Author's Note: For those interested, there are now five advanced chapters (we're on chapter 40) and a poll about drawing that we will be requesting in the future for this story on my on P-atreon, which you can read and vote for just $5.
I also finished the first volume of my other story, "Welcome to the Alternate Multiverse Chat Group."
So if you can, please go to my profile and check it out.
Remove the spaces and dash: p-atreon/ Krakenian01
X-X-X-X-X
Third Person P.O.V
It was close to noon, and having left the entrance to Glory City behind a considerable amount of time ago, Leek had to admit he was incredibly relieved to finally be back, after all, after the nameless old man had finally disappeared, hopefully, this time for good, he woke up once again in his bed in the middle of the night, and when he saw the ring Lanruo had given him for this trip, he noticed cracks spreading across it.
Despite his initial reluctance, the Saiyan eventually accepted the flame the old man left behind, and thanks to this, he confirmed that the object had been released from the box.
Because of this, the energy pulse released when the last compartment opened was rapidly damaging the ring, and if it broke, then the object would be released.
And considering that all the Spiritualists in this camp were at least Gold-ranked, it was a given that most of those within a couple of dozen meters would be able to sense the treasure's aura clearly.
Leek didn't want to give any further explanations, and thanks to the knowledge the old man left behind, he was almost certain that if the city lord found this object, he could pressure him into handing it over, even if he didn't know what the object could do.
And if Leek didn't want to hand it over, he could cause a rift in the supportive relationship he was trying to create between him and the Snow Wind family, something the Saiyan didn't want to happen.
So the best thing, at least for the time being, would be to hide the object until he was strong and influential enough to guarantee they wouldn't try to take it from him.
He could even reveal it later, saying he found it in some other ruin when he left Glory City again later.
So the best solution left by the old man was to delay the ring's destruction by using his own energy to "cover" it, much like holding the pieces of a broken water-filled cup together by pressing them together to prevent the water from escaping through the cracks.
That way, the object could hold up for a while longer, so that's what Leek did, sending a constant supply of energy until he found an isolated spot where he could stop, let the object out, and then put it in another ring, where it would be safe.
The problem with the whole thing about keeping the ring "together" with his energy wasn't just the fact that it was only a temporary solution, but the fact that he had to send energy to cover the ring constantly and without stopping for a single second, because if he did, similar to what would happen with the broken cup, the contents would leak out.
So not only did he stay up all night while continuing to send out energy, but he had to do so for the entire return journey.
It was only because he had a large amount of energy in his reserves, now increased by Zenkai, along with good energy control, that he was able to hold out this far, and even though he had managed to convince Ye Zong to hurry their return, it took them another day to finally reach the city entrance.
'We're finally back. I honestly don't know how much longer I can hold out, my whole body aches.' Leek thought, feeling not only fatigued from not having slept at all for two nights straight, but also from having to control his energy for all that time.
Ki was like a muscle; it could be strengthened and grown through constant use.
So, from Leek's perspective, having to draw on his own energy for so long was like holding an arm up, easy at first, but eventually becoming tiring, and for the last few hours, it had become painful.
For that reason, when Leek saw Lanruo further along his path, he knew he had just found a way out of this whole situation.
"Mr. Huyan Xiong." He said, looking at his future father-in-law. "Would it be alright if I go for a walk with Lanruo now and take the opportunity to give her your gift?"
"Now?" The family patriarch raised an eyebrow, but ultimately shrugged it off. "Sure, go out and have some fun, but don't take too long, I want you to take a look at the list Hong Yue Mu will give you about the materials you found in the cave and decide what you'll keep and what you'll sell, it would be best to get back to him today so he can put the items up for auction at the next auction." He finished before throwing him a stack of Demon Spirit Cards, which Leek caught.
"Thank you." He said softly just before Lanruo approached them.
"Leek!" She greeted him, hugging the Saiyan. The truth was, she was a little worried about him and her father, after all, when they left, they said that they would return in perhaps 10 days.
However, the time had stretched out longer than they had initially thought, and although when Ye Zong and Huyan Xiong were reunited, they sent messengers to rush back to Glory City to communicate their situation, the girl was still waiting to check on Leek, whom her father had described as injured but stable enough and recovering quickly.
Taking advantage of the proximity created by the hug, Leek wasted no time and whispered into the girl's ear. "Play along and help me get away from the group, we need to find a place where there are no spiritualists; it's urgent." He said in a low tone and as quickly as he could.
Lanruo flinched slightly, but it took her the blink of an eye to compose herself before taking Leek's hand and turning to her father, the City Lord, and the elders of the Hong Yue and Ye families, bowing with the grace of a noble lady.
"Greetings to everyone, please excuse my rudeness, but I must take my fiancé for a moment." She said with a smile.
Ye Zong laughed heartily, he knew Lanruo's temperament and true attitude very well, as impulsive as her father had been in his youth, that's why it was funny to him when she hid that attitude behind the image of a polite young lady.
