There was no special reason why she asked the girl to be her servant, she simply liked the girl’s Asian look... and she was under the influence of wine. Yup, she, a ninth grade Soul Disciple, got drunk. ‘I can’t believe my body is weak to booze...’

‘May I remind you that you drank five bottles of the strongest wine the pub could offer?’

‘Yeah… there’s that... ahahaha!’

‘Why did they even allow you to drink? Are they too retarded to realize you’re under aged?’

‘As the saying goes – where there’s money there’s a way.’

‘Whoever created that quote is the worst scum of humankind.’

‘Ouch’ She grabbed her chest as if she was in pain.

‘You… forget it. What’s the little monkey’s condition?’

Rydia glanced at the girl sleeping on her bed. ‘Her life’s no longer in danger. She just needs to rest for a month or two.’

Making the girl drink some medicinal pills and hitting a few pressure points were enough to save her life. But the girl's meridians were still blocked, and it was much worse than Rydia’s case. For Rydia, there were a few solid objects in her spiritual vessels which hindered the flow of Qi. The girl’s spiritual vessels, on the other hand, were filled to the brim – it was like a river of hardened cement.

And it wasn’t inborn – someone clogged her meridians on purpose.

‘As for her meridians; it’ll take me a while to cleanse them, a week at most.’

‘Are you sure you want to take her in?’

‘I asked, she accepted, that’s all there is to it.’

‘I’ll just remind you – you were drunk.’

‘My gut feeling is telling me to keep her so I will.’

‘If you’re that stubborn about it then I’ll leave it at that. Just remember that you have no promise to keep with that little monkey. Furthermore, you only said you’d save her, not make her serve you forever. You can abandon her whenever you want.’

‘You’re surprisingly serious about this, what’s up?’

‘Nothing, it’s just a reminder.’

There was something behind his words, but since he didn’t want to speak, Rydia didn’t ask any further. ‘Anyway, time to do a little cleaning. Byakko, I’ll be borrowing some of your Qi ok?’

With a deep breath, she began fixing her meridians.

***

‘Done’ Rydia closed her eyes, indulging in the sensation of flowing Qi – finally, she could cultivate again.

A short while later, she sterilized the needles and hid them in her interspatial ring, a magical item with a pocket dimension. She could store items inside it and retrieve them with a single thought. It was quite a handy item, and it was quite expensive too.

It could only store a small room’s worth of items yet already cost her eight aqua stones – yes, she had more. On the bright side, she was able to buy plenty of things with her remaining money without a care where she would hide them. Pills, mixing materials, unnecessary toys, she has them all in the ring.

With a smile, she went to the window and stared at the morning sky. Well… not morning. The sun rose a long time ago so it was probably past noon already.

‘Congratulations, it only took you four days to fix the fruit of your idiocy.’

‘And I even got a servant as a bonus.’

‘Haaaa, where do you get all those retorts from?’

‘My mind, obviously.’

‘See? It doesn’t even take you a split second to think of a way to irritate me.’

‘That’s because you get angry at everything.’

‘Nonsense, I have the patience of a saint. You’re just a very hateful person.’

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‘Is it just me, or did you stop calling me monkey?’

‘It would be rude to the race if I keep treating you like one of them.’

‘Hoho, you’re getting better at this.’

‘It’s all thanks to a certain girl with the heart of a demon.’

‘It’s nothing.’ She bowed in an exaggerated way.

‘By the way, you seem to be fine with being called a girl.’

‘I’d only be postponing the inevitable if I reject my current gender so I might as well embrace it. But of course, I still swing the same way.’

‘Is that why you picked up the little monkey?’ Byakko began to giggle.

‘You’re really going all out today, huh?’

‘What was that? Did you say something? Sorry, can you repeat what you said?’

‘Two can play at that game.’ She grinned wickedly.

***

‘Come on, I already said I'm sorry.’ Rydia said… in a very apologetic tone.

‘Don’t talk to me. I hate you.’

With Byakko suppressing their mental link on his own, Rydia decided to leave him alone – it would only backfire if she forces herself onto him.

But seriously, what was up with Byakko? He didn’t talk much when they were still on earth. Well, he was asleep most of the time back then while now he’s active due to cultivation. But hey, even in the past two years he didn’t speak unless she initiated a conversation… was she really influencing him? That would be bad, very bad.

Maybe she should tone down her teasing a little. It would be bad if Byakko grew up to be a mischievous person like her, especially if she would be the target of his pranks.

As she pondered, a ferocious growl reached her ears.

When she looked at the growl’s origin, she saw a red-faced girl holding her stomach.

Rydia immediately wore a smile and said: “Good morning”

“G- Good morning” The girl said meekly… and in a different accent.

