Zhen Shi finally answered with an uncomfortable laugh, "Well this handsome and scholarly self is Zhen Shi! And don't you forget it!"
But with the intention of changing the topic, Zhen Shi turned to Vivienne and complemented shamelessly, "You have to admit Brother Myne, this Sister-in-law is really pretty!"
Vivienne smiled back 'calmly' and answered back with a scowl, "Oh? But Brother Zhen Shi, just a few minutes ago weren't you shouting 'piss lady' this and 'piss lady' that, to this Big Sister of yours?"
Zhen Shi could only rub his glabella in embarrassment. For the first time, he was truly speechless... Because her words were indeed true!
And he couldn't help but think, 'Being Speechless is such an uncomfortable feeling...'
Myne suddenly noted Zhen Shi's strange face and was confused as to what he should do.
In the end, curiosity to find the truth won out as he began to imagine. One far-fetched thought led to another as he concluded, 'I am still unsure whether this brother of mine gets off on being hit... But perhaps he also enjoys being berated by a pretty lady? Then... the discomfort visible on his face must be because he knows that it is a forbidden pleasure! In that case, I should try to put a stop to this and see his reaction!'
Thinking so, Myne interceded and said, "Brother Zhen Shi, Vivienne, we've spent a lot of time here. Let's leave this damned cavern!"
Zhen Shi turned to Myne with thankful eyes, "This Grand Mage brother of mine! Although he suffers from masochism, he is truly understanding of my feelings! He saved me from the uncomfortable situation of being speechless!'
But Myne noted this gratitude and took it as evidence, 'Aiya! Then this brother of mine truly does suffer from such an ailment! He seems so thankful for my help... I should try to help him in the future...'
Vivienne, for the first time, noted something stage in the duo's looks at each other.
But she ignored it as her imagination and instead laughed happily. She had simply been teasing Zhen Shi before and was extremely thankful. If it weren't for him one could only guess at would've been their fate... As such she simply replied, "Yes. Let's leave. I've been stuck in this cave for too long."
But Zhen Shi interrupted them and asked, "Wait! How is your cultivation now? It seems rather confusing." Through
Myne and Vivienne turned to each other and began to explain, "Well... after the sacrifice of the Laws of Time and Water, our cultivation has regressed from the Pinnacle of the Law Primary Stage down to Nascent Soul. In addition, the two of us are incapable of directly using the Laws of Time and Water, ever again. However, our pseudo souls remain destroyed. Combining that fact with our magic and skills, the two of us can easily take care of any cultivator below the Law Primary Stage."
Zhen Shi quickly flipped through the Scholarly Library and found the relevant book. Apparently, destroying the pseudo soul was a step in reaching the final stage of the Soul Primary Stage, Soul Destruction!
Myne and Vivienne grasped each other's hands as they continued, "Since we have sacrificed our Laws, we'll have to start from scratch with completely new Laws. Unless we can find some type of fortuitous encounter that is..."
Zhen Shi nodded while in thought. Considering the fact that these two were Merlin, arguably the strongest mage in the history of the Earth, and Vivienne, the Lady of the Lake, he doubted that even with lowered cultivation and loss of Laws they were that weak...
Nevertheless, he laughed as he spoke up, "Well that's not that bad! Look at me. I'm still at the Core Formation Stage!"
Both Myne and Vivienne couldn't help but crack a grin at that statement.
Now that all the problems were solved, the trio set back on their journey back to the surface. However, unlike the first time, the return trip was pitifully short. This was because Vivienne simply utilized her connection to the valley and instantly teleported them outside!
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Back on the surface, the group of cultivators who had decided to pursue the 'Dao of harems' were still energetically cursing the 'anti-harem valley' and the 'piss fountain' while continuing to cheer for their saviors.
But over the last few days, the 'mysterious senior' who had promised to help them had transformed into something much bigger... he was now the creator of a revolution!
And the main reason for this transformation was actually the reasonable fellow, Carlos!
