"Hmm!"

Lanrou sat up with a groan. Sleep resets the mind for a few moments, so Lanrou couldn't make any head or tail as to why she was sleeping in front of a meditating Nik. She took a deep breath and then yawned once again. 

*Slump*

She plopped back on the bed before jumping up with widened eyes and screaming loudly!

"Teacher Nik, what am I doing here?"

She pulled and clutched the bedsheet closer to her breasts. Her mind was filled with caution and she looked around to find the means to escape Nik's room. For a moment, thoughts about her being unable to marry anyone filled her mind, and she instantly pulled the bedsheet away and found her clothes snug and untouched. Lanrou's shout served to bring Nik out of his meditation as he eyed his troublesome student.

"Think. I am sure all of it will come rushing to your mind."

Nik's reply made Lanrou frown and soon, the recollection of the past few hours flooded Lanrou's mind as she paled and trembled. Her expression grew weary and she hugged her knees while focusing on Nik.

"Why would you kiss me? If it wasn't for that—"

"Your dad would have still been angry and out for my blood," Nik finished Lanrou's sentence with a smile. He pulled his chair closer to the bed and sat on it with his legs crossed once again. He kept facing Lanrou silently. His stare made her feel more irritated as she lashed out, "Aren't you going to ask why I lied?"

She was feeling incomparably horrible. She lied and put her teacher at risk, but in return, got her father's ass handed down to him. And now, she felt terrified of the notion to return to her home. 

"When did you lie?"

Nik inquired with a snicker.

"About me kissing you!" Lanrou spoke with a furious expression. She was enraged by herself and also saddened. Presently, Lanrou's emotions were a cocktail of guilt, disappointment, and anger. She lowered her face and pressed it against her raised thighs and sighed deeply. She did not even want to face anyone.

"I did kiss you. You lied to nobody. Just like how I kicked your father's ass, and you did not hurt anybody."

"Eh?"

Lanrou raised her head and matched her glazed eyes against Nik's gaze. 

"Why are you surprised? I am the villain, everybody knows that. You are just a poor student who was harassed by me."

Nik smiled and waited for Lanrou to digest the information and the implications regarding the situation. Her eyes widened and she stood up from the bed with a jump, "Teacher, that's a stupid thing to admit!"

She instantly scooched closer to Nik and spoke with a serious expression, "It was my fault. You were just teaching use without any motives—"

Before she could finish, Nik narrowed his eyes and leaned towards her face. Their lips locked instantly and her words were suppressed into grunts.

"Teach— *Gasp*!"

Lanrou only had time to gasp before her lips were sealed once again as Nik pushed the well-endowed lady onto his bed and draped his figure over her's. His gaze remained on Lanrou's closed eyes while he flooded her consciousness with debauched thoughts while activating his [Lust Domain] and [Mirage's Touch] to turn the kiss into a carnal garden of heaven. Lanrou's eyes snapped wide as she felt her body bursting in desperate flamer. Her tongue felt numb and helpless and her thighs were wetter than usual.

Finally, with a trail of thick saliva connecting the tip of their tongues, Nik reeled back and sat on his chair while licking his lips.

"Do you still think I don't have any motives?"

Lanrou was stunned speechless. To answer Nik's inquiry, all she could do was avert her gaze and breathe deeply while trying to satiate the sudden bout of flaming lust. Lanrou slowly sat up and covered her hot body with the bedsheet once again. She didn't dare meet Nik's gaze and the room fell silent once again, except for Lanrou's panting.

"Anyway, you need to return home."

Nik continued calmly, "If you will not return to training tomorrow, I will understand."

Of course, in Nik's dictionary, understanding and accepting were two different terms. His words made Lanrou imagine the near future and the frivolous gazes she would have to bear. Her heart shivered once again..No matter how many times she thought of the scene of her father confronting her, Lanrou feared that she would end up hurting the only man whose pride was her own existence. The thought of it made Lanrou commit things to herself that could spare both of them such embarrassment. 

"Come on, I'll drop you off. I have a task in Huyan Estate, too."

Nik stood up and remarked casually. His words made no sense to Lanrou as she gazed at Nik in a daze. 

"Huh?"

"Come on," Nik rolled his eyes and opened the door, "When did you become so dull, Lanrou? I said, I am dropping you off to your home. There are things I need to clear up."

He smiled and then pointed at his face, "And you need to wash your face. No father is gonna accept the daughter with such a disheveled front."

He chuckled at his own joke and stepped out. What Lanrou was feeling was easily readable through her expression and honestly, Nik knew that no matter what she did, with such a dad behind her, the blame would always fall on someone else. And this blame— taking Lanrou's lips— was something Nik was more than happy to bear.

His reputation? Screw that. His skills would attract willing students and his face would still charm the hell out of girls. He didn't need any reputation to help him. In fact, the dirtier he came across, the better. At least, he wouldn't have to pretend that he was some sort of saint.

Lecherous teacher targeting his students— Female!

'Sounds like a perfect title for me~'

Nik cackled internally and smiled and waved towards the teachers moving by the corridors. Aside from the hint of disgust within their gaze, Nik could easily read a flood of fear and envy. Fear that Nik could kiss any woman without a second thought, even if they were someone's wife and envy due to his strength backing his confidence. Just those gazes made Nik feel satisfied with his decision to shed some of the pretentious behavior he had been trying to layer himself with after becoming a teacher.

It honestly felt good.

*Click*

The door behind Nik clicked open and Lanrou walked out hesitantly. The moment she walked out, she could feel the gazes of her other teachers falling on her. She felt timid and embarrassed. The thought of others thinking insults about her made Lanrou sick.

