"It will be about a week." Shen Yue rechecked his Time internally. Adjustments needed to be made with the knowledge of actually being here. "My control of Time is not that high yet. I want you to develop more first. To be able to steel yourself and act better on the Outside when you return. This is a place to learn; outside is a place to live and put matters into perspective."
"It's a good thing we advanced as cultivators and had the benefit of reforging our bodies by you already." Zhang Ming gave a smile at the thought of what seven years of training would have done to them already. "We are already in our young prime, but I kind of want to grow older in appearance."
"Aww, the babyface doesn't like youth." Maynard teased. "Try being a member of the Fiery Elf Clan; we age way slower than you humans."
"But Shen Yue has looked about this age for the longest time." Duan Jian remarked. "Besides the first instance when we met and then the time when we left the Nether Realm, your appearance changes brifly after fighting dangerously before returning to your prime state like now."
"Well.. let's not waste time." Duan Jian came over to him. Seeing the slight change in his facial features like Hua Huo did. "What does this cost you?"
"About 9 "Health" everytime." Shen Yue smiled. It was extremely negligible to him. "Don't worry about it to much; each of you cost a year off of myself. It cost me nothing for myself, so.. meh."
When he said Health, to them, it meant years.
"I see." Duan Jian nodded and went to work. "Still shouldn't risk anything. Never know what can happen."
It was competent advice. As everyone went to work, Shen Yue spread his Astral Sense out, checking the place over to ensure he didn't miss anything. Nothing dangerous reached out or reacted to their presence.
The "book" also wasn't here, so he assumed it was out having fun somewhere still after gaining more Freedom.
Circulating the Heart Method (Maxium) revealed the space was happy to have visitors.
Working on his own reading next, the months passed by quickly. Everyone made a stack of what they wanted to study the first month then started on the second one. Each was finding a cultivation that further improved what was passed onto them by Shen Yue before finding something they themselves liked.
With Duan Jian the only one finding one that completely surpassed the one given to him. Shen Yue was not upset in the least, considering it just made the future better for him.
'Glad for these books on souls.' Shen Yue just finished the 4th book that helped him understand his Flame Vortex Core better. Understanding that the Core energy produced could help defy the laws of Dimensions so much was a little scary. 'At least I have techniques to go with the natural abilities now.'
The first year in was fruitful. Exploration and the weight of time constraints allowed each of them to develop freely into fine individuals. At some point in Time, the Connection with each of them grew so intense it then waiver when he rebuked them for running in the Library.
The Library didn't like it when they did that; it was funny enough that Shen Yue made it a point to stop them everytime. Ye Han figured it out first that the "Soul" in the Library watched them.
Instructed by Shen Yue to let the others find out on their own.
Everyone was gathered as they discussed the finer points of their insights. Harmonizing with the Heavenly Energy in deeper insights in the Heavenly Fate Realm and making use of the Heavenly Way drew their attention more than anything.
"You are not from here. But the same could be said for any one of us if we reached a certain point of understanding our Soul itself." Long Sha voiced. "We were born in this Diemsnion, but "you" were not. Your Soul was not originally a native."
"This is true." The Temporal Dimension ignored a lot more than what he first thought. And the Connection to each of them allowed all of them to think freely. Breaking through the constraints of "Fate" even faster then before. "The question is whether you want to push forward knowing what happens with death now after meeting me."
The Connection was so solid, Shen Yue could feel surface thoughts from them without even trying. The level of trust was extremely high with those gathered. Not really knowing the original Shen Yue, they didn't see a difference.
"No issue from me." Hua Huo said. "My family.. might not be able to grow that strong."
"So am I." Zhang Ming said. "It sucks if we are weak when dying, we won't remember our life. Snippets and constant Deja Vu suck and is not a form of living."
"That I agree on. Only the strongest souls get to remember, apparently. With self reincarnation, there is no issue." Shen Yue caught Long Sha rolling his eyes at that. "As your Soul becomes freer, you will start catching stuff. Instances that don't make sense with some even killing themselves or going crazy because of incorrect Medicine delivered."
"Our Fate Souls, you have one of everybody so far. Protected, we have another chance at life if we do not all die, of course. With our memories intact if we keep updating our very Fate Soul itself." Yun Ling said objectively. "You are a cheat to Death kind of. Then again, all cultivators are."
"I found this book." Long Sha passed over a large book in regards to Spiritual Gods. "From what I read and understood so far, we can completely create a second self with this. Just would never be able to incorporate it back into ourselves."
In his hand was a Fate Soul. It was in deep meditation and floated about over the palm.
