The time went by quickly and Leroy was very grateful for Tang Ansui. A lot was made clear on the situation regarding the Akademy and in the Empire itself. Unfortunately, information on the Continent itself was scarce. After all the Clear Tang Family was more of an internally working Noble Family due to its Tier. The word Clear in front of the Family denoted the type of Aritocarcy they were and what they were allowed t

The jury was no longer out on what type of setting he was in but so far, since the place had themes and a few other mentions of different Empires at work close but not like Earth's in history progression, it was still a bit wild. But a lot of the stuff does not fit with the setup overall back then with ancient Asia or European places. If history is really anything to go by. And that is written by whoever has the power. Clothes definitely said it was close to that anyway.

'Maybe the lighting fried a bit of my dumb ass brain cells before I came here?'

The information obtained from Refing himself by taking in the bodies from the various Corpse Pits gave a lot of information. Still was not a perfect thing to do but the Corpse Soul Formation was getting better and better to do it with.

Not only were a lot of the Noble Leaders, Chieftans, and Royal members grossly monstrous as people but he found a few Artifact locations to get. Lots of movements by a few Thieves and Assassins.

Not to mention the location of a few buried resources from thieves and mercenary companies. The info on The Dark Tiger-fire Family was conflicting. To be precise two factions in the family were fighting for supremacy.

One branch wanted to pursue the flawed method of right makes right while the other side want to go with unity and understanding. Lots of the latter group started to turn up missing or assigned somewhere awful.

Then there was the Light Lion-ice Family under the Dark Tiger-fire Family. All the different Nobles that lead towns as well as the higher-up ones that watched over cities of millions.

They were somewhat loving and stuck together after some things happen type of people Still, a bunch was killed by the Dark Tiger-fire Family when they came up short or crops to many times. Which Leroy's body is a part of. Also one of the heirs but not that great in the scheme of things with all the pushing of the waste and unruly former rule of this body.

Personality-wise the other Leroy was trouble with a lot of enemies. But that was changed with the new runner of the body.

'Kind of sucks about the healing factor thing. But most likely would die from offending someone anyway if I relied on it. Didn't even get..' Leroy froze as he felt his head start pounding a bit. A ight pang in the chest was next. '..can't be a heart attack!'

Images of a man looming over him within in a white plane. Fire constantly swirled around and the sound of thunder boomed about. Words were spoken that he could not understand even a little bit. As the headache went away, Leroy was left wanting to know even more for some reason.

"Shango... who are you?" The man in fire called out with an extended hand. His smile gave the notion he knew who the other was but asked all the same.

'Who the hell is Shango?! And why the hell this flamer is incapable of communication!? Why didn't he speak English damn it!'

As Leroy racked his brain some more, a small ripple of energy permeated inside of him. The energy swirled like a Vortex of Flames. Everything that made him, well his own person was swept inside. Everything that was Leroy mixed in with the Leroy from the Dark Tiger-fire Family that waited for such a chance to act.

Leroy almost forgot his own name and only remembered that of the Dark Tiger-fire Family before reasserting himself. Affection towards his real family became hollow and distant for a brief moment.

The faces of his friends blurred away as if it was the direct target within his soul. Lost in the inner fire inside him to be burned into nothingness. But his knowledge remained as well as anything that would allow him to survive such as fighting and what was good to eat.

"Roar!" The Old Tiger spirit fragment gave out a roar as he helped Leroy. 'This human continues to have surprises!' Despite the grumbling, the Demon Beast was really excited.

"You must rebuild your Flame Vortex.. my child..." A dual-speaking voice echoed within. Both foreign as well as the voice of someone Leroy knew long ago. "..to live truly again!"

Leroy was having a battle within himself that cause others on the outside to look at him in wonder.

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"Who is the guy looking completely dazed?" A student asked. He was gathered around a bunch of other students looking around concerned for their classmate.

"Some people say that is Leroy Dark Tiger-fire, son of the Lost General. He is the Young Master of that family that is going through civil strife." looking closely he was not to sure about this person being a noble. "But those clothes are from one of the Hamlets so those rumors might be fake."

"Another rumor said he was killed a few weeks ago."

"Don't believe the rumors, I have seen the Nobles of the Dark Tiger-fire Family, he has a slight resemblance to them but he is not any of those major children. Maybe a branch bastard child but he speaks like one outside the Empire."

"They are a major family only second to the Governor Palace led by the Dark Rose Family. The capital Everlasting City has six towns on its borders. Then those six towns have close to 100 Hamlets. Several of the students sitting around him are also Hamlet Residents from what I can tell." A blond-haired kid said. His name was Pin Feng of House Light Sparrow-water. "If he is from that Family then he would be with them instead."

