Connor warped in Aster’s designated home. As a Core disciple, her accommodations in the Perfect Moon Sect were fairly spacious, and he realized it was possible to use one of the spare rooms in Aster’s relatively large apartment as a waypoint in the city of Moonlake, and concluded this was the best way to meet her, and talk to her without being seen by any others. 

“How do you do that?” Aster Darkmoon said uncomfortably, as she noticed him appear in his room the first time. Naturally, her concerns were of her chastity, and her dignity. But ultimately, she was in a higher realm than him, and he wouldn’t be able to overpower her.  “Is it some kind of realm-movement?”

“Something like that. This way, I will be able to help you without anyone knowing, and I will be able to move freely without your family watching my every move.” Connor answered, as he sat down in her room. 

“Then you will only do it during the day. I do not permit you to come into my home at night.”

“Fear not. I will not do so.” Connor answered. “I will also knock before I leave the store room.”

***

“Senior Sister. Tell me about your feud with your family. What is the source of this hatred? Why do they dislike you?” Connor sat, and decided to start with the obvious. 

Aster Darkmoon frowned uncomfortably. Connor’s question dredged up history that she would prefer to forget. She didn’t speak, and so the room was quiet for a while.

“Senior Sister. I mean no offense. I want to help, and I want to understand what is considered a victory. So, I must know the source of your problems, and what is the range of outcomes you can accept.”

Aster shifted uncomfortably. In her room, she wore a dark reddish robe commonly used by the Darkmoon family. The black and maroon tones were their family’s color tones. 

She still didn’t want to speak.

Connor closed his eyes for a moment, trying to think it through. He decided to help her, make it easier for her to explain the story. “Let’s start with your mother. Who is she? Where is she now?”

The future villainess immediately sensed that Connor knew something, but just wanted her to say it. “If you know, then don’t ask!”

“No. What I hear is hearsay. Rumors. I must get it from the source, because only the truth can wash away lies.” Connor repeated. “Tell me about your mother.”

Aster’s eyes widened. She wondered why the Inner Disciple wasn’t afraid of her. “My mother- she wasn’t my father’s wife.”

Connor nodded. “Continue. How did they meet?”

Aster frowned. “No. What do you know?”

“I know that you were not born to the official family, that your father had an affair with your mother. But little else.”

She closed her eyes. “I see. Has this- this rumor spread everywhere?”

“Yes. Everyone knows the Darkmoon family wants to get you. That is why no one dares to stand up for you publicly, except for Grand Elder Huyen.”

In Connor’s mind, he wondered what Grand Elder Huyen’s angle was. Why did he want to step in, because just cultivation talent wasn’t enough to earn the ire of the Darkmoon family. 

Aster’s eyes never left Connor, and knew what he was thinking. “Elder Huyen is my granduncle. My mother’s uncle. He took me in to protect me, but there’s little else he can do beyond making me his personal disciple.”

Now that was something Connor didn’t know. “I see.”

“My mother, she was a rogue cultivator. She learned cultivation from my granduncle, but mostly from other traveling cultivators and traveling teachers. She was a beautiful woman, and naturally, she-”

Aster didn’t want to say the next part. 

Connor didn’t want to guess. “Senior Sister. I would appreciate honesty.”

“She slept with other cultivators, in exchange for cultivation knowledge.” Aster said after what seemed like a really long pause. “On one occasion, during an attempt to explore a treasure realm, my father and my mother were somehow trapped in the same treasure realm. With the prospect of death, and the likelihood of escape seemingly remote, the man and woman in them shed all inhibitions. That was when they made me.” 

Trapped in a treasure realm together.

“They didn’t know whether they would be able to leave, but- but my mother knew she was pregnant with me. A female cultivator could sense exactly when there was a spark of life in their belly, the emergence of a growing soul within her womb. But a treasure realm was no place for a pregnant woman, and without food for months, my mother sacrificed her cultivation to keep me alive.”

Connor waited, and Aster continued.

“They escaped, of course. It so happened that about four months into it, someone else stumbled on that same Treasure Realm, and activated the door. They escaped. By then, my mother had carried me for a few months. She spent her cultivation, and even her true essence, to keep me alive. That incident left her severely weakened.”

She stopped briefly.

“My father and mother, trapped in a treasure realm together, had developed a good relationship then. He promised to take good care of my mother, as his concubine. But- my grandfather and my father’s existing wife did not take the presence of a woman who was known to sleep with other men well. My mother suffered, but tried her best to care for me and guide me. Even despite all their harassment, she lived for another thirteen years, and during this time, we became the most hated person in the entirety of the Darkmoon family. My mother was already so weak, but she had to care for me herself, without any help.” 

