Chapter 7: Meeting under the Moonlight
<<<Shin Akagawa>>>
As the class came to an end Shin looked to his right, there he saw Nie Li deep in thought.
"So? How do you plan to reach the Bronze rank in two months?"
Shin wasn't sure what prompted Nie Li to make that bet, while it wasn't that difficult to do that with Fire Lotus cultivation techniques and elixir it would be almost impossible for someone like him to get his hands on those things.
'Could it be that he found some ancient treasure containing cultivation techniques and is planning to use that?'
That theory crumbled the same moment that it appeared in Shin's head as someone that wasn't even a Bronze rank won't have the ability to go out of the city and find a treasure.
"I do have a way but let's talk about it in another place."
Nodding his head Shin motioned them to follow him as they made their way out of the classroom, the moment he turned around he regrettably noticed that the orange haired girl was already long gone along with most of the people in the classroom.
As he descended the steps he made eye contact with Ye Ziyun for a moment as he gave a small bow before continuing out of the classroom.
Reaching the library, Nie Li led them to an empty corner where they could easily sit down and hide from most eyes while also having a way to check the entrance.
"For starters I plan on hunting for Horned Sheep in the training ground to make some money before buying a Soul Crystal to do a test on our soul forms and attributes."
As Nie Li declared as such Shin was stunned, as Glory City lacked any type of knowledge in Soul form and attributes he could only look curiously at Nie Li on how he got know about that.
'Could he have a secret master? If that's the case then that master must be someone not from Glory City… Could he be someone from Fire Lotus City?'
While Shin never put a ban on having his people take disciples form Glory City he also didn't think about the possibility of having his knowledge spread like this.
'I need to send a letter to Yoru…'
If Nie Li master was from Fire Lotus City then he would surely recognize any cultivation technique he would take out so he decided to speed his plan a little.
"There is no need for me to have enough soul crystal on me right now you can use those."
As he said that he took out six unused soul crystals as he put them on the table, if he was indeed right about Nie Li master coming from Fire Lotus City then he will warn them to not divulge any more information about the cultivation technique to others along with asking for his name from Nie Li.
"A single one of these costs more than One-Thousand Demon Spirit coins! How can we accept this?"
As he placed them on the table the guy in the group exclaimed as he looked at the soul crystal cautiously as if it would break if he breathed too hard on it.
"Don't worry about it, we are all in the same boat here, Also don't treat me so coldly just because I'm from a bigger family. Just treat me normally."
Saying that Nie Li smiled at Shin as he took the crystal before passing it to the other as they accepted while still feeling a little worried.
"With this we can start immediately, Thank you so much brother Shin!"
Nodding his head Shin then observed how Nie Li was able to easily identify any of the soul realms and attributes as he then also gave them the most fitting cultivation technique he had in mind.
'These cultivation techniques are even stronger than the one used by the normal people in Fire Lotus City…'
While the six main clans still had more powerful cultivation technique than most of the one Nie Li took out they always required a precise type of Soul attribute to practice because of that not everyone from the same clan practiced the same technique even if it was the strongest.
"Nie Li, do you mind selling those cultivation techniques along with any other you may have to my Akagawa Clan, we will pay you fairly."
Nie Li was momentarily stunned before he started thinking about it for a moment, seeing his hesitation Shin continued.
"I don't mind if you sell them or share them with others later on. I just want to get a copy of them for my clan."
Shin knew that he was losing out in this deal but the possibility that it would be created was too big for him to lose out.
"No no, you've already helped us. I would feel too bad to also make you pay, besides I don't have any use for these. I'll write them then deliver it to you at a later date."
Nodding Shin took out a pair of empty spatial rings from his own spatial ring.
"Here use one for yourself while putting the cultivation technique in the other and give them to me when you finish, take your time. I prefer if they are written carefully instead of having a job done quickly and badly."
Saying that he stood up from his place as he prepared to leave.
"I'll get some pill for you guys to train with, tomorrow let's come here again after school, See you."
Waving at the group he made his way out of the library, walking under the orange hue of the sunset he thought about making his way back to his dorm but decided against it, he planned to reach the 2-Star of the bronze rank tonight but with how close between each other the dorms were he would surely alert all the people living near him.
Fortunately for him there was a perfect place for this, the training grounds of the Holy Orchid Institute was established by the Legend rank Ye Mo along with the principal of the school, every year expert of glory city would fill this place with low ranking demon beast so that the students under the silver rank could easily train without having to risk their life outside the walls.
