Chapter 467 - Mom?

{A/N: Nie Li's cousin is supposed to be a kid, but not here, she is a grown woman.}

With a wooden bow hung across her lithe figure, the tensile material slightly sinking into her front, waist-lengthed, soft brown hair tied into a high bun, revealing an oval face with youthful features and a skin leaning towards the pale side slightly. Nie Yu, Xiao Ming's little sunshine, ran across the Aiming Ranch, a place specifically constructed to develop generations of archers within the Heavenly Marks Family. Unlike her mother, who is endowed with a voluptuous body, mature charm, and... did she mention an extremely voluptuous body? Nie Yu, on the other hand, seemed to have inherited the beauty from her father's side. She wasn't extremely curvaceous, but her curves attracted enough attention already. With a silk boar's hide turned into a fleshy-brown hunting outfit, her 18th birthday's present, and a quiver hung across her hips diagonally that moved every time her perky buttocks twisted in a motion, Nie Yu moved back to her house with an extremely pleased expression.

Unlike the males of the family who are allowed to enter the Holy Orchid Institute, Nie Yu and other younger generation girls are expected to share their parent's domestic burdens. Of course, Nie Yu never slacked. From morning till night, she would first train religiously to hone her marksmanship and then, she would help out Xiao Ming and her aunt, Xiao Yun, prepare the remaining two portions of the meal partially before joining up with her friends who had long given up on their training and start tending to the low productive farms since the elders tend to focus on the commercial crops. But today, she was more enthusiastic. After all, her chance to show off her training really came. The most illustrated civilian with twin spirits and yet, not a single spirit ring with the strength of defeating a rank 6 spirit master had decided to select a disciple from her family!

Her indignations towards her cousin regarding his fate that allowed him to attend the institute swept away as she skipped, her slightly heeled leather boots leaving deep marks in the process, signifying their weight. With her brown eyes, quite similar to mother and aunt, darting around playfully, thinking of the scene where she would get accepted as the disciple and even get the strength to beat the bully of the elders and Patriarch who were still stuck on stupid traditions of 'rearing' females and building youths, Nie Yu finally slowed down when she could view her house. At this time, she found her cousin, Nie Li, walking in the direction of the training field and instantly knocked her bow with a wooden arrow whose tip had been chipped away to make a blunt weapon. The action was fluid. From taking a feathered arrow to knocking the bow and targetting a few steps ahead of Nie Li—

Phhh!

The wooden arrow shot at a mind-boggling speed only to fly through Nie Li's nose, making him yelp in surprise as he looked around only to show a deep scowl the moment he saw the attacker. From his back, the hazy yellow ring hid into his body once again before he rubbed the back of his head and shouted sourly.

"Cousin Yu! Stop with the ambushes already!"

Snickering, Nie Yu wore her bow once again before jogging towards Nie Li. "Hee~ I thought that the 'rare' genius of the institute might have more 'presence' instead of being a snobbish brat~" Giggling, Nie Yu pinched Nis Li's cheek, her right of being an elder if she may, before standing straight, signifying the difference of a height of a head between the two. "So? Where are you going? Do you want the next strongest disciple of Glory City to help you with something? Maybe treat you as a target in archery and hone your pace of evasion?"

"No, thanks!" Nie Li clicked his tongue while smiling internally. He missed Nie Yu. Previously, just like now, the entire clan had been unaware of the legend behind Nie Yu's martial spirit— Heavenly Mark— well, that's what it was named in ancient times but now, Nie Yu's spirit was named as a Target Bow. The founder of the Heavenly Marks Family had the same spirit as Nie Yu and she was able to become a rank 4 spirit master before Glory City was swallowed by a sea of monsters. She tried to protect their family, but in the end, except for Nie Li, everyone died. One of the reasons why Nie Li even recommended Nie Yu to Nik aside from his desire to get close to Ye Ziyun was due to her innate talent and determination to get strong.

