Yanda was calmly standing on the road leading to his home, even though his stop was not part of the pn... But, right now, another figure stood before him, one he didn't want to talk to: Lulu.

  "Yo." She greeted him with a small smile. "It seems we met again!"

  "And?" He asked back with an emotionless voice, "Should I be thrilled? Concerned? Angry? Afraid?"

  "No, none of that. I just want to say, I will get you back."

  "To be your sve? Sorry, that won't happen." He answered, not even flinching.

  "You never know. We will see! You can be mine again without a colr."

  "You are delusional." He walked past her as Lulu turned towards his leaving figure, watching his back.

  "At least you can't escape from my view now!" She chuckled as she followed him and stalked the boy because, for some weird reason, their rooms were in the same building.

  Of course, along the way, they did not speak again, and as they ascended the steps to the inner disciples' dormitory, Yanda opened his room's door, Lulu doing the same... Being on the exact opposite side.

  "See you tomorrow." She giggled while Yanda just shook his head.

  "Freak." He whispered before closing the door behind him.

  Inside, every room was the same. It had a bed, a small bathroom, and a basic meditation circle to support their cultivation. Throwing his thoughts away, Yanda took out the jade tablet, sending his energy back inside, then sat on the formation and began cultivating, following the instructions within. The moment he did so, he realized that taking in the energy was much easier thanks to the formation's help, and as he guided it through his body, he didn't take long to find the first energy point.

  "It is really there. Going by this method, if I nourish it, I can feel my affinity flow through it… and I already have a faint watery sensation in my blood..." He murmured, continuing the process, immersing himself in it.

  After only an hour or so, Yanda had already explored all of his energy points, and by connecting them up, he felt refreshed, as if a previously unknown door had opened for him.

  "They are already… strengthened…?" He asked in disbelief as he opened his eyes with a little bit of confusion. "It seems my demonic heritage nourished them as I used my affinity," he thought about the only possible expnation for it, feeling it had to be that. "At least now they are truly connected, and I can strengthen them consciously. Heh…" he smiled confidently. "Better to be ready. That bitch won't give up easily!"

  As he was continuing his own training, in the opposite room, someone had a very different experience.

  "No good!" Lulu sighed, opening her eyes, groaning. "I already advanced a lot... My speed is too slow if I try to convert it. No choice! If I want to achieve the best results, I can't wait!" She stood up at once, with no hesitation, leaving her room in a hurry.

  .............

  Inside the Pill, Garden Kyu was sulking and pouting, sitting below a giant tree as Ren stood before her, hands on her waist.

  "Listen here, you can't scare them like that!" She yelled at her, "They are disciples working here. This is not your garden but the Sect's! Be happy you have permission to come in and munch on the herbs! If you were not mine, you would have been tossed out long ago, or who knows, Sect Head maybe already made a soup out of you and wore your skin as underwear!"

  "Uuuu…." Kyu moaned, lowering her head as mentioning the Sect Head made her actually afraid. The scent of Aerthus alone was something a demon in her realm would avoid at all costs...

  "Don't py the sorry little kid before me. I won't buy it!" Ren said with a snort, "Anyway, behave from now on. If there are more problems with you, I'll bring you to Thunder Valley and leave you there!"

  "Uuuu… uuuu!" She shook her head rapidly, putting on a teddy bear-like look with moist, giant eyes, pleadingly crawling towards her, pressing her puffy head against Ren's body.

  "Okay, okay. You big baby…." She giggled, patting her and enjoying the soft fur as she hugged her head. "Be a good girl, okay? If you can behave, I'll treat you to rare delicacies. Promise~!”

  "This is why she acts the way she does!" Leinor chuckled, arriving next to her, shaking his head.

  "What can I say… She is just sooooo cute~!" Ren sighed, unable to stop herself from scratching Kyu's head.

  "Haaah… Anyway, you won't guess what happened!"

  "Someone came, asking you to drain her cultivation."

  "Huh? You already knew?"

  "It was Lulu, wasn't it?" Ren turned towards him, letting Kyu go.

  "Yes. How did you know?"

