“Where are we?” I asked. From my knowledge, this was not the Yu Clan compound. Although I didn’t know much about the city, I at least knew about the two big clans of Red Dawn City.

“We are at Ling Clan. They are very close to my Yu Clan. You can say that we are in the same camp.”

I gave a nod to show my understanding.

For the rest of the way, we walked in silence.

“We are here,” she said when we reached a courtyard. She stood before the door of a room and lightly tapped on it. “Brother Chen, it’s Chen’er.”

There was no reply for a few moments. “Enter,” a soft murmur came from inside.

Sister Yu Chen’er pushed the door and entered the room. I followed.

A handsome young man sat propped on the bed. He looked about eighteen to nineteen years old. When we entered, he gave a cursory glance in our direction. The first thing that caught me was the eye patch that covered his right eye. The next thing was the other eye; it was devoid of any life in it. A deep sense of hopelessness and lethargy permeated it.

All at once, the image of another young man appeared in my mind. I was the same in my previous life.

“Brother Chen, how are you feeling today?” Yu Chen’er asked in a gentle tone.

“Fine,” the young man replied. After that, he stared out at the window.

“Brother Chen, this is Su Ren,” she said gesturing towards me, undaunted by the lackluster response from the other side.

“Su Ren greets big brother Chen.” I came forward and greeted him.

The young man gave a slight nod in my direction.

Thereafter, Sister Yu started telling many stories. How we encountered. How we became close. The lifestyle that we led. Anything that was remotely interesting. This was the first time I was seeing this side of her. I always knew that she was a caring person despite her rough exterior.

Brother Chen would sometimes nod, sometimes he would quietly listen and sometimes, he would just blankly stare out through the window.

I desperately fought against the urge to use [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Black] to check his status. It felt morally wrong. In the end, my curiosity won the battle. I activated [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Black] and checked his status.

GENERAL

Name

Ling Chen

Age

19 years old

Cultivation Method

Rhythm of the Metal God

Realm

Core Formation 7

(7232/80000 Essence)

Lifeforce

2320/2320 (Regeneration: 2% per second)

Qi

0/2990 (Regeneration: 2% per second)

ATTRIBUTES

Strength

231

Physique

232

Movement

235

Control

299

Soul

299

Comprehension

299

Charm

58

Fate

32

INNATE TRAITS

Essence Eye (Damaged)

Metal Fingers (Damaged)

AILMENT

Crippled Cultivation

I checked the details of the traits.

ESSENCE EYE (Damaged)

Enables to see the essence of the world.

(Note: The trait can’t be used in damaged state.)

Similar to my [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode White], I guessed. Since I was unable to compare directly, I wasn’t sure.

METAL FINGERS (Damaged)

Enables to work with all sorts of metal in great finesse.

(Note: The trait can’t be used in damaged state.)

I looked to check his fingers but found his hands hidden among the bedclothes. I was unable to check the damage on the fingers. There was no need for me to check the ailment. The name said it all. But still, I did.

CRIPPLED CULTIVATION (Ailment)

Cause: Destruction of Dantian

Effects: Disable the growth of stats through any means. Disables the ability to cultivate.

Cure: Regeneration of Dantian

I deactivated [Kaleidoscope Eye]. When I did, my eyes met with the hollow eyes of Ling Chen. Did he find out that I was spying on him? I felt guilty for doing that. I didn’t know what to say.

Soon, he averted his eyes.

I sighed in relief. It didn’t seem like he would pursue the matter.

“Brother Chen, we will take our leave,” Yu Chen’er said. A few hours had already passed.

I bowed.

He gave a slight nod at our gestures.

When we were about to go out through the door, he mumbled, “Too much blood. Not good.”

I knew he was addressing me. I turned towards him. I wanted to ask him what he meant by those cryptic words but he was already looking beyond the horizon. He didn’t look like he would answer any queries. This was already the longest thing he said.

Maybe, next time. I made plans to come back again.

We went out the Ling Clan compound. A grim silence stood between us.

“Brother Chen was the most talented person in the history of Red Dawn City. At the age of seven, he broke through to Qi Gathering Stage. At the age of eleven, he broke through to Foundational Stage and at the age of fourteen, he broke through the Core Formation Stage. It was impressive but that was not what made him special. His two traits made him perfectly suited to become a Celestial Metalworker. His calm disposition was the icing on the cake.” She looked in the distance as if recalling the beautiful past.

I didn’t interrupt. I let her continue the narrative at her own pace.

“He told me that he would become the best Celestial Metalworker in the world,” she continued. “At the age of fifteen, he set out to join a sect that especially dealt with Celestial Metalworking. After that I didn’t hear from him for a long while.”

She paused. I could see tears accumulating in her eyes. “He returned a year ago. I was there at that time. He was all bloody and tattered. His right eye was injured, his fingers broken. I still remember what he said at that moment. ‘They are worse than monsters. They are worse than monsters.’ He kept repeating that again and again. He never talked about what happened in the sect. But it was easy to guess: the ‘they’ he kept repeating was the people from the sect. It was them who did all this to him.”