"Oh! That's right~ I met Master Nik this morning a-and... Li! Why didn't you tell me he looks that good! How can he only have two fiancees? He must have some beauty hidden here and there, right? Come on~ Don't be a sting and tell me! Say, are the rumors true? Is City Lord's daughter also training 'under' him every day?"

The young teenager asked with a bright expression as Nie Li's expression stiffened. Nie Li tried his best to avoid these rumors. Either way, he believed that Ye Ziyun was still pure, after all, he did check on her 'purity' using a taboo method during the banquet. Since Ye Ziyun was 'untainted' Nie Li felt extremely calm regarding the situation but seeing his own elder cousin's words and recalling how famous she became in the future for her promiscuity, giving no regards to marital tradition and even going as far as to 'uncover' few of the Heavenly Marks Family dirty secrets to the public, all the warmth within Nie Li turned into annoyance as he snorted and turned away without answering.

"Aah! Mum did say that granny used to say to steer clear from such men... to think my little Li'er would turn out so stiff... oh, the misfortunes of being the elder one... ah, mom and aunt wanted to teach me something important today... they did look a little weird, hmm, I wonder what could it be~"

Nie Yu turned on her heels and started skipping once again, humming a soft tune as she felt the soft breeze past through her face, enticing her to let her hair flow freely. Once she did reach her house however, the slightly sweet scent and her mother's... 'voice' instantly attracted Nie Yu's attention. Her hands stiffened around the handle of the door before she stopped and stretched her neck through the window only to find her 'mother' getting pounded while her back was pushed against the opposing wall with a rugged back facing the direction of the door.

"M—"

Before she could say anything, Nie Yu found a stealthy figure embraced her from behind and place a palm over her mouth as she looked back in surprise. Seeing the mature figure's playful grin, quite similar to Nie Yu's, the teenager almost shouted out loud.

'Mom?!'

Then...

Nie Yu looked through the window once again while not giving her mother's roaming hands their deserved attention... 'Then she is Aunt Yun?!'

---

Nie Hai spread his spiritual energy into a set of inscription patterns forming an array of runes that protected their treasury. Much to Nik's surprise, the array protecting the treasury happened to be more than twice the complicated of the city lord's treasury. "Master Nik, anything in this treasury is for your choosing..." Nie Hai dragged his words while pushing the bulky door. Understanding Nie Hai's intentions, Nik smiled cooperatively, "Of course, I, Nik, know how to return a favor thoroughly. If Patriarch wants anything from me, I'll be sure to help him but... of course, I still insist you take part in the competition later on. It will help my fiancee a great deal."

"Of course!" Nie Hai smiled excitedly. Suddenly, however, his pupils dilated before he stood still as Nik walked in. Nie Hai still remained on the outside. Finally, the moment Nik willed him, Nie Hai mechanically moved and closed the door behind him while lighting the treasury just for convenience's sake. Although Nik had the ability to 'see' within the darkness, he still enjoyed the assistance of light.

"So ruthless... ufufu, I like it!" Lilith commented while Nik shrugged, "I mean, I am not going to tap out by saying that Yun and Ming will be my disciples, too. Surely, I'll have them train a bit, but they would leave this family as my women, so, I may as well wreck this family since we are going to oppose each other eventually. Of course, taking the best stuff out of the treasury is a requisite of creating troubles for a clan!"

"Hmm? Nik... I can feel my own creation within this treasury..." Sky suddenly spoke up, making Nik smile in a pleasant manner as he looked towards Nie Hai and snapped his fingers, mentally commanding him to bring the best and the unknown treasures within the treasury. From the moment Nik met Nie Hai in the morning, the apostle had started to inject his pheromones within Nie Hai, slowly gaining passive control over the man. This, in turn, depleted Nik's reserves massively, but it all worked out in the end.

"Oh... this feeling..." Nik suddenly looked towards his left and reached out to one of the lower shelves before picking up a small, dusty box. With a frown, Nik opened the lid only to find a piece of paper glowing softly and vanishing while pulling a slight sting from Nik's head. Unknowingly, the mist around his spiritual world roiled for a dew minutes before Nik's own ethereal voice was transmitted into his head, "S... afe..."

