Change-
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The 2nd Officer came down from above one morning. Delivering word about the Nether Competition. As well as a few of their own coming towards them finally. With additional people in tow.
A Research Team to extract some lava and some of the rocks in the deeper parts.
"The bird is very mouthy sometimes. I have learned enough from it already. Let someone else get it." The Profound Netherfrost Bird was just overly excitied to see things from the human side. With the nourishment from her Soul Realm more than making it stronger, it didn't know how to keep quiet. "Today please."
"Who do you want me to give it to? Not many with your.." The 2nd Officer was beyond frustrated with the chatter box. "Fine then." Shen Yue extracted the Profound Netherfrost Bird.
*Ching!* A few bowls of water froze before shattering the moment it appeared. Those who were doing a little cleaning with them just stared at the bird annoyed.
"This place is awful." The Profound Netherfrost Bird did not like the air and heat at all. "Rather be back in the Devil Forest."
"Yeah yeah.. hold on a minute." Shen Yue called a random person over in the Nether World. "What kind of Demon Beast do you have?"
"Don't have one. The family couldn't afford it. That's why I am here looking for one. Well, that and trying to find something nice to sell." The Cultivator said. They talked a little before he left.
Spotting a pink-haired girl, his eyes flared up. But not kindly at all.
"She will do nicely." Shen Yue reached out snatching the young woman up. Her family members freaking out and ready to fight. The spiritual pressure released from Long Sha and Ye Han kept them in place. "You are Hua Huo of the Infernal Bird Clan right?"
He wanted to be sure about this.
"Yes, I am." Hua Huo was defiant but not stupid. After seeing what happened to others that got in his way, she knew better to resist but she wouldn't go without a fight completely. "What do you want with me?"
"It is your lucky day." Shen Yue gestured to The Profound Netherfrost Bird. "Become my disciple and you receive this Ancient Demon beast as a Living Spiritual Beast and I will give you a better Cultivation Manual."
He set her down after seeing she was thinking it over honestly. Members of the Infernal Bird Clan came over and walked away with her a little to the side. Shen Yue checked them all over and could see they were not Demon Spiritualists.
"I forgot they have few Demon Spirits here." Shen Yue wanted to facepalm but his thoughts were on a lot of stuff lately. "Hmm, I will sweeten the deal. Offer the entire Infernal Bird Clan to me, and I will provide for all of them."
"This.." Herself was one thing, but her entire clan would be to much.
"I will not mistreat them and will be quite fair to them. The same as my people. I swear on my Soul." Shen Yue stated firmly. His felt a stirring in his chest as his Connection increased with several of his people. 'The more Connections, the faster my soul recovers at least.'
Cracks along the Flame Vortex Core healing. About a foot per person actually.
"Hua Huo greets Master!" The young woman took a knee. "Though I can not speak for them, since I do not lead my family, I will speak with the head at once!" Those with her taking a knee and pledging themselves along with her.
"Good." Shen Yue placed his hand on her head passing over the Phoenix Martial Arts. It was incomplete but he supplemented it with the Ice Martial Arts and a few Cultivations recovered from the souls and martial arts styles from Orchid City Ruins. "It is complex but you will have help."
"You could have given me that, humph!" The Profound Netherfrost Bird grumbled. It willing entered an agreement with Hua Huo. Already talking to her. 'Way more physical strength than a normal person! Oh, this will go well!'
One by one he passed mixed arts with cultivation manuals to them. The Infernal Bird tribe had actual bird characteristics despite being mostly human. The eyes were better and the ears had spikiness to them. Small traces of soft fur at the top for some.
"I feel really strong!" A few of the Infernal Bird tribe said. The Black Gold Realm ones breaking into the Legend Realm on the spot. "So much easier than what I understood before."
"Pass out some gear to them and make sure to explain some of how we operate." Shen Yue ordered. The available Officers did so at once. His gaze on Hua Huo reminding him of the series Digimon for a moment. If she was bulkier she would like a female Garudamon. "What is it?"
"What are you thinking about?" Duan Jian asked. "Smiling like that is very bad when looking at a young lady."
"Just ground work to make sure something else does not go wrong." Shen Yue placed a rune pattern on the young woman. An anti-fire one at that. 'Can't pass up not having another trump card if I am right about them.'
The Officers had quite the load of information to report.
The Demon Lord had tried to enter one of the Outposts for help. They ran him out and forced him to keep fleeing. The White Cat Demon Beasts chasing him into several Demon Beast groups before he eventually got away after expending some life force.
