Sacred Heaven Empire ─ The Imperial Academy

As he walked across the core parts of the Imperial Academy Feng Cai felt... well, he wouldn't say completely good, but he was at least content at being back at the academy. Even if it was without a doubt the place where the chances of meeting a protagonist were without a doubt high, it was also the place where he could learn and grow with relative safety as it was located in the Imperial Capital City where the Emperor was the supreme force.

Key word here being 'relatively'. After all, it was foolishly optimistic and naïve to think that even if a location looks impregnable, it can resist any attack and fool any assassin or spy. To Feng Cai, that only means that the force or person who could respectively take or infiltrate it hadn't appeared yet.

Such as a protagonist and their different brands of bullshit.

'Where are my old masters and systems, BECAUSE I DON'T SEE THEM!' Feng Cai shouted in his mind as the familiar feeling of frustration once again took hold of his heart.

Even if he was thankful of the fact that he was reborn in a life of luxury where his every whim could be met in the literal snap of a finger, he still didn't like how his life was now dominated by the tropes that all cultivation novels have. In a novel Feng Cai would be the arrogant and spoiled prince (or the Basic Young Master) who would do something to the protagonist that would cause them to have such hatred and insanity that they would kill not only him but his entire family and destroy the entire empire.

Which again Feng Cai couldn't understand why they would do that, might be his all too modern sensibilities that clash with the moral and cultural scope of this new world he now inhabits. Which was something he already expected. After all, Feng Cai came from a completely different world that had very different rules for their reality.

Wait, now that he stopped to think about it, how would the development of Earth go if it had the same mystical principles and rules as Cultivation Worlds do?

'Better not think about it' Feng Cai thought with a shudder, remembering all the countless different atrocities carried out by beings all too human, he doesn't even want to imagine how much monstrous they would be if they had the power of even a Qi Gathering Cultivator who are already far above the peak a normal human could achieve.

'In fact, let's think of something else, such as Xue Lihua, it seems that she is already edging on the proverbial top of the Inner Disciples even if it has been a few days since I last met her thanks to my new lessons, that she has done that was not amazing considering both her lineage and her status as protagonist, which I am pretty sure now'

Feng Cai stopped walking as he suddenly thought of a genius idea. 'Wait, I know what to do to further befriend her, Xue Lihua has had no friends her entire life, a fact that Feng Cai could take make off. And yes, while it is rather dangerous considering what happens to the friends of a protagonist, the benefits it would me more than make up for it. Besides, that girl needs some friendship in her life.'

Resolute in his thoughts, Feng Cai started making his way towards the Outer parts of the Imperial Academy where the inner disciples of the Imperial Academy stayed at.

'This was a horrible mistake,' Feng Cai thought as he desperately tried to maintain his poker face.

As he had walked towards the section of the Imperial Academy where the disciples of Foundation Realm lived at, the disciples that held the purple robes of the Core Disciples of The Imperial Academy had noticed his movement, and so it didn't take long for a sizeable mob to be following him to his destination, he could understand while they had done so, after all they were trying to get better benefits for themselves by entering an Imperial Prince circle of trust.

This didn't mean that Feng Cai forgives them for giving him the classical image of a Young Master and his posse that was coming to ruin someone else's days, that one being the protagonist's love interest or his best friend, which was one of the many cliches of a Cultivation World. Well, that and the constant ass-kissing.

"My Prince, you look dashing today"

"My Prince, your cultivation continues to soar soon. You shall surpass all other disciples"

"Indeed, I have a feeling you shall soon enter the Core Realm, My Prince"

Feng Cai couldn't even tell if the last one was genuine or not, because it was actually true. He was very close to entering the Core Realm thanks to the effects of both the Heavenly Thunderstorm and the God Qi that now lived inside him. In fact, he was pretty sure he could breakthrough to the Core Realm right now if he wanted to.