“Ren,” she turned to me. “I know you are very talented, much more than brother Chen. I also know that you are monstrously strong. To judge you as a normal eleven year old kid would be the worst mistake anyone could commit. But listen to your elder sister Chen’er. The clans might appear dirty with all the politics and clan benefits. However, there is at least tiny bit of kinship among the clansmen. As for the sects, they are just a bunch of strangers who came together for benefits. If you are not a core member, I don’t think you will even be treated as a proper member of a sect but rather a tool. This might be my prejudice speaking but think carefully if you want to join a sect, Ren.”

“I will, Sister Yu. Thank you,” I replied.

I returned home, feeling a bit heavy.

As soon as I neared the entrance of the store, Byakko dashed out and jumped into my arms. I had to catch him, lest he fell. “You are late. What took you so long?” he grumbled in my arms.

“Sorry. I had stuff to take care of.” I rubbed his soft fur.

Xue’er and Ling were at the entrance.

“Welcome back, young master,” she said with a gentle smile.

“I am home,” I replied, smiling.

Ling fluttered around me. “Master! Master! Did you get some good stuff?”

I nodded. “Let’s go inside first.”

We gathered in the study room. I took out all the items that I bought from the auction. To be accurate, there were seventeen items.

“Father~ Which ones are mine? Which ones are mine?” Byakko looked at the items with bright and shining eyes.

“Mine! Mine! Mine!” Ling echoed.

Xue’er stood by the side without saying anything, feigning disinterest. But I could see sparkles in her eyes. She was interested in the items a lot. Well, it wasn’t that difficult to understand her. She was a ten-year-old kid, after all.

I picked a ball made of unknown materials and rolled it towards Byakko. My [Kaleidoscope Eye: Mode Black] was unable to identify it. That meant its rank was high. It should at least be legend-ranked. From my readings, I had found that pills, weapons and other items were ranked similar to the spells. That is, Common >> Uncommon >> Rare >> Epic >> Legend >> Saint >> Celestial >> Divine >> God. I could only identify till epic rank with my present cultivation level.

“What is it?” he said, pawing it tentatively. The ball rolled on the floor. He followed it. “What is it? What is it?” I heard him mutter but he was soon caught up in playing with it that he forgot that I was supposed to bring him more stuff.

I grinned. He may be the descendant of a legendary beast but that didn’t change the fact that he was a cat in the end.

I picked a potted plant from the items. There was only a single yellow plant on it. The auctioneer introduced it as Glaze Yang Flower, a legend-ranked treasure. It had the ability to absorb yang energy from all source and it gave out a calm aura that boosted comprehension if one was near it. I passed it on to Ling.

Ling, who was only half the size of the flower, easily picked the potted plant and took it to a corner. Setting it down, she flew and perched herself on the flower. “So! So Comfortable!” Her whole being exuded satisfaction. “Ling! Ling will use this as my bed from now on!” she said.

I almost choked. If those guys who bid furiously for the flower heard her line, they would spurt blood. I decided not to mind this wastrel.

I found the miniature garden that was in the form of a small bottle and handed it to Xue’er. “You can grow vegetables, spices and condiments in it. All you need to do is send a small stream of consciousness into it and you will be able to enter it.” I handed her the fruits I bought from the auction. One was the Clear Spirit Fruit. Naturally. The other one was a peach-like fruit called Strength Fruit. Like its name suggested, it increased strength. The final one was an apple-sized red berry called Sacred Berry. It nourished the soul. All three were considered potent and therefore, was recommended to ingest only after concocting into pills.

“Can you extract the seeds and try to plant it in the garden?”

Xue’er nodded. “I will give it my best, young master.”

I took inventory of the rest of the items. Five of them were bodies of beasts I had never seen. The other five were metals that gave off peculiar energies that I was unable to identify. The last one was the stone that emitted the chaotic energy. It was only fist-sized.

I hesitated for a few moments and popped it into my mouth.

Nothing happened. No notifications. No sudden influx of energy. Nothing.

I waited for while. Still nothing. Forget it, I told myself and pushed the matter to the back of my mind. With [Innards of a God], there would be no risk to my body. The only thing I would need to worry was: would I be able to bear the pain?

I stared at the five bodies of the beasts. I looked forward to eating it. The thing was, with the amount of gluttons in the house, it wouldn’t last more than one mealtime.

City Lord Mu Yan gritted his teeth and glared at the old man from Yu Clan who was sitting with a composed look on his face. He felt that he was being undermined a lot these days. After that failed expedition in the magical forest, his credibility had taken a serious blow.

Clearing his throat, he asked, “What are the reports from the scouts?”

“Yes sir,” a middle-aged man came forward. “An army of demons is on the move. There are at least five hundred demons, all of them at Core Formation Stage. The scouts have noted the presence of Nascent Soul Stage demons. They were unable to make out the exact number but they theorized that there should be at least ten of them.”

There were sharp intakes of breathe from all over the council room.

“How long do we have?” one of the council members asked.

“Not long. They should be able to reach the Red Dawn City within fifteen days. It is a good thing that Patriarch Yu Long notified us about it beforehand. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have any time to prepare.” The middle-aged man finished his report.

Mu Yan gnashed his teeth inwardly. His authority was on a free-fall while the damnable old man from Yu Clan was on the rise. Not good. He needed to take drastic measures. It looked like he had consult with his father, the patriarch of Mu Clan, who normally didn’t bother about the small quarrels in the city.

The council began to discuss how to counter the demons. It was not an understatement to say that this was one of the biggest threats the Red Dawn City had ever encountered since its founding.