Chapter 210 – Shred of Tears

Chapter 210 - Shred of Tears

Xiao Chen knew that, without any miracles, he’s definitely screwed. After all, he was only twenty one years old. Even if he was talented, he too was helpless in the face of time. Time could erase everything, but…



Xiao Chen knew that, without any miracles, he’s definitely screwed.

After all, he was only twenty one years old. Even if he was talented, he too was helpless in the face of time. Time could erase everything, but it could also bring up everything. The older generation experts had already been through the baptism of time, their power was not something a youth like him could hope to compare to.

All four directions were already sealed off, the sky was already enclosed, and there were no less than six demigod level experts. How would he be able to escape?

“I will reap your two souls and seven spirits, leaving one soul behind and then seal it in front of the White Tiger’s grave for all eternity!” The tiger woman had already landed on the ground as she walked towards Xiao Chen, one step at a time. Her face was cold, as if there were thousands of layers of ice covering it. Her cold tone felt like it came directly from the lowest depths of hell, “Do you have anything to say before your death?”

“None.” In the face of death, Xiao Chen was very calm.

It was brightly lit all around, the entire street was light up as hundreds of experts from the Fair family surrounded the area. There were also many people from various major clans watching this in dark, distant places.

Fairsky was hiding in the shadows. It was impossible to judge his state of mind as he stayed completely indifferent. On the other hand, Fairsnow remained easy-going from start to finish, as if she was watching a show completely unrelated to her.

The tiger woman laughed coldly, “You sure are lamentable. In the end, you are going to die like this, and you don’t even have any last words nor reluctance to leave this world!”

“Since I am going to die, what’s the point of saying too much. Do you want me to beg you in order to satisfy your crazy mind? I’m afraid to disappoint you.” Xiao Chen was as calm as a cloud, as if he was not the one going to die.

“I am already very satisfied. My parents bestowed life upon me and allowed me to grow up happily. I was very happy for the past twenty years of my life. Apart from the love of my parents, I have many genuine friends, and even a girl who liked me. Since I was born, I have experienced love, friendship, and romance. What more could I ask for? I am not a greedy person, such simple happiness is enough for me. Of course, this might be too mediocre for you guys. Everyone of you here wants to rise to a higher position and look down at the whole world, even to the point of sweeping the floor with experts all over the world. You guys will never understand such a simple happiness.”

Fairsnow smiled softly. Under the moonlit night, she appeared like a fairy who had descended upon the mundane world. Words failed to describe her beauty. “I always thought you were a decisive and frightening person. Never have I thought you had such a naive and cute side to you. Just thinking about how you would become my greatest enemy in the future… but alas! Such a pity, your family, your friends, and even the girl who likes you. They will not be able to see you anymore.”

At these words, Xiao Chen did not feel sorrow. His words were incomparably dull, “Who in this world can possess eternity? The most important point is, I am able to feel satisfied before my life comes to a conclusion. My friends can help me take care of my parents. Even if I die, true friendship will not water down even with the passage of time. The girl I once liked, even if I have missed this opportunity forever, she no longer belongs to me. There’s nothing for me to regret before I die. The friendship we once had will remain in my heart forever.”

“Then you can go and die!” The tiger woman pressed forward. She didn’t see him begging for forgiveness. On the contrary, what she saw was Xiao Chen’s calm and easygoing demeanor. This made her feel very disappointed.

Out of everyone’s expectation, Xiao Chen did not choose to suicide, but rather, he pointed his sword towards the tiger woman.

“Haha… You want to fight against me? Aren’t you overestimating yourself too much?”

“No matter what I do, I will not give up until the very last moment. On what basis do you want me to attempt suicide? That is a insult to me! I, Xiao Chen, can only die in a battle. I will not perform a cowardly act such as suicide.”

His dull and calm demeanor had already vanished. The Xiao Chen right now had revealed a different side. He braced himself and the divine light in his eyes sparkled. Even when facing a demigod, he didn’t have a hint of fear.

Being looked down upon by Xiao Chen, the tiger woman immediately became hot-headed. She really wished she could turn Xiao Chen into meat paste with a slap. However, she quickly changed her way of thinking. Ending Xiao Chen’s life like this was going too easy on him. She should torment him slowly until he died.

Leaving an afterimage in her original position, the old woman appeared in front of Xiao Chen in a flash. The hand that was shaped like a demonic claw swiped downward. Her speed had exceeded everyone’s expectations. Many people were unable to see her movements.

Xiao Chen lifted the sword to block. With a “snapping” sound, the longsword shattered. It scattered, one dazzling radiance after another streaked across the sky like shooting stars.

The second claw swipe was fast approaching. Xiao Chen did not have a sword left in his hands, but he was not worried. As if his entire person had transformed into a sword itself, a resplendent sword-qi cut through the night as as he tried to behead the old woman.

“Bang!”

The palm blade struck the old woman’s demonic claw and produced an oppressive noise. Xiao Chen was sent somersaulting by the blow, but the old woman did not move an inch. She sneered as she pressed onward.

Xiao Chen wiped the blood stain at the corner of his mouth and faced the old woman coldly. Just now, although the Weapon Fusion was able to neutralize more than half of the power, he was still unable to resist the torrential power of that claw attack.

“Rips! Rips!”

The ripping sound of space transmitted over as the old woman moved her hands. A few jet-black claws of light seemed to be ripping apart the void in the sky as they created one dreadful trajectory after another. And then, instantly afterward, this space was confined and trapped Xiao Chen within its domain.

“I will take my time with you!”

Such was reality, although Xiao Chen couldn’t find a worthy opponent among the youth generation, the gap was still too big when compared to a demigod. He was practically unable to resist.

He moved his fingers with difficulty, a hint of blood spilled out from Xiao Chen’s mouth. While bearing the pain, he successfully launched the Death Blow technique. The brilliance illuminated all ten directions as the energy fluctuations transmitted outside of the domain. The old woman was slightly surprised as she walked into the domain.

“Boom!”

It was like a volcanic eruption as dazzling rays of light illuminated the entire night sky. Xiao Chen repeatedly shook his hands and launched the four major techniques at full power. Regardless of the results, he did try his best.

The rays of light were dazzling, they were like millions upon millions of starlight pouring down in torrents. The entire street was illuminated brightly. The old woman was forced to take half a step back, but Xiao Chen was already covered in blood from head to foot. The blood vessels all over his body were ruptured.

However, the divine light did not stop at this point. On the contrary, it became even fiercer as it rushed towards the sky like a raging flame. Even the heaven and earth itself were trembling.

The entire street was destroyed, all those desolate ancient houses in the surroundings instantly turned to dust.

Xiao Chen’s battle intent was skyrocketing. Despite being fully aware of his imminent death, he was still as unyielding. He wanted to let his accumulated anger completely burst out. With the cost of his life, he wanted to shake off the old woman, and fight against his inevitable fate.

Under the dazzling divine light, the entire region completely collapsed. The uninhabited houses were all destroyed without a trace, as if they never existed to begin with. The entire region was flattened and crushed.

The fire of life dimmed over time, this was Xiao Chen’s complete loss. However, the unbending will in his eyes was completely undisguised. He quietly stood on the spot with his tall figure as he coldly looked at all the enemies in front of him.

Death, it was not at all scary. It was but the call of nature. Xiao Chen felt as if his soul was going to drift away from his body. He did not have any regret. Regardless of the result, he had already tried his best to struggle.

Far away, the sound of a flute transmitted over. The sad and beautiful melody sounded like a soul depriving song as it guided Xiao Chen’s soul towards a distant place.

The area was very quiet. All the people had witnessed everything just now. If not because he was facing a demigod opponent, perhaps even the Historia level practitioners would have a hard time fending off that attack. That inextinguishable fire of life, that unbending fighting intent, they were enough to make everyone shudder in fear. Even the old woman was forced to take a step back, and more than half of her sleeves were burned.

“I am not afraid of death!” Xiao Chen cast an angry look at the blue dome of heaven. The sharp glint in his eyes gradually became dimmer.

For some reason, although they were only killing a Historia level youth, everyone felt heavy hearted. Even if Xiao Chen was killed, they still felt a slight chill. For a Historia level expert to give them this kind of feeling, many people felt alarmed and constrained. Fortunately, this youth was really going to die!

“Haha…” Loud laughter transmitted from a distant place as a few youngsters from the major clans walked over with large strides.

The old woman did not prevent them from approaching as she was silently recalling the four major techniques, namely the God Slayer, Chaotic Patterns, Demon Suppression, and Death Blow. She had the lingering feeling that it was a little weird, it was hard for her to imagine how Xiao Chen was able to practice these legendary secret arts.

“So, even you have days like this, Xiao Chen!” Hofmann was the first to walk over as he laughed heartily. Behind him was Zhuge Kun, Lidong Bo, Austrian, and company.

As if he had heard their taunt, Xiao Chen’s originally lifeless eyes suddenly emitted two sharp glints as they pressed on toward Hofmann and company like two streak of lightnings.

“He’s alive…”

“How come he’s still alive…”

Hofmann and Zhuge Kun were so startled that they immediately ran back. The other two behind them couldn’t bear it and directly fell on the ground.

“Haha… so it’s actually the dying flash.” Seeing that it was a false alarm, Hofmann felt a little embarrassed. After adjusting himself, he bowed deeply towards the tiger woman and said, “Can senior give junior permission to get even with him? After that you can deprive him of his three souls and seven spirits.”

The tiger woman silently nodded her head. Hofmann, Zhuge Kun, and company slowly approached. Seeing the light that’s gradually getting dimmer, they smiled without restraint.

“Xiao Chen, on what basis are you going against us for?”

“You are but only a very small practitioner from the mortal world, how dare you fight against us?”

“Today, even after death, I will not let you go peacefully!” Hofmann revealed a malicious, yet fanatic smile as he said, “In the end, you still end up being trampled under my foot!”

Zhuge Kun mustered up his courage to push lightly, and Xiao Chen fell on the pool of blood. Seeing this, Hofmann and company laughed loudly as they stepped forward.

Hofmann stepped on Xiao Chen’s chest and said maliciously, “I am stepping on you, what are you going to do about it, hanh?”

Zhuge Kun also kicked him repeatedly as he said, “I already vowed at an earlier time, that I will pay you back a hundredfold!”

Xiao Chen’s consciousness was already fuzzy as the heartwarming scenes in the mortal world flashed through his mind.

He could see his grey-haired parents, see his childhood friends, and even that girl he once loved… He could feel a shred of tears about to leak out from the corner of his eyes. I can’t cry, I’ve never cried before, how can I cry now?

“I always thought the world of immortals was a transcendental world, I always thought it was an auspicious world ruled by multitudes of immortals… but, that was only my ideal nation. Dreams can never become reality.” At the end of Xiao Chen’s life, his train of thought was very chaotic.

The cruel world of immortals was even more vicious and realistic than the mortal world. Strength and background represented everything here. In his final moments, Xiao Chen thought of Tenax and Keke. Generally speaking, he was all alone in this world. Only these two little beasts were with him as they went through many trials and hardships.

