///___///

I can't remember the last time I took a bath. Wait no, now I can, in Rong's memories at least. For the modern man version of me, I'd settled into just taking showers for years now. Unless you count a hot tub as a bath.

Only now do I realize how much I missed this feeling. Relaxing in the water's warmth, my only true refuge. In my old body, it meant the only time I could feel warmth or cold as the water was able to get through to my shitty near dead nerves. Yes, a bath is truly something that should be cherished.

It probably wouldn't have been this relaxing if I let the servants stay, that's for sure. All it took was politely asking them to leave the room after drawing my bath.

“Leave, dogs, don't dirty my hands with your deaths.”

Yes, politely. Something I can indeed do. Look, at least I can control my actions so far… I'm scared to see some sort of divine wine now that I remember that super alcoholic drawback. Looking at my choices I'm not actually sure of a few things.

My main occupation is Puppet Master, but I don't automatically start as one, nor do I even know how to begin. I'm just a prodigy at it. As for Wine Brewer, it's not like I've anything to brew with. Shit wasn't included in the free item pack. Absent-mindedly, I summon something that was included in the ring using my divine sense.

The stoney surface feels rough in my hand, the signature of this kind of material. Truly, my greatest weapon in this world. The unbreakable concrete brick fits perfectly (not) in my hand. Truly, this modern brick will be the only thing to keep me sane in China land.

“Xiang Rong! Get out here you dog!”

That isn't how I thought I'd test the brick's indestructibility, if it were a normal brick my hand would have shattered it. For the first time in my life here I am in tune with my body.

How fucking dare they interrupt bath time.

Whoever the fuck this is, is clearly courting death. I'm just about to order the servants to come dress me on instinct, then a thought comes to mind. If what I say is suitably villainous enough, will my mouth let me speak as intended? Let's test that theory. Instead of getting dressed I just wrap a towel around my waist. A glance at the mirror has me acknowledge that I am once again, a handsome bastard. I'd consider my looks from before one of the only good things about me, so choosing the Ugly Bastard drawback wasn't an option. Even if the drawback itself just makes you look like an average dude and not actually ugly. I'm vain like that.

Now, I could easily just jump out of the window or break the wall down to confront whoever pissed me off like that. That's something a protagonist would do. Instead, I push open the doors to my room, the servants immediately palling at the sight of me. Green and Blue? Blue halo probably won't die. Maybe. “You, fetch me two bottles of wine, one of the highest quality, the other something you would drink,” I say pointing at the green halo. “And you, invite those vagrants to see me in the garden.” That order goes to the blue. Holy fuck, that worked. Apparently, I just need to be domineering and an asshole.

“Young Master Xiang, this servant dares not question you but they are members of the Wei and Luo clans.” Luo? Ah, my fiancé came earlier than I expected. I bump her up a notch in my mind. Very pragmatic, that one. “I can have the finest robes delivered here in an-”

“One doesn't care about attire when dealing with ants. Don't waste more of my time.” I don't say I'll kill them, but the man pales as if I did. Instead of correcting that I just walk off towards where Rong's memories said the garden was. From what I've seen so far, correcting them would have had me threaten them with death, so by not doing so I'm being kinder.

We take these wins.

///___///

“Xiang Rong! You dare?!” The red-in-the-face bearded man in a red-blue robe shouts as soon as he sees me. Ah, it's the dude that called me out. He must be pissed at me because I'm casually drinking wine while only covered by a towel, basking in the sunset's glow. Not gonna lie, I give myself an 8/10 on style points here. Still, no idea why a blue halo is so uppity. Even if he has an orange and red halo right behind him.

The orange halo is on the girl I've mentally labeled pragmatic, Luo Xue, my technically still fiancé. Appearance-wise, she's got a level of beauty that'd have many men subscribe to her only fans. She has bright blue eyes and dark brown hair, yet interestingly there's a few streaks of white. She's someone I can see and hum in appreciation at if she were my wife. Those blue eyes are staring at me intently as her brow furrows cutely. It's like looking at a confused rabbit. I wanna boop her on the nose.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

The dude next to her, however… Yep, that's a Son of Heaven Alright. Generic Xianxia protagonist looks down to a T. Black eyes; check, black hair; check, self confidence obvious enough it's bordering on arrogance? Yesamundo. It's still only a theory right now, but I can just feel that red halo calling to me, my own black halo wishing to pluck his opportunities from the root. He must be from the Wei clan. As for who he is? I've no fucking clue. Xiang Rong never put the Wei clan in his eyes. I should probably care more… My body refuses to put the wine down.

“You- you animal! Dressing like a wastrel in front of Lady Luo!” The red-faced man gets redder in the face. I just slowly savor the wine. It's not the best Rong has had, but it definitely is a high-quality one in these parts. Spiritual fruit wine usually is. Finally finishing the bowl I put it down. Sending a blank look at their group.

“Is it not customary to greet your betters?” Bro looks like he's about to blow a gasket. I have some talent in this whole pissing people off thing.

“You da-”

“I wasn't speaking to you, mongrel. Wei, punish your dog before he embarrasses you further.” I interrupt. “Sit down, have a drink. The sun’s departure should be peaceful.” I point at the shitty bottle of wine that I had green halo fetch.