A small troubling look in his eyes as pieces of information regarding the Demon Plant incident popped up. Keeping mindful of several people that were discussing changes in the Noble Families and Military Families. Pin Feng's family was under Black Rose, yet they still had former ties to the Northern Kingdom.

Despite trouble history and treachery.

The teens talked amongst themselves still. The atmosphere changed slightly when those mentioned in the gossip started moving. Leroy got up and walked over to a brown-haired kid. A member of the Light Lion-ice Family, a subordinate family of the Dark Tiger-fire Family.

The teen Chu Xue was a bit of a directionless person and a horribly naïve one. However, he was in a perfect position to upset things in the City and his family had some Artifacts that the Champion could obtain if need be forceful. After the bout just now and the reaffirming of his own life over others was pushed, he really didn't mind acting a little more forcefully to gain more strength.

"Chu Xue.." Leroy called out neutrally. Keeping his voice as even as possible. "Be careful who you hang out with. Even a few of the others you want to mix with are up to no good. If you value your family, keep this to yourself. Beware that teacher over there, quite a few students people lost their lives already because of him. And in the next few minutes.. try to keep it together. Just a warning to help make up for "some" of what the Dark Tiger-fire Family did to your people if you pay attention."

"Umm.. thanks." Chu Xue muttered. The Champion then moved away before anything else could be talked about. 'That was weird. They are not known for being kind, the rumors about him being part of that family must be false. Maybe it is a trick on the other hand?'

A young girl moved over thinking the worse from seeing the expression of Chu Xue. She didn't need any more thought on the matter regarding if he was a member of the other Noble Military family or not.

"Oh, Victoria, of the Black Rose, trying to busy herself in other affairs despite not knowing what is going on." Leroy stopped as the self-righteous girl stared at him in contempt. "All I did was give advice. No need to get your panties in a wad."

"Scum.." Victoria muttered lowly. "..should have stayed dead." Panning him as the one who was an abuser of authority and not somebody else, it would take the young upstart a lot to change her views.

The teacher was nearby and just watched what transpired from the side. He did nothing since there was nothing to do. Leroy did not do what people expected so even more doubt floated around if he was that person or not.

"Cunt.." Leroy mumbled enough for her to hear. Not very happy with the girl butting in. 'If what that journal and the books picked up on the market said is true, a member of a certain family will gain additional power soon. All the second-tier and third-tier families' noble children under the age of 15 are here after all. Better if it happens to someone I can keep tabs on, it will be great to pick up artifacts because of them."

Popping a book open on the Qi Refining Realm, he brushed up on what to expect if his guesses and estimates were wrong. Everyone had a certain Martial Art that manifests once they entered the Qi Refining Realm. It was just a type of Affinity as well as natural Insight that develops from it. But since he was someone who merged with another and those from the Corpse Pit, something unusual may happen.

Something like a conflict of Qi in which he would have to expunge one type for another. Or he could develop one that is extremely rare. Especially since the Demon Plant had caused a lot of trouble to him.

'Maybe there is something about this Flame Vortex thing.. or was it Vortex of Flames?' As he read through the pages, the feeling inside him settled down just enough to break away. Reaching into his Storage Pouch, he popped a Body Tempering Pill as well as a Mental Cleansing Pill that was purchased. 'I really need to push my cultivation up faster!'

Seeing him still cultivating, a few of the others did the same. No reason to waste time when you can make improvements.

"Ahhhh!" Chu Xue screamed. Looking around in surprise. A few students looked at him strangely due to the outburst. 'What was that just now?' The Comet had triggered the prophecy and the condition change had just started. Looking around puzzled, the young teen was at a loss. 'It was just an illusion maybe. But what was that all about?'

"Just leave him alone. I said a few things to him regarding his family. Made him realize something startling maybe." Leroy said as a cover. A few of the Hamlet students looked at him oddly but said nothing else. 'I need to get this blasted cultivation up higher fast. But what the hell is going on in my body right now?'

Currently, the Flame Vortex was still at work inside his body. Changing it further than what it was. The Old Tiger continued to bathe in the discharged fire in excess. Its blood constantly purifies and old wounds heal.

'Mix with the little bit of fighting I know. Maybe I can do something neat when creating new moves?' Leroy became quiet as he focused on pulling more information on the various families and information about this Academy. 'Lots of thieves were in those Corpse Piles, someone has to know something juicy!'