Lan Nuo, Lawrence, Yizhen, Oxmen, Rowena, and the rest from the dragon island. Where are they now? The friends who once went through life and death tribulations with him, he still hasn’t gotten in touch with them, but it seems like there’s no chance for that now.

“Haha… Can this guy finally feel the pain?” Hofmann laughed loudly and grabbed Xiao Chen’s collar violently. Then he lifted Xiao Chen’s body up from the pool of blood as he sneered, “He’s about to die, and at the corner of his left eye, there’s actually a hint of tears, haha…”

At a distant place, Fairsky remained indifferent. Fairsnow looked closely as she heard this. They knew Xiao Chen did not shed tears because of the few young ruffians. This man didn’t even fear death, just what could those tears be for?

“Squeak…” A sorrowful whimper transmitted from a distant location as a streak of white light vanished and flickered in the sky unceasingly. A snow-white little critter approached while slicing through the air. ⌈1

“Wuu~ Wuu~” The sobbing sound was like a sad melody. It made people feel heartbroken just from hearing it. Keke had returned after it escaped from the depths of the Southern Wasteland.

Before it was detained, Keke already knew about Xiao Chen’s situation. In the end, Keke broke out of the Southern Wasteland and rushed to Celestial City regardless of everything. For a little critter to attach importance to friendship, it made some people feel touched.

“Wuu~ Wuu~”

Seeing Xiao Chen lying on the pool of blood, Keke transformed into a streak of divine light and appeared at that spot. It abruptly waved its little paws, Hofmann and company were sent flying away by the rainbow-colored radiance.

“Squeak… Wuu~ Wuu~” The snow-white little critter shouted in fear as it shook Xiao Chen’s head. The rainbow-colored radiance was injected into Xiao Chen’s body, one after another. It was trying to preserve Xiao Chen’s life with all of its ability.

The always naughty and mischievous little critter was actually weeping at the moment. This was the first time it revealed such a terrified and scared expression, for fear that Xiao Chen might die at this point.

“Very good! I originally wanted to kill this little thing anyways. Now it delivered itself in front of me!” The tiger woman was smiling coldly.

The demigod experts moved simultaneously and sealed all four directions. They blocked off all and every possible escape route.

“Wuu~ Wuu~” The little critter was crying as it kept shaking Xiao Chen.

Under the illumination of the rainbow-colored radiance, Xiao Chen opened his eyes and coughed out a small mouthful of blood. He quietly swept his eyes all over and used his bloodstained palm to pat Keke’s head. Then he said weakly, “Go, quickly… you won’t be able to save me… come back here… when you have enough strength…”

“Squeak… Wuu~ Wuu~” Keke shook its head strongly as it was weeping. Its pair of glittering big eyes were already filled with glistening teardrops. It confined Xiao Chen within the rainbow-colored radiance and carried him with its puny body. Then the little critter flew towards the sky.

However, with a loud bang, it was knocked to the ground by layer upon layer of divine lights.

Four directions, six demigod experts, all paths were blocked.

“Put me down… Escape by yourself, avenge me in the future, you must remember everyone’s face here…” Speaking until here, Xiao Chen stopped. And everyone here immediately felt a chill. The snow-white little critter’s potential was obvious to all. If it remembered them, then in the future… they wouldn’t dare to imagine.

Xiao Chen stopped, because he thought of another problem. The snow-white little critter was still too young, if he was to let it carry such a burden, it was hard to imagine what would become of it in the future. Even though he really wanted to kill everyone who besieged him today, for the little critter’s future however, he stopped and heaved a sigh, “I don’t wish… for a cute little beast to become a freakish killing machine… I don’t want hatred to cloud your mind… In the future, those two elders… and those few youngsters… kill them for me… don’t kill anyone else… otherwise I won’t forgive you.”

Keke was still very young, it was impossible for it to understand that Xiao Chen was still concerned about its future while he was at death’s door. However, the spectators could roughly guess his train of thoughts.

“Wuu~ Wuu~” Keke shook its head strongly while still weeping. It carried Xiao Chen and soared up once more. It crossed the empty space and suddenly appeared at the other direction. However, the six demigods had sealed all ten directions and could predict its path accurately. A divine radiance was launched and shot them down from the sky.

“Let go… just remember my words…”

The tiger woman smiled sarcastically, “It’s impossible for the two of you to escape from here, all of you must die!”

“Run, you must get out of here!”



 


  1. Silva: IT’S KEKEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! IT’S BACK, IT’S BAK, IT’S BAAAAAK!!! 

[Arc 3] Chapter 90

[Arc 3] Chapter 90

Chapter 90 Breakthrough Chu Shen sat down in a lotus position. Taking out the ten beast cores he had bought, he prepared to start breaking through. He thought back on what Master Ti Wu had explained why Void…



Chapter 90
Breakthrough

Chu Shen sat down in a lotus position. Taking out the ten beast cores he had bought, he prepared to start breaking through. He thought back on what Master Ti Wu had explained why Void constitutions were superior to all others.

In order to explain that, one must understand the cultivation process of those with other types of innate constitutions. For this explanation, Master Ti Wu had used fire constitutions as an example.

Those with a fire constitution only had to absorb fire Qi in order to advance their cultivation. They didn’t need to grow their souls since they could control their Qi without worry about a cultivation deviation, just like Chu Shen.

But it was also true they could only absorb fire Qi.The reason for this was that their body would reject any other kind of Qi. If they tried absorbing other types, it would either cause them tremendous pain.

However, people with these kinds of constitutions were both lucky and unlucky. There was always two edges to a blade. While it was true that they only had to absorb Qi that was related to their element, they also had to have increasingly stronger sources. As their body became stronger, it needed a stronger and more pure source.

For example, those at the mortal realm would easily advance when they cultivate around campfires or a candle-rich environments. However, upon breaking through they would need to find a better source like a hot spring.

Later on they would need to find volcanoes or other sources rich with natural fire Qi. Eventually even places like this would not be sufficient and they would need to find abnormal places with extreme fire. And these abnormal places would be quite dangerous, only the lucky would survive.

However, those with a Void constitution are favored greatly by the heavens. Maybe it was a result of having all of the elements, including their opposites, in one form that resulted in such a heaven-defying ability.

It was all because null Qi has the unique characteristic of being able to absorb and convert all kinds of Qi. Because of this unique feature, it surpasses all other forms of constitution. Whereas others have to search for places with extremes of their elements, those with Void Constitution only have to absorb and convert regular Qi around them.

If others knew about this they would cough up blood in shame. They had pay terrible prices to cultivate but these Void users can just cultivate like normal? No, it would be more accurate to say that all they have to do is absorb energy to cultivate. They don’t even have to go through hardship to grow their soul!

Truly a heaven defying ability. The only reason why Chu Shen wasn’t cultivating like mad was so that he could temper himself with others the same power level as him.

Otherwise he wouldn’t have enough combat experience, unlike those wily foxes who clawed their way to the top. With this Chu Shen was able to feel the dangers of death and improve his battle sense. Otherwise if the two were on even terms or even if Chu Shen only had a slight advantage, he would lose because of being outwitted and outmaneuvered.

Chu Shen started to cultivate. Circulating his Qi, he also reached his soul out to ‘grab’ Qi. Qi flooded into his dantian. Using this Qi he started directing it towards the many minor meridians located at his pores.

In order to advance to the Martial Student stage, one needed to unblock the outer meridians, which was a collection of minor meridians right under the skin.

Each tiny meridian, which numbered in the billions, was a channel that let Chu Shen’s soul out into the world to absorb Qi. It was also how Chu Shen was able to release Qi.

Each successive breakthrough would lead to an increase of Qi that could flow into or out of the body at one time and also how much could be stored inside the meridians. This led to each level increasing the amount of power one could unleash at one time and also how many times one could unleash such a move.

Chu Shen started using his Qi to unblock the meridians, pushing past and expelling the impurities located inside the meridians. It took a long time to go to each cluster of minor meridians and break through it. With one swift swoop, he broke through to level 5. As he broke through, thick stinky black slime was exuded from all of his pores.

Repeating the process he broke to level 6, then level 7. However, Chu Shen sense his stamina fading. He didn’t have enough Qi to continue this breakneck speed. Chu Shen had been conserving as much energy as possible by passively absorbing Qi to slow down the expenditure of Qi.

But the rate of Qi being used far exceeded that of Qi absorbed. He just couldn’t split his attention, or rather soul, to breakthrough and absorb Qi. Sighing, Chu Shen stopped just as he finished breaking through to level 7. He opened his eyes and looked at the beast cores surrounding him.

Chu Shen reached out his hand, covered in gray Qi. Beast cores looked like glowing crystal orbs, emitting soft glows that were different colors based upon their attribute.

Upon Chu Shen’s energy coated hand touching the beast core, the energy moved, covering the beast core in gray energy. When that happened, the gray Qi started pulsing with energy. With each pulse, the gray Qi started getting brighter and the beast core became dimmer.

After a while, the beast core became a dull, see through crystal orb. Chu Shen, who looked a little pale from Qi exhaustion, regained his color. Sighing again, Chu Shen closed his eyes and started the breakthrough process again.

The beast core he just absorbed helped him regain about 70% of his energy, enough to continue breaking through. Continuing, Chu Shen managed to breakthrough to level 8. However, now his Qi reserves were down to 12%.

Each time he broke through he would gain a surge of Qi, but this surge of Qi was miniscule compared to what his capacity was with each breakthrough. Not to mention that the energy needed to break through increased exponentially.

Chu Shen absorbed two beast cores on the same level as the one he had absorbed before. But whereas the first one increased energy by about 50%, the two combined only filled him up by 80%, increasing his Qi reserves to 92%! That was a reduction of 10%!

Using this energy, Chu Shen broke through to level 10. Upon reaching this stage he had his Qi at about 7%! This massive reduction in Qi, even when he had absorbed two beast cores, showed the amount of energy needed to clear his meridians.

Chu Shen absorbed the other five beast cores that he had placed around him. His Qi reserves increased from his 7%, to 51%. He still had to breakthrough to become a Martial Practitioner.

Chu Shen was in no hurry though. His breakthroughs had taken him about two days to complete. What was a couple more hours compared to that? Chu Shen was patient and slowly absorbed Qi from the surrounding area.

The Black Night Sect had a fairly large concentration of energy, making it easier to replenish his energy. With the millions of minor meridians absorbing Qi like a sponge, Chu Shen was able to replenish his Qi by the beginning of the third day.

Taking a deep breath, Chu Shen prepared to propel himself to the Martial Practitioner stage. In order to break through such a stage, he needed to open up a major meridian.

The body had 7 major meridians. The were located in the right leg, left leg, right arm, left arm, head, heart, and dantian. Chu Shen sent his Qi forth to the meridian on his left leg, like a seething wave smashing against a dam it hit the meridian.