"You may as well continue," the City Lord said without any problem, though he made sure to add, "Don't forget, kid, you must come tomorrow to show me the promised results"
Leek nodded a few times. "No problem, I'll be there around noon." He said before being dragged away by Lanruo.
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Third Person P.O.V
Both advanced steadily, moving away from the group of spiritualists who had just arrived in the city, at a speed neither too fast nor too slow, at least until they turned a couple of corners, because after that their steps suddenly accelerated.
Lanruo didn't know what was happening, but Leek had asked her to get as far away from everyone as possible, so she planned to go to a place where there were few spiritualists, because the Saiyan's request that they reach a place where there were none was impossible, unless they went to one of the vacant lots in this sector of the city.
However, these were too far apart, and technically, they were still at the "entrance" to Glory City, since it covered an area of almost a dozen kilometers.
And the only other option would be to leave the city again, which was also impossible because if they turned around and tried to leave through the entrance that the Saiyan and the others had entered through, then they ran the risk of being discovered by the group he arrived with, something they clearly had to avoid.
So Lanruo opted for the next best option: a place where there were few spiritualists, and the few that were nearby would be of a low level: the commercial district near the Holy Orchid Institute.
At that moment, Lanruo heard Leek let out a faint groan of discomfort, which alarmed her.
"Leek?! Are you okay?! What's going on?!" She asked worriedly, not knowing what was really happening to the Saiyan.
"Relax, I'm not hurt or anything, I'm just really tired, I've been using my energy to keep the ring you gave me from breaking for a little over two days, there's a treasure inside that would attract a lot of attention if it were released near powerful people like the city lord." Leek explained, raising his hand.
At that moment, the pink-haired girl could see the ring she'd given the Saiyan when she'd left days ago, now covered in a nearly imperceptible layer of energy.
But thanks to the new detection abilities she'd developed through practice with Leek, she was fully able to identify the young man's ki surrounding the ring.
The problem was that the ki flow was "waving", like a candle flame exposed to a gust of wind, the continuous flow of energy faltered every few seconds, and it seemed like it could be completely cut off at any moment.
So, sensing this, she understood the problem: Leek had not only been using his ki to cover the ring relentlessly for a couple of days, but now he was also using it to strengthen his body's physical capabilities and increase his speed to get away as quickly as possible, which was wearing him down even faster than before.
So she did the only thing she could think of: she held his hand and pulled him with all her strength, knocking him down toward her, catching him and carrying him like a princess before running at full speed.
"Huh?" The Saiyan looked confused for a second before his expression turned completely embarrassed.
"I'll keep us as far away as I can, I know a place where there are few spiritualists, and most of them are at the beginning of the bronze rank, so you can just focus on keeping the ring." He said, smiling a little when he noticed Leek was embarrassed.
Ever since that night when he had edged her before kissing her, his attitude had changed to a more dominant one, and she hadn't been able to make him blush or get nervous again, at least not like he had at first.
And although she ended up loving his more confident side, she still wanted to see him get a little nervous around her.
So, even though she knew they were in the middle of something serious, she took advantage of the situation to see him blush once more, even if it was just a little.
"I'm going to remember this." Leek said, lowering his gaze, determined to concentrate fully on keeping the ring stable for as long as possible.
Seconds passed, then a minute, then two, and when just over twenty minutes had passed, the Saiyan felt he was at his limit, the fact that he could focus his mind and ki solely on maintaining the ring had bought him a few more minutes than if he had to reinforce his body to run faster, but even so, he couldn't continue any longer.
He felt his nerves burning and his body fatigued, as if suffering from a general malaise caused by a cold.
"Lanruo, I can't take it anymore, take me to that alley." Leek directed his gaze to an empty side street near where they were, and upon hearing him, the pink-haired girl moved quickly.
They were quite close to the commercial district, and she didn't see anyone who looked particularly striking or imposing.
Most of the people were elderly merchants, servants, and a group of young boys, so he figured this place was good enough.
So the moment they entered the alley, Leek, gritting his teeth, took Lanruo's hand before speaking to her. "When I stop supplying my energy, the ring will break, at that point, use yours to catch everything that falls, then we'll go straight to your house." The Saiyan said as he looked at the ring the girl had on her index finger, he hoped it had enough space for the things he had in the ring he was wearing.
"Ok, I just have a few Demon Spirit Cards here." Lanruo replied, she was hoping to go shopping with Leek later, so she had emptied her ring to fit everything they bought, space shouldn't be an issue.
"Good, now I'm going to-!" The Saiyan was saying when he heard footsteps behind him, along with a pair of children's voices.
"Ah, my ball!" The voice of a little boy who entered the alley running after a small ball, followed by a slightly smaller girl, echoed throughout the room.
In normal situations, this would have been no problem for Leek, he would have reacted immediately and calmly, but this wasn't a normal situation.
