Chapter 8: Suspicion
*Roar!* A loud and vicious resounded in the woods where Shen went to practice his newly attained skill.
The beast's power was somewhere in the middle of the Nascent realm which meant that it was much stronger than Shen, at least, cultivation level-wise. Profound beasts were also naturally stronger than humans which made it even harder for humans to kill the profound beast of the same cultivation level.
Beast's speed was much faster than Shen's without using his skill.
Right before the beast's claws made contact with his body, he used Netherworld's Traceless Steps, completely dodging the attack and appearing in the beast's blind spot. Although he dodged the attack, a copy of him truly stayed there and was cleaved in half which made the beast completely drop its guard.
'Death Blossom' A small blossom of gray energy appeared on top of his palm before being shot towards the beast's head.
The beast's supernatural instincts and speed allowed it to avoid being hit in a vital area, however, the moment it jumped back, Shen was already above its head with another blossom in his hand.
*Splash!* Shen's blossom went right through its skull before hitting the ground, creating a small yet deep hole.
[+ 20 Death Coins]
[+ 30 Death Energy]
'The copies of me bleed realistically however their expressions look too fake, still, for a level 1 it's not half bad. And even upgrading Death Blossom made it much deadlier, the blossom became slightly bigger and its sharpness increased too.'
---
[9730 Death Energy]
[6120 Death Coins]
Profound Strength: 1st level of Nascent Profound Realm + (1200 Death Energy)]
Death Art: Death Blossom level 1 + (1.000 Death Energy), Netherworld's Traceless Steps level 1 + (5.000 Death Energy)
---
'I wonder if I should increase my cultivation...I already know that by killing stronger opponents, I gain more Death Energy and Coins. The passive skill Grim Reaper increases its value but it barely increases the income of the Coins. For now, I don't see currently anything interesting in the shop I can exchange for the Coins so my spendings are low, however, Death Energy is required for both my cultivation level and comprehension of the skills.'
Shen was also practicing control over his profound energy since he didn't want to walk around, leaking it everywhere as if challenging everyone. For now, he managed to keep it inside him, however, anyone stronger would still be able to quickly tell his strength, for much higher protection, he needed some artifact to hide his strength completely. He found a few in the shop but none of them were permanent items and he didn't feel like buying something that would disappear within a few weeks.
'By the way, can I cultivate in a normal way like any other person?' Shen asked since he never tried it until now.
[Of course, the master can cultivate however it is an extremely hard and slow process. Not to mention the master's predicament with Profound Entrances.]
'Profound entrances?' Shen asked and the system proceeded to shortly explain without telling him his "predicament". The system reassured him that by cultivating in a regular way, he would be just wasting time anyway so Shen decided to trust its words for now.
'I feel like there is not much I can do in this city anymore. Can you give me some quest that will lead me in the right direction?' Shen asked as he was approaching the city from his late afternoon hunt. He was planning to go to the Xia Manor to sell several more cores before leaving the city behind.
[That depends on what is the right direction in the master's eyes. I can create custom quests on the master's request but they won't have high rewards. Only the spontaneously made quests give decent rewards.]
'Since you can't tell me where I can find a princess or one of the princes of this empire, give me a quest that will direct me towards them, even if it's just making connections with one of their friends...I need some good directions to slowly begin forming my plan.
[That certainly is possible. I will try to choose the most optimal way for the master which might take a while]
'Good, take your time, I will finish my business with Xia guy in the meanwhile' Shen replied and suddenly began feeling like a truly crazy person. He was basically spending more of his time talking to some AI than to fellow humans.
While Shen was walking through the courtyard, he noticed people being very busy.
.
.
"Mister Shen! To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit today? It has been quite a while, I hope you have been safe since the city turned a bit chaotic in the past weeks. I have already been considering whether I should delay my daughter's marriage until the problems get resolved."
"Like always...like always, lord Xia. Thank you for your concern, however, I have yet to come across that dangerous individual. I would also like to congratulate your daughter in advance. I have no gift prepared and I am not exactly rich, however, I hope you will accept half of the cores I brought today as a gift." 'What an unlucky fellow that future husband is' Shen said with a friendly smile. This opportunity was almost like prepared for him beforehand, he intended to make use of Xia Hongyi connections however he didn't believe they were close enough for that. Now that he could give a few things to him for free with a good reason behind it, they would grow even closer.
'By showing that I even care about his daughter, his impression of me might get even better than if I just gave him some things for free or gave him a discount' Unfortunately for Shen, he was overthinking everything too much and didn't realize Hongyi would most likely agree to anything reasonable since he viewed Shen as a very talented individual and thus wanted to keep him close.
Before Hongyi could responde, someone appeared in the doorway.
"Thank you for your kind words, mister Shen." It was Xia Qingyue who replied with her cold tone and the way she said his name sarcastically, he knew that she was suspicious of him. He felt her suspicion even when they first met, however, he didn't think of it much at that time.
"...Young miss, it's always a pleasure seeing you, however, I couldn't help but detect a strange tone in your voice, if the young miss is unsatisfied with something, please be straightforward with me. I can take anything the young miss decides to throw at me" Shen turned at her and offered a polite smile, without appearing too friendly.
"Then I will be frank with mister Shen...Does mister Shen realize the rumored murder spree started not long after mister Shen arrived at Floating Cloud City?" Xia Qingyue asked calmly while staring at Shen's face whose eyes were closed and a polite smile plastered over his face.
"Qingyue!" Hongyi frowned when he saw his daughter's behavior, however, Shen quickly put his hand in front of Hongyi to stop him. Even Hongyi must have thought that Shen's sudden appearance was strange, however, he couldn't imagine a polite young man like Shen would indiscriminately kill people, after all, he was bringing him Profound cores and sometimes even those still covered in the beast's blood. There was no reason for Shen to do such things.
"Young miss's suspicion towards me is well deserved. I won't even say things like 'I don't have any reason to do such vile acts', instead, let's go over the information known about the killer. People die every day, however, most of the recent deaths are probably the work of one person." Shen motioned with his hand for her to say all she knows.
"No information regarding his appearance is known, however, one thing is almost granted and that is his strength is at most the first layer of Nascent Profound Realm...coincidentally the same as mister Shen's strength." She explained while taking a few steps closer as if she was getting ready to make a move or protect her father. After hearing her words, Hongyi silently looked at Shen who had a thoughtful expression with closed eyes.
Shen suddenly opened his eyes and smiled at Qingyue which slightly confused her since she could feel the confidence radiating from him.
"I see, young miss is indeed smart and talented, unfortunately, your explanation has one fatal flaw."
She immediately frowned upon hearing his words.
"...Which is?"
"I am not at the first layer of Nascent Profound Realm"
Profound Strength: 2nd level of Nascent Profound Realm + (2200 Death Energy)]
[8530 Death Energy]
When she felt his strength increase, she was slightly surprised.
"Neither am I the second layer"
Profound Strength: 3rd level of Nascent Profound Realm + (3200 Death Energy)]
[6330 Death Energy]
"Or even the third layer..." Shen shrugged his shoulders with a carefree expression and his strength rose once again, giving quite a shock to both Hongyi and Qingyue.
[Profound Strength: 4th level of Nascent Profound Realm + (4200 Death Energy)]
[3130 Death Energy]
"Shall I continue to indulge the young miss's curiosity?" Shen asked with an amused smile.
"That won't be necessary. I apologize for my baseless suspicion and I am glad mister Shen took it as amusement instead of taking offense." When Qingyue quickly regained her calm expression, she responded to Shen before nodding her head and taking her leave.
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