'Whatever... I have a total of three pages and I only know the use of a single page... Man, that one year in that stupid realm really screwed me up... I don't even want to test the effects of the later pages... fuck it, I'll pay and purchase an appraisal orb.'

Nik sighed as Nie Hai silently walked towards Nik. His gaze fell on the open box, revealing a tinge of confusion before he placed seven items on the table. Unlike the pages of the Temporal Demon Spirit Book, Nik could actually identify six of the items aside from the pitch-black orb the size of a thumb in diameter.

With a completely 'high' Nie Hai, Nik started checking the items on the display, much to his surprise, each one of the items was at least a Purple Rank item.

[Soul Katars: Dark Purple

Use: The pair of katars are bounded to the user's soul and can get strengthened by the increase in the quality of the soul. The current rank of the item is Dark Purple, but once bonded, the tier may vary in compliance to the soul's quality.

Base Effects:

Sharpness: +7

Toughness: +3]

Seeing this, a frown etched Nik's forehead. First thing, he had a purple tier but its effects were greater in numbers. If Nik recalled correctly, War Gauntlets had a crushing effect of 29 and pierce of 30... although, what these numbers meant didn't kiss Nik with its understanding. Second thing, he didn't know what the quality of a soul meant. Nik understood that a soul in itself is the purest form of energy, but its qualities and categories remained a mystery to him. Sky denied answering this question while Asmodeus and Lilith stated their memories on the matter completely removed. Storing the item, since he won't be having any other 'thing' attached to his soul, a system seemed enough already, Nik looked towards the next item.

[Death Vial: Dark Purple

Use: An alchemic product that constantly concentrates natural death energy within the air into the vial and produces a concentrated liquid of 'death' that acts as an instant poison/corrosion. This poison affects every single existence. Repair the vial to increase its rank. The vial is damaged and constantly secretes a poisonous by-product that poisons the spiritual energy.]

Scoffing, Nik manipulated the life energy and covered his left arm with the greenish glow before picking the vial up. In front of his gaze, Nik found his Life energy depleting at a severe rate that made Nik place the vial filled with viscous black liquid. This item... Nik actually liked it. He loved the thought of poisoning his ancestors if he could... but they had already shown their ability to resist their deaths quite literally, so a sprinkle of additional death might just do the trick. Humoring himself, Nik checked the next item.

[Tang Inheritance: Dark Purple

Use: Meet the hidden requirements to gain the inheritance hidden within.]

Gazing at the palm-sized, metallic, toy hammer, Nik couldn't help but wonder if all the aristocrats within the City are this rich. If they were, then he might just have to turn to the dark side and loot the entire city... and then the dark guild before setting a nice spatial cottage within the woods and enjoying his time until he achieves his main quest.

Finally, after checking out all the items, Nik finally placed his attention on the Dark Pearl. Unable to access any prompt from the system, Sky cooed haughtily, "This is a dream core, Nik. In essence, the core of my laws turned into a multi-purpose item. It's a spatial world, a Cultivation tool, a transporter. Anything you would want from a multi-purpose tool could be found within. However, its main attribute is 'Dream.' So I should caution you to tread lightly."

"Does it has an appraisal function?" Nik inquired.

"It does. Well, how should I put it... ehm... this is the item that I accidentally... L..."

"What? I couldn't hear it," Nik inquired.

"I said... I L... it..."

"Hmm? Be clear," Nik furrowed his brows.

"I fucking lost it!" Sky shrieked, "In the final battle, my Loveable 'single' father cast a spell that tore me to shreds. And, oh, wait, that's right, the core fell and I couldn't recover it with my spirits due to getting fatally injured!"

Pursing his lips, Nik inquired once again, "Why does it sound like you are madder about losing this core?"