Passing through the towering gate he was met with the vast forest covering the place, giant trees making covers here and there as their roots sprouted from the ground making the place an intricate maze.
After admiring the place for a moment he decided to head more inside as he started to jump from one tree to another making use of his strength and cultivation.
Along the way he noticed a couple of horned sheep and while he could easily kill them he didn't have a need to do so, so he simply jumped over them as he continued heading deeper in the forest.
'This place is pretty large, I even noticed some inscription patterns placed here and there.'
As he saw a field hid behind a couple of overgrown roots that made a perfect place to cultivate undisturbed, but as he reached the place he froze on the spot.
In the open field illuminated by the moonlight there stood a single lone girl with long orange hair that reached her back wearing a blue training dress.
Landing at the other side of the roots his footsteps alerted the girl, who previously had her eyes closed as she was cultivating, turning around quickly she took out a knife from her spatial ring as she looked Shin cautiously.
"Who is it!"
Being found out he didn't even try to hide himself as he walked out in the open lifting both of his arms showing he didn't mean any harm.
"Sorry, I didn't think there would be anyone cultivating in the middle of the night especially with the risk that it could bring."
As he said that he noticed her flinch for a moment as a confused expression adorned her face.
"...You do know of the risk coming with cultivating in the middle of the night."
Seeing the look of horror in her face was enough of an answer for him.
"If you train in the middle of the night there is the risk of the moon's yin energy seeping inside your body especially for low ranked cultivators, that's called the Arctic Disease and the symptoms are… At night your legs will feel as if they are on fire while the rest of your body will feel very cold and at midnight the body will be wrecked with so much pain that continuing cultivating or even sleeping will be difficult, and if you are already in the later stages painful bruises that do not dissipate will start to appear around your body."
Looking back toward her he saw how her expression got increasingly paler as he continued to list the symptoms.
"What happens if it doesn't get treated?"
She asked him, her voice barely above a whisper, Shin was hesitant to say it as he understood that she indeed was suffering from the disease but didn't have much of a choice.
"If it doesn't get treated at best the person afflicted will get seriously ill at worst the yin energy would block the veins resulting in the person to explode."
As he finished she looked down on the ground as she tightly closed her fist, tears were threatening to come out but she still held strong.
"So all this time as I trained myself without getting some rest I was just dooming myself? How laughable, even after I tried my best to free myself from the arranged marriage my family put me in even as I was about to reach the Bronze rank. In the end I'll just end up dying…"
Not being able to control her emotion anymore tears ran down her face but as Shin was about to say something she suddenly looked up to him realizing something.
"Wait, you know so much about this disease so you must know about the cure right? If so please… Help me!"
Shin wasn't sure what to say, after what she said he had some assumption on who she was but nothing was still certain.
'No that's not important right now.'
"You don't need to plead so much, this should have been public information in the first place."
Shin saw her face brighten at his word as a small smile made its way to her face.
"First of all, how far is your disease? Depending on that we will decide on how to proceed."
Nodding her head she thought for a moment before she answered in a small voice.
"I already have some bruises in my body."
Shin didn't know why she blushed at the mention of those bruises but he decided to ignore it for the moment.
"If it's already at that level then we have only two ways to proceed. The first one is the fastest one but it require physical contact with the bruises as one would need to use a redirecting technique like the Daoyin Technique or something similar to expel the yin energy, the other way is to cure you only using medical pills and elixirs but that would take months and during that time you won't be able to cultivate as it would be dangerous for you."
Having said all that he stopped as he waited for his word to actually sink in her, and as her blush increased Shin realized why she was blushing in the first place.
"If the bruises are in an inopportune place then I suggest going with the second way or you can search for someone from your family that knows a redirecting techniq-."
Shin stopped as he saw the girl in front of him shake her head before looking straight at his eyes.
"It's ok I'll go with the fastest way, I can't lag behind…So please, could you help me right now."
Sighing mentally Shin decided to not stop her as he understood that no matter what he said it would also not change her decision.
"As I said before, you don't need to plead that much… I'll prepare some pills for you later when I return to the dorm so let's meet tomorrow, as for the bruises…"
Hearing that she smiled at the mention of him preparing some medicine for her but when he mentioned the bruises she couldn't stop the blush that returned at full power, looking down toward her foot she saw the purple/bluish bruise that plagued her nights for a couple of months now.
"Ah, if it's the foot then there shouldn't be much problem, it may hurt a little so forgive me."
Saying so he motioned for her to sit down on the grass as she did so, sitting in front of her he looked at the bruise for a few moments before he extended his hand.