The streamer frowned as he sensed intense hatred from the lady in front of her. It was the subtle vibrations and trembling in her voice, the way her fingers squeezed the cloth in her hand. He immediately wondered then. “-would you drop the Darkmoon name?”

Aster paused, and thought. She touched her chin, and actually seemed to think about it seriously. Connor was fairly surprised, as if that was the first time this was ever suggested to her. But if the Darkmoon family viewed her as an insult to their existence, cutting the name off could help allow for their mutual coexistence.

“Is- is this the first time you’ve heard this suggestion?” 

“Yes. It was never brought up to me.” Aster sat and thought. “I don’t feel any special connection to the family name, and honestly, if they never hurt me, I would not mind shedding the name. But they’ve hurt me and my mother for my entire life, and so, cutting it off now would only allow them to win, and I’ve got far too many grudges with them to let them win now.”

Connor nodded. “I see. I want you to weigh this on your mind. If I help you make the Darkmoon family suffer for a bit, would you be satisfied and drop the name? Ask Grand Elder Huyen to deliver a letter to them, and see what their response would be.”

“My granduncle is not a mailman.”

“But a letter delivered by him has weight and seriousness. The patriarch would consider it seriously. A letter through him tells the Patriarch you seriously intend to relinquish everything.”

Aster paused, and thought. She was considering it seriously. “I don’t care about the name. But I hate them, and I would appear as a pathetic woman who didn’t have the strength to stand up for herself and all I could do is run with my tails between my legs. How would I ever live with pride ever again? My mother told me to always think about who I bow to, and I would not bow to them. Especially to them.” 

“Oh.” The lady’s response caused Connor to realize she was both proud, and hateful. 

He would have to figure out a way for her to exit and cut ties cleanly, that preserves her pride. It was why she was rushing to get stronger so fast, and already at the 4th realm despite being no older than Connor. A mix of desperation and immense talent drove her to this. 

“If you reach the 6th realm, do you think you’ll be able to drop the name?” Connor asked. “At that level, only the patriarch is stronger than you- and the rest of them can’t do anything.”

Aster shook her head, as she imagined the situation. “I must be stronger than even the patriarch. Then, they will beg me to be a member of the Darkmoon family. And when they do beg me, that is when I will leave them.”

Connor couldn’t help but feel she was a bit vindictive. “7th realm. That is a very high bar to meet. It is difficult to achieve, with you currently in self-isolation.” 

Aster didn’t think so. “Once I reach 5th realm, it’ll be quite hard for them to spring a surprise attack on me and remove me. With adequate preparations, I can definitely survive an encounter. I won’t need to hide in my room like this. If I hit 6th, I will be able to freely move about.”

Functionally, the Perfect Moon Sect would promote 5th realmers to Elder position, at least, Junior Elders. Once they hit the 6th stage of the 5th realm, they would then be granted Full Elder Posts, and 6th realm Elders were normally Grand Elders. 

“So the first order of the day is to get you to the 5th realm.” Connor nodded. He tried to remember from the game what Aster used, and noticed she used a fair bit of Wood and Metal element abilities. Her main weapons were two poison daggers, and she had multiple secret weapons she used to win. 

Aster didn’t reply.

***

“Brother Connor, didn’t see you for a few days.” Winston Skybreath said as Connor walked into the lecture hall. Elder Yashi would speak about the Perfect Moon Arts today . “And you have a strange scent.”

“I’ve been hanging out with a woman that didn’t shower for weeks, if not months.” Connor chuckled. 

“I see. You have chosen to keep a dangerous company.” Winston warned. 

“I’m aware. But I suppose what’s life without some fun.” Connor laughed. “How’ve you been?” 

He didn’t need to ask. Connor could feel the subtle increase in Winston’s energies. He likely went up 2 or 3 stages, and is likely in the mid 3rd realms. 

The realms were all given names, though in practice, most cultivators resorted to numbers as they were more intuitive and clearly denoted who stood where, the First Realm was the Energy Gathering Realm, Second Realm was the Energy Shaping Realm, The Third Realm was Soul Core Realm, The Fourth Realm was the Core Circles Realm, the Fifth Realm was the Core Palace Realm, the Sixth Realm was the Heavenly Domain Realm, the Seventh was the Soul Clouds Realm, and the Eight was the Sky Palace Realm. 

It was generally just more convenient to use numbers, instead of their respective names. 

“So- is Aster Darkmoon the only dangerous company you are planning to keep?”

Connor fidgeted, as he sat in the chair next to Winston. Elder Yashi wasn’t here yet. It was a surprisingly sharp question, because Aster Darkmoon certainly wasn’t the only antagonist character in the entirety of the Perfect Moon Sect, or Moonlake City. 

