north." he said with a scholarly tone.

"Sacred Empire's Book of Numerology" both Ziyun and Ning'er muttered mutely, most likely impressed by Nie Li's knowledge.

Taking out a piece of steel wire from my interspatial ring I rubbed it against my hair. At the same time I chipped a bit of wood from Lanruo's torch and set the wire on top of the wood in a puddle that dripped from the roof of the passage way. A second later the floating wire moved by itself into a new position "This wire indicates the north-south line. Considering that one end points at where we came from I suggest we take the passage indicated by the other end."

Nie Li crossed his arms but nodded "I was going to suggest to follow the layer structure of the rocks in the wall but your way is simpler."

Along the way on the chosen corridor we stepped only where Nie Li stepped. At one point he picked up a rock and threw it forward. What soon followed was a shower of arrows from every direction and I kept wondering how hundred, maybe even thousand years old wooden and stone traps still remained active. Perhaps some inscription patterns gave it some resistance to decay.

It took us a few more hours but we finally reached a massive and decorated hall. While the carvings were obviously deteriorated, they were still identifiable enough. At the same time, hundreds upon hundreds of skeletons that were cradled together, especially those of children wrapped up in larger ones. Seems that entire families had met their miserable ends trapped here.

"What happened here?" Ning'er asked, with tears in her eyes. All girls had moist eyes at the scene.

My fist hit a large rock breaking it in half down the middle "Demon beasts happened." I growled "When the riot came they retreated to this place. However the hoard was endless and so they most likely hid here until they perished from lack of food and water." Those damned demon beast Spiritual Deities… If I don't destroy every last one then I won't be able to rest! I'll tear out their divine spark and let my soul ocean consume it like cheap snacks.

I watched how Nie Li just stood there with a blank expression but the way his fists were trembling told me that his train of thought wasn't that far away from mine.

"Let's just leave…" Ziyun whispered softly as she took a small step backwards.

Nie Li shook his head "We should take any valuables from here. There could be useful items we could use." he hummed.

I saw the girls hesitating while I made my way to a nearby skeleton "Forgive us elders!" I said as I removed a small dagger that still looked pristine from the hands of one who looked to have used it to end their own life, taking the utmost care not to disturb or damage the bones. Turning to the girls I continued "Their legacy could help the living children of Glory City escape the same fate. However, be respectful and take only what appears to be of use. Try to avoid anything that looks like it had some form of personal meaning." I said while avoiding another of the dead that looked to be holding a valuable gem close to their ribs.

Seeing this and hearing my resolve the girls looked at each other before silently nodding. We all began to search the entire area. Personally I found a lot of demon crystals and some other small things. I avoided any armor as it was mainly bronze rank and jewelry that seemed pretty but useless.

Finally, we reached close to the center of the hall where a large and ornate tomb lay. The tomb of Emperor Kong Ming. Nie Li started pacing towards the said tomb and for appearances I also followed him with the girls in tow, ignoring the strange pull it had on me and my own curiosity. Feeling the pressure on my soul ocean and expecting to be rejected at any moment, I was somewhat surprised when the girls suddenly shook and jumped backwards slightly. Strange, only Nie Li should be able to access this area.

"Long Wan, I can't go any further…" Ning'er murmured as she used her hands to shield her face.

"Me neither." Lanruo agreed and Ziyun nodded.

Feeling my soul realm steadily expanding at a faster rate I hummed "There is a strange soul force permeating this place. You can see none of the people of Orchid City died close to the coffin. It must be set up to let only those with a compatible soul ocean nearby. I can feel it pushing on me as well but my soul ocean's form is devouring the invading force allowing me passage. You girls standby while Nie Li and I check the casket." I said and they nodded with worried looks.

Approaching Nie Li's side as he was blowing the dust from the lid of the coffin and I coughed "Demon spirit coin for your thoughts?"

He hummed a bit "The coffin definitely belongs to Emperor Kong Ming but the top inscription is not of the Sacred Empire's language."

Nodding I turned to him "Emperor Kong Ming wasn't born in this world but fell into it from a much higher realm. There are many enigmas surrounding his particular person."