“Jian Shuo is a respected servant of our clan. The only dog here is you.” Wei snarls at me instead of acknowledging my slight. Wait, I remember that name. Not too long ago I played Wo Long Fallen Dynasty and it had me rereading Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Well, more so skimmed but the point is I remember this dude cus he had his dick cut off. Eunuchs, a classic profession with way too high a cost.

“Oh, he's just a servant. I thought he was a eunuch.” I shrug as I pour myself another bowl of wine. Both the men almost explode at that, they would have too if my fiancé hadn't interrupted.

“Enough. Xiang Rong, I've come for the annulment of our engagement. My family has prepared ten thousand mid-grade spirit stones in exchange.” That's a pretty penny. If I had to do quick math, shit's close to a hundred thousand dollars back home. Which, while that's a lot to a poor man, a medium-sized clan that belongs to a big sect? Chump change. Not in a sense it's cheap still, hell taking this agreement would be perfectly acceptable in the public's eyes. Yet… When she spoke I saw something. The Wei clan's protagonist template's halo shot her halo with a beam of red, which made her orange just a bit redder. My fiancé is a heroine I think.

And as the villain, I can't let it end this easily.

“Twenty thousand.”

“You dare!?”

“What? That's doub-”

“And I'll not cripple Wei's dog. The annulment will be thirty thousand.” Said dog coughs into his hand, and is that blood? Really? Are we really going there?

“You would drag my family into this!?” Wei rages. I just raise a brow and look at Luo Xue, hey she actually looks a bit bashful.

“You dragged yourself in, simpleton.”

“Good!” He snarls, a smile coming to his face. “Then I'll have this dog give you a beating. A man like you at the first stage of Qi Gathering has no right to be this arrogant.”

“Wait, first stage of… You reset your Cultivation!?” Luo Xue looks at me wide-eyed, a realization seems to come to her, from the start of the conversation up until now she seemed to have been confused by something. What the fuck is the Cultivation of these guys? I take the opportunity to check with my divine sense as I sip at my wine.

My fiancé is at the 4th stage of Qi Gathering, which is rather surprising. I'm pretty sure she just turned eighteen so the speed she's going shows some real talent. The Wei clan protagonist is only at the 3rd stage, but his dog is at the peak. Did not expect to see a 9th Stage of Qi Gathering dude here. In these parts, it's rare to see people at that level as the sects generally stick to themselves. My Xiang branch clan was essentially having fun being a big fish in a small pond until a Core Formation elder took offense to our existence.

Regardless, he's not someone I could fight with such low Cultivation. So I decided to fix that. Using my divine sense I have the book flip open in my soul and read the first passage.

I can't understand jack shit. The book gives me the mental equivalent of a sigh and beams the Cultivation technique into my head. Thank you, Book-chan, you are my bestest friend. Still, drinking wine, I follow the method.

The old Xiang Rong was a genius. He was someone born to become an Immortal Emperor even if he sat on his ass doing nothing. With his shitty (top-grade) demonic manual and his shitty (top-grade) spirit roots, he'd managed the 7th stage of Qi Gathering at the tender age of 19. He spent more time drinking than actually cultivating on top of that.

Me? I have the whole Immortal Emperor shtick with a manual that can't be judged and a weird-looking tree and blood lake as my spiritual root. So imagine everyone's surprise when I break through to the sixth step of Qi Gathering before I put my wine bowl down.

“Wha-what!?”

“No, how, that's impossible!?”

“Xiang Rong, you-”

“Ah, I forgot. I was at the seventh stage.” With one more circulation of the black Qi with a tinge of red through my dantian, I hit the seventh stage of Qi Gathering. Lmao, bro you good? Wei protago is almost foaming at the mouth. Wait, I haven't used something yet. It's a perfect opportunity to try it. Ignoring the questioning look on my fiancé's face, I frowned at the trio. “If you can withstand this Lord's intent, I will spare your Cultivation.” The dude looks a lot less sure of himself all of a sudden. I wonder why, it's not like I keep pulling shit out of my ass to be a bigger dick than them.

“Wait, you have an intent already too!?” Luo Xue cries with a look of frustration on her face. Not giving the other two a chance to respond, I blast that shit on full send.

With my divine sense, I see a wave of purple crash through them and the surrounding area, my Madness Intent (Drunkard Edition™) taking the entire surrounding as its own. With it, like a Regal Emperor, I issue my command to the stumbling servant of the Wei family.

“Soil yourself.” He nods at my words.

“That's a great idea.”

And for the first time in this life, I'm happy at the rancid scent of piss, not at the piss itself I should add, not into waterworks here. Cutting off the Intent, I bask in the silence, taking a sip of my drink as the horror of what he just did sinks in.

What I didn't expect was for my fiancé to become a blur as she rockets off into the sky. I vaguely had enough time to see she took out an artifact of some kind. Something that has to be expensive as a feat like that isn't possible for someone in Qi Gathering. Then it hits me, along with the reason why she left.

The scent of piss in the wind, trailing behind her.