The next morning, Qian Yu woke up as a scrumptious aroma filled his nostrils. Getting up from his bed, he heard a delicate voice from the side.

“Hello master, I have made breakfast,” Zhen Yue said politely. 

Glancing at her, Qian Yu noticed that she had washed and cleaned up her set of clothes from yesterday and was wearing them now. Aside from that, she had made breakfast as well. 

“You could have rested more,” Qian Yu said as he looked at her as he realized how dedicated and serious she was, having already taken to her new identity.

“Mm, it is fine. To be honest, that was the most sleep I have had in a while. I h-have had inner demons ever since I became a slave. Now, I think I can relax a little more thanks to you, so my heart will be at ease” Zhen Yue said as she gripped her fists.

Becoming a slave essentially meant that your future would be out of your own control, and as such, it was possible that someone could develop an inner demon, thus halting their cultivation progress` and affecting their daily lives. Now that she knew what her master was like, the problem naturally resolved. 

‘So she’s been stuck at the 9th level of qi gathering for 6 months? That means she could reach soul refinement soon?’ Qian Yu was shocked as he recognized the talent of the girl. As he started digesting and refining the yin qi from Zhen Yue yesterday, he easily felt the difference between the quality when compared to Sun Hong and hoped that she could ascend as soon as possible.

Fortunately, after refining most of the virgin yin qi, Qian Yu managed to easily enter the 5th stage of qi gathering.  

“Ok, let’s eat then. We’ll go buy clothes for you afterwards. Also take this,” Qian Yu said as he handed her the spare storage ring. 

“M-master! This is a space storage ring. Do you know how rare these are? They are pretty much worth as much what you spent on me earlier” Zhen Yue exclaimed in shock.

*Ahem* “You are- You are a silly girl. This is nothing”. Qian Yu struggled to come up with what to say as he didn’t feel quite bold enough to say something like “you are my woman”. In the end, their relationship was quite odd and the boundaries were unclear. 

‘Ahhh, how is he so rich with no background. Only my parents had a spatial ring and I never got one since I never made my own money,’ Zhen Yue thought to herself as she accepted the storage ring.

“Okok, let’s eat now,” Qian Yu was pretty hungry after yesterday’s activities. Looking down at the food, Qian Yu couldn’t help but feel nostalgic about Bai Jia. 

Following the meal, the two went out to go get some necessities. Standing out with her silver hair, Zhen Yue wore a cloaked robe and a hat covering much of her facial features.

It was the start of the festival and the streets were still bustling with people everywhere. Offering his arm to her saying, “There’s a lot of people, let’s not get separated,” Qian Yu almost laughed as his own excuse. You must be a blind cultivator or something if you get lost in a crowd of normal mortals.

Under the veil, a flushed Zhen Yue nodded as she hooked her arm around his. 

Walking around, the two just enjoyed the atmosphere buying whatever food and delicacies they passed. 

“Besides clothes and food, do you want to do anything else?” Qian Yu asked Zhen Yue.

“Hmm…” Zhen Yue cutely thought out loud. 

“Oh, let’s go over there,” Qian Yu interrupted her as he led her to a guy sitting on the ground with a few different items on the ground. 

“Hello young man, young woman, do you want to get your fortune told?” The fortune teller yelled out as he saw the couple approach him. 

“Yes,” Qian Yu nodded and smiled. 

“Alright, let me see your fortune then,” the man closed his eyes as he started shaking some containers and boxes. Looking at the side, Qian Yu noticed that the price for the fortune telling was 5 whole gold coins. ‘You better bullshit something good,’ Qian Yu thought as he put the coins in. There was no way this guy was someone special and was probably just a conman. Additionally, while he was sort of well off currently, with over 100 spirit stones in his hands, he didn’t have any source of income. Nonetheless, if it would help the relationship with Zhen Yuel, Qian Yu didn’t mind.

After Qian Yu paid the guy, he suddenly finished his fortune telling saying, “Ahhh, would you look at that. You guys are a pair loved by the heavens themselves. You guys may not know it but your love will be forever eternal. Truly marvelous!” 

“Hahaha, thank you,” Qian Yu laughed as he brought Zhen Yue away. 

After leaving the stall, Qian Yu heard a voice mutter beside him, “Master, do you know what love is?”.

Hearing Zhen Yue’s question, Qian Yu initially thought, ‘Well I love Sun Hong. There’s also Bai Jia and Zhao Xieren, and of course you… While none of my feelings for the latter 3 can compare to Sun Hong, they are something I want to develop’. 

Finishing his thoughts, Qian Yu said, “I guess, why do you ask?”

“To be honest, I have never had any feelings for anyone. I actually had an arranged marriage but… you know what happened to my family…” Zhen Yue sadly said. 