The meridians impurities however, did not break. Chu Shen did not become discouraged, he could sense it move slightly. Repeatedly bashing into the impurities, Chu Shen worked at the meridian.

He lost track of just how many times he smashed into that meridian. But it eventually broke. When it did, Chu Shen felt a new surge of Qi come into his body. This surge nourished his dantian, causing it to expand slightly. However, it was not as much as he had expected.

At the same time, Chu Shen realized there was an issue with this new channel for Qi. He could sense a great energy just outside his reach and that what he received so far was just a trickle.

It was the same as digging out a channel leading to a lake. Chu Shen already had one channel from the outer meridians connecting the lake, which was his body. But this new channel, even if it was dug, passed by the lake and all he received was what seeped through.

Chu Shen needed to force this channel to connect to his body otherwise he could not use his soul to gather energy from this channel. It would mean that although he had taken the first step into this new realm, he could not be considered a true Martial Practitioner.

Chu Shen started using his soul to drag this channel in the right direction. Unknown to him, a long time passed by as he concentrated whole heartedly on syncing his meridians together.

Eventually though, Chu Shen succeeded. With that, the major meridian successfully linked up with his internal meridians. Immediately a huge surge of Qi came gushing in, just like a river that has become cleared of blockages.

Chu Shen manipulated that energy towards his dantian. When it reached the dantian it filled up to the brim, overflowing with Qi. With a bang, the Dantian suddenly expanded. It became twice as big as it was now. The Qi in his body turned from a big pond to a small lake all at once.

Chu Shen sent his soul along the open pathway. He basked in this open feeling, like he could fly. His soul started to change, becoming…..stronger. It was an adaptation triggered by the opening of his major meridians, even if it was only the first step.

If before his soul was like a hand, dragging and manipulating Qi from the outside, it now became a multi-purpose machine. Chu Shen was able to sense Qi outside his body. He could sense the cultivation level of the people in the cabins around him.

Obviously, this was the spiritual sense that his father spoke of. The reason why cultivators could sense everything around them. Another change that occurred was the major meridian turned into a whirlpool, absorbing energy.

Chu Shen could feel the Qi he could unleash had increased. Trying it out, he formed a simple sphere of Qi in front of him. Frowning, Chu Shen stared at it for a second before coming to a conclusion.

Apparently the major meridians also allowed you to unleash Qi, but there was an issue. The major meridians passively absorbed Qi. He couldn’t stop it, at all. So when he wanted to send out Qi, he had to force his way through, like a boat traveling upstream.

Compared to the minor meridians, it was a major disadvantage. Obviously Chu Shen would not be able to massively increase his output of Qi. But every time he advanced, it strengthened his body, including the meridians.

Because of that, his body and meridians would be able to handle more Qi, letting him unleash more. As a result, he wasn’t too worried about this minor setback. Chu Shen was, however, overjoyed with another aspect of the meridians.

Because of his soul being able to go so far from his body, about 500 meters, Chu Shen could control Qi and create structures from that distance. With that, his range of combat expanded far beyond that he had before. He could send his Qi as projectiles for a thousand meters though he lost fine control if it went beyond 500 meters.

Chu Shen let out a sigh. The breakthrough process was finally over, now he had to clean off all these filthy impurities. Putting his hands on his knees, Chu Shen went to stand up. As he did though, he fell over.

Making a helpless face, Chu Shen just laid there. ‘Seriously! I thought Cultivators didn’t have to worry about their muscles falling asleep!’



 

  1. N/a

[Vol. 5] Chapter 3 – Lack of Money

[Vol. 5] Chapter 3 - Lack of Money

Well, this is troubling.  I don't have a place to sleep for tonight.  I gave all the money I had to Elsa and am now penniless.  Though I could go back to the mansion but I'm too ashamed…



Well, this is troubling.
 I don’t have a place to sleep for tonight.
 I gave all the money I had to Elsa and am now penniless.
 Though I could go back to the mansion but I’m too ashamed to face Mirea-san again after I left like this.
 It can’t be helped, I should go and do some quests as an adventurer to earn some money.

“Doji, we’re going to the adventurer’s guild. Come”

 If push comes to shove I make Doji help me out.
 Anyway, I have to get out of this beggar-like state no matter what.

“Heeh, so that’s how the adventurer’s guild looks like from the inside, huh? It’s my first time entering”

 As we entered the guild Doji looked around curiously.
 As it’s the end of the year there aren’t a lot of adventurers here.

“Yo, isn’t that Mister Akatsuki? Long time no see!”

 Crescent Moon who sat at her usual place waved her hand.
 She showed just as much skin as ever, even in winter.
 How can’t she be cold with her valley being exposed like this?
 Well, I don’t particularly dislike this though.

“So, who’s that huge big brother?”

 After having scanned Doji from top to bottom Crescent Moon uttered those words.
 Huge, you say, you’re mountains are huge as well!

“This is Doji. I’m in his care.”

“I’m Doji. I’m Car, I mean Akatsuki-sama’s right-hand man”

 Doji stuck out his chest as he said this.
 When did you become my right-hand man?
 Though I wanted to say something villainy like “I’m here with my right-hand man” but I withstood the temptation.
 It didn’t want to offend Doji who took care of me a lot.

“Hmpf, I’m Crescent Moon. So, what’s the matter? It’s the end of the year, you know?”

 Crescent Moon’s answer was rather curt.
 Please be more aware of what you are saying and have a little more interest in Doji!

“No, I was just wondering if there are any good quests around as my job came to a standstill.”

 Crescent Moon shrugged at my words.

“Well, my condolences. Unfortunately, there are nothing but rookie requests. And there aren’t any adventurer’s stupid enough to do them around here either”

 Then why are you here?
 Well, I wonder if she doesn’t have anywhere else to go or if she just has too much time to spare.
 But that’s troubling, I have to earn money after all.
 Just to be sure I looked over the bulletin board filled with requests.

 Search for a pet dog.
 Help with the year-end cleaning.
 Need someone to watch out for fires during midnight.
 Guard my house while I’m on my trip.
 ……There really isn’t anything else but rookie requests!
 I mean, don’t they treat adventurers like handymen?

“I told you, didn’t I? There’s no one to submit any requests because those idiots are resting around this time. But well, I could search for some work and hand it over to you, how about it?”

 Crescent Moon grinned as she said that and stretched out her right hand.

“Too bad, Crescent Moon. I’m penniless right now. Therefore I can’t pay the information fee.”

“What did you say?! But mister, you’re this place’s feudal……”

 I quickly interrupted Crescent Moon who was about to shout out in a loud voice.
 Don’t announce someone’s identity in an already quite place.

“There are some circumstances why I can’t go back right now. So I thought about earning some money.”

“Hmpf, so it’s like that, huh? Then…… How about I’ll lend you some?”

 I could see right through that scheme by looking at Crescent Moon’s smile.
 Even if you’re wearing a red mask I can still understand that.
 That’s probably how the devil looks like when he approaches you with a contract to sell your soul.

“Please stop, I bet the interest rate will be terribly high, isn’t that so?”

“Hehe, did I get exposed? Can’t be helped”

She shrugged like a child which caused some mischief and stuck her tongue out.
 Even if you act cute it won’t do you any good.
 One can clearly see your true intentions after all.

“Hmm, well, then how about … we go to that place after such a long time?”

“With that place you mean……”The Stone Labyrinth”?”

“Good answer! I was rather curious about that place. I bet that priestess of darkness is also impatient and burning to go there”

 I see, I won’t die from just going there and I can take my time exploring, just what I like.
 I hope Pick and Knopf are free.
 Also, let’s not take my seniors with us this time.
 I’m sure they will be happy about that as well.

“That certainly sound nice, but as, I thought, I don’t want to go while still being penniless.”

“That’s why I told you I would lend you some!”

 Hey, hey, your drool is dripping out.
 You’re the only one I will never borrow money from.

“Ehm, Akatsuki-sama, you don’t have any money?”

 Yeah, we were talking about that for some time now.

“Yeah. That’s why I wanted to earn some money quickly.”

“Then, use this”

 As he said that Doji handed me two gold coins.
 This is……?!

“Are you really fine with that? This s your”

“I don’t mind. I can buy my mother something on another day”

 You’re such a good guy for returning the bonus I gave you.
 Doji, you certainly are my right-hand man.
 While my insides grew hot I gratefully received the money.

“I’m sorry, I’ll return it by all means”

“Please don’t worry about it. More importantly, where are you going?”

“Yeah, we’re going to a dungeon we explored a while back.”

“Of course, you’ll take me with you, right?”

 Doji’s eyes were sparkling.
 Mmm, what should I do?
 Doji had a lot of fighting scenes in my novel as well, he would make a great vanguard.
 But the weapons he’s proficient with are huge axes.
 It would be rather obstructive if I swing my great sword and Doji swings his battle axe at the same time inside such a small cave.
 Let’s stop him after all.

“I’m sorry, but could you stay behind this time?”

“Eh, can’t you take me with you? I’m Akatsuki-sama’s right-hand man after all!?”

“Even so, this time it’s a little, you know”

“……Then could you give me back the money I gave you just now?”

“He?!”

“I thought you would take me with you so I gave it to you. If you’re not taking me with you please give it back!”

 That’s troubling, really troubling.
 If it turns out like this I have to borrow it from Crescent Moon.
 If that happens she’ll surely rob me of anything I own.
 It can’t be helped, haa.

“I got it, I got it, we are taking you with us”

“Really?! I’m happy”

“Is that so? That’s good. Before we go there’s something I want to ask of you first, Doji”

“What is it?”

“Crescent Moon, give me some paper and a pen”

 I wrote a letter.
 I got close to Doji’s face and spoke in a low voice so that no one could hear me.

“Get your weapon, go back to the mansion and give this letter to Mirea.”

“Understood. I’ll give it to Mirea-san”

“Tell Mirea to immediately give this to the Knight Leader if there’s an emergency”

“I’ll tell her to hand it to the leader if something happens”

“Right, I’m counting on you. This is a secret mission for my right-hand man”

 As soon as he heard secret mission Doji became self-confident.
 He likes this kind of stuff, huh?

“Alright, it’s decided. Well then, Crescent Moon, let’s get Knopf and Pick.”

“Yeah, fine. Just for confirmation, but I lend you some paper and a pen just now, so … …”

 Shi, shiiit.
 Crescent Moon’s smirking was just too scary.
 I have to be careful to never borrow anything from Crescent Moon.



 

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[Vol 5] Chapter 3: Compassion
[Vol 5] Chapter 3: Compassion

[Vol 5] Chapter 3: Compassion

Just when my consciousness drifted back from the world of dreams, I was grabbed by a frantic-looking Angie as she demanded me to tell her everything I know about her father, "Sylvia, please! Tell me anything you know about…



SylviaJust when my consciousness drifted back from the world of dreams, I was grabbed by a frantic-looking Angie as she demanded me to tell her everything I know about her father, “Sylvia, please! Tell me anything you know about my father! Anything at all!”