There was a glint in Rydia’s eyes – a fellow Asian!

“I’ll go downstairs to eat, want to come too?” She said, giving face to the girl.

“I don’t have-”

“Money? I’ll pay for you. It’s a master’s job to feed his servants after all.”

She extended her hand. “So, will you come or not?”

After a few seconds of silence, the girl stood up and grabbed her hand.

The two went down shortly, and along the way, Rydia introduced herself. “I’m Rydia Crowe. You’re free to call me whatever you want as long as it’s not too girly.”

She got her name from her body’s previous owner. It wasn’t for a grand reason like respecting the dead. She simply decided to take the place of someone who no longer existed.

“My name’s Wang Xiao Yu, my family name being Wang.”

‘The last name being stated before the first… how nostalgic.’

“May I call you Xia?”

“I- If that’s what master wants” Xia said, visibly shaken.

“Then Xia, do you know what cultivation is?”

“Yes” Xia’s face darkened for a split second, and it didn’t go unnoticed.

She immediately understood that Xiao had a bad experience connected to cultivation, obviously due to her blocked meridians.

“How far would you go to gain the ability to cultivate?”

“I-” Noticing the implication of Rydia’s words, Xia stared at the girl a head smaller than her. “I would do anything, master.”

“You see, I’m quite a selfish person. I don’t like the idea of people leaving me after I do my best to help them. In a way, I’m like an overly attached parent.” Rydia looked Xia in the eyes. “If I help you, I expect an eternal service, not a simple thank you. Are you fine with that?”

“I- I-”

“I know it’s not an easy decision to make so I’ll give you until night time to think-”

“I will… I vow to serve you forever.”

“Betrayal, regardless of the reason, means death you know?”

“I have no plans on betraying master.”

“Then that settles it.” She smiled at Xia. “Welcome to the club. Oh, and you don’t have to be so formal with me. As long as it doesn’t irritate me, you’re free to act as you wish.”

She pulled Xia's hand. “Now on to the land of food!”

Once they reached the first floor – which was a pub – Rydia chose a random table and ordered two soups since Xia needed food that was easy to digest at the moment.

They conversed as they waited, but it was mostly her talking and Xia reacting. Still, she kept going to lighten up the mood and become closer with her new servant. She didn’t know what topics were taboos for the girl so she brought up funny yet irrelevant ones.

By the time their food came, Xia was in a far better mood. She still looked reluctant, but she was now smiling at Rydia’s jokes every so often. Unfortunately, someone barged into their personal space.

“May I sit here, ladies?” It was the young man that tried to hit on Rydia yesterday, and it seems he was no longer afraid of her.

Not knowing what card the young man would play, she said: “It’s fine.”

“Thank you” The young man smiled and took the seat beside her.

Since they looked friendly with each other, Xia didn’t say anything and kept eating her food.

“Hey, did you know? Acting like an agent of the king is a major crime.”

“Oh, is that so?” Not fazed by the young man’s threat, she took another sip of soup.

“May I, Sirius A. Bartlon, second son of the city lord, ask for your name?”

“Certainly” She nodded. “I’m Gosak A. Chinpo of the Large Chinpo household.”

“Chinpo? Did you come from another country?”

“Yeah, something like that.” ‘Ahahahaha! He doesn’t know I told him to go suck a c*ck!’

“So that means you’re just a simple girl with no power right now. Not only can I do whatever I want with you, I can also make your life miserable by telling everyone about your little lie.”

“Exactly, I don’t have anything that would benefit you so go find yourself a better lady.”

“You seem to be misunderstanding something. I’m not searching for a wife.” He grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look his way. “I’m looking for a toy.”

“Master!” Xia stood up, ready to attack. But Rydia stopped her.

“I’m fine, go finish your food.”

“So you do know when to back down.” The man grinned evilly.

“I don’t want to be your toy, please find someone else.”

“You don’t have a say in this. If I say I want you, you will be mine.”

“Is that so” ‘Byakko, be prepared to protect Xia.’

She closed her eyes, gathering Qi on the outer layer of her skin. The young man interpreted it as a sign of submission and moved his face closer to hers, intending to taste her lips.

‘Divine Chaos, Radiant Wheel Burst’

Before the young man could kiss her, an invisible force burst out of her body which pushed everything away. “Sorry, but I don’t like men, especially pedophiles.”

A second later, a dozen men stood up.

“Get her!” Once they heard the young man’s voice, they closed in to Rydia.

Without waiting for her command, Byakko jumped out of her soul in his human form and stood beside the surprised Xia.

“If it’s a fight you want.” She grinned viciously. “It’s a fight you’ll get!”

Pumping her fists, she rushed forward. “Let’s get this party started!”