Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 129 part 1! Hope you'll enjoy it!
Last week: I've finally finished making the cover for Book 2. I replaced previous main novel image, which was the cover for Book 1 with it. Let me know about what you think!
I also changed the paragraphs' sizes. Let me know if it's better, worse, or as good as previously.
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Bright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Omniscient P.O.V.
Ling's words brought a sense of anticipation to the group of four as each of them had been so focused on cultivation lately that, besides the Mansion, the Upper Tribulation Plateau, and now, the Wisdom Tide Library, the rest of the City was completely unknown to them.
As a great man once said: 'Success is attained through a combination of effort and rest. Lack the first and you'll implode. Lack the second and you'll explode.' Well, Demian and the three women felt that they had the cultivation part covered and were now in dire need of rest, which was why they had decided on setting up a date that day.
'Does Dual Cultivation count as effort though? Well, I AM exhausted afterwards, so let's just say it does.' The young man pondered half-jokingly while following behind Feng Ling, who brought out a Flying Boat that looked surprisingly similar to Sergei's Leaping Yang Boat, with the only difference being the Silver Moon symbol overlooking a deep blue river, surrounded by a group of white clouds, instead of Sergei's boat's bright Golden Sun.
The boat itself was also smaller, but since Tier 3 Artifacts had Size-Adjustment characteristics, that detail was most likely irrelevant. Their group was much smaller than the previous day, after all.
Once they all flew to the boat, with only Liya and Seraphine having to be carried by Demian's Intent—a situation that did not seem to bother any of the three, by the way, as the two women used that opportunity to press their respective busts, each a marvel of Nature both in size and shape, firmly against his arms.
'Being the weakest in the group may not be the worst thing, now that I think about it...' Liya thought briefly before realizing that, even after becoming much stronger, she could still ask the young man to carry her. 'I don't want to be a bother, though. But maybe, if I let him play with my breasts as a reward, he'd be fine with it? Men love big breasts, after all? And my babies are pretty impressive if I do say so myself.'
While Adeliya was thinking about some nonsense and Demian was somewhat distracted by the incredibly soft sensation coming from both of his arms, Bryn, who stood to the side, asked Ling curiously. "Aunt Ling, why does your Boat look exactly like Uncle Sergei's?"
With an amused smile on her face, the middle-aged woman replied. "That's because those two are a set. Separated, they are respectively Peak Tier 3 Flying Artifacts, and once you combine both, you get a Low Tier 4 Flying Artifacts. My husband's is the Leaping Yang Serenity, and mine is the Leaping Yin Serenity. Combined, they make the Leaping Yin-Yang Serenity."
Nodding her head, Bryn commented. "That sounds very impressive."
With a nod, Ling replied. "It is. Though that set of Artifacts was a lot pricier than traditional Peak Tier 3 Flying Boats, it was still a tad cheaper than those at Tier 4, not because that set was inherently worse, but rather because they only used Tier 3 materials instead of Tier 4 ones. That being said, our stash of Contribution Points was pretty much drained completely after buying it, so we had to pinch spirit stones for a while afterwards. Good thing that Sergei and I had a breakthrough in our respective professions. That way, we were able to sell a few Low Tier 4 Pills and Low Tier 4 Array Plates to recoup our 'loss'. If it wasn't for that, you guys might have had to beg on the streets instead of living in an Inner City Mansion."
Though the woman was mostly joking, their financial situation during that period was truly very tight. Fortunately, they did receive some help, or reaching the Low Tier 4 as a professional at Peak Core Formation would just be a pipe dream.
After all, the price for Tier 4 ores and Herbs was ridiculously high and something that even those at the Low Void Seed level without backing would struggle to acquire, let alone them being a Rank below.
In any case, that was also why the couple had still not crossed that threshold to the Void Seed Rank, despite being relatively confident in their foundation. Talismans, armors, Pills, etc, were still needed to maximize their odds of passing the ordeal, and all that cost money. An enormous amount of money.
Earning that amount of money would take a significant amount of time, and that was with their current means of making money as Low Tier 4 professionals, so one could guess how difficult it was for others less fortunate.
In any case, Bryn and Ling giggled at the latter's joke before noting that the other three did not react, seeming to be in their own world. The situation brought a question to Ling's mind, prompting her to send a Voice Transmission to the Jade-skinned beauty, her tone full of curiosity. ["I'm curious, does it really not bother you that those three are so touchy-feely without you?"] Hearing the question,
Bryn's delicate brow furrowed slightly before her expression relaxed, a resigned sigh escaping her lips. ["I guess it does a bit. But it's not as if they're pushing me aside. It's just that my sister and my mother are more forward than I am with their feelings. A lot more forward. If I'm being honest, I do feel a bit jealous. I mean, which woman would like to see his man in other women's arms? But when I remember that my own extremely possessive sister pushed him to be in a relationship with both my mother and me, even though she didn't have to, then that feeling of jealousy disappears. If I couldn't even accept that situation when my little sister sacrificed so much to make us happy, wouldn't I be a failure as a big sister?"]
Pausing for a second, Bryn then added with a discreet smile, her expression displaying a hint of playfulness. ["Plus, I'm sure that if I were to act as 'touchy-feely', as you put it, then Demian would treat me in the same way as the other two."]
Maybe due to the Older-Sister/Younger-Aunt vibe that Ling emitted, Bryn let slip more than she anticipated. Despite feeling a bit embarrassed, she had no regret, mainly because she did feel lighter after sharing what was on her Heart to someone she trusted.
With a tone matching her soft expression, Feng Ling replied. ["That's very mature of you. I'm not sure if I could be as accepting if I had to share my husband with another woman, let alone two more... Maybe..."]