I was caught totally off guard by Angie’s sudden assault, “An…Angie… please… please calm down… I… I have… no idea… wh… what you’re saying!” Angie was shaking me with so much force that I couldn’t tell left from right anymore.

It was the first time Sheena saw Angie losing herself like this, so she was quite dumbfounded, but after she noticed my plight, she tried to stop Angie in a fluster, “A-Angie!! Stop! Stop this at once! Sylvia can’t talk if you keep shaking her like this!”

However, since Angie was very agitated, Sheena’s words didn’t reach her properly. Even so, she still stopped shaking me and said with a shaky voice, “Sylvia! Please! Anything at all… just tell me anything you know about my father!”

Angie was looking very despondent, I was honestly lost for words. Since Angie gave me the impression of a stern and dutiful older sister type, I never imagined she’d ever show her weak side. Seeing Angie like this, I really wished I could answer her question, but I am more confused than anyone else here.

What was that about her father, who is her father? Why ask me?
“Uh…” I looked at Sheena with an imploring gaze.

“Ah… geez!” Sheena scratched her head as if it was troublesome to deal with us, “Angie, just cool down for a moment. I’ll explain things to Sylvia from the beginning.”

With that, Sheena began to explain about Angie’s circumstances to me, “Um… you see… Angie actually don’t have a father… she grew up hearing heroic tales of her father, she admires him and aspire to be a great warrior like him. However, whenever we tried to pry for his whereabouts, our parents would remain silent. That’s why… we always thought Angie’s father was lost-in-action, but just recently, we heard a really disturbing news.”

“A disturbing news?” I parroted Sheena while tilting my head.

“That’s right,” Sheena continued, “Recently, we’ve heard rumors of a warrior wandering in the dungeon near Swinford Township. All description of the warrior’s conduct and  attitude matched the content the stories we’ve been told, so we believe…”

“…that warrior might actually be Angie’s missing father in question?” Sheena couldn’t finish her sentence since she was half in doubt, but the ignorant me didn’t notice that and finished her sentence for her.

“Sigh… that’s right. To be honest, that’s actually the reason why I didn’t bring Angie with me to Swinford Township,” Sheena lowered her voice so that Angie couldn’t hear it as she whispered in my ears, “As you can see, she lose herself every time when it concerns her father.”

After finally calming down, Angie took a few deep breaths and apologized, “Sorry, I’ve shown you something unsightly. I was under the impression that you’ve met my father when you were at Swinford Town a few days ago, but after thinking about it calmly, you wouldn’t have asked me such a question if you’ve met him. Miss Sylvia, let me ask you again properly, do you know my father?”

“Uh… this is… a little awkward, but…” I clapped my hands together and said apologetically, “I’m sorry! I have no idea why you’re asking this of me. I don’t know who your father is, I know not his name nor his appearance.”

“B-But that can’t be—! Just a moment ago, you were asking me how is my father doing!” Angie was in disbelief. On the other hand, as the only one who knew the full story, Sheena felt a pang of headache. Since she had to be the one to explain everything to both parties.

Sheena really wished she could just leave us to settle this on our own, but she couldn’t really do that either. “Sigh…” Sheena heaved a helpless sigh as she looked at both Angie and I, then she said earnestly, “Angie, Sylvia, the both of you listen to me carefully.”

With those words, Angie and I turned our attention to Sheena. After confirming that she has our full attention, Sheena began to explain about my circumstances to Angie, and told us about what had transpired this morning.

I was shocked beyond words, to think that the original persona had taken over this body, even for a brief moment. It made me shudders at the thought of my future. If the original persona of this body was to reclaim her body, what would happen to me? Will I stay in eternal slumber within her body? Will I get expelled from her body and continue to roam aimlessly in the Spirit Realm?

On the other hand, Angie was openly disappointed. Just when she thought she was finally going to get some solid information about her father, it appears that the person herself was actually in slumber. She too was surprised that I have two personalities in one body, she had mixed feelings about this, but regardless, she still warned me;

“Miss Sylvia, I understand your circumstances now. I apologize for putting you through so many harsh situations while you’re still adapting to this world.

I will be sure to go easier on you until you get used to your new life. But know that you are still the retainer of a Royal Princess. You will constantly be confronted by human’s ugly nature. Your misconducts will reflect badly on Miss Sheena, the opposing factor will use that as an excuse to make things difficult not only for Miss Sheena, but for you as well. At worst case, they might even go as far as forcing you to keep your distance from Miss Sheena.”

“Ah~hhh, yes, yes, that’s enough.” I suddenly raised my voice to stop Angie in her track, “I’ve heard this dozens of times already, I’ll just have to behave myself when I’m in front of the public eyes yes? Just spare me from another one of this lengthy lecture, please.”

The opposing factor that Angie spoke of, was a group of aristocrats who were not very fond of the Hero King. More like, they were afraid of the Hero King’s military power. Not only was the Hero King hiring commoners as soldiers, he even gave them weapons of mass destruction. They were afraid that the Hero King might rise up in a coup d’etat.

Since humans are already used to peace, they’re now shifting their attention from the threat of the demon’s invasion to the military strength of each respective country. In fear that a super power might appear, everyone was undertaking all kinds of underhanded tactics to make sure the power balance remained on a very subtle equilibrium. Such was the nature of human.


Author’s Note:

Phew… I barely finished writing this before my set deadline ._.

But dang, three whole chapters spent in the same room… I should quicken the story progress.



 

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VPnA – The Prequel Volume 2 Chapter 56

Here’s the other chapter of the day.

Remember to click “Next Chapter” to see the teaser for the next chapter~

If you want to support me, do go over to volarenovels and read my translation of Special Forces Spirit over there! Then go over to its the NovelUpdates page, add it to your reading list, give it a nice rating and review it!

If you’re liking this novel, do go over to the NovelUpdates page to rate it and add it to your reading list!

Remember, the Very Pure and Ambiguous – The Prequel Fan Art contest is ongoing, LAST DAY TO SUBMIT YOUR PIECE!

VPnA – The Prequel Volume 2 Chapter 55

Here’s the first chapter of the day.

If you want to support me, do go over to volarenovels and read my translation of Special Forces Spirit over there! Then go over to its the NovelUpdates page, add it to your reading list, give it a nice rating and review it!

If you’re liking this novel, do go over to the NovelUpdates page to rate it and add it to your reading list!

Remember, the Very Pure and Ambiguous – The Prequel Fan Art contest is ongoing, LAST DAY TO SUBMIT YOUR PIECE!

Chapter 57 – Taking over Chen’s

Chapter 57 - Taking over Chen's

“Pull up the price of the stock? What, seriously?” Recently, Chen Zelong hasn’t been to the company and drowned himself in alcohol, so he didn’t pay attention. That’s why, hearing Lil Gang say that, he immediately cleared up…



“Pull up the price of the stock? What, seriously?” Recently, Chen Zelong hasn’t been to the company and drowned himself in alcohol, so he didn’t pay attention. That’s why, hearing Lil Gang say that, he immediately cleared up quite a bit.

“That’s right, currently, the price of Chen’s has already returned back to its original position, I heard that it’s going to increase even more!” said Lil Gang.

“What? That’s happening?” Chen Zelong immediately thought that it was a chance, not only would it allow him to recover, he might be able to earn a large amount of money from this!

“What, Young Master Chen, don’t you know about this?” Lil Gang asked in confusion.

“No, no, fluctuation of the stock is natural, how can there be any mastermind behind it!” Chen Zelong immediately denied it. Right now, the only thing he wanted to do was to hurry home and make use of this chance!

After Chen Zelong left, Lil Gang revealed a sinister smile! Of course, Lil Gang is just a nickname, his real name is Ma Qiang. He is one of Ding Baosan’s subordinates, and is called Xiaoma-ge by the people in the underworld. He has once gotten into a conflict with me, but since he is rather smart, he quickly got recognized by Guo Qing and got sent to Hong Kong to take control of a few clubs.

The club that Chen Zelong came to this time, was coincidentally one of the Three Rock Gang’s clubs.

The first thing Chen Zelong did after returning home was turning on the computer to see the price of Chen’s stocks in recent days. He was really surprised after seeing it, the stock price truly increased like it was flying!

Although Chen Zelong didn’t quite understand how the stock market worked, he still understood what something so obvious meant. Right now, a mastermind behind the scene was stabilizing the stock price as the number of transactions of Chen’s stocks decreased.

Chen Zelong thought about it for a while, then made a daring decision! He decided to chuck out all of the Chen’s Corporation’s shares he has on hand, then buy it all back when the mastermind starts selling again. As long as he succeeds, the income it will bring is not just that two billion that was lost, it might even be more!

Of course, it can’t let his father, Chen Tianlei, know about this. He has 25% of Chen’s Corporation’s shares on hand, while Chen Tianlei had 26%. It was only so that the Chen family was able to firmly control Chen’s Corporation. Once one of them sells it and someone takes the chance to take over Chen’s, it may cause Chen’s to be completely destroyed.

If Chen Tianlei finds out about this, he definitely wouldn’t agree to Chen Zelong doing that. However, how could Chen Zelong go and screw himself over.

The Hong Kong stock market was different from the mainland’s. The shares of the shareholders of a listed company didn’t have anything attached to them and can be directly sold on the market.

Hearing Ma Qiang’s report, Guo Qing and I looked at each other and smile. This Chen Zelong fell for it as expected!

The money that entered the market the other day was from Chen Zelong selling all of his other stuff, but he wasn’t able to get too much, since I pretty much swept up all the shares in the market.

I didn’t want to wait anymore, and thus, immediately ordered the subordinates to finish their adjusting phase, causing Chen’s stocks to rise up quickly. Three days later, Chen’s Corporation’s stock price increased by thirty percent! The price was already about right, I didn’t want to pull it any higher, since it was enough for that greedy b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲, Chen Zelong, to sell all of his stocks, since it was a profit of more than two billion!

That’s why I started to get the subordinates to start swapping shares in order to create the false image of the mastermind starting to sell his stocks, resulting in the stock price lowering as well.

As I expected, Chen Zelong couldn’t wait anymore, he was greedy for more profit initially, but the mastermind had already started selling! However, he would still profit with this, thus, Chen Zelong made the immediately decision to sell all of his shares quickly! Chen Zelong also got a bit of profit, since at the very least, he earned quite a bit from the shares that he got from building a storage house a while back!

I also understood this, and this was also the profits I deliberately left for him. However, that was it.

Just as he sold it all out, Chen Zelong fantasized about how Chen’s stock price would fall tremendously after he sold his shares, since it was half of the tradeable shares on the market!

However, to his surprise, just after his shares were sold, a huge amount of money rushed into the market and swept up Chen Zelong’s shares as if this had never occurred.

After my goal was achieved, Guo Qing and I received a call from his subordinates to report the situation. Hearing that, the two of us happily raised our glasses to toast. Although buying taking over Chen’s spent nearly thirty billion, it was just a number to me. It was barely anything from my bank account.