"It's a god damn multipurpose core! Don't you get it? Here, let me phrase it for you.

Trouble with storing Harem? Dream Core's there for you. Oh, you like that mountain and want to add to the scenery? Dream Core at your service! Ah, a raging masturbator of a father is after your life? Hide within the core and escape to the realms of the dream! Feel that a goddess is extremely hard to conquer? Fuck her in dreams, then in real life!"

Sky's ragged breathing spread across the entire spiritual word as Nik and the other two spirits were tongue-tied.

"Ah... you'll make a great salesperson..." Nik praised as the moment he manipulated a drop of blood to leak from the pores on the tip of his finger, the way Sky taught him while venting her frustrations, the dream core buzzed into life before vanishing into Nik. Amazingly, Nik found the Core alongside the [Harem] within his Origin sea.

Sighing from Nik's comment, Sky glared towards the fidgeting spirits that were barely able to contain their laughter before disappearing into the sky of the spiritual world.

After concluding his looting, Nik looked at his inventory.

[Red Medal x3

Diamond Medallion

Dark Golden Medallion

Dark Purple Medallion

Curse House (2 Uses) (Dark Purple)

Lineage— Blood Imp (White)

Lineage— Battle Seraphim (Legendary)

Smite Token (2 Uses) (Legendary)

Invitation— Holy Society (Unique)

Tome of Battle (Legendary)

Valkyrie Art (Unique)

Soul Katars (Purple)

Death Vial (Dark Purple)

Tang Inheritance (Dark Purple)

Soul Puppet Blueprint (Purple)

Necklace of Spirit (Purple)

Heaven's Mark (Dark Purple)

War Gauntlets (Purple)

World Key (Unique)

Miscellaneous]

{A/N: Umm... if I forgot something... then consider is in misc lul}

As Nik and the confused Nie Hai walked out with Nie Hai seemingly satisfied with Nik's choice of getting the Soul Katars, Nik once again directed his thoughts towards the items he gained from the Sky's Father— The Supreme Seraphim, The Holder of the Excalibur, The Galaxy Shafter, The Pillow Lover, The— "Enough with the names already!" Sky grumbled as Nik stifled a laugh, "Sky... what do you think about the Tome of Battle, the Battle Seraphim Lineage, and the Valkyrie Art?"

"Well... there is no Holy Mother as described in the item's description, so it signifies his tempering. That guy must have found the Valkyrie Art from a ruin or something. It holds high research potential, as for others, even you seem to understand that all of it is a scam. The tome of battle won't let you continue until you turn into a battle seraphim and the strongest battle seraphim turned out to be, as you say, the Excalibur Holder~"

Sky chuckled, finally realizing the humorous potential hidden behind the name, "As for the invite, would you enter 'his' abode now that you understand what your past incarnation committed? Even if my father doesn't recognize your past Karma, he can easily identify me... so... I'll say that you have treasures with no value lying around in your vault and it would do you good if you find a good use for them."

"Hey, I can give the lineage to my girls..."

"All Battle Seraphims are male by default. Would you enjoy one of your partners sporting a calibur?"

"Oof~" Nik groaned as she walked out and bade his farewell to Nie Hai while promising to reach the main hall in time to select a promising seedling. Idling away, Nik continued to inquire, "Maybe we can do something with that Dream Core of yours."

"Sure it can, but I still suggest to focus on the Valkyrie Art using the Dream Core, slowly perfecting it to your highest capabilities before testing it out. As for 'his' gifts... just throw them away if you can't find a use for them... I seriously hate his stuff lying around..."

"Fine, fine~" Nik sighed. "It is the misfortune of accompanying strong women... their father's demise, that is..."

"As long as you keep my wishes in mind~"

Sky giggled while the two spirits sweated.

It took one crazy to even think of fulfilling the other crazy's wishes.

***

A/N: This chapter might seem all over the place but it solves the most basic thing of Nik finally gaining his op item, and his future goal of researching Valkyrie Art and testing it on others~