These guys are really persistent.'

  'That they are, but the question still stands, what do they really want?'

  'Whatever it is, they better get it over with quickly. Their constant appearance within the range of my senses is pissing me off and making me unable to concentrate on my conversation with Lingxi.'

  '….is that really a priority right now?'

  'To me? Yeah, it is. I mean, this is the first time that I've ever felt like this and I don't want distractions when I try to figure this out.'

  Xiang fell silent at my words but I could still feel his amusement through our connection.

  Ever since we left the ruins and headed towards the exit of the secret realm, I've spent all of my time with Lingxi, indulging in this new type of love that I've never felt before.

  It may seem like an exaggeration on my part but it is simply the truth. I am not some fool who never had a girlfriend or something like that. In fact, there was once a time in my old world, when I was still in the initial stages of my career when I fell in love.

  Then, things slowly fell apart as we realized over time that what we felt was more of an infatuation than real love and that we simply did not fit with each other.

  She wanted a life where I was around more instead of spending eight hours a day, five days a week, working at my firm. She did not want the money I earned through such work and neither did she look at me with suspicious eyes, thinking that I was keeping things from her or cheating on her.

  She was a simple woman with simple demands, one that anyone would have considered the greatest treasure of their lives.

  And of course, being the fool I was back then, I squandered that luck and turned my back on her for the sake of achieving social status and wealth.

  My vision of the world simply did not align with hers and whatever feelings we had for each other faded with time.

  There was no big fight, no argument or falling out. We simply sat down and talked like adults, and went our separate ways.

  Hell, she did not even take any money or even a fraction of my property in the split, saying that she did not help earn that money and as such had no right over any of it.

  The point is, even with such a wonderful woman, the only woman that I ever allowed to walk into and out of my life throughout the nearly eight decades I spent on Earth, I never experienced what I am feeling right now.

  I know that part of the reason is because we are cultivators, which makes us much more in tune with our emotions, but I can't help but think that the rest of the reason is that I am a changed man. That I am no longer that ruthless and cruel man from Earth but one who has learned to let go of the past and live in the present.

  It is truly confusing and exhirating to try to untangle this mess of emotions that I feel about Lingxi, which is the reason why I am so focused on spending time with her.

  And yet, this happiness did not st long.

  Ever since we approached the entrance that was only a few dozen miles away from us, I felt a rge group of cultivators tailing us.

  This group always kept a distance from us, so far that not even someone in the Soul Transformation realm could sense them, except for me who is now able to sense everything in a radius of a few hundred miles.

  This group is made up of a few dozen Core Formation realm cultivators, a few Nascent Soul realm masters, and even a Soul Transformation realm expert. A powerful force that would be quite formidable no matter where they went on the continent.

  And yet, I could also tell that they were all suppressed by the rules of the Secret Realm thanks to the heavily congested flow of their Qi within their bodies.

  This meant that, despite their true cultivation, they were not even a threat to Yin Lingxi, much less me since I could freely use my cultivation without any suppression for some reason.

  However, even though they don't pose any threat to us, I still can't help but feel angry since their constant presence is grating on my nerves thanks to my paranoid and cautious personality.

  It also does not help that I am sensing a lot of movement from the entrance of the secret realm that I could already feel with my senses.

  I felt a tap on my shoulder, making me look up at Yin Lingxi who walked around and sat by my side.

  "What are you thinking so deeply about?"

  "Nothing much. I've been picking up on a lot of movement around the entrance and some cultivators following us. I'm just thinking if I should confront them to see what they really want."

  She chuckled at my words.

  "No need. They might just be loose cultivators looking to make a profit off of us. In which case they will reveal themselves sooner or ter and try to rob us. We'll just take care of them at that time."

  "…And what if they are the forces of the Baihu Empire or those from our Empire sent by either of your brothers?"

  The cold smile she gave me sent shivers down my spine since that expression fit way too much on her face. A fact that I did not like. Not one bit.

  "Then, let me handle them."

  I kept silent and allowed her to lean into the chair and put her head on my shoulder.

  I did not want her to be forced to take such ruthless actions for either of our sakes, not when I am already strong enough to take care of any problems that head our way.

  'David. Don't think that you are invincible just because you are Soul Transformation realm master now. Remember, the Holy Lands have ancient cultivators that have been at the peak of the Void Refinement realm for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years. Even our newly discovered 'family' has at least a dozen Void Refinement realm masters.'

  'I know, Xiang. But those old monsters rarely leave their hidden abodes unless things are very dire. I mean, remember the invasion? Those bastards did not even make an appearance in your timeline despite the continent being on the verge of being swallowed up by those foreign entities.'

  'Things were different back then. I remember hearing the news that the holy nds were in some kind of turmoil in those times and could not afford to divert their attention elsewhere.'

  'Whatever the case may be. I still think I have enough power right now to help Yin Lingxi deal with most threats and problems she may face now. And if there really is some guy with Void Refinement realm who comes after us, I can simply take her and run away, right?'

  '….It is ultimately your choice on how you live your life, David. But take this advice from me, don't be blinded by the power of your cultivation, and think that you can do anything you want. I don't want you to lose what makes you unique in this world.'

  I felt the weight of his words as I started meditating immediately, looking within myself to see if he was right and I had let my power go to my head.

  Thankfully, it was not the case since I could not find any kind of unnatural interference within my brain or my soul, which meant that this newfound arrogance was solely my own fault, something that I would have to work on.

  'Thanks, Xiang.'

  'I am just doing what I promised you all those years ago. Besides, I don't want to see my younger self repeat the same mistakes that I made which led to my fate. It is the least I can do for you after you gave me a chance at redemption despite knowing my past and the atrocities I committed in my life.'

  'Everyone makes mistakes, Xiang. What separates a man from a monster is whether they can learn from their mistakes, and their crimes, and strive to make up for them in any way they can. I do not regret giving you a chance to fix your mistakes since you have already proven to me that you are capable of change, so, don't mention anything about debts between us any longer.'

  The complicated mess of emotions that I felt from him spiked for a few minutes before settling down as I felt him retreat deeper into the bead and loose himself in his meditation which made me smile.

  Moments like these always prove that he and I are the same person, moments where he dispys behavior characteristics that I know all too well since I have them as well. Such as right now where he could not handle the compliment I gave him and chose to ignore it completely, something that I tend to do as well.

  Suddenly, I felt a cultivator in the Core Formation realm fly into the secret realm at speeds that should not be possible for someone in that realm.

  But it was not his speed that caught my attention.

  No, it was the sudden change in the group that was following me shortly after this person entered the realm.

  The sudden movement is too much for me to think of as a coincidence, which meant that either this group was not made up of loose cultivators or that they had some kind of a force backing them from the outside.

  Both scenarios are concerning but I did not have the time to think much about it since the group following us suddenly sped up.

  At the speeds they are traveling, they will reach us in a matter of a few seconds at most.

  Yin Lingxi suddenly sat up and looked behind us, indicating that she had sensed them as well as they rapidly traveled toward us.

  'Looks like we will get our answers much sooner than anticipated.'

  'Yup.'

  Author Notes:

  Read 8 Chapters ahead on Patreon: http://patreon.com/Ruijard1