Author's Note: For those interested, there are now five advanced chapters (we're on chapter 41) 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
A small commotion was taking place on the outskirts of the commercial district near Holy Orchid Institute, most of the people present were servants, merchants, or the occasional student.
The vast majority of those present weren't even capable of sensing soul force, and the small percentage who did were, at most, at the early stages of the Bronze rank.
So, although it was an incredibly striking occurrence, none of those present could find an acceptable explanation for the sudden surge of soul force that swept through the area.
Well, none except for one person, Nie Li was someone who could in no way be included in any ensemble involving the rest of Glory City, at first glance, he might not stand out too much, just another average kid aspiring to become a spiritualist.
But the truth was that aside from those directly involved who knew where the pulse of soul force came from, he was the only one in the entire place who immediately identified the source.
And when his legs carried him to the cause of all this commotion, his eyes widened in surprise, he ignored the boy lying on the ground, the pink-haired girl staring at the treasure, still stunned, and the two young children who let go of the fallen boy's tail before fleeing in alarm.
His eyes never left the object lying on the ground, still emitting a wave of soul force that gradually diminished.
The Nightmare Demon Pot was a treasure that even he, a time traveler who had cultivated to supremacy in his previous life, knew very little about.
In fact, he only knew one of its uses: the formation of a powerful demonic spirit.
Fusing 10 spirits of the same type, it was possible to obtain one with incredibly high growth potential, but the probability of obtaining such a reward was quite low.
But even with this "flaw", Nie Li had no doubt that this treasure's value was priceless, to the point that many power-hungry spiritualists would massacre entire families and clans to obtain it.
The question was, how had such a treasure ended up in Glory City?
"Nie Li!!" Du Ze's voice caught the time traveler's attention, and he turned his head to see all his friends approaching him.
At the same time, Nie Li saw out of the corner of his eye how the pink-haired girl also reacted to her friend's voice, snapping out of her daze, raising her hand, and absorbing the Nightmare Demon Pot along with other items into her storage ring.
"Leek." The girl said, approaching the fallen boy, helping him up, and only then did Nie Li notice that the young man wasn't wearing any kind of accessory; instead, the tail growing out of his lower back was real, and it now wrapped around his waist like a belt.
"I hate having my tail touched." The boy said as he finished getting up and both of them jumped over the walls until they reached the roof of the house next door, but not before the young man turned his gaze slightly, meeting Nie Li's, and the time traveler remembered, this person was the same one he had seen in the clearing inside the training camp where he and his friends hunted the horned sheep.
#####
Third Person P.O.V
Several Hours Later
Night had fallen a few hours ago, and Nie Li was currently lying on the grass, a green twig in his mouth and his hands behind his head as he gazed at the starry sky, but his mind paid no attention to the scenery or anything else around him.
His thoughts were still replaying the encounter that had taken place earlier that day, along with all the information he knew, trying to understand the implications of what it meant.
First, there was that person, that unknown young man, from the first time he saw him, Nie Li felt something was off about him.
Not only was he unable to identify the energy he was using, nor was his estimated strength far beyond what "normal" people could achieve.
That was already a bit worrying, mainly because he didn't remember such a person existing in his past life.
Based on his appearance, the time traveler estimated he was between 15 and 16 years old, which was unheard of, because he was sure anyone who looked that age and possessed that level of power would be a celebrity in Glory City, but he had never heard of such a person in class.
Even so, after seeing him at the training camp, Nie Li decided to wait a little longer, mainly because he didn't know everyone in Glory City, this person could be a genius raised by a powerful family as a hidden card who had died during the invasion of Glory City without ever meeting him, that added to the fact that Nie Li was still a nobody in the grand scheme of things within Glory City, both in terms of power and status, made the old man in the child's body decided to simply let it go and focus on his own development and plans.
But what happened and what he saw today completely changed his thoughts, leaving aside the priceless treasure that was the Nightmare Demon Pot, because it was useless in the hands of someone who didn't know how to use it, what truly worried Nie Li was this person's appearance.
Having a tail wasn't something very common in the Divine Continent, perhaps in the Dragon Ruins Realm, but here? Even more so, in Glory City itself? It was unheard of, and it reminded the young spiritualist a bit of the members of the demonic sects who worshipped the Sage Emperor.
