Zilan didn’t know how to handle his new found abilities but thankfully for whatever questions that were going through his mind, answers were swiftly provided.

“The gift of love will show greater results when used on existences that are weaker than you. Your abilities will only be fully activated once you’ve opened the second scorched gate!....”

Answers, some of which Zilan was not ready to hear kept appearing before him.

“Wait, second scorched gate?” wondered Zilan.

After a slight delay, a trail of words suddenly appeared in the air in front of him,

“All of Master’s descendants have the ability to open the scorched gates from birth. These gates are the window into the Universe and all the secrets it holds, my only purpose is to be the guide that will help you interpret the secrets you see. Powerful cultivators like the God of this world will also be able to open the scorched gates, however judging from his power he has probably only looked into the first, gate of heaven.”

Zilan’s eyes then went back to normal, causing the words to instantly disappear.

“What about all the notes I recorded before?” 

Suddenly hundreds of virtual sheets of paper floated in front of him,

“These are my notes? So I can access them without opening the scorched gates, how convenient!”

A deep genuinely happy smile could be seen on Zilan’s face. This period had gone even better than he imagined and he had imagined it perfect.

What he wanted to do most now, was to go out and flaunt his powers to his Uncle and show him that he would one day be able to get revenge for his brother. Zilan had long seen through his uncle’s attempt to hide his bottled up feeling s of anger, restlessness and occasional longing so now he could finally offer him hope.

Unfortunately though, Zilan understood that doing so, would be the stupidest move he could currently make. The best way to protect his loved ones for now was for him to keep them in the dark until at the very least he could ensure his own life in this world where strength mattered most.

*Grrr*

A grumbling sound coming from his stomach, made Zilan realise that a few days had passed since the last meal he had eaten. How he was able to last until now definitely had something to do with his sudden spike in strength.

He slowly walked towards a small rope by the side of his bed and calmly pulled on it. Once it was pulled, a tiny bell that hung by the bar downstairs sounded out and a short young man with black hair and spots on his face quickly made his way towards Zilan’s room.

When he reached the door, he couldn’t help but furrow his brow. This was the room that other customers constantly came to him to complain about. At first it was the bad smell, so the in keeper sent him to clean it but after knocking for twenty minutes with no answer, he left in anger.

Then it was the strange sounds of a man moaning and groaning coming from his room. This he didn’t dare approach, after all why else would a man make those sounds if he wasn’t partaking in the forbidden acts between men.

Then after that it was the crazed laugher that seemed to have no end. He really had no idea on how to deal with this tenant, if not for the fact that Zilan had overpaid for his stay here, then the boy would have already kicked him out and asked questions later.

However thankfully, today this rogue had finally sent for him. Now he could see for himself what the hell was actually taking place inside the damned room.

*Dong, Dong*

Zilan moved to open the door only to be greeted with a suspicious gaze coming from a rather short man.

“What can I help you with?” asked the attendant as he desperately stretched his neck to try and see around Zilan’s body that was blocking the door.

“I could swear this fellow was thinner and slightly shorter when he came in....wait, what is this strange smell?.” 

A weird funky fragrance permeated the air of the room causing the attendant to take a couple of wiffs so that he could hopefully identify its origin.

“Bring me roasted meat with wine.” said Zilan as he observed the short man’s blatant attempt to snoop.

“Here, take this for your troubles.” Zilan took out a gold coin and showed it to the attendant.

The short man instantly stopped snooping as his eyes burned with desire. He had worked at this Inn for a period that could not be called short and as such understood that this coin was basically buying his curiosity. He was not a fool so he gladly stretched out his hand to take the gold.

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However as soon as his hand came in contact with Zilan’s fingers, a sensation akin to jumping into a pool of water passed through him.

Zilan too was taken aback, he could feel the attendant’s heart beat, his body structure which included height, exact weight, body fat, and he could also access some of the feelings and memories that this man had experienced over the last week.

It was only after he forcefully withdrew his consciousness from the short man that the probing stopped.

“Why are you still holding my hand?” asked Zilan as he pretended to be annoyed.

“Ah....so sorry! I’ll bring you your meal right away.” The attendant quickly walked away after saying that thinking,

“He wouldn’t be so shameless as to ask for the gold back, but just in case I better not show myself in front of him again.” He had already forgotten about the strange sensation.

Zilan on the other hand was still wondering what had happened.

“So if the person is so much weaker than me like the attendant who isn’t even a cultivator, I can actually probe so much without having to open a single gate?”

His heart grew warm as he thought about Zaum’s gift of love. “Only someone who loves his people could give away such a gift.”

Half the time it takes an incense stick to burn passed, before his food was delivered to him. Only this time it wasn’t the short man who came but a young lady whose looks could be considered very ordinary.

“Thank you.” said Zilan as he took his meal and hurriedly closed the door.

He was no longer alone inside the room. He needed to find out some things so he invited Jeza to come help him.

Jeza was sitting inside the room with a complicated expression on her face. She didn’t know why but her instincts were telling her to run far away from Zilan, it felt like she was looking at a fellow Beast that was a class above her and not a simple human boy.

Zilan had naturally covered the scales on his neck well as he approached Jeza.

“Give me your hand!” he said.

She did as he asked however, the moment their hands touched a feeling of being naked before Zilan enveloped her.

Two stars appeared in his eyes as he locked onto Jeza.

“Darkness attribute with a rare affinity for wood. Current strength level at the 55th level but should be breaking through soon. Using a spirit grade concealment pill to mask her appearance.”

The more Zilan read the more interested he became however, as Jeza followed his gaze she could only see him staring intently at her breasts.

“Y..you..What are trying to do?”

Zilan’s consciousness was already inside Jeza so he couldn’t really hear her but he was able to accurately figure out just how powerful his probing would be if he used it on someone stronger than him.

“So the basic body properties as well as cultivation levels and attributes can be clearly seen but as for everything else I shouldn’t bet on finding out much.”

 Although he could still see and feel some of Jeza’s secrets, this was probably only because she was  just fifteen levels above him. If it was someone thirty levels or even stronger, then getting the basic body functions as well as cultivation level would be considered good enough.

“Z..i.l..an...I’m asking you WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT!” barked Jeza, causing Zilan to stop probing and jump up.

“What am I doing? I’m checking the state of things so I can assess how to proceed with my future endeavours.” confusedly replied Zilan.

Jeza was stunned. Did she just hear what she thought she heard!

“What do you mean your checking the state of things? Did I ask you to check? Are they yours to check? And what to you mean proceed with your future endeavours? I am warning you right now, I swear upon the Divine King if you try anything I will castrate you and feed that thing to the dogs! Hmph!”

With that Jeza angrily stood up and left the room.

“Next time call me only when you’ve finished those Pain thingies, dirty human!”