Not that he would actually do it as one enters the Core Realm. A Tribulation is triggered, which is bad news overall. In the last few days Feng Cai was preparing to face the Heavenly Tribulation, and the aftereffects of it. Rapid cultivation is not good for a developing body not only because it will create cracks in the foundation of the Young Cultivator but also because they will receive internal wounds because of the amount of power inside them that their bodies can't handle.

Feng Cai's current body could handle the first step of the Core Realm, but no more, and even that was only because of certain factors. Even then, he would be lying if he said he did not feel irritated by that fact, but he knew that if he forced the subject, he would only hurt himself. Which is why, while yes, he felt irritation; he accepted the fact that he could not start advancing again for a few years. But this brought time for other things that he could learn as he waited to restart cultivation.

'Hmmm, what should I learn? Formations are a given, but that can't be all of it, can it? Maybe forging? I had an interest in the subject in my past life after all,' Feng Cai thought as he continued to ignore the constant ass-kissing said by the mob that surrounded him. In hindsight, he probably should have brought at least one Silver Tiger to make sure that they maintained a respectful distance from him.

Yes, he should have done that. Hindsight is such a bitch.

Imperial Academy ─ Inner Disciples Quarters

Xue Lihua walked across the streets of the quarters of the Inner Disciples. She was returning to her new home, which had been provided by the Academy, and which was infinitely better than her own back in the Thunder Clouds Sect. Especially the bed. She never thought something could be as comfortable as that simple object.

Besides her new levels of comfort, there was also her cultivation, which was steadily growing and she was sure that in a few months she can enter the Spiritual Crucible Stage. Personally, she knew she could go faster if she wanted to, but after spending so long without being able to cultivate beyond the initial steps of the Qi Gathering Realm Xue Lihua was afraid that if she pushed too hard, she could lose her newfound abilities.

She knew those fears were unfounded, but even them a part of her still felt that fear. She hoped that as time passed, it will finally prove her fears to be unfounded to all of her, so that the chances of her developing a Heart Devil are lessened.

'This new life, it is all thanks to him...' Xue Lihua remembering the actions of the Ninth Prince. He changed her whole life by that simple act of trusting her brother ─ which she didn't want to talk about ─ and by doing so he gave her the feeling that she was truly alive and not something that only was despised.

Through the event that made so that she could cultivate again was more confusing than anything else. After the fact, she had many questions, and hoped that they could be answered by either the Ninth Prince or someone else, but she didn't ask, no matter how much she wanted to. Mainly because she knew she had plenty of time to ask those questions, the Prince wasn't going anywhere after all, and so for now she only focused on her cultivation.

"Younger Sister Xue! A moment if you will!" The sudden shouting made by a very familiar voice, made her turn her head to see who it belonged to. And indeed there he was the Ninth Prince, long white hair flowing thanks to wind and his blood-red eyes shining with kindness.

Xue Lihua had heard many things about the Ninth Prince from her fellow disciples, mainly from the female disciples who thought him to be very cute to the point that they wanted to both hug and spoil him, a fact that Xue Lihua couldn't understand which made them chuckle before saying that she would understand in time.

"My Prince," She says, going to bow before the Prince as per custom dictated, before raising herself to speak again. "May this one ask what are you doing here" Xue Lihua asked with a bit of bluntness but not enough to make the Ninth Prince angry, after all his character was already known as being a rather courteous like most of his brothers.

"I wanted to see how you well adjusting to your new life here in the academy" The Ninth Prince said, his voice kind and with small almost invisible trace of worry which she wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't been forced to learn how to read the faces and voices of people to correctly guess their true intentions at a rather young age.

"I have been fine, My Prince"

"Truly? Has anyone caused any problems for you?"

"No"

"That is good to hear," The Ninth Prince said, relief oozing from him, which made her blink. Why did she care so much about if someone was bothering her? It made little sense. They barely even spoke to forge such a connection.

"So, what are planning on doing today?" The Ninth Prince asked, rather curious about her day-to-day affairs, which she also didn't understand.