As he had mentioned before, Carlos, who turned out to be a mage with some skill in the art of scrying, had worked hard and made use of the water in the fountain to see what Myne and Zhen Shi were doing.
When his scrying finally succeeded, what had awaited the excited group of cultivators was the vision of a terrifying battle taking place between an enraged lady formed of 'piss fountain' water and their savior, this handsome and scholarly self!
Out of good or bad fortune, these cultivators never saw Myne's sorrowful conversation with Vivienne, nor did they see the law sacrifice. Instead, all they were able to see was the 'piss lady' fighting an awe-inspiring battle with an unrelenting draconic and demonic Zhen Shi!
An important fact to note is that Carlos was a novice in the art of scrying. The only reason for his success in scrying was the medium he used, which just happened to be the fountain that was linked to the events in the cavern down below.
As such, while they could 'see' what was going on, every time Vivienne was distracted, lost control of her emotions, was injured OR made powerful attacks of her own, the scrying signal would be lost leaving an annoying 'buffering' screen.
Thus the last thing they had seen was their savior, 'this handsome and scholarly self', shout out the name of an epic battle-skill, that gave literal chills for no reason, and strike the cowering piss lady with a terrifying light beam with a divine green dragon coiling around it.
While a few of these cultivators had witnessed genuine sovereign battles, this vision had been much more inspiring and blood-boiling!
Perhaps it was the strangely epic attack name? Or maybe even the inexplicably divine aura surrounding the draconic senior..? Or maybe it was the fact that one of the fighters was 'their revolution leader' fighting for 'their sake'?
Either way, the end situation was that all the cultivators pummeled poor Carlos with extremely colorful obscenities when he lost the scrying signal.
Nevertheless, the fact that their Revolution leader was fighting the manifestations of the piss fountain filled them with great ardor and satisfaction. They were worried regarding the outcome of the fight... but ultimately decided to give up worrying and continued their cheerleading.
Some danced, some sang, some screamed out their support to the revolutionary leader, some brought out the food and drink they had been saving for a special occasion. And in this way, all of them showed their support to their revolution leader, This Handsome and Scholarly Self!
But suddenly the space above the fountain shivered as three distinct figures appeared!
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As Zhen Shi returned to the valley he was met with the sound of loud cheering and joyous laughter. He was confused for a moment, 'Are those guys having a rager or something?'
He only grew more confused as he tried to make sense of what was happening. But he soon gawked as he noticed the ongoings at a certain corner 'Wait... is that Dolt? The fat fellow with smelly feet? I-Is he actually twerking? FUCK! My eyes are blinded now!'
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
And indeed, Dolt was proudly shaking what 'his mama gave him' and quite a bit of people were cheering him on, whether this was due to a joke or due to genuine enjoyment, only the gods knew. Either way, Dolt seemed to be greatly enjoying the attention.
However, the group cultivators quickly settled down and grew silent when they noticed the arrival of three powerful cultivators. But the silence quickly shifted into a valley-shaking roar of excitement as they noticed their revolution leader!
Carlos laughed out loud as he shouted, "The leader of the harem revolution has finally arrived to free us from this piss valley just as he promised! Those of us who lost faith should be ashamed! Our revolution leader must have emerged victorious in his battle against the Piss lady! Soon our days of drinking piss will be over! We will receive our freedom soon!"
All the other cultivators reciprocated his feelings and roared with cheers of agreement.
However, Vivienne stared at Zhen Shi sharply. Her look said it all, 'Little Brother, we'll handle this later...' Still, both she and Myne were amused by the strange reception that awaited their arrival.
But Zhen Shi was flabbergasted, (ʘ‿ʘ).
'FUCK! I was just playing around back then! When did my fun transform into a revolution? Could I be so unbelievably charismatic that I start revolutions with a single speech? Wait... could this be due to those dubious +40 charisma points given by the system? I knew it! It's the system's fault!'
System: "..."
Zhen Shi rubbed his glabella in annoyance, 'Either way, my reputation will be destroyed if I become associated with these fools. I must make sure they never find out and leave as soon as possible.'