"Do you see it?" Nik suddenly spoke and extended his hand towards Lanrou. She looked up and matched his gaze idly. 

"What?"

Lanrou inquired with a dull tone. She could already feel it. Her good days where she was a beauty respected and feared by all were over. She would now be subjected to cynicism and if it wasn't for her family's authority, dirty looks were the last thing she had to worry.

"Hmm? You can't see it? Then, can you smell it? Or hear it?"

Nik inquired with a bright grin. His voice loud enough to spread across the corridor. Once again, Lanrou frowned in irritation. She did not have any mood to solve Nik's puzzle. Her future looked bleak, damnit!

"That—"

Nik pointed towards the group of whispering teachers and grinned broadly. He knew how pretentious each of these teachers were. In fact, he was becoming like them in a span of a few days. But now, he could smell it, heart it, and even see it.

"Stinks!"

Nik grinned and repeated!

"That smells, looks, and sounds stinky! Everything about that side stinks!"

"So, Lanrou..."

Nik's extended hand was raised and placed on top of her pink-head. 

"Chill already."

Nik smiled kindly and then looked at the other teachers who had grown silent from the insult. They could only fume silently since no one was willing to aggravate the mad martial-artist. Finally, Lanrou came to be as she felt a huge burden lift off her heart. Her chest clenched and she bit her lips as she felt indignant warmth in her eyes.

"Now, let's go and clear our misunderstanding."

Lanrou looked at the extended palm and took it after a moment's hesitation. Tears started leaking through her cheeks once again as she spoke up, "W-what misunderstanding are you talking about?"

"That I like you and I am the one who kissed you and also, I am the degenerate your father should be looking for if he ever wants to get beaten once again!"

Nik grinned broadly.

***

Nik's actions had spread a tremendous wave of revolution within the city. A wave that nobody could have anticipated since none of the commoners could have ever thought that a spirit master can be beaten from fists and kicks. All the family heads were informed about the mad lad who destroyed Huyan Xiong at his peak and even the City Lord issued a few tweaks to the policies of the city that very day which turned the taxation policy less biased. 

But everyone knew that the trend was going to be greater if Nik or any other person of his caliber was allowed to shine once again. 

Within City Lord's courtyard, Ye Zong— the city lord— called his daughter in his office. Ye Ziyun only took a moment to arrive and sat on the chair opposite to her father and waited for him to speak.

"Yun'er... did Nik ever invite you for training, too?"

Ye Ziyun shook her head.

"No, father. From our class, Teacher Nik had only invited Xiao Ning'er."

A few hours had already passed and the news of the event had already spread within the entirety of the Western portion of the city. Ye Ziyun could hardly believe her ears when she heard about a Spirit King getting defeated without the use of a spirit. But many had already testified! 

"Hmm, and what is the technique he teaches all of the class?"

Ye Zong asked in interest. Honestly, his heart was already relieved when he found that Ye Ziyun wasn't invited exclusively. But his interest in Nik's technique was already high and he reckoned that every other Family Head felt the same. The funny matter was that in all its right, Nik had only used the basic technique he devised for the students. His mastery in martial arts was already quite high and if he had access to certain forms of energies, he could very well dominate others without even moving a single inch. After all, Nik had already digested a little over 10% of [Tome of Battle].

Unknown to Ye Zong, just like other students, Ye Ziyun had already decided to ask Nik for his guidance. Just as Nik had predicted, his skills painted his description better than his personality and in this world that viewed strength as the true scale of morality, Nik could very well become the epitome of kindness and justice by vanquishing whorehouses (for profits) and sharing himself with multiple girls (for carnal desires).

***

Nie Li and his group had entered the Beast Ground once again to hunt for 10-year-old horned sheep. Du Ze could not help but keep on scouting a Steel-Winged Eagle whenever they discovered one. Du Ze's actions made Nie Li gratified. He knew that relying on oneself from a young age was good for mental growth and Nik's words had ignited this very drive within his friends.

Nie Li was already known to be the encyclopedia amongst his group due to his more than 300 years' worth of knowledge and experience. He would clear the doubts of his friends whenever they asked him anything and even taught them a few tricks for survival.

"Sigh... this Steel-Winged Eagle is barely a hundred-year-old spirit beast... we do not have better gears or we could have found ourselves a better-aged version of the beast."

Du Ze complained indignantly. The older the spirit ring of the beast, the greater the boost to the cultivation. Hearing his relatable complaints, the group sighed, too. 

Suddenly, Nie Li chuckled and spoke up, "You guys don't have to worry about that. Once you get your first spirits, I will share a technique I found in one of the old books. Just focus on finding a compatible spirit ring for yourselves."

Nie Li smiled as the others nodded.

***

Huyan Estate.

Lanrou sighed in relief as she finally returned to her home. But when she looked at the gates, her heart grew tense. She was still holding Nik's hands as if it was the most natural thing to do in her situation. There was still a long way before Lanrou could admit that she truly liked Nik, but interested she now was. Over the entire journey to her home, Nik kept a composed expression even when others started at them weirdly and honestly, even she started to feel slightly emboldened.

It was a sort of freedom, to not care about others' opinions, that is. But how to achieve this kind of mentality was still something hard for Lanrou to encounter. It was only with Nik that she could truly 'uncared' about the surroundings and focus on things that truly mattered to her.

Like— making up to her father and apologizing for what she did and Nik didn't.

But when the time finally came as the whole family was sent into an uproar after her arrival, she couldn't help but take a step back.