  "Easy." She smiled at her husband, "I was expecting her to do it. I gave her an 80% chance of coming to you on the first day and a 90% chance on the second. If she wouldn't do that, I would pass her on and wouldn't take her as a disciple."

  "I see..." He smiled, unable to get used to how scary his wife's predictions were, "The Sect Head mentioned that you will be responsible for the tter two... So... When do you pn to take them in officially?"

  "I don't know, maybe when they are at the 6th or 7th stage. We'll see!"

  "It was you who pced their rooms opposite to each other?"

  "Busted~!" She giggled, winking at him.

  "You really are a demon!" Leinor ughed, leaning forward and giving her a kiss as Kyu covered her face with her big paws.

  "Fufufu~! It is a psychological move on my part." She giggled, going for a second kiss, "There is no better motivation for their duo than this. They are going to make the other work twice as hard! Also, by frequently meeting, I hope to curb their animosity a little before they come under me."

  "And if it doesn't work?"

  "Then let a fight break out between them!" She shrugged, opening her arms, "Then I'll step in and resolve it for real. It is better if it comes to the surface instead of festering inside them."

  "You're already acting like their master." He patted her head as Ren pressed it against his palm happily.

  "I am! It's just not official yet. What about you? Did you see anybody interesting?"

  "Not yet. But it is too early to talk about it." Leinor answered after thinking about it, "I am not sure if I'm even ready to have disciples. You have it easy... You have worked with us for a decade, so you have experience! I still feel uneasy about teaching others."

  "It was fun teaching you and the rest. I think you would also make a good teacher, so don't worry." She ughed, hugging his waist and leaning against his chest.

  "Yeah… It was fun when you beat me up… YEOW, why?!" He moaned, rubbing his butt as Ren just pinched it, giving it a little twist.

  "You thought it was only fun for me, didn't you~? You wear your emotions on your face! Bad hubby!"

  "I really did marry the devil…."

  "Do you regret it?"

  "Never. Not for a minute~!" He leaned forward, kissing her passionately, with no hesitation in his answer.

  "Good answer~! Fufufu~!" Ren smiled happily, flicking his chest after they separated. "What about the others?"

  "Zern and Isha are coordinating the outer disciples." Leinor began expining, "They are swamped with work, and Poli helps organize their allocated resources. As for Father, he locked himself in with Shaman in the Pill Hall. They are making pills nonstop to have enough for the foreseeable future. Honestly, they look like zombies by now."

  "Nobody said it would be easy, ahaha~! My Father and Mother have it a bit easier, though. If everything goes smoothly, we will have flying swords by the end of the year, just like Poli. Not as durable or sharp as his, but they will be a fine weapon, controlble by those in the body refinement realm, too."

  "Will you get one too?" Leinor asked, smiling.

  "Nah, no. I am used to wielding a spear. I'll skip it. You?"

  "Not really. I am not good with weapons."

  "I could vouch otherwise." She giggled, looking downwards, between his legs.

  "Tut-tut!" He snorted, knocking on her head, "That is different, as it is used in emergencies only."

  "Oh my… true~! And I think there is an emergency in my Thunder Valley… maybe you should come and help me~!"

  …….…..

  As the Sect's gears started to slowly turn and pick up speed, elsewhere, deep in the Kingdom's territory, a middle-aged man with short, bck hair and silvery eyes was walking along a busy street in one of the trading hubs of the Naulin's territory. This bustling city was one of the main connections to the western side of the Kingdom, so many of the local merchant caravans stopped there to exchange their goods.

  "Mister, you look tired, maybe come in and taste our new tea leaves! It is guaranteed to refresh you!" a young, lively girl's voice greeted him all of a sudden, wearing a white and red dress, holding a metal tray in her hands, smiling happily as she tucked her blonde, curly, long hair behind her ears.

  "Thanks," the man nodded, dusting off his bck traveling robe and wearing a simple leather vest and trousers under it.

  Seeing it worked, the girl happily led him into the teahouse to a free table before coming back with a pot and a small mug, making the tea right in front of him. Waiting patiently, the man said nothing, just sat there calmly, waiting for her to finish it, examining her expression and the movement of her fingers.

