There were few things as glamorous as an adventure but traveling was the second greatest thing, as Adrian found out within moments of entering Dreamy Firmament City. The nature and the ambiance made it seem far more mystical than he’d expected it to look.

“I’m not used to this,” said Adrian as they walked through the market, arms crossed with each other.

She wasn’t clinging onto him but it felt awkward to walk with his arms not in his pockets or being swung around as he sprinted at his fastest.

“We just have to look like we’re engaged,” she said.

“We are,” he said.

“But we must look like we are as well,” she said.

“And what does that even mean? You don’t see people walking like they’re glued to each other like this,” he said.

“So that I won’t get any more suitors. They’re annoying pests,” she said and then held a finger to her lips, “Keep this a secret from my father, though.”

It’d be a hollow marriage?

That served his purposes well. Focusing on family relations was his weakest suit and he wasn’t looking forward to any of that.

Not when he had his eyes set on immortality of the greatest caliber.

“Where exactly are we going?” he asked as they started to gradually make their way from the market into a shady part of the town with smaller buildings and half-naked ladies lined up around the road.

Deep down, he knew where they were headed but he just needed her to say that they weren’t going there, of all places.

If she was, then she was serious about the act.

“This isn’t the kind of sightseeing I thought we’d be doing,” he added as they went deeper into the street and reached a large building that looked like an inn, with four floors.

There was a large sign with a bed on it, for those that couldn’t read but next to it, there was its name: Daylight Inn.

“We’re being tailed,” whispered Emma as they walked through the door.

They stood out like sore thumbs with their clothing.

Most of the ones inside either wore thin dresses made of cheap fabric or worn clothes that looked like they’d been passed down from their grandparents.

On the other hand, Adrian was wearing a brown tunic with long sleeves that looked like it was sewn just yesterday that reached his ankles while Emma was wearing a dress with a dark red gown that had gold embroidery around its shoulders and back.

“Room for two, please,” she said and nudged his arm.

He didn’t have coins on him…

After a long sigh, he placed his hand on the table and conjured a Red Crystal from his Spatial Ring, which may have seemed to appear from nothing for a mortal.

“And drinks,” he added.

“R-right this way, please,” said the man behind the counter after he snatched the crystal on the table with impressive speed, tucked it into his pocket, and pulled out a key from the drawer.

Then the man scurried out from behind the counter and pounced up the stairs to guide them to a room. When Adrian tried to run as well, a tug from Emma stopped him.

Their room was on the fourth floor where there were only two rooms, contrary to the dozens of the other floors. By the time they got there, the door was open and the innkeeper was standing near the door, holding it open.

“I’ll take that,” said Emma and grabbed the key from the innkeeper’s hands with a smirk.

She shut the door after walking in, locked the door, and collapsed on the bed, face in the pillow.

There was only one bed, despite her saying that she wanted a room for two.

“It’s exhausting,” she mumbled, her voice muffled by the pillow.

“Why did we even leave the carriage?” asked Adrian.

“To walk around and look pretty,” she said.

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That made Adrian think.

Did only Emma act in public despite the exhaustion or did all Noble Ladies do so?

“Everyone has to see you. Even father and those two gremlins,” she said.

From what Adrian gathered, she was the older of the three geniuses from House Beaumont, currently eighteen years old whereas the other two were only sixteen and fifteen respectively.

It made sense that she was bossing around the Demon Twins, as seniority determined authority in most Noble Houses. Even if they were geniuses.

Adrian sat down on the ground in a lotus position, closed both eyes, and tapped into the ambient Qi. Rather than waiting for him to guide them toward his body, the Qi seemed to want to come into his body.

He let it do that.

As the refreshing energy surged through his body, he entered a state of heightened awareness: hearing and smelling everything in the inn.

The smell was putrid and the noises were everything but decent, forcing him to snap back to reality.

“Ha, you’re some moron,” said Emma after a short chuckle.

“There’s a lot of Qi here. I couldn’t resist,” he said.

“It makes no difference for us. We can’t even fully absorb what we have back in Blue Pavilion City. World Meridians are just places that look pretty to us,” she said.

Can’t absorb all of it?

“You don’t know the first thing about Cultivation,” said the Shadow inside his head, clearly snooping around his thoughts.

“Excuse me, but you never taught me anything, did you?” asked Adrian inside his head.

“You are not qualified,” said the Shadow, and that single line made him give up on arguing.

It was freeloading inside his head now and he couldn’t do anything, even if he wanted to. The only thing that he could threaten the Shadow with was gone as well.