"Sounds like a Horcrux." Looking the manual over, he could see the appeal in it. Something that could have helped a long time ago in understanding Spiritual Gods. "What?" The group had no idea what he meant by Horcrux. "Right.."
Explaining to them only took a few minutes.
"It's like having a kid of yourself." Zhang Ming liked the sound of it. "The best way to keep a clan alive anyway. Can you change the gender of the Soul?"
"I can't." Long Sha frowned. "A large understanding of anatomy is needed for that. A medical understanding anyway."
"Hey, let's not get off track." Duan Jian stopped them from getting into it further. "The Spiritual Flames."
*Fwish!* The area they were in lit up. The clear, almost fire of their souls was made manifest. After ongoing trials forming their Divine Spark beforehand, it was easy to manipulate the Spiritual Flame.
"We all have pushed the strength of them more. Making our souls stronger." Long Sha was happy he was only second to Shen Yue's in intensity. "Every time I cultivate with my Divine Spark, it grows stronger by a noticeable amount."
"Same for me." Hongyue said. "The Fate Soul created from just our Heavenly Fate Cultivation doesn't do as much. But the power is more compared to the spiritual energy we have in our Divine Sparks. But then it doesn't last as long with a longer time for recovery of energy. An odd trade-off."
"Some time on studying the Spiritual Flames in various ways, it will be up to each of you to share with the others later." Shen Yue thought about what he knew already but needed more input from others. Living people would have more to offer. "Make sure to dive back into your Cultivation Manuals from the ground up."
"?" Most of them look puzzled by that.
"You know more, and you are much smarter already. You might find surprises." He smiled, getting up to head to another floor. Leaving the book, Long Sha gave him on a table for now.
It was quiet as they watched him moved for a bit. He was always smiling and seemed to always have figured something out every other week.
"I really disliked him for the longest time." Sikong Hongyue said openly. A hard stare from Hua Huo, who didn't know the whole reason why. Zhang Ming just grinned at her. "If we die, here and now. All the way, the chance of being reborn in another place does not sound appealing at all. Trapped inside another with no way out besides enlightenment."
"If we are lucky." Yun Ling muttered.
"So you are mad, you know now?" Ye Han, as the only other Champion, found this to be something worth looking into. 'Is this why he wants us to grow independently? To see who would want to come with to other Dimensions without any lingering attachments?'
"No, just.. resentful or mad at myself."The young woman hugged herself a little. "The others are gonna lose their shit when they find out."
"I say we are careful who we tell, for security and for their safety." Yun Ling said quickly. "We have no idea how to get here on our own, for one. So that makes it even more dangerous. If not for Shen Yue, would we have even heard of this place? The answer is no."
"Most of us were already fated to die in a few years." Zhang Ming nodded, understanding were she was coming from. "Remember what happened to the people in Glory City after the breakoff by Ye Ziyun's decision."
The soft warning made them nod in understanding.
"I don't plan on breaking any Agreements." Duan Jian had a grave look on his face. "Let's agree to take this one step at a time. Meeting with the Committee about the value of the Draconic Ruins Realm is not for another year. Technically eight with us here in this place."
As they broke off to get back to work, Shen Yue had found a few books that needed to be read.
"Separating the Mind & Soul." Feeling the Flame Vortex Core spin upon him picking it up defintely meant something good. Something to grow his Astral Sense even further, as well as the Heart Method (Maxium). "Unyielding Berserker, man, each book here is worth the read."
"Hey, Shen Yue." Hua Huo came up behind him. "Can you explain the 5th Heavenly Layer of Star Martial Arts before you get busy?"
"Yeah, give me just a sec." Placing the Berserk book back, he grabbed two others that caught his attention. "What part are you having trouble with exactly?"
"Well, all of my meridians are open, but I feel like my circulation of Star energy gets stuck. I don't have the problem when cultivating regularly."
.
Gu Clan change-
.
Gu Lan and her brother Gu Bei were in the Long clan with Long Shuyun. Having heard and agreed to her proposal, the difficult part was done with. The problem was they feared a trap overall from the Long clan done by the Gu clan to hurt the siblings more.
"As you have heard by now, my husband is a doctor of means." The two nodded at her. "This will cure the poison in you. Keep in mind it will be painful." Passing over an elixer filled with a bright liquid, Long Shuyin assumed it was a potent medicine as well.
Which it was. But also filled with Star Energy more than anything.
"Thank you." Gu Lan removed the top, drinking it in one go. Immediately it flushed through her body with a bit of circulation. Damaged flesh was restored as her cultivation base was devoured a little by the Star energy. "Ugh!"