They were capable of taking on humanoid forms, some almost completely indistinguishable from humans, aside from features like animal ears... or a tail.
This was worrying, and for the first time, Nie Li wasn't entirely sure how to act. What should he do? Expose the other party? There were multiple problems with that idea.
If he was walking around Glory City with his tail uncovered, then it was obvious that people had seen him and weren't alarmed, which Nie Li understood perfectly, after all, no one would see someone like that and associate it with a demonic beast.
Only the people living in the Dragon Ruins would be able to make the connection, and even then it was something that might or might not happen due to the variety of quirks some members of the various sects had.
And if he accused him, how would he explain where he got the knowledge? Given his reputation as a translation expert, he could say that a book in the library mentioned something about people with tails, but that would be too weak evidence to take action against him, which would end up leaving him in a rather unfavorable position.
So no, those kinds of direct confrontational actions wouldn't work in this situation.
It was at that moment that an idea struck Nie Li, this morning, just before they purchased the Purple Haze Grass, he had already sent out the letters containing the recipes for its uses.
He had even thought of a way to explain this knowledge, claiming that he had met a powerful wandering spiritualist who had taken him on as his apprentice, and under the protection of this "master", he would make all the deals and concessions until he left Glory City.
So, by using this powerful, fabricated figure, he could perhaps draw the Alchemist Guild's attention to this mysterious young man.
He didn't want to do anything too drastic, he was suspicious of him, obviously, but being antagonistic from the start was something he wouldn't do; it wasn't in keeping with his personality.
He would just keep a little vigilance, at least until he discovered something that would dictate his next course of action.
"Ahh." Sighing, Nie Li removed the twig from his lips before tossing it aside.
He stretched slightly before turning and walking towards his residence. "His name was... Leek, right? Curious name, it's the first time I've heard one that sounds like that. Well, let's hope the Alchemist Association finds my letter soon." He said in a whisper.
#####
Third Person P.O.V
The Next Day
"Phew." Leek stretched at the entrance of the Huyan family residence, the patriarch was at his side, and they were both waiting for Lanruo so they could head to the City Lord's mansion and present the progress of the cultivation enhancement research that Leek had promised to the City Lord.
Besides that, there was also the matter of the request the Saiyan had told Ye Shuo about, Ye Zong had never mentioned anything about it during the entire journey back, but Leek was sure the Ye family elder had mentioned it to him, so Leek hoped that after presenting the results today, the City Lord would consider his request.
Because if he got the green light to continue his research, then the knowledge and results could increase the strength of both Lanruo and Xiao Ning'er.
And that was another thing he felt he should pay attention to, he hadn't seen the girl since leaving Glory City, so he planned to meet up soon so they could catch up, train, eat together, and, among other things, let her pamper him a little.
Especially considering the fact that he'd spent the last few days on a dangerous expedition, although, of course, Leek would never tell anyone that one of the reasons for meeting her was because he wanted to spend his free time with a couple of pretty girls who were clearly attracted to him, after all, he still had a bit of pride.
But he'd also have to be a complete liar if he said being taken care of by a pretty girl like Ning'er wasn't incredibly enjoyable, because if even someone as grumpy as Vegeta enjoyed spending "quality time" with his wife (especially in the shower), then, in his opinion, he was completely free to enjoy being pampered by a beautiful girl who clearly liked pampering him.
He supposed it was part of the benefits of being a generic reincarnated being with a golden finger.
"Ahh." Leek sighed once more as he shook his head, letting out a short laugh to dispel the last thought, and he did so just in time to see Lanruo quickly approaching him and Huyan Xiong, who looked a bit impatient.
"You really took your time, huh?"
"We're going to the City Lord's mansion, I need to be appropriately dressed." Lanruo made an excuse, not even considering the fact that she could have gotten ready in time if she'd gotten up earlier, but in her opinion, that was Leek's fault, after all, the last time they slept together before he left Glory City had been incredibly comfortable, so she'd wanted to try it again.
They obviously hadn't done anything more than cuddle, but for her, it was incredibly comfortable sleeping next to him, she wasn't in a hurry; they could do the more daring things later, when they moved in together after the City Lord granted Leek a noble title, house, and land at the next meeting.