"Well, My Prince, I have just finished a mission and collected my reward. I am going to my house now to cultivate," She answered, not seeing the need to lie to the Prince, she had nothing to hide. Her answer caused something to flash through the eyes of the Ninth Prince, something that she couldn't identify.

"Oh, I see! Tell me, Young Sister Xue have you any activities besides going on missions and cultivating?" The Ninth Prince asked, causing her to think of an answer.

She found none, much to her surprise. "Umm no, My Prince, I don't"

"Well then, maybe I can help you with that," The Ninth Prince said with a smile, causing Xue Lihua to tilt her head to the side.

In the end, they had tried many things, from simple gardening to book reading. Nothing seemed to really gain her interest, and she didn't care about that. In fact, she was willing to simply give up and return to her previous activities. But the Ninth Prince didn't and still tried to find something that could give her a sense of satisfaction.

She didn't understand why he was trying so hard, really it wasn't something important. She was about to say so to the Prince before he said something that took her by surprise.

"Oh yes! I know something we didn't try" The Ninth Prince said. They had come to her home as the sun was going down, a 'simple' place by the stands of the Academy, but a place that held more luxury than Xue Lihua thought possible. The Prince held a strange box in his hand.

"What is it, My Prince?"

"Painting!" The Prince said with a smile before opening the box and revealing brushes, various paints, and scrolls.

His declaration caused her to blink, and this time she found herself curious about this new attempt at giving her a 'hobby' as the Ninth Prince called it, though she didn't know why.

The Ninth Prince had finished mounting the painting set and had gestured her to try it. Tentatively, she did so. At first, she didn't know what to exactly do before images started appearing in her mind, causing to give some light brushes in the paper before her brushes got more and more confident, as she continued to work she lost the concept of time and all other things, focusing solely on the brushes that she did on the paper of the different colors and tones, before she put her hand back and stared at her work.

It was beautiful of that there was no doubt a landscape of bright flowers of many colors that perfectly matched each other; it was night, and the stars were visible and they cast their heavenly light in the picture, but what would have brought greater attention was the figure in the painting that simply sat in the field mindlessly staring at the night sky. What was the figure doing? Was it admiring the night sky? Was it waiting for something? Someone to appear? Or for an event?

The figure showed no signs of either. It simply stared and nothing more.

Xue Lihua reverie was broken when she heard light clapping from behind her. Turning her head, she saw the Ninth Prince staring at both her and the painting with a smile on his lips.

"It is beautiful Xue Lihua" The Ninth Prince said, and Xue Lihua could say with certainty that he was being completely sincere with his opinions. And that struck a chord in her heart.

She never had someone that honestly compliment anything that she did. No one ever came and said that she did good or anything like that. The Prince-no Feng Cai was the first to do so. And the best part was that she also liked what she did. She wanted to paint more, to create more.

"My Prince, I think we found something that I like after all," She said, a genuine smile on her lips, as she turned her gaze to the painting that she made.

She couldn't see him, but she was sure that Feng Cai also had a smile on his lips.

'Huh, this a strange emotion.' Feng Cai as he watched silently as Xue Lihua continued to paint in a new paper sheet, the previous painting carefully posted beside her in a wooden panel.

He had come here with the simple aim of faking a friendship with Xue Lihua and little else, to prevent her from killing him in the case she ever went nuclear and decided to kill everyone and everything. In other words, a selfish goal.

It developed into something he never thought of.

He could have easily given up from trying to find Xue Lihua a hobby but he persisted, and in the end he succeed, and as he watched Xue Lihua paint with smile on her lips that he could tell was both genuine and filled with happiness, he didn't mind it. For just that moment, he forgot about Xue Lihua's status as a protagonist. His own was a Young Master archetype, and the world that he lived in.

For just that moment, Feng Cai watched with happiness as a child who suffered the neglect of her family and the psychological abuse caused by both them and her previous Sect, finally attained some true happiness in her life.

AlucardV

The last part of this chapter was sicklying sweet for me. The idea of turning Xue Lihua into a talented painter came to me because of the concept of the painting worlds that are in common in Xianxia Stories.