At the start, Chen Zelong had a sliver of hope that it was just an action of greed done bby the mastermind, but when he saw Chen’s stock price fly up and increasing several times over, he went completely dumb!

Without any other choice, he could only throw the money he got from selling the stock a few days ago back into the market in order to rebuy Chen’s stocks. However, the stock price of Chen’s was too high and the number of shares in the market wasn’t much, so after spending the majority of it using three days, Chen Zelong was only able to buy back two percent. What’s more, this two percent was something that I specifically left for him.

There was no helping it, Chen Zelong could only pray to everything he can think of for Chen’s stock price to drop as he furiously bought off all the shares he could find! Chen Zelong’s actions could definitely be said as shocking since he actually wished for his company’s stock price to fall.

“Boss, we have 63.2% of the total shares of Chen’s Corporation, what should we do next?” Guo Qing asked dumbly.

“Enter the board meeting, then take over Chen’s!” I said.

“Boss, didn’t you say that you didn’t want Chen’s Corporation?” Guo Qing asked in confusion.

“Eh… I do think that thirty billion is a large sum of money, do you think I’m really rich enough to just have it disappear!” I said. “I at least have to wait until I earn it back from Chen’s!”

Within Chen’s Corporation’s meeting room the next day, every people were in an intense discussion.

“Say, Old Zhao, what’s going on. They called very early in the morning that there was going to be an impromptu board meeting today. Before I was able to ask who it was and what happened, they hung up!” said a shareholder.

“Old Zhang, I don’t know either. I’m in the same position as you. A servant received the call this morning and they said the same thing!” said Old Zhao.

Just as everyone was discussing intensely, the door to the meeting room was pushed open and a young man entered. After surveying the surroundings, he went directly to the position of the chairman of the board, and sat down. That person was naturally me!

“Who is that person? Why is he sitting on Mr. Chen’s seat?”

“Judging from his age, he should be Mr. Chen’s secretary, right? He really don’t know the rules!”

“Yeah, he’s probably new, right?”

The Old Zhang from before couldn’t stand it anymore, and thus stood up to scold me, “Brat, what are you doing! Don’t you know that the seat you’re sitting on belongs to Mr. Chen!”

I smiled softly and said, “Don’t get so worked up, everything will become clear in a moment!”

My words confused the shareholders! However, since they weren’t sure of what I was going to do, they didn’t say anything else.



 

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Continue reading Chapter 57 – Taking over Chen’s

Chapter 57 – Taking over Chen's

“Pull up the price of the stock? What, seriously?” Recently, Chen Zelong hasn’t been to the company and drowned himself in alcohol, so he didn’t pay attention. That’s why, hearing Lil Gang say that, he immediately cleared up…

Chapter 56 – Plan

Chapter 56 - Plan

“Elder Xing, it’s not just then, the Axe gang, even our Red Sun Gang got bullied by them. A few of my motorbike robbers snatched a few bags from people on the streets, but they were seen by…



“Elder Xing, it’s not just then, the Axe gang, even our Red Sun Gang got bullied by them. A few of my motorbike robbers snatched a few bags from people on the streets, but they were seen by the subordinates from the Three Rock Gang. Those people actually got on a truck to chase my subordinates, even after they got out of their turf, the Three Rock Gang still continued their pursuit and was determined to crash them. Right now, my subordinates are still lying on the hospital, one of them has all his limbs broken!” The boss of the Red Sun Gang, Zhang Hongri, also said furiously.

“Yeah! F̲u̲c̲k̲ them, how is the Three Rock Gang a mobster gang, they’re more or less the police now, deliberately going against us!” Boss Li, who spoke first, continued to complain. “A while back, I took a few birds from the mainland and wanted to sell them to the clubs, but we got discovered by the Three Rock Gang. F̲u̲c̲k̲, they sent someone to swept my nightclub and even stole the people! Afterwards, I asked around about it, not only did the Three Rock Gang send the women back to their homes, they even gave them a ten thousand kuai each!”

“Alright,” Elder Yan waved his hand. “The annual Underworld Meeting is coming up, how about this, let’s leave everything to say in the Underworld Meeting!”

Thus, an invitation was sent onto Guo Qing’s desk in his office.

“Boss, the Underworld Alliance sent an invitation over, the Underworld Meeting is going to happen next week, and they’re telling me to participate. Do you think I should go?” Guo Qing asked me with the invitation in hand.

“What does this Underworld Alliance do?” I took a glance at the invitation and asked.

“Oh, it’s like this! This Underworld Alliance is an alliance of the small gangs in Hong Kong. The original purpose of it is to prevent the Azure Gang from being too dominating, it doesn’t have much to do with us, the Three Rock Gang!” said Guo Qing.

“Oh, then is the Azure Gang going?” I asked.

“They probably will, since they still had to give them face!” Guo Qing said. “Boss, what do you think?”

“Of course, why shouldn’t we! I was just getting bored of having nothing to do, let’s go together!” I said excitedly, I haven’t met something as interesting as this in so long! Since I have decided to walk onto the stage, I had to start showing myself in public.

“Boss, this type of gathering is very dangerous, you…” Guo Qing said hesitantly.

“Haha, what is there to be afraid of. Just what haven’t we experienced, we even managed to escape from Liu Zhenhai’s, should we still be scared of this type of small fry!” I laughed.

Guo Qing thought about it, then agreed. Just who was his boss, there might not even be anyone in the world that could beat him!

In the following days, I got a few bankers to start to take in Chen’s Corporation’s shares at a low price. Due to the continuous bad news about Chen’s Corporation, a lot of people sold the stock out, so, me buying it in large quantities didn’t push the price up, especially since the price I told them to offer to buy it at was very low. When the price of Chen’s Corporation’s shares stopped dropping, I had already bought out eighty percent of the shares that was in the stock market.

The remaining twenty percent belonged to shareholders that still had fantasies about Chen’s Corporation. They would only sell it if they got something nice out of it.

Holding eighty percent of the shares in the market was already allowed me to easily control the stock market, thus I immediately got the subordinates to signal that they will buy the shares with a high price in order to cause the stock to rise again.

Since there was no limit to a stock’s rise or fall in Hong Kong’s stock market, so the price of Chen’s Corporation’s shares was instantly pulled back to the level it was at before the enormous fall. Then, I ensured that the price was limited at this level. I naturally wouldn’t let Chen’s stock price to increase infinitely, causing it to rise was only a method to make those people with fantasies about Chen’s Corporation think that the stock will just remain at this level, without decreasing or increasing!

If I merely wanted to earn money, I could completely sell off all the stocks I had. However, I didn’t do that, because I had a subsequent plan…

As I expected, after a day of the price remaining at the same level, the shareholders started to chuck out the stock they had on hand. However, at the same time, aside from my money, another large sum of money came in and started sucking up Chen’s stocks! This caused its price to be pushed high once again, and even break through the highest price it has ever been as…

In Chen’s Corporation’s Chairman’s office an hour earlier.

“Mr. Chen, the price fluctuating of Chen’s Corporation’s stock is very abnormal!” Secretary Chen reported.

“En, I noticed as well. It seems like someone started buying Chen’s stocks in masses when we fell a lot. I wonder what this person wants to do, do they want to get into the board or do they want to earn a large sum of money. If it’s the second situation, that’s whatever, it’s not like we haven’t done that before. However, if it’s the first, then that’s bad!” Chen Tianlei frowned and said while starting at the computer screen.

“Mr. Chen, I fear that it might be the first… Allow me to say something bad, this person has already taken in approximately sixty-seven percent of the stock. If they merely wanted to raise the price to earn money, then his purpose has been achieved, it could be said that he already achieved the stock manipulative quotations, why is he still continuously buying more stock after making the price level?” Secretary Chen analyzed.

“This is what I’m most worried about. However, it’s good that we own fifty-one percent of Chen’s shares. Even if he buys all of the shares in the market, he can’t become the chairman!” Chen Tianlei nodded.

Meanwhile, Chen Zelong was drinking away his annoyance within a grand nightclub. Due to his mistake, his father started to have doubts about his ability, and had temporarily taken away his power so he would self-reflect at home.

The more Chen Zelong thought, the more annoyed he got. If his father wasn’t so determined to sell that piece of land cheaply, he might have been the one to earn several billion! He still didn’t believe his father’s judgement, and didn’t believe that Liu Lei was capable enough to be related to Shuguang Corporation. Until now, he still thought that the reason Shuguang Corporation as willing to spend five billion to buy that piece of land was only because of the position of that piece of land! This also made Chen Zelong all the more determined about his judgement, it’s just that his father made a wrong judgement!

“Aiya! Isn’t this Young Master Chen? What happened, did you get rich and came to celebrate alone?” A voice rang out behind Chen Zelong.

“Who… Who are you?” Chen Zelong asked the person in front of him in a drunk manner.

“Aiya, I’m Lil Gang! We went to get chicks together, did you forget, you f̲u̲c̲k̲e̲d̲ three birds by yourself. So amazing!” The person said.

“Oh? Is that so?” Chen Zelong often went to nightclubs and played with a lot of friends. Although he didn’t have any impression of the person in front of him, hearing the praise, he also said happily, “Haha, what’s that. I did seven girls in a night for my fiercest time!”

“Yeah, we all know that Young Master Chen is a fierce person!” Lil Gang patted Chen Zelong’s shoulder and said. “Oh yeah, Young Master Chen, I want to ask you something, I heard your Chen’s stocks fluctuated a lot recently, apparently, there’s someone behind it trying to pull up the price of the stock. Do you know about this?”



 

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Continue reading Chapter 56 – Plan

Chapter 56 – Plan

“Elder Xing, it’s not just then, the Axe gang, even our Red Sun Gang got bullied by them. A few of my motorbike robbers snatched a few bags from people on the streets, but they were seen by…

[Arc 3] Chapter 89

[Arc 3] Chapter 89

Chapter 89 Spies In the outer disciples courtyards, all was silent. Suddenly, a door on the house on the far edge of the courtyard burst open. Chu Shen came out, looking very ragged. His stomach let out a…



Chapter 89
Spies

In the outer disciples courtyards, all was silent. Suddenly, a door on the house on the far edge of the courtyard burst open. Chu Shen came out, looking very ragged. His stomach let out a loud growl.

Stumbling, he exited the building. “Food…..I need……foood.” Chu Shen gasped. He quickly ran to the east side of town, leaving the sect for some of the local shops outside. Chu Shen remembered a couple restaurants that he had passed by when he went to the sect.

Slowing himself down, he noticed some very curious glances cast his way. Looking down, he saw that he still had on his clothes covered in dust from his travels. Chu Shen shrugged. He was just hungry. After all, for two weeks he had been fighting the pillar warriors with the only downtime being when he slept.

Calming himself, he stepped inside the restaurant. Looking at his rather poor clothes, he had to prove that he had money before they gave him a table. Chu Shen ate like a beast, ravenously devouring everything.

