Nik glanced at the girls as they had already formed their three-person groups. Ryu'er had paired with Xiao Xue and a dark-haired girl named Lin Mi. Ning'er paired up with two other girls from the Winged Dragon Family, and Ziyun found her group in the two sisters from the Chu Family. Their intention to compete with each other couldn't be more apparent. The martial class had already come to an end, and Nik was now preparing to leave for the higher classes. Before leaving, he looked towards a gloomy Nie Li, and then left a few words of encouragement for the entire class. After all, from tomorrow, the written examinations would start. Two days of written examination, one day of the martial demonstration, and finally, four days of group matches, that would be the deciding factor of the nurturing the kids would receive from the institute. 

The good thing for the students, however, was the fact that from the next month, they could apply for the recruitment drive that would occur every six months and would last for three months to select talented seeds for the Alchemist Association. This had already created quite an uproar, and only the first round of failures would serve to calm the students down and make them work diligently for the achievement. This recruitment drive also wrecked Nie Li's scheme. Back then, when Asami and Nik left after arranging the details, they observed a man handing a letter to Ning Xin, who, in return, passed this letter to Director Yang. This letter was written by Nie Li detailing on acute effects of Purple Haze Grass in alchemy.

At first, Nie Li wanted to use his experience to capitalize on the least expensive herb— purple haze grass— by sharing multiple alchemy recipes and increase its value. Alas, Nie Li did not have enough funds to hoard this herb and raise its price. Then, he thought of the next best option and shared the recipe to expose himself as a disciple of a mysterious backer who wished to co-operate with the Alchemist Association. Now, even this plan went down the drain for Director Yang Xin replied with a letter stating that if Nie Li gets a spot within the Association without any exams, then the long-term benefit of the recruitment drive would be affected negatively. On the one hand, Yang Xin wanted to pressurize this mysterious master of Nie Li to come out of the shadows and directly co-operate with the Association, and on the other hand, Yang Xin wanted to ascertain Nie Li's certification.

What if he simply gained the recipes by fortuitous encounters and wished to use these recipes and gain the support of the Association? Wouldn't the Alchemist Association lose out by expending on Nie Li? Now, if Nie Li really had a master, then there were only two options to proceed with the Association. First, let this mysterious master emerge from the shadows. Or, second, attain a spot in the Association using his own talents and demonstrate the fact that Nie Li was, in fact, an alchemy genius with a master guiding him from the shadows. Achieving the latter was a simple task, but a lengthy one. Three months long, to be exact. The worst part for Nie Li was that not only the second page of the Temporal Demon Spirit Book had vanished mysteriously once again.

'Could it be that after using the mysterious space one time, it would disappear?' Nie Li thought internally but rejected the notion after brief thinking. The first time he entered the space, the paper still remained within him even after two days of no operation. 'Am I being targetted?' Nie Li continued this line of thought but found no clues suggesting this notion. The origin of this book was mysterious in the first place, and now it looks like that even if this paper entered his consciousness, they weren't truly his. While Nie Li was lost in his thoughts, Nik was thinking about his future course of action, too. 'I don't want to risk failing the action of controlling a mind of an old monster... he is also a treasure trove to the boot. I could try to control him after gaining a skull spirit bone, though.'

Nik continued to walk towards the intermediary class. Out of the four classes under Nik, the intermediate course has been quite moderate in talents and will to hard work. They weren't passionate as the kids in the apprentice class, they weren't as talented or determined as genius and senior class. Still, Nik lent a few words of encouragement and did the same in senior and genius classes. Speaking of senior classes, Korra actually placed a bold request to Ye Sheng and wished to fight in the group battles alone. Everybody already knew of her feat of killing a thousand-year-old duskgold dreadclaw bear without any support and a single spirit ring. Though troubled at first, he soon agreed to the request after Nik backed Korra's request. Meanwhile, during the martial class in genius class, Lanruo had to tackle one of the more troublesome illusions designed by Nik. Since Lanruo's practice in the enhanced pressure would already leave her exhausted, Nik had decided to further her skill in illusion during the martial practice within the institute.