Nie Li once again looked at me like a puzzle to be solved but didn't say anything as he moved to open the casket. I moved to stop him as I remembered this would be a particularly painful for him. However I lost my footing by slipping on some moss and we both touched the lid at the exact same time. As soon as this happened a pillar of bright light erupted from it towards the sky and then barreled towards the both of us.

I let out an ungodly scream as the pain rocking my body was out of this world. It felt as if every cell in my body was being ripped apart while simultaneously set on fire. Losing consciousness from the shock could've definitely been a reality had the pain itself not kept me awake.

A cry hit my ears "Long Wan!/Nie Li!". Oh no! You know how your body releases adrenaline during intense pain or stress and that dilates your senses. Well it did for me and that managed to numb the pain enough for me to crack open an eye and see how the girls were rushing towards our location in slow motion.

They were repelled again but this time instead of jumping backwards they wanted to push forward but I managed to tremble the arm closest to them parallel to the ground and sent a pulse of regular soul force repelling them backwards.

"S-st-ahy aw-ahhh-y!" I gurgled out through .

The light rays seemed to converge on Nie Li's and mine's foreheads, flooding our soul realms. The Black Dragon's Maw started rotating and s.u.c.k.i.n.g up all invading energies but it was slowly becoming overwhelmed as cracks started appearing. It was then I remembered a trick I had invented during a particularly nasty toothache: try to understand pain, to describe it, to realize that is was nothing but electrical signals carried by our neurons to our brain. Pain isn't real. Danger is often very real but pain is virtual.

Gritting my teeth I cracked opened my eyes in annoyance. The discomfort was still unbearable but I could focus now as I started to mentally chant the Heavenly Void Dragon God technique with all my might. This made my soul realm's rotation and suction increase dramatically as the cracks in it slowly faded away. I quickly broke through 5 star Bronze and kept pushing forward.

This will not be the end of me!

With one final verse I made a final breakthrough and the Black Dragon's Maw temporarily shifted from formless to an actual dragon's head releasing an incredible roar followed by an explosion of black light that radiated outwards dispersing the coffin's soul force.

When I felt that everything finally calmed down I opened my eyes to find myself floating in some kind of space. Everywhere I looked there was nothing but a vast emptiness with two exceptions.

The first exception was that about 50 meters in front of me there was a large sphere with a Yin-Yang symbol rotating inside it and a small vine growing in the boundary of the black and white parts. This sphere was floating in the middle of a sort of eight trigrams inscription pattern with seven circles found equidistant around the sphere.

The second exception was that behind me about twice as close was something that I recognized from my own Primary Soul Crystal: my soul realm. The burnt orange surroundings and indescribably black shifting mass.

Looking around I squinted my eyes until I came upon the outline of an a.d.u.l.t man with spikey hair. "Hello?" I called out and the man came closer to me. When I finally got a good look at this person his identity came almost instinctually "Nie Li!?". He looked just like an a.d.u.l.t Nie Li would look like in his twenties. A long travel coat adorning his body and a strange sword stuck to his back.

The man squinted and frowned "Who are you?" he called out.

"Nie Li, it's me. Don't you recognize me?" being seen with so much distrust sent a stab to my heart.

Nie Li's eyes widened almost instantly "Long… Wan?" he called out as if his own voice betrayed him. He took a look around and focused his thoughts before his eyes widened in surprise. Soon enough his features softened and he looked at me with a smile "So that's it…" he chuckled "I take it that this is your soul's true form…".

Raising an eyebrow I looked at him with confusion. He simply waved his hand and an ornate mirror the size of a man materialized in front of him and slowly floated until it was in front of me. I looked at my reflection but I couldn't recognize any of it. My hair was still long and black but had orange highlights. My face was full of freckles and there was some roundness to my once chiseled cheeks. At the same time my body was now close to twenty years old and very athletic with the exception of the roundness of my belly. The biggest change though were my eyes. One was emerald green while the other was bright hazel. Realization hit me like a freight train, that was my past life's eyes. Hells, every extra feature looked carved from my body back on Earth. I was a tall, slightly overweight ginger with hazel eyes back then. Now I looked as if someone threw Long Wan as well as myself in a blender, hit the max speed setting and then poured out the results.

Even my age seemed to be a net average of both my lifes'.

Panic would've taken hold over me had I not had the calming and focusing effect of my cultivation. Touching my face a few times to make sure I hummed in agreement "So it seems...". Tilting my head past the mirror I turned to look at the boy-now-man in front of me "And this must be your own."