"If you'll let me."
Seeing his smile she simply nodded her head before extending her foot forward as she saw his eyes go from easy going to serious as he held her foot with one hand as the other overed over the bruise, crimson light appeared on his fingertips as she felt a strange energy wash over her foot almost like the feeling of submerging her foot on a river.
"Mh!"
She couldn't help the groan that left her mouth as she heard a small sorry coming from the boy in front of her. The energy slowly increased in speed as this time she felt another ice cold energy appear on the place of her bruise before it started to leave her body along with the pain that normally accompanied her during the night.
Some more seconds passed as she simply looked at the person that was currently curing her, from what she knew the boy was the young patriarch of the new noble family that just arrived in Glory city a little more than a year ago.
It was crazy for her to think about how someone of her age was also managing a clan along with all responsibility that came with the job, obviously she knew he wasn't alone as he most probably had a lot of people helping along the way but it still remained praiseworthy how he still kept calm and didn't drown in pride or other disgusting emotion like the young masters of most noble families. And she suddenly regretted her last thought as she remembered her sickening fiancé.
"Alright that should be enough, I may have to treat it again for a couple of nights but it should cause any more pain other than some small fits."
Saying that he let go of her foot as he stood up, part of her feeling displeased as she saw him get farther away from her.
"If that's all I'll be returning, I have a couple of things to prepare first."
Before Shin could turn away she stopped him as he felt a small tug come from his sleeve.
"Can I ask something?"
Tilting his head he immediately answered her question with a "Yes?"
"Do you have someone that you like?"
At that question Shin's brain froze and stopped working for a couple of seconds. He was expecting her to ask something about the treatment, not something like this, he was even doubting whenever he heard wrong.
"Wah… I… No I don't have anyone like that at the moment? Why?"
A little confused he gave her an uncertain answer which seemed to displease her but he couldn't notice that as he was still thinking why she would ask him something like that out of the blue.
"It's nothing… Anyway there actually is another bruise…"
Reverting to his serious mode he nodded as he sat back down, Seeing him silently agree she hesitated for a moment.
'Those that are ill should not avoid treatment… Also if it's he who's treating me then…'
Shin was about to say something but stopped as he saw her reaching for her shirt undoing the buttons, quickly diverting his eyes he tried to stop her but she was quicker and as her shirt came undone Shin could see the almost palm sized bruise right under her chest area.
'If it's a bruise that big then the pain she should have suffered everyday…'
Shin brows furrowed as his heart felt heavy, because of his cultivation methods he had to use all the time he could to develop all of them without having the other lag behind so he was taught about the Arctic Disease pretty early on along with the pain that would come from seeing someone withstanding so much pain by themself was admirable.
Seeing her reach for the last clothes that hid her modesties he quickly stopped her by grabbing the hand that was about to untie the cloth.
"There is no need, I can treat you easily from here. Even if it's for treatment you shouldn't give your modesty away so easily."
At his words she stopped like a rabbit under the eyes of a predator before her face started to burn up.
Shin moved to have more accessibility to her bruise but that only caused her face to redden as she felt him so close to her almost naked body but looking at Shin only revealed him doing his work seriously without any hint of lecherous thoughts.
Seeing so concentrated on caring and helping her, she couldn't help but feel a warm sensation rise in her heart.
'The feeling of depending on someone… How long has it been since I felt it…'
While she was the only daughter of the Winged Dragon clan, since the death of her mother she hasn't felt the warmth of another person. Her father who once doted on her suddenly started to distance himself from her as he left her alone with the excuse of working for the family and for her but even then she knew that he just couldn't face her as he never forgave himself from her mother's death.
She was fine with being ignored and left alone at least until the Winged Dragon family fell into the trap of the Sacred family piling up a debt that would have taken generations to pay up and that meant the end of the Winged Dragon family as a noble family as they wouldn't have been able to sustain themselves anymore.
Or so it should have been, until one of the elders got the brilliant idea of 'selling' the only daughter to the Sacred family, reducing the debt of a notable amount.
'They didn't even bother asking me before going forward with their plans…'
Sighing she realized that the pain that normally would come as she breathed was gone and looking down she saw her bruise going from a bright azure color to a more dim purple.
Emotions overflowed her as she finally realized that the pain she suffered these days would disappear and it was all thanks to the person at her side.
Finishing expelling most of the energy from the bruise Shin lifted his hand from the bruise before looking up, during the treatment he ended up moving around to get into a more comfortable position until he was sitting almost right behind her and if she moved a little more to the right she would be ending sitting almost on his lap, that's why when he looked toward her and she turned her upper body to look at him they ended up staring at each other in surprise, their body close almost hugging and their face just separated by a couple of centimeters.