Once free of his daily responsibility of the institute, Nik walked up to the library with eased steps. San Mo, the Principal, already knew better than to indulge in the girls attending the institute, so Nik didn't pay any attention to him and pushed open the door of the ceiling before floating up towards the serene Samya. Seeing her, Nik smiled and greeted warmly. After all, she was a goddess.  After the polite greeting was done, however, Nik took out a few pairs of clothing and placed it near her feet. "Please accept my offering!" Committing the task, Nik nodded in satisfaction while Samya's expression turned strange, and she inquired in a whisper, "W-what was that?" The blonde goddess looked down and found that the pairs of clothes weren't plain white in color. The topmost was royal blue, just like the edges od her current robe.

"Hmm? These are offerings. You are a goddess, right? You must be getting offerings all the time." Nik crossed his legs and 'sat' beside Samya as she shook her head. "It's a misunderstanding. In the higher realm, gods and goddesses are merely stronger cultivators. None have the face to receive offerings." Samya didn't move, but she still used a mysterious force to mobilize the clothes and inspect them out of curiosity. Hearing her, Nik couldn't find helo but feel a little confused. "Didn't you say that Yu Yan erected multiple altars all over the place? Didn't she receive any offerings?"

Mildly chuckling, Samya decided to explain the truth behind Yu Yan's actions. "As I said. Yu Yan was extremely talented even amongst out power. So, she would challenge other gods and goddesses before erecting her altars. These altars served as a necessary protection for any human establishment in the higher realm, and all the 'offerings' are merely gains for Yu Yan to get compensated for her protection." 

"Oh... that's sad." Nik smiled bitterly. And here he was, expecting a god of lust in the higher realm. Envying him for the single fact that many women just would be offering themselves as a form of pleasing the god. "Now that I think of it. Are there any gods... or goddesses related to lust?" Nik didn't feel the least bit awkward asking this. But that didn't mean that Samya wouldn't feel embarrassed. Storing away the clothes, Samya tilted her head towards Nik and then shook it wordlessly. Thinking for a moment, Samya exhaled deeply.

"Gods and goddesses... they are based on the elements they prosper in. The conceptualization of Lust is naturally hard. So, there are no divinities of it." Samya carefully spoke, unwilling to share the mystery of the higher realm with an acquaintance. Sensing her distance, Nik nodded and observed her from head to toe. "Hmm, the clothes should be your size. Anyway, thank you for entertaining me today, again. From tomorrow, the exams would begin, so it would be hard for me to get some free time."

Nik pondered before inquiring carefully, "Also, is there a way I can help you in healing at a higher pace?"

Samya shook her head once again as Nik flew down. Once she had confirmed that Nik had genuinely left, her body lost its previous tension as she brought out a single can of beer. "It was good that I kept this one just for backup... Maybe Nik doesn't have more of these and chose to gift me clothes as a replacement?" Samya pinched the top open and gulped the beer in a manner unbecoming of a goddess. In fact, Samya did want to ask Nik to create the same explosion as last time, but she didn't know every aspect of that power, and aside from the meager light law marks, there were various laws infused. Who's to say that there wasn't a hostile force within the city that could use this energy for themselves. 

"I'll try these outfits during the night..." Samya mumbled out of sheer boredom. Just a few minutes of a company could relatively ease her mood and the idea of getting 'offerings' without any protection attached naturally pleased the goddess. 'But when it comes to offerings... Nik has something more than this, right?' Samya didn't dare give words to her lips whenever she recalled Nik's adventurous nights that would leave her wet even from such a great distance. The easiest option was not to look. But is it that easy? Samya didn't think so.

Nik, on the other hand, sent a sliver of his consciousness into the [Consciousness Pool] once again since Xue Yin had gotten free from her daily tasks. Aside from researching, Xue Yin's primary source of income was the contracts with major families to supply supporting inscription patterns. This time, within his consciousness, Nik also decided to include another partner.

Gojira.