As such, "Elder Sister Vivienne, you should destroy the fountain and release the enchantment of the formation. These pitiful fellows have been here for such a long time now," said Zhen Shi with a pleading look.
Vivienne replied with a playful smirk, "Pitiful? But weren't they full of energy just now?"
However, noting Zhen Shi's embarrassment she agreed with a smile, "I suppose you are right. But... Myne will have to be the one that helps the fellows that he put into artificial meditative states so as to not drink the fountain water."
Saying so, Vivienne waved her hand at the fountain.
Boom!
Almost immediately the fountain began to tremble and shake, finally exploding into a cloud of debris. Just like that the fountain that had been trickling out water ever so peacefully was eternally silenced!
The mist in the valley also slowly cleared out as the enchantment was released.
Seeing the destruction of the 'piss fountain' that had made them stagnate in their cultivation, and the disappearance of the mist, the group of cultivators couldn't help but roar in cheers of happiness!
However, almost immediately, strands of aether began to emanate out from the ruins of the fountain. These strands soon multiplied and rapidly gathered to form a terrifyingly huge mass of aether.
Zhen Shi quickly noticed through the
At the same time, the aether began to thrum as if it were about to explode...
Seeing this, Vivienne explained in embarrassment, "SHIT! I knew that the fountain would gather aether, but since when was it this much? And when the hell did all of the aether, begin to condense into divine aether? Either way, we'll have to hurry and leave before it explodes... This much of divine aether will definitely take a portion of the forest with it!"
Myne shook his head, "I didn't notice it either. Must be because we have become weaker over the years... Either way, the Words of Fate are truly useless sometimes... Also it will explode before we can retreat to a safe distance..."
As such, he finished in a grim tone, "So I'll have to take care of it then..."
On the other hand, the poor cultivators who were staring at the gathering of spine-chilling divine aether on the verge of exploding them to hell were deep in despair, 'We were so close to gaining freedom! We even danced and celebrated! We even cheered Dolt's eye-blinding dance! O Gods, why are you so cruel?'
Ignorant of such a situation, Myne was just about to rush forward and take care of the situation, when suddenly the explosive aether beat him to it and dashed forwards by itself!
Myne was surprised but quickly prepared to strike back. However, he was filled with disbelief as he thought, 'Divine Aether that has attained self-awareness? How is this possible? That would require billions of years!'
But to his further surprise, the aether simply brushed past him and dashed towards the even more surprised Zhen Shi!
Zhen Shi who had been helpless about how to solve the matter of the explosive divine aether had been researching in the Scholarly Library. But seeing the aether suddenly rush towards him, he was speechless and about to defend himself with a 100% activation of
But in that moment of distraction, the aether quickly reached him and struck his body!
In the end, Zhen Shi was unable to defend himself... but pretty soon he was more confused than injured, 'Hmm? Why is it not painful at all?'
Looking down, he saw that all of the aether was entering his body and being rapidly absorbed by his dantian, finally disappearing into the primordial chaos base.
Growing excited, Zhen Shi attempted to siphon a part of this aether for his cultivation as he had done in his memories, but to his disappointment, he soon realized that he couldn't... Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that he had a System now...?
Either way, he could only wait patiently as the entire huge mass of aether was gobbled up by the primordial chaos base...
Myne, Vivienne, and the entire group of cultivators, all stared speechlessly at the sight of Zhen Shi calmly absorbing that terrifying mass of divine aether!
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A few minutes later, the aether was completely absorbed! And the danger was no more!
Slowly coming into terms with the fact that they would not die just yet, and that their 'revolution leader' had saved their lives, the group of cultivators started to cheer out in ecstasy!
They had been devoid of hope and wouldn't even have dared to dream of freedom a few days ago... but now this senior had given them that and so much more!
As such, all of them began to kowtow to Zhen Shi while crying tears of joy!
Some thanked the gods, but most of them were thanking the harem revolution leader 'this handsome and scholarly self'! Having finally gained freedom after several millennia of entrapment, they wished to express their thanks to their savior and shower him with gifts.
