Mrs. Mu is driving the jet around under my orders of finding a void dragon. She’s leading us to groups of people, but they don’t know where the void dragons are hiding. I know they’re not hiding it to protect the dragons either because I obtained the information directly from their minds. So far, I’ve obtained an Eternal Shadow Ring, a Mourning Wood Earring, a Radiant Metal Bracelet, a Peaceful Wind Anklet, and a Lunar Light Tiara. According to Mrs. Mu, I’m missing a Flowing Water Hairpin, and I’m pretty sure the necklace hanging around her neck is a Blazing Sun Necklace. It’s really yellow and red and orange and looks like a sun, so….

“If you want this necklace, all you have to do is ask,” Mrs. Mu said. She was looking at the display, but she was still clearly paying attention to me. I wonder if there’s a way to see where someone’s divine sense is focused like how I can see what someone’s looking at by checking where their eyes are pointed. Then, I could snoop around and stare at people without getting caught! More importantly, I’d know when the ruler is spying on my thoughts. Mm, not just the ruler, if any supreme immortal spies on me, I’ll know!

“I’ve said it before, work on your meditation.”

There the ruler goes again, spying on me and commenting on the things my brain comes up with. It’s handy, but at the same time, it makes me feel a little uncomfortable. I haven’t even asked Durandal to come out for nighttime activities because it’d be very weird.

“And he won’t come out because he’s convinced you’ll bind him with a rope the instant he exits. Don’t blame me for your problems when they’re clearly your fault. It’s fine to do it to people who’re weaker than you, but I’m not.”

The ruler’s not even trying to pretend like I have any privacy anymore. She’s also talking directly into my head. Mrs. Mu and her sidekick can’t hear what she’s saying, and the ruler’s lips aren’t even moving, so why would those two suspect anything? Mm, well, it doesn’t matter. The ruler only comments on my thoughts; she never punishes me for them. I can think about all kinds of weird things like penises and lobsters and lobster penises and—

“You should probably work on your meditation.”

See? No punishment. I was supposed to meditate anyway because … lots and lots of reasons. One of the reasons was very recently added, but what was it again? Right! I wanted a technique that’d let me notice other people’s divine senses. Meditating’s supposed to increase the strength of my brain, which, in turn, increases the strength of my soul; which means the requirement for learning a technique that can detect people’s divine senses depends on how strong my soul is. Is there a way to skip meditation and use a treasure that’ll let me meet that requirement right away?

“Don’t always look for shortcuts,” the ruler’s voice said inside my head. “You’re already progressing at a very fast speed. Believe me when I say you’re getting stronger as fast as possible without suffering from any detrimental side effects.”

Other than the sudden bouts of bloodthirstiness I experience for no reason whatsoever.

“An upgrade to your Unrelenting Path of Slaughter is not a detriment.”

Tell that to the person I almost murdered from the Lunar Light Sect. If one of the prisoners wasn’t capable of stitching her head back onto her neck, I might’ve committed a crime! Well, I guess my ability to rip heads off did become a bit more decisive, so I suppose the ruler’s right about it being helpful. I suppose I could meditate since there isn’t anything else I have to do now that I’m done Soul Scouring the most recent group of people Mrs. Mu caught.

Actually, instead of meditating, why don’t I do something more active? I still remember those Flowing Water Sect people escaping from me so easily. Teacher, can you teach me an evasive technique? One that’ll let me escape from any attack unharmed.

“Escape from any attack unharmed?” For some reason, I think the ruler sounded amused. “I could always teach you the Impenetrable Body Technique. Although you won’t slip away like water, nothing will be able to hurt you, rendering the need for you to escape pointless.”

I want an escape technique, not a self-hating defensive technique. What if Durandal leaves me because I break his penis during sex? That’d be a major bummer like my ancestor rejecting the ruler. Uh…, you weren’t supposed to hear that last part, Teacher; it just popped up, I swear! Stupid, brain, you’re going to get me killed or, even worse, ruin my future love life! You’re not going to make me learn that super-awesome, godlike technique, right, Teacher?

“I’m not,” the ruler said, sounding a lot like she was rolling her eyes. “I’ll teach you my personal escaping technique.”

Mm? The ruler’s personal escaping technique? It must be amazing since she’s managed to survive for so long! Not that I’m calling her old. Actually, I don’t think she gets offended when people point out her age. When you’re tens of thousands of years old, you know you’re old. Ahem, why do I get the feeling I’ll need that escaping technique sooner rather than later?

“Since my disciple is so enthusiastic about learning an escaping technique, it’d be wrong of me not to do my best in helping her.”

The words the ruler’s saying sound so nice, but why are chills running down my back? Ever since I developed my divine sense, I’ve been a lot more sensitive to things. Something terrible is going to happen to me, and it’s going to be related to this escape technique. I hope I don’t have to turn into a puddle of liquid. Water’s scary enough without me having to turn into it.