The hatred for the Dark Moon Family slowly surpassing that of the Snow Wind Family.
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Later that night-
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Shen Yue spent the time cultivating and chatting with the others happily. Not much else to do with his injuries taking a lot of his time to deal with. The delivery of all the bodies from killing those who tried to flood out of the Nether Realm helped a lot.
He as half there in recovery. The rotation of the Flame Vortex Core producing rich spirit energy that fed the Flame Vortex Star Dragon recovery. Bathing in energy healing the scales and increasing its height.
Duan Jian finally opening up to the others enough that he cracked jokes casually.
"Shen Yue," Duan Jian looked at Yu Yan to the side who looked a little lonely. "You allowed her to come with and barely spoke a few words to her, why?"
The Officers were listening but kept small talks going. Even Ye Han and Long Sha wondered what was going on. The other members of the Dark Guild said nothing. They already heard enough when sparring with the Officers when Shen Yue and the others were gone.
"Huh?" Shen Yue looked over not understanding for a second. "Well, I was going to kill her and refine her body for use previously, that does not make good conversation later. Besides slight disappointment with her in general, I don't care." He shrugged not seeing the problem.
Yu Yan spent a good bit of her time talking with Ye Ziyun and a few others anyway.
"So she can join us then!" The 8th Officer said. He called the "old" woman over to them. "Come on and get some grub Yu Yan!" Suprised but happy, Yu Yan moved over to join them.
Some time passed with her stealing glances at him every now and then. She wanted to ask about the Dream Bowl, the Demon Beasts, his Flames, and future plans.
But all of that required her to enter in an agreement that had several stipulations in it.
"Shen Yue," Yu Yan sighed and decided to just ask some questions. "Am I a bother to you?" He shook no to her. "Then why do we not talk like everyone else you talk to?"
"Look, if you can get over what I was going to do to you, I don't care either way. I was just giving you "space" and whatever else you could possibly need. Your mentality is a lot different than my own, the way you process information is defintely different to." Shen Yue took a drink from his water bottle. In his left hand, metal was reformed slowly. "You may be on our side for now, but I can feel the "Connection" with you waver a lot. You have your ability to see through the "hearts" of normal folk, I have the ability to see the intentions of those connected to me."
His control over Metal advancing more and more. Not enough for another Fate in the Metal Divine Spark, but enough to strengthen it. Which allowed improvements with the Metal Seed.
"I wouldn't betray any of you! I am not that type of person!" Yu Yan exclaimed. Some moments, Shen Yue seemed compassionate and in others, his words were cold and hurtful.
"Sure, if you say so." Shen Yue stretched the metal in his hands making a rapier finally that could hold several runes to fit the weilder. His finger lit up as he started doing engravings along the side and guard. "This should be done in a few hours." He said to the 6th Officer.
"Thank you, Patriarch." The 6th Officer couldn't wait.
The Dream Bowl glowed with bright light. Inside, a visual of a Subsidiary Realm was visible. Shen Yue stood up looking into it. Rubbing his chin, it became apparent after thinking it over, it was the Dreamcloud Realm.
"Fertile lands and large open space. Not many Demon Beasts by the looks of it so far." Operating it with Astral Sense, the view shifted a little. "A visit to the Dreamcloud Realm will be fun after this is over. Or maybe now to speed up my recovery."
A dark look in his eyes scared a few. He looked at the realm as if it was a resource and nothing more.
Not minding any of their looks, he swept his hand storing it away. Only because a visitor he requested to speak with came over.
"What is it you wanted to talk about?" Xiao Yu looked at those in the room. Inside were all of the people of the Dark Moon Family. "Don't plan on killing me do you?"
"Nope." Shen Yue gestured for her to sit then he activated a Silence Seal and a Distortion Seal. The second one he learned recently from the bodies refined by the killed in the Spiritual God War. "I wish to enter into an agreement with you, you deliver something for me and I share your past with you."
"How can you do that exactly? I am not from here." Xiao Yu said empirically.
"Lies, you tell yourself or the Nether Spiritual God told you." Seeing as she did not still believe in it, he revealed a little about himself. "Here."
*Bzzt!* Releasing his Cultivation of the Lighting Divine Spark, Xiao Yu was a little nervous. Using his energy, Shen Yue sent it into the seal over his camp. Reinforcing it further with the Lightning Field technique.