Seeing his raised eyebrow I moved my hand to push the mirror back towards him but it did so automatically. I then had a weird thought and imagined conjuring a floating sphere and cube. Immediately they appeared in front of me and dispersed as soon as I thought about it. So this space answers to our mental commands.

By this time Nie Li had finished looking at himself in the mirror with an amused face and ordered the mirror to disappear.

"So..." he began softly "You're a reincarnated soul." His expression told me that he just received an answer to a question long time pondered.

I shook my head. No point in faking it anymore "More like transmigrated. My current body had an original owner. You're the one that's reincarnated, although there are some arguments against that." I hummed. Souls were such complicated dilemmas. My gaze shifted to him and I saw him nod in acceptance with a smile "You're just going to accept that?" To answer he simply used his hands to point at himself as if saying 'see all this?' "Right…". He was a special case too so what happened to me wouldn't be so unbelievable for him. "Still…"

He raised his hand "I know what you want to ask. To be honest I suspected something was up with you and kept my guard up at all times."

My eyes widened in surprise "I never noticed that." This f.u.c.ker played me like a harp all this time.

Nie Li laughed good willingly "The heavens would strike me down if I had let a novice like you read me out." Gee , I'm surprised you could eat considering how full of yourself you are, bud.

Crossing my arms I huffed at him "So what made you change your mind and reveal your thoughts?"

He waved a hand at the empty space "This place." he answered cryptically. I took an at ease position while floating in mid air, silently telling him to explain "Can't you feel it?" he asked. Hearing this I focused a bit on the area and a wave of intent filled the back of my mind, specifically Nie Li's intent. It was like I could feel his sentiments echoing within my own. His care for his friends, his love for his family, everything. I could even feel his husbandly love and l.u.s.t for Ziyun, however weird that might be. It was similar to an empathic link shared by monozygotic twins. Could he also sense my own?

As soon as I thought of that amus.e.m.e.nt that was not my own appeared in my heart. Seems like Nie Li understood I realized what was going on and became amused at my reactions. "What is this place?" I asked while looking around.

He flew closer until we were in arms length of each other "This is a boundary space connecting our soul realms. Whatever happened in Emperor Kong Ming's tomb merged our realms together." he said while pointing out to our soul oceans.

"Is this a good or a bad thing?" I asked, a little shock finding it's way into my voice.

He cupped his chin and stretched out his soul force. After probing for a few minutes he answered "I can't see any disadvantages. For one, our cultivations will now progress at a more accelerated rate. Also, now that we are linked like this we will share our soul energies we will have access to reserves equal to two men but the backlash will be twice as heavy if one were to overuse it. Also, if one of us pulls ahead of the other in cultivation it will pull the other towards the same level so they will experience a spike in cultivation speed. As we speak, your soul realm is bringing me fast towards Silver rank. In a day or two I should be at that level as well."

I was genuinely impressed at what he was telling me "Good thing I'm not Lu Piao." I joked while throwing my hands in my pockets.

Nie Li chuckled for a bit but returned to being serious "There's more." Really? More cheats? "Not only can we share energy but also demon spirits. Naturally, it will take more soul force to use a spirit if you're not the owner but that shouldn't be a problem at higher levels of cultivation. Besides this, we can also grant permissions to the other to use any special attributes and advantages that the other may possess."

Tilting my head "So you're saying that you can now use my void mass, teleportation and other abilities if I allow you to and I can use your seven future demon spirits?"

He nodded "At a cost of increased stamina, yes." This isn't much of an advantage for me for now but it may prove useful in the future. "Also, we can use this space as a place to communicate between ourselves. Regardless of distance, we can always spiritually retreat in this place and chat." A built in chat room with limitless range. Take that cell phone service providers!

Nie Li floated forward and put his hand on my shoulder "But what is most useful right now is that we can sense each other's hearts. Up to now I didn't know how to truly feel about you. Your knowledge of subjects that shouldn't be wide spread in Glory City was raising alarms in my mind, you've also had plenty of chances to kill me at my weakest. However, in all those cases you've done nothing but be a friend and more. When you've showed up with a Gold Rank armor I've decided to invest in you. But still worry kept itching in the back of my heart. If you proved to be an enemy I would be forced to steel my heart and kill you." he said with resolve and shame. "While I don't know your history, I do know that every doubt that I had about you has been erased. Brother Wan, I sincerely hope you can forgive me for holding them." he said with a smile while bowing his head and the feeling I received from him confirmed that he was genuinely feeling what he was saying.