Gu Bei was about to grab her before Long Shuyun stopped him. She shook her head; it was a bad idea.
"Sister..." Gu Bei held himself back. Black seepage pushed out of her body near the legs. "Umm.." He looked away, thinking she soiled herself.
The process continued for an hour before finishing. A servant came to clean the drowsy Gu Lan up. The look on her face was very coquettish. A small sliver of jealousy passed through Long Shuyin.
"What am I thinking?" Long Shuyun shook her head in distress. 'If this husband of mine has designs on her, I will not let it go! Even I wouldn't use a child to stop the trouble of the Gu clan!' Thinking about it was departmental. 'No, he wouldn't do such a thing.'
That was something the Dragonseal Family would have done. Something she herself had done with the influence of the family head when she trapped the father of Long Luyin in marriage by getting pregnant.
'I need to think this over carefully.' Looking over the notes he gave her regarding the Gu siblings, she calmed down quickly. 'No, he is not interested in her. To gentle. But she will help Long Yuyin out more. Hmm, first Xiao Yu and now Gu Lan. I guess they would make good friends for that lonely child of mine.'
The elixir bottle shined as it pulled in the discharge from the young woman. The potent poisoned needed to be studied of course. The Runes on the bottle keeping it sealed up now.
"Your family is a dangerous place to be, make sure you are careful." Long Shuyin said. "Cultivate diligently to be able to protect yourself. Dangerous times we are living in when family sabotages family."
"I will make sure to do so." Gu Bei said gratefully. His sister said nothing as she was trying to take control of the energy inside herself. "I will make sure they pay for this!" The suppressed feelings he had over time were rising to the surface.
*Woom!* The ten officers who cultivated in the room started to have breakthroughs from the Spirit Stones gained from the exchange. The agreement stated they were to get half of the reward. They did not use it to create an additional Fate Soul.
Instead, it was used to strengthen the Soul Realm and Cultivation as a whole. Their Demon Spirits devoured most as they evolved further. The mutations stronger from the process as Beast Law inside from Shen Yue stimulated growth more.
When finished, they addressed Long Shuyun.
"We have finished. As per the order, these are to be handed to you." The 50th Officer passed over several scrolls. "Caligraphy to improve the mind for those close to you. Our Master was very clear you may decline out of pride, but those close to you "must" become stronger."
This was of course set up before the reveal the family was controlled somewhat. Strengthening while waiting to make more moves was for the best.
"I see." Long Shuyun unraveled the scrolls and found herself a little bewildered. They were indeed worth looking over in her spare time to sharpen her mind. An additional list was handed to her by the Officer as well. "Xie, Lin, and a few others should go over these to increase their strength. Such a diligent husband I have to provide this."
Signaling a servant, several people were told to report to her. The idea they needed more strength was not that unusual to her, and she, rather those who typically protected her daughter in the Outside World, had more room for growth of all kinds.
After getting informed, the women were a little jealous of Long Shuyun's husband that spoiled her. Thinking he was not really from the Tiny World, he spoiled her with techniques and odd artwork even after freeing them. Looking at the "Officers," they started to get a few funky ideas.
"Haaa, the Master stated this might happen." The 50th Officer looked on helplessly. "We are not married and would not mind marrying into your family. However, we are not "servants" all the same. So keep that in mind. We will not follow the order of those in the Dragonseal Family directly."
The beginning part of "that" ritual did not set well with the man at all. He was liberated but not that liberated.
The Officers who were out in the open spies, of course, agreed to certain acts. It was just something not spoken out loud what they would do.
To them, the Dragonseal Family was just an extension of the Dark Moon Family. They just didn't know it yet.
Death, of course, was a possibility, but Shen Yue had a Fate Soul from each of them. This would guarantee they would be brought back and give him everything he needs to kill those who took them out.
"Hmm?" Long Shuyun looked at the two females in the group. "Is that the same for you?"
"We are married to one another." The two females stated. "So, unless that is not an issue, it is best to let that go. Only care about getting stronger right now. Not worried about children. Or marrying any of the men of this family."
Quite a few homosexuals were in his camp. Considering the law didn't hurt them in Dark Moon City, they were pretty open about it wherever they went. They were only telling Long Shuyun because they were in her home, and they wanted her to know.
"Not a problem, will just tell them it is a special cultivation issue if they press." Going through the items and the different requests, she was happy to actually be busy doing something besides dealing with the vermin in the Dragonseal Family. 'Hmm, if he can not be convinced to share with them, I will have to help my friends find someone to share their lives with. They lost so much already.'