  "The long road can be tiring. This will help keep your feet light~!" She giggled as she finished brewing and poured it out.

  "How do you know how long I have traveled?" He asked calmly.

  "By the amount of dust on your shoes, Mister!" She said proudly, "Especially the reddish hue, which shows you traveled through the Crimson Canyon. You must be someone strong to cross it!"

  "You are pretty good at observing others." He nodded, looking down at his shoe, revealing a faint smile.

  "It is a must to pull in more customers." She giggled, and after she finished serving the tea, she bowed, hurrying back out so her sweet voice could be heard again from outside, greeting travelers and drawing others in, with the same kind of speech.

  "She would make a good agent." The man murmured, taking a sip from his tea.

  "Oh? I didn't know you were interested in taking in disciples," came a voice from behind him, one that the man immediately recognized... Sentios... It was he who sat there, facing the opposite way, sipping a cup of tea. "How have you been?"

  "Same as always. Thank you for asking." The man answered calmly, "I have a letter for you from your father."

  "I see... No wonder the famous Nameless himself delivers it." He leaned backward as Nameless passed on the tter, not even looking at each other.

  Opening the letter and reading it through, there was no change in Sentios's expression, but it took him half an hour before he finally put it away, speaking once again.

  "The tea got cold. Sorry." He spoke up, his voice heavy, tinged with honest pain. Maybe… even regret...

  "Doesn't matter," Nameless answered, masking his feelings perfectly, sounding wholly emotionless.

  "I appreciate his offer, but I can't."

  "I see." Nameless answered at once, "It is a shame you betrayed us. You could have been a great asset."

  "What is done is done." Sentios sighed once again, "There is no point in mulling over past mistakes." He folded the letter gently and put it away.

  "So it was a mistake?" Nameless caught on his words sharply.

  "Yes." He answered, standing up and throwing coins onto Nameless's table as well. "My treat." He said while fixing his clothes, "I sank too deep into the mire, and I cannot leave anymore. It swallowed me whole... Still... Please do tell my father I said hello," he whispered quietly before finally leaving.

  After he was gone, Nameless also finished his tea before standing up, greeting the young girl who was once again outside, trying to bring in customers as he left, mulling over Sentios' words.

  "Unable…" Nameless chewed on the meaning of the word, "This happens when you walk into the tiger's den… you may not wear it like a sve does his colr, but you are on a leash." he shook his head before heading towards the city's gate. "Mmm?" He turned back suddenly, but... he couldn't see anything... Yet his feelings did ring an arm bell in his mind. "Let's see how well you can follow me." He stepped forward again, merging into the people's shadows, disappearing from sight in just a blink.

  When he reappeared, he was already outside the city, in a forest nearby, coming out from an oak's thick shadow, taking a human form once again. Yet, before doing anything else, he produced a pill from his pocket, swallowed it, and recovered the lost energies, feeling he would need them. And he wasn't wrong...

  It assimited the feeling just at the right time as a thick, curved bde swished before him, loudly striking the tree trunk, lodging itself in it with a loud ringing sound. It wasn't all, as a long chain was welded onto its end that was held by the young girl from the tea house, now only a few steps away from him, arriving without a sound.

  "Mister can run really fast!" She chuckled, pulling on the chain and drawing the bde back to her hand.

  "Yet here you are, keeping up with me. I am impressed." Nameless nodded as he materialized his scythe, resting it on his shoulders.

  "Oh my! Are you Nameless?"

  "Maybe. Maybe not."

  "I have a list of a few individuals with a big bounty on their heads here in the Kingdom." She giggled, licking her lips, "You are pretty high on that list! Ooooo! Now I am really fired up!" She ughed, getting ready to fight.

  "I know. But you know why I am up there? Because none could cim the prize yet." He said as he looked into her still, innocently shining blue eyes. "You are not the first to try it and won't be the st either. Come. I have things to do." He said with a monotone voice, beckoning her to make the first move.

  "Heh, confident… yeah..." She murmured, turning just a bit more serious, "I guess you can be after the years you have been active… but I am also really confident in taking you down!" She ughed as she sent out her weapon, flying once again, and a deadly match exploded between them in the forest.