He hadn't slept for two nights, had had to carefully control his own energy for two days straight, and was at his limit, so when the boy tripped at the entrance to the alley, right behind him, and grabbed his tail, he couldn't resist for even a second.
He hadn't neglected his tail training for a single day, and thanks to that, his resistance to this weakness had improved considerably, from losing all his strength when he first acquired this body, to barely being able to stand and speak when Lanruo grabbed his tail that night in the meadow, now he could even turn around and throw a desperate blow at anyone holding his appendage.
But once again, in his current weakened state, and still focused on his energy and the ring, Leek's reaction was very similar to the one he'd had the first few days he landed on this planet.
His legs trembled before giving way, and he fell forward, the ki supply that had been feeding the ring until a second ago was suddenly cut off, causing cracks to spread rapidly, covering the entire surface of the ring.
And when Leek's knee hit the ground, the ring shattered, spilling its contents.
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Third Person P.O.V
Nie Li was walking with his group, they had just left the shopping district, each carrying three large sacks, all filled with Purple Haze Grass.
With all the money they had gathered, they had managed to get a little more than they had initially hoped for, so, to transport everything they had bought, they would have to make at least two more trips after this one.
It was fortunate that the vendor believed they were a bunch of ignorant young people and offered to give away a little over 100 kg extra if they really bought a ton.
And Nie Li took advantage of this, and after a few witty words, the merchant finally agreed to give them 150 kg as a gift for such a large purchase.
"Ugh, do we really have to make more trips like this? My body won't be able to handle it!" Lu Piao complained with a pitiful expression.
"It's only 60 kg, don't complain so much." Du Ze retorted, walking past his lazy friend.
"Du Ze is right, besides, this will also serve as training, right Nie Li?" Wei Nan encouraged him as he asked the leader of their group, who until then seemed to be somewhat thoughtful, but the moment his name was called, he put aside whatever was holding his attention to turn around with a smile and answer.
"That's right, also, remember this, Lu Piao, we only have to keep this Purple Haze Grass for a few days, a week or two at the most, and after that, I assure you its price will skyrocket, it'll be worth at least five times what it's worth now, I'm sure!" The orange-haired youth decided to reveal some information to encourage not only Lu Piao, but the others as well.
Although, of course, his estimates were considerably higher than just five times the current market price, Nie Li wasn't expecting anything less than ten times the current value, and he would actually be a little surprised if it didn't go even higher than that.
When that happened, he would not only have a small excuse to approach the Alchemy Association to sell his Purple Haze Grass reserves, but also to sign a trade agreement with them, thanks to all their elixir recipes.
And when the deal was closed, the money earned from the Purple Haze Grass would be little more than pocket change for him, and that's not even counting access to all the high-value pills they could use to further enhance his cultivation.
"Really?! Why didn't you say so before! Come on, don't delay! We can't be lazy!" Lu Piao, now brimming with energy, shed his panting dog appearance and seemed ready to make as many trips as necessary to transport all the goods, earning a sigh of resignation from Du Ze and laughter from Wei Nan, Zhu Xiangjun, Zhang Ming, and Nie Li.
"All right." Nie Li nodded; now that he saw everyone looking a little more animated, he was about to suggest they pick up the pace a little, but before he could continue, a wave of spiritual energy hit his senses.
And he wasn't the only one who felt it, his friends also looked around, trying to find the source of the energy they had just sensed, but unable to place it.
But this wasn't the case with Nie Li, his eyes immediately shifted toward a certain alleyway, and a second later, his soul force was already circulating throughout his body, strengthening him and allowing him to move at a speed greater than any spiritualist or fighter of his rank should be able to.
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Did you know that body reinforcement using soul force isn't something people can do in Glory City?
Yes, rereading the novel, apparently no one knew how to do this besides Nie Li, and that's how he was able to fight people who were more advanced in their cultivation than him.
Besides that, I also wanted to ask you for something else: I'd like to commission a drawing for this story, either a new cover or a fan art of a scene.
That's why I wanted to ask you to please join my P-treon, those who join, in addition to being able to read the 5 extra chapters there, will also be able to vote to decide which of these two options will be the drawing.
If we get 19 people with Legend rank to join, and I add a little bit of what I have saved (because the good artists I've seen on X aren't cheap), I think I'll be able to find a good artist to draw something for this story.
So far there are 15 people, so we need only 4 more (we are close to the goal!), so, if possible, please support me, if not, I still appreciate the reviews, comments, and power stones.
And a special thanks to Sangre61Tenibris for always giving several power stones, I really appreciate it.
Aside from that, I have two things to ask you. The first is about Leek's family name. Do you have any suggestions?
And the second is, since we're so close to reaching the goal for the drawing, do you have any specific artists you'd recommend for commissioning?
Remove the spaces and dash: p-atreon/ Krakenian01
I'll be listening to your recommendations.