Nik really felt that things might turn for worse if Gojira didn't find something that could suit her taste. So, the best way was to pull Gojira into the pool and allow her to have a healthy hobby that she can only have within the Consciousness Pool. The idea, no doubt, deeply attracted Gojira. Her previous business was just a method to earn money. Now that she was plainly eating profits from her cooperation with Shen Xiu's growing infrastructure, Gojira really understood the plight of humanity. They really weren't that different from beasts after all. With a deep exhalation, Gojira looked at the city before thinking and flying into the air. She distanced herself from the nascent city quite a bit, and only then, her form was replaced by a gargantuan beast that could compete against a skyscraper in height and mountain in thickness—pitch-black scales with glowing blue spikes starting from the tail and running up the spine.

"Ah~ I'll find something for myself after taking a nap in this body... it's been so long." Gojira's lizard body gently slumped on the ground as the remaining duo looked at each other, tongue-tied. "Well... this could work." Nik concentrated hard, and under Xue Yin's widened gaze, a pair of violet furry ears appeared on top of Nik's head, and a thick, fluffy, purple tail elongated from his tailbone.

"Cuttteeee!" Xue Yin instantly jumped and hugged Nik tightly before looking up and focusing on the ear. Her arms immediately touched the pair of extra ears, but they didn't feel natural, much to Xue Yin's disappointment. Sensing this, Nik smiled and consoled softly, "This is just the first experiment. Maybe, I'll fail. But this would be worth a try." Xue Yin couldn't help but agree. This time, as Gojira snored, Nik, and Xue Yin didn't divert their attention and focused on creating the city. She was deeply affected by the method of using switches to control the lighting of the city that Nik implanted. Since this consciousness pool was basically created to innovate, Nik knew that anyone could re-create an air-conditioner or a tube light with a mere thought. So, the switches at the appropriate place would help create uniformity.

Finally, Nik held the highest authority within this world, and he could, in fact, implement multiple rules. For instance, the partners may not be able to control the light and heat element of this world and would have to depend on switches and knobs. But this would only be true for the central city. The rest of this unlimited world would naturally become the canvas of the girls' innovation.

Meanwhile, Nik in the real world accompanied Asami before joining up with Klas and Ryu'er to move back to the estate. Ryu'er was living within the estate alongside Korra. But Korra had her own commitments after the classes and hurried to the underground battle to warm up against Rank 4 spirit masters and try her luck against Rank 5.

Today, most of Nik's evening was spent with Ryu'er. It was something the petite monster didn't even ever dream of as Nik accompanied her in her room while looking around curiously. "I-I still have to decorate this place." Ryu'er defended herself when she also observed the fact that her abode was rather plain to look at. Shaking his head, Nik sat on the edge of the bed and requested Ryu'er to sit. Seeing Ryu'er walk towards him with a deep blush, Nik's smile widened, and he waggled his brows suggestively before dashing all of her hopes by pointing at the opposite point of the bed.

With a soft sigh, Ryu'er sat across Nik. She was keenly aware of the topic Nik would like to explore, and it made her heart thump. Ryu'er gulped softly when Nik lowered his head and whispered his apology. 

"Sorry. Things grew weird between us due to the relationship between your mother and me. I really hope that I can continue to teach you." Ryu'er wasn't Sayako that a single holy session with both mother-daughter pair could resolve the issue. Even if Ryu'er felt like a bad-ass girl, Nik had been naturally aware of how sensible Ryu'er is and how such sensibility can become fragile at some moments. 

"Eh?" Ryu'er's lips parted for a moment as Nik smiled and continued. He didn't decrease the distance between them and stated softly, "Um, in reality, our relationship won't change that much. I will still teach you the things that suite your needs and help you at every—"

By now, Ryu'er had already stopped listening. Within her mind, Gojira's cackles resounded and haunted her poor self as the thought of Nik plowing her mother, to which, her moans last night left plenty of evidence, shook her heart once again. Of course, Ryu'er did not like it one bit. All things said and done; she wanted Nik for herself. He had showcased his immeasurable abilities by taming her mother and as a hybrid with talents far surpassing the Empress, wasn't it Ryu'er's right to take Nik for herself.

"And, I really hope that you don't feel—"

"No!"

Ryu'er almost snarled with her clenched jaws as she bared her canines against Nik for the first time. A wild aura surged around her, which made her slightly shabby locks of hair float and exposed her more than a dangerous gaze.

"I-"

She breathed deeply and jumped straight at Nik's face.

"I'll make you forget, mom!"