“Hmm, an arranged marriage huh? Did you not try to go against it or anything?” Qian Yu asked as he tried to understand her more. 

“Mmm no. If my parents arranged it, it would be good for the family and I don’t mind. I believe my parents would have chosen a good partner for me anyways,” she answered.

‘So filial…’ Qian Yu thought as he looked over at Zhen Yue. For a parent, having filial children was probably the best wish they could wish for. Of course, he didn’t really approve of arranged marriages but it was pretty commonplace in this world. 

“Let’s just pretend that I was that arranged person you were supposed to marry then,” Qian Yu jokingly laughed.

“M-master, don’t say it like that. I-I am not in such a position…” Zhen Yue almost yelled out too loud. 

“Hahaha, I’m not joking. After all, we are going to have a love that lasts for eternity right?” Qian Yu continued teasing the embarrassed Zhen Yue.

“AHHH, I will go buy my stuff now,” the flushed face Zhen Yue ran off to enter a store as they entered the clothing district in the area. 

‘Hahaha,’ Qian smiled and laughed inwardly as he saw the girl scurry away. Towards anything related to her family, she would be extremely mature and serious about it but when it turned to anything besides that topic, she was like a shy rabbit. 

With that, Qian Yu just casually walked around waiting for Zhen Yue to buy the stuff she needed. However, a familiar voice soon entered his ears.

“Qian Yu, is that you?” Qian Yu heard a male voice from the side. 

‘!!!,’ Qian Yu instantly recognized the voice as he turned his head and saw an approaching Zhong Chun.

Towards this guy, Qian Yu didn’t really know what to expect. They certainly weren’t extremely close but they had interacted a lot and Qian Yu would see him as a friend similar to Wu Jing and Chen Ya back home. 

In fact, if it wasn’t for Zhong Chun, he would have never met Sun Hong so Qian Yu was very grateful towards him. Still, there could always be problems that arose if they saw each other again and Qian Yu wasn’t sure if he had thought about all the possible scenarios and answers to his questions. In the end, Qian Yu just wanted to peacefully cultivate until he had some meaningful amount of power. 

“Hey, Zhong Chun, long time no see, haha” Qian Yu said as tried to act as normally as possible. 

“Yea, I haven’t seen you since the events in Allwake City. I later learned that you were a participant as well,” Zhong Chun said as he was now just a few feet from Qian Yu. 

“Hahaha, that’s true. Did you also get selected to enter the inheritance realm?” Qian Yu said normally yet he was confused. When he was looking over the information on the list of people that had entered the inheritance realm, he had specifically made sure to see if Zhong Chun had entered. He wasn’t on the list but apparently it seemed like he did enter the inheritance realm. 

“Yea, I did manage to get selected. Did you get any harvests?” Zhong Chun said.

“Nah, you know, with my strength, I didn’t get anything insane. A stage 2 qi gathering warrior… you know it’s just too weak,” Qian Yu said as he pretended to be a little sad.  

“Brother, don’t say that. Didn’t you hear the rumors? A stage 2 qi gathering warrior like yourself managed to get the highest rewards possible. He had some kind of cultivation technique that could negate other people’s cultivation techniques. To be honest, I would like to meet him and see him for myself,” Zhong Chung said excitedly. 

‘Thanks I guess…’ Qian Yu thought to himself. 

“I have indeed heard about that. It seems pretty crazy to me. If only I was so lucky to be that person hahaha,” Qian Yu said. 

“So what have you been up to? You’re at the 5th stage of qi gathering now which is pretty good. I knew from your movements and fighting skills that you weren’t ordinary,” Zhong Chun said as he started mimicking Qian Yu’s movement and attacks. 

“Ahh, ever since then, I have been focusing completely on cultivating. In fact, I only managed to enter the 5th stage of qi gathering yesterday,” Qian Yu said. 

“Ahh alright then. Should we go grab something to eat? I’ll pay,” Zhong Chun offered. 

‘Hmm, Zhen Yue will probably take a long time to go shopping so it should be fine,’ Qian Yu thought to himself.

“Alright let’s get some food then,” Qian Yu eagerly smiled as he got a free meal.

“Hmm, let’s get some Tiger’s Den then,” Zhong Chun laughed as the two started heading towards the famous restaurant throughout the world..

An hour later the two finished eating. 

“I’ll catch you some other time then. If you need me you can find me at the rogue cultivator gatherings,” Zhong Chun said as he waved goodbye. 

“Ok, I’ll contact you if I need anything,” Qian Yu nodded as he left as well. 

‘I probably won’t see him for a while but if I need something, he’s pretty reliable. He has a lot more connections and information than what I could find and access,’ Qian Yu did admit that Zhong Chun was pretty useful. 

With that, Qian Yu decided to head back and wait for Zhen Yue to finish buying her clothes and necessities.