Finishing with his rather large meal, Chu Shen left for the local shops. Using up the last of his gold, Chu Shen set out for some of the other local stores to start preparing for his breakthrough.

“Get out! You! Get out of my store you filthy beggar!” Chu Shen was sent flying out of the store, landing in a heap on the side of the road. Dusting himself off he glared at the store manager.

“I have the money, you saw that. So why did you throw me out?” Chu Shen asked a little angry now.

The store manager glared back. “Because you dare ask for ten percent off! I should have known from those dusty clothes of yours. Trying to save some money for yourself. Humph! If I had a servant like you, I would have fired you a long time ago.”

“What! But you didn’t even give me chance to explain why I wanted ten percent off! It’s because I have a medallion from the Black Night Sect that gives me ten percent off on the stores they manage.”

The store manager only snorted. “Like I would believe an urchin like you would actually have a medallion like that. Get out of my sights you, you, you…..oh.” The manager, who was at first bellowing out loud suddenly stopped, staring at Chu Shen who had a black medallion glistening in his palm.

The manager looked at it for a second before glancing back at Chu Shen. “I am so sorry sir. If you had just shown that to begin with, none of that would have happened. Here, let me give you a hand. Please come in.”

Many of the people who had stopped to watch this show chuckled at the man’s misfortune. If Chu Shen became displeased and reported this manager’s behavior to the Black Night Sect, then he would undoubtedly be fired.

However, while Chu Shen was escorted in by the nervous manager of the store, he did not notice a couple of more covetous glances that were shot towards him. The manager of the Black Rose Guild highly valued the crafter he had. As a result, he sent out reward posters to many of the surrounding towns.

Wildent, as a very large city, was also included in this area. It only took some time to get here since the distance was very large and they didn’t have jetpacks.

Chu Shen received a new fancy pair of clothes more befitting him from the manager. He also received a twenty percent off the beast cores from the manager. Chu Shen could have bought more with the money he earned but he decided not to punish the manager.

The manager was only kicking out what he thought was a presumptuous customer, though the insults was pretty rude. It wasn’t enough to be vindictive and make him suffer too big a loss.

Chu Shen bought only what he had planned to begin with. Going to a few more stores he bought a couple more stuff including some medicinal pills. He was received a lot more graciously now that he had on some better clothes.

Traveling back to the Black Night Sect, he failed to notice the man that followed him. Once he walked into the sect, the man who was trailing him stopped. Even he did not dare try and enter the sect without permission.

The man quickly departed, heading for the Black Rose Guilds branch located in the city. Soon after, a messenger bird departed from the guild with a scroll attached to its back. The man also left, a couple gold pieces richer.

Chu Shen, however, remained ignorant to the troubles he was in. He headed back to his house, not really paying attention. Just as he put his hand on the door to walk in, a voice called out.

“Hey! Who are you exactly!? This is the residences for the outer sect disciples!” Chu Shen turned around. A kid around his age stood there glaring at Chu Shen. “I know all the outer disciples and you’re not one of them.”

Chu Shen sighed. ‘I have had enough with arrogant people. First the restaurant, then the shop, and now this. Argh!’

He turned to the kid. “I have permission from one of the elders to use this residence.”

The kid looked at him for a second before holding a hand out. Chu Shen looked at it for a second in confusion. “What. What do you want.”

The kid rolled his eyes. “I need to see your guest pass otherwise, how am I supposed to believe you were invited by an elder to stay here.”

Chu Shen nodded in understanding but internally he was screaming at the kid. Why did he have to make things difficult when Chu Shen just wanted to meditate in peace? Come on, give me some peace kid!

Chu Shen brought out the guest pass. The kid looked at it before nodding. “Okay so I guess you can stay in the Black Night Sect. But you still haven’t proven you have permission to stay here.”

Chu Shen then brought out the token given to him by the elder. The kid sighed and finally acquiesced. “Alright, I suppose your story isn’t too far fetched. Go on, I won’t stop you now.”

Suddenly one of the doors to the other houses opened, revealing a young man. “Stop making things difficult for others Cang Ming! You don’t even have any authority here!”

Cang Ming turned around and started arguing with him. “What do you mean I don’t have any authority! I have plenty auth……”

Their voices faded as Chu Shen just ignored them and walked into his cabin, shutting the door firmly behind him. The soundproof array made sure none of their voices reached him.

Chu Shen sighed. He slid down the door and just sat on the floor, resting. But his slump didn’t last long before an eager gleam appeared in his eye.

“Alright, it’s time to make a breakthrough.”



 

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VPnA – The Prequel Volume 2 Chapter 54

Here’s the other chapter of the day.

Remember to click “Next Chapter” to see the teaser for the next chapter~

If you want to support me, do go over to volarenovels and read my translation of Special Forces Spirit over there! Then go over to its the NovelUpdates page, add it to your reading list, give it a nice rating and review it!

If you’re liking this novel, do go over to the NovelUpdates page to rate it and add it to your reading list!

Remember, the Very Pure and Ambiguous – The Prequel Fan Art contest is ongoing, only a two days left till the deadline. Do throw in your submissions now!

VPnA – The Prequel Volume 2 Chapter 53

Here’s the first chapter of the day.

If you want to support me, do go over to volarenovels and read my translation of Special Forces Spirit over there! Then go over to its the NovelUpdates page, add it to your reading list, give it a nice rating and review it!

If you’re liking this novel, do go over to the NovelUpdates page to rate it and add it to your reading list!

Remember, the Very Pure and Ambiguous – The Prequel Fan Art contest is ongoing, only a two days left till the deadline. Do throw in your submissions now!

Chapter 55 – Crappy land becomes treasured land

Chapter 55 - Crappy land becomes treasured land

Within Chen’s Corporation’s Chairman’s office. Chen Zelong said angrily to Chen Tianlei while clenching his teeth, “Dad! Why did we sell this land, this time, we let the brat get lucky and got five billion out of nowhere!”…



Within Chen’s Corporation’s Chairman’s office.

Chen Zelong said angrily to Chen Tianlei while clenching his teeth, “Dad! Why did we sell this land, this time, we let the brat get lucky and got five billion out of nowhere!”

Chen Tianlei looked at the news report on the television and thought about it. After a long while, he finally said, “A Long, do you think this is really as simple as you think? Do you think that if we didn’t sell the piece of land to that Liu Lei, Shuguang Corporation would buy that piece of land from us?”

“Is that not the case?” Chen Zelong said after a momentary blank.

Chen Tianlei shook his head, “If we don’t sell it, then the piece is still worth nothing!”

“Why?” Chen Zelong asked in confusion.

“Heng, this Liu Lei is good. If I’m not wrong, he is actually with the Shuguang Corporation’s representative! Even if they aren’t in cohorts, they must have reached some sort of agreement beforehand! Otherwise, how could it be so coincidental that Shuguang Corporation got interested in this piece of land after we just sold it to him?” Chen Tianlei snorted. “A Long, this time, he obviously came targeting us. I suspect that the mastermind behind this is that Liu Lei! Furthermore, you got messed with by him from the start, falling into his trap to spend two billion to buy a piece of useless land!”

“What! How is this possible!” Chen Zelong exclaimed.

“A Long, tell me honestly, did you offend this person!” Chen Tianlei said with a serious expression.

“I…” Chen Zelong hesitated for a moment, then spoke out the truth, including how he hit someone with a car in Yanjing and how the person that sent him to court was this Liu Lei!

Chen Tianlei sighed, “I had thought that you only offended a local power, I didn’t think that this Liu Lei is so influential. It seems like he isn’t simple at all, he even got into contact with Shuguang Corporation!”

“Dad, then what do we do now?” Hearing that even Chen Tianlei said so, Chen Zelong started to feel uneasy.

“What do we do, heng, Hong Kong is still the place of us Chen’s. I don’t believe that he will stop taking actions after this, if he has anymore actions, us Chen’s will never let him off! Apparently, his company is just a newly established small company, even if it is related to Shuguang Corporation, that’s no problem!” Even Chen Tianlei thought that they fell into the trap because they got careless.

The continuous disadvantage news for Chen’s Corporation continuously caused the price of their stock to shake, then fall. First, it was bribing important government officials, then the bad decision of selling the piece of land in Kowloon caused the corporation to lose five billion! All of the normal shareholders begun to lose confidence in Chen’s Corporation, causing a large amount of stocks to be sold.

“Boss, are you going to buy off Chen’s?” Guo Qing asked in confusion after seeing me sit in front of the computer in the past few days just looking at the stock market.

“Hehe, what need do I have of this trash company. I just want to mess with him again when the price of their shares is low, and earn a bit of money while doing it,” I stood up slowly and said. “Oh yeah, did you do what I asked you to do?”

“I already did it, I got all of my subordinates to open an account at the bond companies, they are all waiting for your instructors!” said Guo Qing.

“F̲u̲c̲k̲, I told you to open a few more accounts, but you didn’t need to open this much, right!” I got Guo Qing to open a few more accounts to operate in order to prevent large transactions to occur on the market so that other people wouldn’t follow us. Yet, there is no need to open this many, right!

“It’s alright! Opening an account doesn’t cost any money!” Guo Qing said after a while.

“Haha! F̲u̲c̲k̲, are you trying to kill me with me with a joke!” I laughed loudly after hearing that. What kind of logic is this!

Guo Qing also laughed. This made me couldn’t help but get reminded of the high school life back in the days, during which we also laughed without worries in our past life… But it was all different now.

“Oh yeah, how is Ye Xiaoxiao?” Guo Qing asked.

“We haven’t gotten into contact for so long…” My expression froze and said a bit unnaturally. Guo Qing already noticed my irregularity the day I left school to go to City S. At the time, he also saw me break the glass of the display board and take out Ye Xiaoxiao’s photo. It’s just that he didn’t mention this for a long time. Suddenly mentioning this made me rather uncomfortable today, because Guo Qing rarely talked about relationships with me.

Guo Qing didn’t think that I would reply like that. In his eyes, there was nothing I couldn’t do. He had wanted to change the topic to something casual, he didn’t think he actually brought up such an awkward topic.

“Alright, don’t talk about my stuff. Let’s talk about you, do you have a girlfriend yet?” I asked.

“How should I say it. I couldn’t find one in school, and it’s hard to choose one now. Boss, you also know that, in my position, I can get a group with a wave of my hands, but… don’t laugh at me when I say it. I actually just want to be like you, and have a real relationship!” said Guo Qing.

I nodded. Guo Qing was right, when people had above a certain level of money and position, love was no longer pure, there were too much interests in it. That’s also the real reason why I didn’t like to show off my prowess.

Seeing that we couldn’t continue down this topic, I hurriedly changed topics, “Is the gang successful recently?”

“It’s alright, I’ve been doing like you asked, not disturbing the people, not endangering the people, and not going against the country…” said Guo Qing.

“Alright, alright, you make yourself sound like an all rounded teen in the new era, why do you make it so weird?” I waved my hand and said.

“I am though!” Guo Qing said as if it was natural.