Sighing I shook my head "I have nothing to forgive as the fault is mine for hiding things from the start." My fist gently touched his c.h.e.s.t above his heart.

He smiled and mouthed a thank you before floating slightly towards my own realm "Why did you hide it?" he asked.

"Why did you?" I shot back.

There was a long pause in the conversation "Point taken." he nodded "So… can you share it now?"

Chuckling I looked at him "There is a saying where I come from: curiosity killed the cat. That thirst for knowledge of yours is an exploitable weakness."

He smirked "You've figured me out pretty well." His feelings told me he didn't mind that I was the one who did it though.

Inhaling deeply, I willed the space to shift to show pieces of a city on Earth. I couldn't remember if this was my own hometown or if it was just something random. Images of gray buildings, parks, kids having fun, cars speeding around and so on. Sighing I looked at the conjured clouds and spoke "Part of me comes from a different world. In that world there are no demon beasts and cultivations are borderline metaphysical with inconclusive proof that they even work. In that world just like here most humans are weak like commoners. However they are resourceful. They created fantastic weapons and gear that let them top the food chain. The beasts of my world are under threat by humans as opposed to here. In that world this one is nothing but fiction, a novel written by someone with a flash of inspiration." I said and turned an eye towards him to see him still analyzing the images with an amazed and excited expression. "Perhaps that author had the ability of clairvoyance, allowing him to see this world but chalked it up to imagination."

He nodded but his eyes stayed glued to the sight of children playing in the shadow of a large buildings "And I was a serious fan of that novel and of you." I hummed and he finally turned to me "You were my hero and I idolized you. I went to sleep at night thinking about your adventures. How you faced adversity and loss. How you went through thick and thin with your friends, your master Ying Yueru, and everyone from the Divine Feathers sect. How you and Ziyun fell in love only to lose her in that demon beast attack after the hoard destroyed the city in your previous timeline. Only for all of it to be reset by the Temporal Demon Spirit book."

Nie Li was silently analyzing me when he spoke with a raised eyebrow "Then that novel you spoke about in class was…?"

Chuckling I nodded "Yes, it was your story. And the story of everyone."

He let out a long sigh before looking back at the floating images "That's pretty incredible…"

"So is a centuries old geezer hitting the reset inscription but here we are." I said and he chuckled. It felt good getting that off my shoulders "I admit that my plan was to mooch off of you but something changed and I honestly began feeling that you are my brother."

Nie Li raised an eyebrow "What changed?" He was always a curious person.

Cupping my chin I replied "The original owner of this body. His soul and mine must've merged. He was a lot more honest than I was so those feelings m.a.t.u.r.ed from there."

"So who are you?" the ginger asked.

Smirking turned to him "I am Long Wan." came my cheeky reply "Truthfully, I don't remember my name from back in my world or even how or if I've died. But since only my soul came here then I may have perished somehow. I couldn't just come up front and tell you everything. Such a story would be too convenient and that would make you distrusting of me. That was one of the things I wanted to avoid at all costs." I hummed "Even though my existence is not from here, you accepted me as your friend. You shared with me knowledge and fortune without missing a beat. Regardless of how much my logic told me to stay out of this, you became a true brother to me."

Silence permeated the area for a few agonizing seconds as Nie Li soaked everything in.

Finally he nodded with a smile "Same for me. When you stood up to Shen Xiu with me I felt… alive again." he said, reminiscing the moment this all started.

I floated to him and grabbed him by the arm just below the shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze in the process "You've been alone for a long time, haven't you?"

Nie Li closed his eyes and grimaced at the memory "Decades… Centuries… More than I can remember. Even more than you can imagine…" he coughed out, swallowing tears of loneliness that had long dried out.

Swinging my arm around his neck I let him sob his desperation out of him. It doesn't matter in what world or in what universe you lived, loneliness was the worst hell one could suffer. Patting his back I whispered out "You're not alone anymore, brother."