“There’s an upper limit to how much Qi you can absorb at a time. If you try to go beyond that limit, you’d rupture your Core but we haven’t formed any so it’s fine. Our bodies are passively absorbing the Qi to gradually increase our physiques in the first place. Cultivating at our stage just means we have to guide the energy to strengthen parts of our body rather than try to absorb more. There’s no difference between consciously cultivating and passively doing so,” she said.

Adrian’s mouth opened wide and his jaws hung loose.

So he wasn’t Cultivating at all?

Emma slowly stood up and walked up to a small shelf on which were several bottles with dark liquid along with some glasses.

She poured one for herself and then another one as she explained.

“Father and the Patriarch seem to think you have a Master. But I realized you didn’t after our first conversation,” she said and let out a deep sigh, “It’s easy to spot. Don’t talk about Cultivation at all. Don’t act surprised by things like this and we might just sell the act. Otherwise, it’ll be bad for both of us.”

She sipped on the contents of her glass and placed the other one on a small table between two comfortable chairs that were placed next to each other, then seated herself on one of them.

“Get up. You look like a slave down there,” said Emma.

Adrian climbed up to his feet and took a seat opposite her.

“Sitting in a lotus position doesn’t do anything. Don’t do it again,” she said, “Other than make you look like a fool, that is. If that’s what you’re going for, feel free to keep doing that.”

It didn’t?

The Shadow snorted inside his head.

“I do have a Master. He just doesn’t teach me anything other than techniques,” said Adrian.

“Oh, please. Even the Crown Prince wouldn’t have a Spatial Ring like that,” she said and that was when he realized he was screwed.

He was openly wearing the Spatial Ring that contained the Jade Slips.

“Just kidding,” she said and gave him a wink, “But it’s this easy to make a fool out of you. So I’ll be at your side whenever you’re in the presence of other Nobles. I’ll try to be there and if I’m not, avoid them at all costs. Say you’re Cultivating or make up some other excuse.”

“You’re evil,” he said.

“Every Noble is. Even that good-for-nothing gremlin Joseph,” said Emma, “He’s been sizing you up all day. I’d say he’s trying to drag you into a spar in front of everyone else.”

Was he?

“You stand no chance, though,” she added.

“Why is everyone suddenly pissed at me?” he asked as he swirled the liquid in the grass and took a whiff.

It smelled like wine.

He knew because his father only ever drank wine, and he smelled like this. Rather, his clothes did when he spilled it on them.

Eric Cranford snapped at him a few days ago and then Joseph was also going after him. The Nobles had a real issue if they got enraged that easily.

“Only Joseph and Eric,” she said, “That time you used the Cloud Body Technique, you accidentally caused a Martial Disturbance in Joseph. Since Eric was fighting him at the time, he feels that you defeated Joseph while you weren’t even paying attention to him.”

She sipped on the wine once and gulped a few times before placing it back down.

Then she put on a content smirk on her face and raised her head, fixed her hair, and swung it up while she did so.

“For my troubles, I want something, of course,” she said and raised a finger, “Anything will do.”

The Shadow chuckled.

“Be quiet,” thought Adrian.

“She reminds me of you, but with none of your cards to play,” it said.

Emma stared at her with expectant eyes: slightly wide but with a surprising lack of emotions.

“After the auction,” said Adrian.

He didn’t even know what or how much the Shadow had. It seemed like he didn’t have much aside from a vast treasury of Crystals and golden coins.

It was too much for a person to spend in a lifetime or two but the priceless treasures were the herbs and the seven techniques engraved on the Jade Slips, as well as the dozen or so Spatial Rings that contained weapons.

Weapons!

“I’ve only collected a few Aural knives to make skinning Aural Beasts easier,” said the Shadow, stopping the thought process dead in its tracks.

But Aural Weapons of an Immortal ought to be decent, even if they were only used for pelting and skinning.

“They’re nothing special,” it said as if trying to counter him at every step of the way.

The window cracked and Adrian covered, out of instinct.

Once he opened his eyes, he found a spear stabbed into a wall.

“Well, it’s time for our dramatic entrance,” said Emma and hopped back to her feet after finishing her cup of wine in a moment.

Adrian, too, downed his entire glass and stood up.

“So… ugh, what does it mean?” he asked after he got up.

“It means we gotta make a dramatic entrance,” said Emma and gestured at the spear with her head, “Put that in your ring and activate the Cloud Body Technique. Then all you have to do is follow my instructions.”