"Ah, Sorry."
Being the first one to wake up from his daze Shin apologized before standing up and stepping back, she blushed as she turned her head away not wanting to show her expression to him at the moment.
Calming down he took a small breath before looking at the girl that was still sitting down holding her chest area in embarrassment.
"There aren't any more bruises right?"
Seeing her nod he took out a small box from his spatial ring, the box was golden with black outlines making it simple but at the same time quite beautiful, inside the box there were different pill bottles.
"Here, take the pill from the first row each morning or every time you feel some pain and stop cultivating for now as your soul energy needs to stabilize. The second row are pills that can help you with physical injuries while the third row are Soul Refining pills that can help you increase your cultivation speed for when you recover."
They were mostly for her future uses as even the first row of pill was just a momentarily solution until he prepare more specific pills to help her and with the amount of pill they were making now Shin felt a lot more comfortable to give around pills but she took it differently as she only knew of these pills form the rumors on how hard they were to get even a single one and while their initial price were low, unless one was willing to order them and wait for months until their order were ready, most people had to wait for the open auctions and bid for them having to spend tons of Demon Spirit Coins most of the time.
Tightly holding the box to her chest the warm feeling she has been feeling since the beginning got even stronger as her heart ached for reasons unknown to her.
"Shina Akagawa you've helped me so if there's anything you need me help with in the future I will spare no effort to help you!"
Not letting go of the box she declared as such as she stared right into Shin eyes who seemed a little surprised, his first thought was to refuse her but decided to simply let her as refusing her right now would seem rude.
"Then for starters how about you give me your name?"
It was at that moment that she finally realized that she never bothered to give her name, shame rose in her as she quickly put on her shirt before standing up and giving a practiced bow.
"I'm sorry for not presenting myself before, my name is Xiao Ning'er from the Winged Dragon family."
Ending her greeting with a smile she looked at the man who most probably saved her from a dark future, her mind thinking back at the little time spent with him.
Giving a smile to her greeting he answered her cheerfully at finally getting the name of the mysterious girl that's been plaguing the back of his mind these last couple of months since the banquet. "It's a pleasure to meet you, and just call me Shin from now on, I know how much of a mouthful my full name is."
Hearing his words Xiao Ning'er nodded her head in acceptance feeling a happy at the fact that she was getting closer to him, out of all the people she met as the only daughter of the Winged Dragon family Shin was the only one that approached with a sincere heart, helping her not because of her family but simply to help her.
'After all his family is many times more powerful than the Winged Dragon family so it is obvious that he wouldn't care about that… '
Her heart felt a little as she thought of that, for the first person to move her heart like that would be a person so great that in the future would move further and further from her. For the first time she had another reason to train her soul force and reach the higher ranks.
"Well, it's time for me to go, you should also return… "
Hearing his words she felt a little reluctant but still nodded. She won't give up on the feelings that were sprouting in her heart but she couldn't keep inconveniencing him so she got ready to leave the place after he left but his next words surprised her.
"... Actually, do you want me to accompany you?"
While the training ground wasn't that dangerous he still felt uneasy to have her walk back alone as someone that hasn't reached the Bronze rank yet and was injured.
'And I can't deny that I want to know more about her.'
Shin couldn't deny his feeling anymore, while he wouldn't say he loved her or something like that, he knew that he was curious about her he wanted to know more about her and knew that that would lead to him holding her dear in his heart whenever that would be as a friend or as a lover.
After a little moment of hesitation she nodded her head as she walked closer to him before the two started to walk back while getting to know each other better.
Shin could see the little jump in her steps but wrote it off as her being happy that her disease was being cured and the pain was mostly gone.
Like that, under the bright moonlight, the two walked all the way back to the training ground entrance, subconsciously slowing down a little as they didn't want that calm and warm moment to end.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Lugh_Zero
Lugh_Zero It’s ya boy skinny p- *ehm* It was kinda hard to write the start of the conversation between Ning’er and Shin as I didn’t really want to fully copy-paste what happened in the canon.
Hope you liked the chapter~ just know that Shin won’t follow around Nie Li like a lost dog and while most events will still happen the two will mostly be doing their thing separately while sometime they will be together, and while Nie Li reincarnation may seem useless it will make more sense in the later chapters and when they reach the draconic ruins realm for why I’m having him reincarnated.
Creation is hard, cheer me up!
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