"Okay, let's go." Huyan Xiong sighed, turned around, and walked forward, he knew his daughter well enough to know that arguing with her would only bring him headaches, so he wisely ignored the problem and decided to leave the future migraines to Leek to solve.
He just hoped his future grandchildren didn't have a personality similar to his daughter's, or the one he had when he was young.
Lanruo took Leek's arm in hers, and the two of them walked a little behind their father, taking advantage of the fact that no one was looking, the Saiyan gave the girl a look that expressed a silent question.
And to answer, she discreetly placed a storage ring on his hand, taking advantage of their position.
The thing was, yesterday, after the whole mess with the ring, both he and Lanruo got away from the place as fast as they could, jumping across rooftops to avoid the gaze of passersby, and when they were far enough away, Lanruo began her barrage of questions.
This was something Leek had expected, and although at first he had planned for them to return to her house before telling her everything, he ultimately decided it would be best for them to go somewhere more private, one where no one else was around.
And when he said that, a lightbulb seemed to go off above Lanruo's head, so without a second's hesitation, she took them to a place that, by her own admission, she had always been curious to visit.
Guesthouses with open-air baths for couples were something Lanruo had heard her friends mention more than once, since by Glory City standards it was rare for a girl her age not to have a fiancé.
So, some of her classmates were already married or in relationships, and several of them had mentioned how exciting it was to visit a private bathhouse with their partners, so she, as a perfectly healthy young lady, was also curious about these kinds of places.
So, the moment Leek gave her a chance, she dragged him to one of the most luxurious hotels she'd heard of.
And all it took to see was the young Saiyan's expression to see his disbelief at the daring girl's "particular" choice, although of course, that didn't mean he refused to go.
And although this seemed like the perfect opportunity to reference several romantic comedies, they both knew the things they had to talk about were incredibly serious, so Leek decided to tell her everything that had happened during the trip, including the Sage Emperor problem.
After all, she was most likely the person he trusted the most, furthermore, given that they would be together for the foreseeable future, Leek planned to help her get as strong as he could.
After all, Lanruo would hardly accept being relegated to a fragile and beautiful girl, in the Saiyan's opinion, although she didn't seem as enthusiastic about the idea of getting stronger or fighting as he or Ning'er were, she would surely kick the butt of anyone who tried to mess with her, and to do so, she would have to be strong.
And when he finished telling everything, the pink-haired girl's reaction confirmed that his actions were the right ones.
Faced with the possibility that the apocalypse of her world was coming, although she seemed a little distressed, she didn't despair, cry, or lose her fighting spirit. Instead, she looked seriously at Leek before asking a single question.
"How are we going to stop it?"
That single question expressed incredibly clearly what Lanruo felt: she didn't know what they could do, she didn't even know if they could do anything, but still, she expressed her desire to be standing by Leek's side the moment he said he would go against this powerful enemy.
And Leek couldn't put into words how happy he was to hear her say that, so he went on to explain his plan, or well, the half-baked outline of a plan he'd been thinking of up until now.
And the first step would be to obtain money, an incredibly large amount of money, it was fortunate that the Saiyan had obtained a good pile of treasures, which, while they wouldn't cover all his future expenses, could make a good start when sold through the Hong Yue Mu family auction house.
But until then, Lanruo had assumed the responsibility of paying with her own money for the things Leek needed.
Because of that, she had left Leek at her house after they'd talked and gone out to get what they needed, leaving the Saiyan with her father so they could take inventory of the treasures that would be auctioned in the future.
And now, as they headed to the city lord's mansion with a storage ring full of spirit demons, they were both ready for the second part of their plan.
X-X-X-X-X
Well, another chapter. The arc we'll be entering now will be one about laying the groundwork for Leek's plan, the relationships between characters, and transforming Glory City, or at least the land where Leek's family will be, into his main base, at least until it's time to go to the Dragon Ruins Realm.
On the other hand, we have Nie Li. In most of the fanfics I've read, when the MC isn't in their group, they present him as a problem to overcome. In this case, it won't be entirely like that. I don't plan for his story and Leek's to become too intertwined. Anyway, I already have a clear outline of how I want things to be between Nie Li and Leek, so I hope you like what I have planned.
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 (Come on guys, we're very close to achieving it!), 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.