Few Days Later-
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Shen Yue was not liking Alchemy to much. Studying it and learning it was easy enough. The actual application of it was a nightmare. In class, he was pretty quiet since time was spent wracking his brain over what went wrong.
The basic material was all wasted since he kept failing. He did throw it in the Vortex to salvage a little of the energy inside. Waste not want not.
The moment class ended he was in the library once more. Shen Xiu was happy he became an Alchemist, the constant questions from the Sacred Family were answer easily enough. She had know idea who was teaching him and did not ask.
'Soon they will beg for him to come back. Especially after finding out the deal he made with the Alchemy Association.' A thought came to mind on some of the deal however. 'Why has he not sold any glass to them directly? Is he waiting on something else?'
Nie Lie had gotten a few answers out of Xiao Ninger without here really noticing. He hated to trick her like that but he needed to know if Shen Yue talked to her in private. If he was trying to get the Winged Dragon Family on the side of the Sacred Family, Nie Lie would stop at nothing to keep that from happening.
'Xiao Ninger said he only offered to help her condition but didn't ask for any particulars. She was mindful to keep quiet despite the way I asked her questions.' Nie Lie leaned back in his seat in thought. 'I don't believe he left the Sacred Family. Just doesn't make sense.'
Not to far away, Ye Ziyun notice something was odd about Nie Lie. The fact Xiao Ninger talked with him occasionally was one thing, but she could tell something odd was happening with people in her class.
'First everyone in class is acting weird and now things are odd back at home. All because of some strange letter regarding my mom.' Ye Ziyun leaned forward as she tried to remember her mom a little. No matter how hard she tried the image kept fading away. 'I need to get my hands on that letter of find out who this Liang Yu person is. What the heck is a Celestial Master anyway?'
Having heard only parts of the discussion, she missed the general content in the letter.
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Library-
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After a few hours of gathering the books he needed, Shen Yue started to leave before coming across a scene he did not expect. From the looks of it, they carried on for a while before he came over.
Nie Lie and Xiao Ninger were in a heated argument. Ye Ziyun just stood by watching. A small silence barrier was set up from a talisman on Ye Ziyun. Shen Yue walked through and listened on the conversation easily enough.
What do you expect he was in need of this information. It was the perfect time to gather it.
"Xiao Ninger it's not like that! You have to listen to me!" Nie Lie yelled trying to convince her to calm down. "It is a little complicated to explain right now but..."
"You shut up!" Xiao Ninger said in rage as her cultivation flared out. She was already at the 1st Silver Rank. Beating her previous ranking several folds in her previous life. Having taken in all the energy from the "glass" Shen Yue gave her had some crazy results on her cultivation. "Step off to the side Nie Lie, this does not concern you!"
"I won't step to the side. We are friends I won't let you make this mistake. You have to calm down." Nie Lie said as calmly as he could. He would not be able to stop her with his current strength. 'How did she advance so quickly?!'
The energy from the Flame Vortex Core played wonders on Xiao Ninger's soul. The energy accelerating the change from her previous life. With the page from the Temporal Book in her home, it actually sought her out on it's own accord.
Drawn by the energy given by Shen Yue. The page entered her trying to absorb the energy. It however was devoured by her Soul Realm and changed her even further. Xiao Ninger previous life was coming back to her pretty quickly but it left her mostly confused at times.
"She is in the way!" Xiao Ninger completely changed due to the wild emotions. Instead of keeping her calm like she wanted, she felt threatened by Ye Ziyun. She cultivated and pushed herself way above what she was previously just to make sense of things. 'Why didn't Nie Lie come to me instead! Wy her?!'
It was a mistake on Nie Lie's part to not have talked to her after returning previously. Instead, he focused on Ye Ziyun. In his defense, Nie Lie was not aware of Xiao Ninger's importance in his past life.
The fact she was his final lover did not occur to the young man at all.
The amount of hatred in this young lady was astounding. Shen Yue could feel the change emanating from her. That was enough for him as he walked up after seeing it was going in a bad direction.
"I will kill her! This bitch will die for what she has done!" Xiao Ninger bellowed as she jumped at Ye Ziyun. The look of lunacy was not fading fast enough.
Ye Ziyun did not stand by as she unleashed her own strength meeting the blow with an artifact. Making contact she was forced to back away a few steps. Nie Lie lashed out trying to disable Xiao Ninger. His blow was stopped by Shen Yue who grabbed his palm.
Nie Lie then went in for a straight jab. "Hah!" His blow carried a weird force with it. Shen Yue moved the books in his hand to block the attack. "Get away!"
*Bam!* A fierce sound went outward. Nie Lie pushed forward to try to offset Shen Yue but failed. The sound protection could only cover sound. Students were still able to see what was going on, however.