Ding!
Congratulations to the user for earning 50 OP!
Zhen Shi had initially enjoyed the cheers and praise he had received... for literally standing still and doing nothing at all!
But the moment he heard mentions of 'harem revolution leader', 'piss valley' and so on, he had shivered in embarrassment. Deciding that he wanted to do nothing with this fiasco any more, Zhen Shi immediately made use of his wind aether to fly and [Draconic Wind Steps] to disappear into the Berthelien Forest.
Vivienne and Myne were still rather confused as to how Zhen Shi had absorbed all of that divine aether. Nevertheless, they couldn't help but laugh at Zhen Shi's 'tactical retreat' for a moment before they quickly dashed after him. After Myne flicked his hand and freed those cultivators who were trapped in the artificial meditative state, of course.
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Seeing the sight of their savior and his 'lackeys' run away, the group of cultivators was speechless and discouraged!
'NOO! Our Revolution Leader! How can you run away just like that? How can we repay our debt now? And our revolution... it was just starting...'
Seeing their disappointed faces, Dolt walked forwards, shook his head in disappointment, and began to address them proudly, "You bunch of idiots! Don't you even understand the feelings of our revolution leader? Isn't it obvious that it was his great character and humility that led him to hurry away?"
Now having grabbed the attention of the rest of the cultivators, Dolt the fat man strutted about like a proud peacock and spoke, "Our revolution leader is an amazing individual! Not only did he keep his promise and free us from this accursed valley, but he was also the one to save us from that explosion of aether!"
"As such, at this point the truth should be obvious! It is impossible to radiate such a profound divine aura, destroy the 'anti-harem valley', have such a blood-boiling battle with that piss lady, AND absorb all of that exploding aether, with weak cultivation at the Core Formation Stage!"
"Think about it! Do you think even a Sovereign could fearlessly absorb divine aether on the verge of explosion? I wouldn't be surprised if he was a God posing as a weak human!"
Immediately one cultivator shouted out in defiance, "Isn't that pretty shameless though?"
That fellow got a mouthful of Dolt's foot as he roared out in anger, "You fool! Our revolution leader's every action is full of life lessons! Posing as a weakling is his lesson for us to never be proud and not to show off one's power unnecessarily! After all, power can be lost at any time!"
That cultivator lowered his head in shame with the taste of smelly feet in his mouth, while the others nodded in agreement.
On the other hand, with everyone's attention on him, Dolt was having the time of his life! He began to think, 'This is almost as fun as my dance before! I should engage in both of these more frequently!'
Making a mental note to do so, Dolt continued proudly, "Now it should be obvious that he only left so quickly since he did not wish to accept our gifts and words of thanks! What our revolution leader wants in return is for us to never forget his profound teachings! After all, the leader of ours is a God among Men! And he has passed down the Dao of Harems to us all! It is fine to even consider him as our master!"
"Remember... A MASTER FOR A DAY IS A FATHER FOR LIFE! So, we should spread his wise words and teachings, so that no one will ever stand in the way of our harems ever again! And most importantly, HE is OUR REVOLUTION LEADER!" and finished his speech just as proudly.
At the end of this speech, the group of cultivators couldn't help but cheer out once more!
Having completely sated their worries, this group of cultivators decided to follow the guidance of their 'revolution leader'. And with the support of the others, Dolt and Carlos spearheaded a mission to help out those more powerful cultivators who were now beginning to awake from their slumber.
But with the great tales accounted by Dolt, the majority of these survivors too came to accept 'this handsome and scholar self' as their master and leader. Some of those cultivators even turned out to be genuine Sovereigns who were unable to cultivate further! As such, hearing the tale of a God among Men who was much stronger than a Sovereign, they were only happy to join in!
However, Zhen Shi would've vomited blood if he realized that he had instantly gained hundreds of illegitimate children, *cough* disciples under such a shameless dao, and almost all of them had cultivation much stronger than himself! But he didn't... for now...