Just as we were speaking, within a mansion in Hong Kong, several people were having an intense discussion. Although these people didn’t look too cool, their identities weren’t normal, they were all powerful people within Hong Kong.

“Elder Xing, you are the eldest, so say something!” A muscular hulk stood up and said with a dissatisfied expression.

“En, Boss Li, don’t get angry for now. We have to discuss about how to handle it! Since I, the old man, is the chairman of the Underworld Alliance, I can’t watch Hong Kong’s underworld get screwed over like this!” That Elder Xing was a typical old fox. He didn’t say anything specific, and instead just spoke flashy words.

“Yeah, Elder Xing, say, who in the underworld doesn’t get involved in drugs. My subordinates went to sell smack in Three Rock Gang’s club, now only did our stock get taken away, my people got beaten half to death. They even warned me that if we go to their turf to sell drugs, then they’ll eliminate our Axe Gang!” The boss of Axe Gang, Lei Zhong, said.

“Xiao Lei, no matter what, you guys are in the wrong first for this. For us, the thing we hate most is people crossing borders. Don’t you know how to tell your people not to go onto Three Rock Gang’s turf?” Elder Xing raised an eyebrow and said.

“About this…” Lei Zhong also understood that he was in the wrong here, so he didn’t say anything.



 

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Continue reading Chapter 55 – Crappy land becomes treasured land

Chapter 55 – Crappy land becomes treasured land

Within Chen’s Corporation’s Chairman’s office. Chen Zelong said angrily to Chen Tianlei while clenching his teeth, “Dad! Why did we sell this land, this time, we let the brat get lucky and got five billion out of nowhere!”…

Chapter 54 – Making things worse

Chapter 54 - Making things worse

“Thank you, there’s no need for now. The reason why borrowed money from you was Young Master’s private decision. Now that our Master knows about it, he will fully support Young Master, so we don’t need a loan…



“Thank you, there’s no need for now. The reason why borrowed money from you was Young Master’s private decision. Now that our Master knows about it, he will fully support Young Master, so we don’t need a loan right now!” said Secretary Chen.

Mr. Shen thought to himself, this Chen’s Corporation truly doesn’t lack money, otherwise, why would they not take the loan he brought to them! Thus, he felt incredibly good about his earlier decision, and after chitchatting with Secretary Chen a bit more, he left.

Secretary Chen stood in the corridor and let out a long sigh, then wiped away the sweat on his forehead. After that, he turned to walk back to the Corporation’s Chairman’s office.

“Secretary Chen, why did you come back?” Chen Tianlei was very confused seeing Secretary Chen return.

“Mr. Chen, the bank had agreed that this two billion doesn’t need to be returned immediately!” Secretary Chen returned the cheque to Chen Tianlei.

“No need to immediately return it? Why?” Chen Tianlei didn’t believe that the bank would actually not hurry them to return the money.

Thus, Secretary Chen told Chen Tianlei about what had happened earlier in the corridor. After hearing that, Chen Tianlei looked at Secretary Chen in praise, “You did well! It is an important time for us right now, this two billion might have a decisive effect!”

After Secretary Chen left, Chen Tianlei sighed, this Secretary Chen was truly talented, if Chen Zelong was half as intelligent as him, the situation wouldn’t have turned out like this.

Meanwhile, I sat in front of the television in satisfaction, it seems like the first step of my plan was very successful. Although not much has happened, I easily caused Chen Zelong to make a blunder. Now, I should also come out, I don’t feel good about always using ploys with him, I at least had to make Chen Zelong know that he turned like this because of offending me.

Therefore, I smiled evilly as I picked up the phone. Let me make things worse for him!

“Mr. Chen, we bought this piece of land with two billion, you’re going to sell it for fifty million now?!” Secretary Chen quickly asked, thinking that he heard it wrong.

“That’s right, fifty million! Right now, it’s not bad if someone buys it off with fifty million!” Chen Tianlei said. “If we can build skyscrapers, then people would fight over it even if it was two bllion, if you can’t, then they would even find fifty million a lot! Now that this has happened, everyone in the industry already knows that there is no way of getting past it, we might as well sell it quickly instead of keeping it! Although the bank isn’t pressuring us to return the money, once our details are known, they would definitely be the first ones to come!”

“I understand, Mr. Chen, I’ll go and say it to the people at the auction later!” Secretary Chen nodded.

“Alright, go now!” Chen Tianlei waved his hand unenergetically. It wasn’t terrible for this to be a lesson to Chen Zelong, but the price was truly too big. They lost a hundred and ninety fifty million in one go! And this isn’t even including the money used to bribe Huo De!

Chen Tianlei sighed and thought back to when he got to Hong Kong illegal and how he started off with nothing until he owned more than several billions. He started wondering how is his brother back home. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn’t returned for thirty something ears.

Right now, his son was truly a disappointment, but he couldn’t do anything about it. He still doesn’t know that this whole thing was caused by his darling son in the mainland. If he did, then who knows what he would think!

“Boss, Chen’s is preparing to sell that piece of land in Kowloon this Saturday!” Guo Qing said to me.

“Oh? Is that so, how much? I asked.

“The bottom price is fifty million, but I think they’ll find it difficult to sell it with this price!” Guo Qing said honestly.

“Alright, then we’ll just by it!” I said plainly.

“What? Boss, although this piece of land is cheap, there isn’t any use at all. Although I am very influential in Hong Kong right now, I can’t affect the governmental departments’ decisions!” Guo Qing said in disbelief. “There truly isn’t any use of buying this piece of land!”

“Don’t worry, this piece of land will have value, and it will be used to do what it is for!” I smiled.

Thus, I successfully bought the piece of land with a price of fifty-one million without any other competition on Saturday’s auction. A lot of the real estate developers all laughed at me, the “upstart idiot” from mainland who didn’t understand Hong Kong’s policies, since I actually bought this sort of crappy land!

Hearing that it was me who bought the piece of land, he got happy for quite a while. From his perspective, I will also pay for this!

However, things often developed in a way that people expect it to. Otherwise, just what am I going to do!

Not long after I bought the piece of land, a business representative from Songjiang City’s Shuguang Corporation headquarters arrived in Hong Kong for a friendly visit and business discussion that would last a week!

The reason was simple. Since Hong Kong has returned to the nation’s embrace, as the largest business empire in the world, Shuguang Corporation naturally had to help develop the country’s economy, and thus prepared to invest in Hong Kong to start a branch there.

Since there was all benefits without harm to the nation or Hong Kong, the higher-ups in the mainland and the Hong Kong government paid close attention to it, and reminded all related departments that they had to make it happen.

Although this was definitely a huge news for Hong Kong’s business industry, the businessmen didn’t have too much thoughts. The world’s largest corporation was still something very faraway for them.

Everything went on very smoothly, everyone could tell that Shuguang Corporation’s representative was very willing to make this a success especially since the Hong Kong government had very good conditions for someone that had arrived to build up their economy and deal with the employment issues for a lot of people.

However, Shuguang Corporation’s representative only chose one piece of land for the address of their branch office – the piece of land I bought in Kowloon.

The Hong Kong government was very troubled about this. This piece of land had already been auctioned off to another company, so the government could only express the fact that they could sell other pieces of land at a discounted price.

Yet, the representative of Shuguang Corporation expressed that since the piece of land was in the business district, if they had to have a branch office in Hong Kong, it had to be there!

The Hong Kong government could only get more troubled, since Hong Kong was still a capitalist place, meaning that whatever the government sold no longer belongs to the government. They could only express helplessly that if Shuguang Corporation really wanted to open their branch office their, they could only discuss with the company that bought the piece of land in private. There was nothing that the government could do about it.

Shuguang Corporation’s representative immediately expressed their understanding and said that they would talk about it with the owner of this piece of land.

Of course, this was all part of my plan. It was also me that called the Shuguang Corporation’s representative over.

The owner of this piece of land was me. Shuguang Corporation’s real owner was also me, so there was no need to negotiate at all. However, I still had to put on a show for everyone else. Thus, a supposedly very intense business negotiation turned in chat over tea within one of Three Rock Corporation’s meeting room, since the outside wouldn’t know what we talked about anyways. Finally, we announced to the outside world that I sold the piece of land to Shuguang Corporation with an astronomical price of five billion! I intentionally did this just to piss off Chen Zelong.

There were no other problems for this piece of land either, since the government naturally did the paperwork for Shuguang Corporation, meaning that there would be no limitations for the buildings constructed on this piece of land!



 

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Continue reading Chapter 54 – Making things worse

Chapter 54 – Making things worse

“Thank you, there’s no need for now. The reason why borrowed money from you was Young Master’s private decision. Now that our Master knows about it, he will fully support Young Master, so we don’t need a loan…

[Arc 3] Chapter 88

[Arc 3] Chapter 88

Chapter 88 Meeting the Leg Destroyer Upon entering the sect, Chu Shen was taken to a fairly luxurious house. Inside he met the man who destroyed Lucas’ leg. The man dismissed the guard, who bowed and left for…



Chapter 88
Meeting the Leg Destroyer

Upon entering the sect, Chu Shen was taken to a fairly luxurious house. Inside he met the man who destroyed Lucas’ leg. The man dismissed the guard, who bowed and left for her post.

The man looked at him for a second. “I am sorry for what happened to your…… odd friend. So what can I do to make up for it young one.”

“Well, I just need a place to cultivate in peace for a while. Do you think that would be sufficient?” Chu Shen inquired.

The man laughed. “And here I was worried you would ask for some weapons or something. I am glad I did not meet someone greedy. As for arranging for a place you can cultivate peacefully, I can do that. I am one of the elders of the outer sect. I will have one of the guards show you to the house you asked for.”

The man tossed him a black medallion. “This is a guest medallion. With it, you can enter the sect but you won’t access to any cultivation resources. However, you will receive a ten percent discount on the stores we manage. The will have a sign with the Night character beside their door.”

Chu Shen bowed. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Take it as me thanking you for helping clear an inner demon.” The man called for a guard, who lead Chu Shen out to the nearby forest. At the edge was a series of small cabins.

“These are the cabins for the outer sect disciples. Your cabin is on the edge over there. If any of them bother you, show them the medallion from Lin Qun, the sect elder you met. No problems should arise if you do so.”

Chu Shen cupped his hands and bowed before heading off to his cabin. Closing the door he sighed. Taking out the jetpack, he removed Lucas’ braincase from it and set it down on the bed.

“So Chu Shen, can you take out the fabber? I was in the middle of designing my body with it.”

Chu Shen shook his head. “No. The fabber is one of the secrets we need to protect. If someone discovers it, it could have disastrous consequences. Though I doubt they would know what they have it would still be disastrous.”

A sigh came from the speakers. “Oh well, it can’t be helped. How about you put me inside the spatial ring then? I can still use the fabber in there.”

Chu Shen nodded before stopping. “Wait, I was told life couldn’t exist inside spatial rings, so how can you live there?”