That last word held some complicated emotions, but the jade-skinned woman, as someone relatively introverted when it came to anything emotion-related, did not dig deeper and instead remarked. ["It may sound strange, but it's exactly because the two women I share my man with are my sister and my mother that I can accept it. If it were any other random woman, I'm not sure I'd be so accepting of the situation. Or maybe I would. Who knows?"]
The two then fell silent as the boat flew along the Main Avenue toward the 'exciting place' Ling had promised to bring them to earlier.
Time passed by slowly in a peaceful silence until the boat slowed down as they were about to reach another plaza that Ling half-teased, half-advised Bryn playfully. ["You know, Xiao Bryn, it's better to be a bit more proactive, or you'll never get into that boy's pants. And believe me, I've seen how he looked at you, so you don't need to hesitate. Just go for it and you'll both be happily 'bouncing' together on his bed in no time."]
That comment made the thin-skinned younger woman freeze for a second before a light blush darkened her golden cheeks, and, while avoiding Ling's teasing gaze, she retorted, her tone embarrassed. ["No wonder you took my sister as a student, Aunt Ling. You're both complete perverts!"]
Giggling at the adorable reaction, the raven-haired woman retorted. ["And no wonder that brat's so into you. The whole shy and beautiful female warrior persona is deadly for men like that brat."]
Despite clicking her tongue in annoyance, the small smile on Bryn's face betrayed her true thoughts, which did not escape the other woman's attention.
However, Ling did not continue teasing her but instead turned back toward the three PDA enthusiasts [A/N: PDA: Public Display of Affection] and remarked. "When the three of you are done groping each other, you can follow me down to the ground."
Being suddenly called out, Demian, Sera, and Liya turned back toward the woman before calmly returning to the 'safe and proper' way of displaying one's affections: Holding hands with no other physical touch. At most, a slight brush here and there, but nothing more. As for any embarrassment from being 'exposed'...
At that point, none of them cared about others' opinions anymore. Demian, because having his blood-related Aunt and two older female cousins, with both being the Aunt's daughters, pretty much destined him to be criticized by other busybodies. Seraphine, because she had never known what shame was.
And lastly, Adeliya, who had been single for almost twenty years and had been discovering her inner pervert 'thanks' to her youngest daughter's 'help'. The jury was still out on that one, though, not certain if it was merely some self-discovery or strong brainwashing.
In any case, none of them acted flustered, surprising Feng Ling, who, while throwing a glance full of pity toward Bryn, exclaimed inwardly. 'And here I thought I was shameless enough. Good luck to you, little girl. I'm sure you'll need it.'
Sensing the other woman's strange gaze, Bryn cocked a brow in confusion, but instead of receiving an answer, Ling turned back toward the square where she had landed the boat at a designated landing space before floating down to the ground.
The guards immediately followed, then it was the turn of Demian and the two women stuck to his side, leaving Bryn dazed for a brief moment with only a thought. 'Why was she looking at me like that?' Unfortunately, she could not find the answer to her question, so she shoved that thought to the side and followed the group down, her gaze directed toward Demian, with her mind filled with many thoughts.
As the group left the flying boat, they were immediately met with a throng of people moving around the many high-end shops present on the Square's sides, but also the numerous small covered stalls set on the plaza, reminding the group of local markets found on the outside of Molkovian cities.
Unlike the ones they were used to, though, the alleys between stalls were much larger, matching the City's standard colossal impression, which almost made the immense crowd of cultivators walking around seem sparse.
Speaking of those cultivators, although many looked like 'normal' humans, many had 'abnormal' physical characteristics, like wings, gills, horns, and long ears. From both vendors and clients came shouts in Common, Chinese, Russian, and even unknown languages. Well, unknown for the four Mikhailovs, at least.
From what Demian could tell, most people used Common, a language that the four of them had now adopted in their daily life, and only a few special beings used those strange languages, while Russian and Chinese were only used to curse others, from what he could tell so far.
'I guess Common is called that way for a reason.' The young man contemplated with amusement while his gaze roamed around, feeling almost overwhelmed by the sheer amount of external stimuli, whether visual or auditory. Well, having extremely sensitive senses was not always a good thing.
Fortunately, with the increase in sensitivity came an increase not only in resistance but also in sensory filtering. Granted, it was still possible to overwhelm a cultivator's senses, no matter the level, but the stronger one was, the harder that feat became. As for Demian, wanting to overwhelm his brain with a high amount of stimuli was pretty much hopeless because of his Adaptive Perk.
Indeed, barely a moment later, the young man's mind had completely adapted to the external 'chaos', leaving him able to appreciate how well-organized the City, and by extension the Federation, was to be able to maintain that level of business—and busyness—without it devolving into complete chaos.
After all, those walking around this place were not mere Mortals, but cultivators whose strength was so great that any outburst from a few of them could turn the whole place into a scene of death and destruction.
However, when looking around, the worst altercation Demian caught was a humanoid male, with every visible centimeter of his skin being covered with dark blue scales, fiercely bargaining with a seller, both of them throwing insults at each other, the scaly man accusing the salesman of selling low quality products at an inflated price, and the latter accusing the former of slandering him, being stingy, etc.
Of course, the words used were much less polite, and even Demian, with his combined 48 years of life (Lives?), was only able to confirm their 'curse word statuses', though knowing their specific meaning was impossible.
However, that did not stop him from filing those words in one corner of his brain... For research purposes. Right. And to protect himself. After all, who knew if knowing those insults could save his life one day...
Aaanyway, after a few seconds of silence, Ling turned toward them and asked. "What do you guys think of this place?"
Liya immediately responded with a wry smile. "Overwhelming. But with some kind of order. I'm not sure if it should be called 'orderly chaos' or 'chaotic order' though?"