"Hmph! My physical strength is nothing to laugh at, especially my flexibility." Shen Yue bent his arm inward gathering energy as he flexed his power through his fingers offsetting the full blow and its weird energy. Nie Lie had access to small traces of Heavenly energy, how he obtained it this early was a question for later. "Heh, this is a funny predicament. Who would have thought you lovers would be up to this, in the library no less." He said it jokingly.
Putting pressure on Nie Lie's palm trying to feel where his strength was currently at. The fact Nie Lie was at the 5th Bronze Rank was interesting. A few traces of Shen Yue's energy was inside him.
Sneering, Shen Yue understood he received some benefits when helping Xiao Ninger with the treatment. Whether on purpose or an accident, it did not matter.
"Why are you getting involved?" Nie Lie gnashed his teeth at the look. He never remembered Shen Yue being this strong. 'Well, I never met him in the library around this time. Or confronted him before like this. Why can I not determine his cultivation rank!?'
'My body strength is stronger than his. My energy is higher as well.' Shen Yue thought to himself as he checked the surroundings. To many people were gathering around. 'Let's not take any chances though. I do not need to contend with the "main character halo" he has currently. The fact he has some Heavenly Energy is interesting. I wonder how things will change.'
"Say something!" Nie Lie tried to push back to no avail.
"You are a danger to me right now. I can't have that. Do forgive me, boy." Shen Yue released some killing intent onto Nie Lie slowing him down for just a second. He squeezed down with the tips of his fingers channeling the Flame Martial Arts. "I hope you like heat!"
*Crack, Crack!* Nie Lie had his palm broken. Shen Yue didn't use his full strength, to much fire was bad for a library after all.
Nie Lie struck out again. The Heavenly Energy carrying his strikes. He moved with pinpoint accuracy trying to hit Shen Yue in immobilizing locations.
Shen Yue continued to dodge using his body's pure flexibility to maneuver. A small hum from the Metal Seed pushed off any blows that came close.
Nie Lie moved forward using the same palm that was broken. The Heavenly Energy gathered around his hand again. He moved forward in a chopping motion. With the speed of his movement and the Heavenly Energy around him, Shen Yue thought it best to sidestep. Stepping against the nearest bookcase, he gathered his energy to retaliate.
There was a strong momentum built up from Nie Lie's few strikes. More power generated as the seconds passed by. Shen Yue could feel his hackles begin to rise and a thumping in his chest caused him to become more alert.
Even if Nie Lie's cultivation was not a high level, his experience in fighting was extremely rich. Coupled with the power of "Destiny" things would be difficult to kill him outright. Or make him take a serious loss.
Nie Lie started to get frustrated by Shen Yue dodging. He took a step away and paused for a moment. Shen Yue took a breath and stepped back. As he observed his actions he was ready to finish it. Studying him like an animal all the while.
A few students peeked around the bookshelves watching still. A few jeered laughing at Nie Lie despite him holding his own. Ye Ziyun looked ready to collapse. Her groans alerting Nie Lie.
"Argh, Dammit!" Nie Lie swung out with a kick causing Shen Yue to back away before he connected with his strike. His leg went out in an arc hitting the bookshelf causing the whole rack to come crashing down. "What the hell are you doing here!?"
Shen Yue looked back to Xiao Ninger. She and Ze Yiyun had separated. The latter had a severe bruise on her arm and was sweating profusely. The former just seemed angry at everything but she calmed down significantly.
"So are you doing ok? Heh, you look more heated than what you were in class. If you need to take care of her I don't mind keeping Nie Lie company, really. But would you mind not taking this so seriously here in the library? I really like books and kind of need them for learning. I am behind in my subjects in case you haven't noticed."
"I didn't ask for your help! Stay out of it!" Xiao Ninger yelled at Shen Yue before turning back to the other two. Mistaking him for Shen Fei a little. Despite the differences in appearance. "Uggh, my head is spinning like crazy!"
"Okey dokey," Shen Yue said while raising his hand in the air making an ok symbol. He turned around and walked away without looking back. The others just watched as he went expecting him to at least make some kind of countermove. "Just such snap decisions."
Shen Yue's fingers echoed along with the hum of the Metal Seed. The pulse disrupting what was going with Xiao Ninger. A type of suppression really. The energy in Nie Lie dissipated as well. He did not fully refine it since he was studying it.
His loss really.
Shen Yue just continued to walk away not looking back, however. Right before he made it out of the silence bubble he was stopped. Nie Lie was about to say something to Shen Yue but someone beat him to it.
"Are you going to leave just like that?" Xiao Ninger said hurriedly. She didn't think the situation would change so.. abruptly. But she knew enough that Shen Yue did just try to help her. 'What the heck was I just doing!?'