“Because I am a cyborg. There is no air or food inside a spatial ring, but I don’t have to worry about that since I am not an organic.”

“Oh, great. See you later then.” Chu Shen put Lucas’ braincase back inside the spatial ring. Sitting down on the bed he decided to take a nap. Tomorrow would be when he started cultivating. For now, he was still a bit sore from the fall earlier and he couldn’t rest when he was flying.

Closing his eyes, he suddenly heard an old man’s voice. “So brat, you finally came to visit eh?”

He shot up like a rocket. He was back inside the cave studded with forging items but now it also had beast cores, technological gadgets, and a couple open martial art books. Master Ti Wu faced him with a smirk.

Chu Shen looked around in confusion. “Wait. I didn’t want to come here, so why am I here?”

“Because I summoned you of course. I need you to get stronger of course. I can’t have you relaxing now.” Ti Wu beckoned him. “Come, I will take you to face the pillar warriors again.”

Chu Shen backed away. “No need. I already passed right? So I don’t need to do it again.”

Ti Wi made a ‘come forth’ gesture and Chu Shen involuntarily flew through the air towards him. Landing at his feet, Ti Wu let out a cold snort. “Of course you are not finished. I need you to pass another couple pillars in order for you to learn more martial arts.”

“Right now, the number of true martial arts you know can be counted on one hand. You should know that a martial art can boost your striking power by a hundred percent, not just let it go farther. You know two defense techniques, two movement techniques, and one attack technique.”

“But the problem arises from this confounded Voids Hand’s rules. I can’t avoid the rules they have and seven is the limit. You passed six columns so you can only choose six techniques from the library, excluding the cultivation technique I gave you to begin with.”

“So in order to learn some more techniques you need to beat some more column warriors. If you can’t do that you can do some trials. We will also start training you in combat experience by having you fight the column warriors until you die.”

Chu Shen backed up a little bit. “Uh master. I am not sure I completely agree with this plan.”

Ti Wu snorted. “Well whether you agree or not is irrelevant. As your master I am telling you that you will go through this trial. Don’t worry, you might suffer a bit but you won’t die. Now hurry up, we have work to do.”

Chu Shen disappeared with a wave of Master Ti Wu’s hand and reappeared in a cave surrounded by nine jade pillars. Ti Wu, on the other hand, appeared outside the pillars.

One of the jade pillars lit up while Ti Wu rubbed his hand in glee. A shadow with a saber and a leather breastplate appeared in front of Chu Shen while a replica of his metal hammer appeared in his hands. It was the shadow from the seventh pillar!

Chu Shen looked at the shadow. Compared to what he remembered it seemed…..different. Like it was more realistic. There was slight differences that he would not have noticed if it had not been the training Grandmaster Qin made him do. He could see slight tension in the shadows arms like it had muscles and wasn’t made of pure energy.

“By the way, I was able to use those lessons you got from that Qin guy to make these pillar warriors actual bodies. They are no longer shadow and are the exact same as a person. So now you training here will not be detrimental to your combat experience but actually helpful.”

Chu Shen shook his head. He finally got done with that workaholic Grandmaster Qin and now he had to deal with the sadistic Master Ti Wu. He really did associate with the wrong teachers.

Ti Wu grinned at Chu Shen which sent chills down his spine. “Luckily you don’t need to eat for a while since you can survive on Qi instead. So get ready, you are not going to leave here for a while.”



 

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[Vol. 5] Chapter 2 – Plan

[Vol. 5] Chapter 2 - Plan

"Phew, finally I got some free time"  As I left the mansion I stretched out both of my arms and took a deep breath.  I continued to watch Braham's cityscape from the hill.  The red roofs forming lines…



“Phew, finally I got some free time”

 As I left the mansion I stretched out both of my arms and took a deep breath.
 I continued to watch Braham’s cityscape from the hill.
 The red roofs forming lines which one could clearly see through this clear winter air looked beautiful.
 The Saint Perrier Cathedral in its middle, the Holms River flowing through the area close-by.
 The river was shining brightly as it reflected the sunlight.

 I used Italy’s Florence as this town’s model.
 Though I’ve never been there my father travelled there in his younger days and would talk about it a lot.
 It seems like the view one could see from the Michelangelo hill was very beautiful.⌈1
 The cuisine is delicious and the town is full of art.
 It was a town I absolutely wanted to visit sometime.
 The part with the windmills kind of got inspired by the Netherlands, lol.
 Well, it’s more like a mix of various cities, huh?

“Oh, Carlo-sama, alone today?”

 As I was called out and turned around I saw Doji standing there.
 Ah, I forgot to give Doji a bonus (sweats).

“Ah, no, everyone took the day off. Why don’t you go home as well, Doji?”

“It’s just around the corner and even if I return, Mum just makes me help around the house”

“Is that so? How about you go buy your mother something nice?”

 I gave Doji two gold coins from my wallet.
 As it is equivalent to 200,000 yen that should be sufficient as a bonus.

“That’s, is it really fine to give this to me?”

“Yeah, everyone got this much after all. Besides, you took care of me a lot this time around, Doji”

“Really, thank you”

“I was going to go through the town a bit, do you want to come with me?”

“I just got some free time so I’ll accompany you.”

 I went to the town accompanied by Doji.
 On the way, I didn’t forget to cover my scar with a scarf as a substitute for my mask so that my face won’t stand out as much.

“Carlo-sama, those clothes suit you”

“Don’t call me Carlo from now on, call me Akatsuki.”

“Ah, I see. It’s Akatsuki-sama then. Understood”

 It was a good decision to tell Doji about Akatsuki.
 On our way, as we walked through the town I bought some Hobbit wine at a liquor shop.
 I requested something of the blacksmith, Mohkan.
 I entered Mohkan’s forge leaving Doji at the store front.

“Old man, I’m coming in”

“Just when I was wondering who it might be it turned out to be Mister Akatsuki. I couldn’t immediately recognise you because you aren’t wearing your mask.”

“Yeah, today’s a little, you know. Is the thing I requested ready yet?”

“Hey, hey, wait a minute. After requesting for such a large quantity don’t ask for the impossible. Half of it isn’t done yet.”

 As Mohkan said that he took out one of the spears.

“Here it is, how is it?”

 The length of the spear Mohkan was holding was 5 metres like the long spears Nals and I created for the military reform.
 Just, different from a normal spear, there’s a sickle under the spear’s tip.⌈2

“Hoh, it looks very good”

“It’s a strange spear. However, is it really true that Margrave Carlo ordered these?”

“Yeah, no doubt. You received your payment form the Margrave, right?”

“That’s true but what kind of relation do you have with the Margrave?”

 Ehm……I’m him.
 Doji must have had a strange expression on his face as he heard that.
 It was a good idea to leave him at the shop front.

“Well, several things happened. It’s none of your concern”
“Even the matter about the Oricalcum sword, it seems like you got various people backing you. However, as far as I’m concerned, as long as you pay the proper price I won’t complain. You always bring me my favourite drink as well like this.”

 After he said this Mohkan drank the wine I brought straight from the bottle.
 Hey, hey, it’s still noon and a work day.
 He’s a dwarf though, so he should be able to hold his liquor.

“I’m not done yet, but you should take the finished ones to the Guard Order’s arsenal. As we discussed”

“Yeah, fine. I’ll get them tomorrow.”

“Sorry for troubling you, have a happy new year then.”

“You too”

 Like this, I left the forge.

“Are you done?”

“Yeah, our next destination will be the hideout. Come”

 There’s only one reason why I wanted to have some free time during these New Year’s holidays.
 I only wanted to spend some time together with Elsa, that’s it.
 I wanted to settle this whole DDT matter by the end of this year!
 Fortunately, Doji also knew about Elsa being inside the hideout as well.
 I intended to ask Doji to inform me if anything happens at the mansion while I’m here.
 While I explained these things to him as we walked, we arrived at the hideout.

 Knock, Knockknock, Knock
 I made Doji wait and knocked the door in the manner I agreed with her beforehand.
 After hearing the sound of some things getting knocked over the door got opened.

“Elsa, it’s been a long time”

“Akatsuki-sama, welcome back”

 Elsa greeted me, but, I wonder, she seemed kind of impatient.
 I felt someone’s presence in the back.
 Hahan, is Crescent Moon loitering around in there again?

“Is someone in there?”

“Ah, yes, ehm……”

 Elsa looked into my face with slight uneasiness in her gaze.
 Why, though?
 Could it be an affair?!

“It’s the matter we talked about before, Akatsuki-sama……”

 What we talked about before, what was that?

“I called my grandparents over, was that okay?”

 As she said that Elsa waited for my answer.
 Aah, I certainly said that.
 Though that’s fine and all, but why nooow.
 But, as she already called them over it can’t be helped now.
 I can’t just tell them to go now.

“Yeah, of course. I told you, you may call them over. I’m glad that you can spend time with your family.”

“Yes! It’s all thanks to Akatsuki-sama. Ehm, may I introduce you?”

“I see, let’s do it like that. But could you first fetch my mask?”

“Ah, yes. I shall bring it to you right away”

“– I really wanted to give you my thanks.”

“No, don’t mention it. I just wanted to see Elsa’s happy face.”

“Elsa, aren’t you lucky to be the bride of such a good guy?”

 Ehm, what was that about a bride?
 Elsa’s cheeks also redden in embarrassment.
 Though I know she couldn’t possibly tell them she’s my mistress but couldn’t she have chosen something else?
 Besides, shouldn’t they say something about me wearing a mask as if it’s normal?!
 Are you fine with your important granddaughter marrying some strange masked man?

“My, that mask also seems like a somewhat luxurious item, don’t you think, grandma?”

“That’s true, grandpa. Besides, he’s such a filial bridegroom to help us out with the shop”

 They are clearly just aiming for the money!
 As one would expect from merchants, trying to make money through their granddaughter.
 It absolutely can’t be exposed that I’m Carlo.
 How much will they extort out of me if they find out the groom is actually a feudal lord?
 I shall remind Elsa to keep silent about that again.

“Anyway, you should look for affordable shops and houses and move in soon. Until then they can stay here, Elsa”

“Well, thank you very much. So what brings you here today?”

 I wanted to take your virginity……I mean, I can’t say that!

“No, I just came to get the mask and sword. I’m going to leave for some time again.”

“You go out at such a time? Please take care of yourself”

“Yeah, have a happy new year, Elsa. Use this and see the old year out happily”

 I produced some money out of my wallet and gave it to Elsa before I left the hideout.
 Her grandparents suggested to have dinner together but I politely declined.
 I shouldn’t get involved with those two more than necessary.

“Huh? Car, I mean, Akatsuki-sama, you’re already leaving?” 

 Doji who waited outside asked with a wondering expression on his face.

“Yeah…… change of plans. I’m going out for a while.”

 I’m not crying, I’m not crying.
 My eyes are just filled with tears because the cold winter wind blew into them.



 


  1. Piazzale Michelangelo is meant. 
  2. That’s how it looks 

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