Each of the three families have their own villain characters. Darkmoon, Goldcircle and Mistcloud are all big families, and naturally, some of them were bound to be terrible people. 

He looked back at Winston, and wondered how he got where he was. The Skybreath family was invisible. No. They didn’t exist at all in Moonlake. He came here as a nobody, and somehow became a genius-

Wait. 

Is Winston a main character? 

In the game, Winston was an optional boss, but looking at all the qualities he had, Connor couldn’t help feeling that he was every bit a main character of his own story. 

“Brother Winston. May I offer you another drink after class? I want to learn more about the other two big families of Moonlake City.”

Winston stopped and glanced at Connor. He felt judged, as if the genius was trying to see through his intentions. After a while, he nodded. “Sounds good.”

***

It was late evening when the class was over, and the two cultivators walked out of the Perfect Moon Sect. A beautiful moon hung overhead, it’s lights shimmered and reflected on the calm waters of Moonlake City. The myths from long ago spoke of a couple who fell in love with the beauty of the reflected moon, and made this place their home. 

In the right time of the year, and the right time of the months, the reflections are so bright that it casts a soft, white glow on the five layers of Moonlake City.

Moonlake City was separated into five layers. 

The port layer was the narrow strip of flatland next to the great Moonlake, where most of the businesses based themselves. The lower layers immediately after the ports were mainly residential districts for the lower classes. Then, the middle layers where most of the higher class of businesses and shopping streets, the upper layers is where one finds the homes of the wealthier upper class and administrative class lived, and finally, the mountain layers, where the super rich and the powerful families lived. 

Both Darkmoon and the Mistcloud family made their compounds in the Upper-and Mount Layers, while the Goldcircle Family set their family compound in a large piece along the Middle and Upper Layers. 

The two men settled on a small tavern with a view of the ships along the edges of the port layer. 

“Interesting choice of tavern.” Winston said. “Why here?”

“I wanted somewhere away from the elites.” Connor said. “Not great to talk about them there.”

“How thoughtful.” Winston sat and a waitress came over and served them the usual rice wine. The rice wine tasted about the same even in the taverns in the higher layers, but it’s price was two to three times more expensive. 

“Brother Winston, I’ll cut to it. I want to learn about the Mistcloud and Goldcircle families.”

He had some memory from his streaming days, but they were so far behind the actual timeline that he wasn’t sure what happened, and what didn’t. 

In theory, the Darkmoon’s family is unable to influence the Mistcloud or Goldcircle families, as such, these two families were the ideal place for Connor to find allies for Aster Darkmoon.

The three families have a respectful, even if suspicious, relationship with each other, and certainly would not hurt one another unless something really big occurred. 

“What do you want to know?”

Connor closed his eyes, and thought about the people in these two families. In the Mistcloud family there’s Amelia Mistcloud, also a similar villainess character. She was the fiance of Prince Jay Icesteel of the nearby Icesteel Kingdom. In Ninefalls, if the main character was female, there was an optional story quest where it was possible to seduce Prince Jay. Doing so would naturally make Amelia Mistcloud an antagonist and set off an entire chain of conflicts between Amelia Mistcloud and the main character.

If male, it was possible to meet a talented female cultivator named Sylvia Whiteheart, who would somehow fall in love with Prince Jay Icesteel and vice versa, and the male main character could assist Sylvia Whiteheart in her quest to win Prince Jay Icesteel’s hand in marriage. Naturally, this led to a conflict with Amelia Mistcloud. 

In both chains of events, Amelia Mistcloud either dies, or gets punished by Prince Jay Icesteel and publicly humiliated. She would then go on a self imposed exile, and die soon after. 

“Is Amelia Mistcloud still single?” Connor asked, and Winston stared at him. 

“For now. Do you know something?”

“I’m not sure. I just want to know whether she is still single, or she has been betrothed to someone else.”

Winston said with a strange frown. “Well, you’re close. She is highly sought after, I hear the Patriarch of the Mistcloud family is going around the cities, trying to find the best future husband for her.”

Connor nodded. They were still in the whole pre-engagement stage. If he wanted to stop that villainess story arc, he would have to intervene now, or at least, stop her from somehow choosing Prince Jay Icesteel. 

For the Goldcircle family, there was a single villain, a man called Lucas Goldcircle. Lucas wasn’t the heir of the Goldcircle Family, and as a whole, there wasn’t much about the Goldcircle family. In fact, he was fairly estranged from the Goldcircle family that no one backed him up when he was in trouble. That was because he got himself involved in the darker side of things in Moonlake City. 

“Lucas Goldcircle.” Connor asked. “Do you know him?”

Winston’s eyes twitched. “You have a tendency of picking really troublesome members of these big families.”

Connor felt like Winston saw a pattern. “I suppose I’m attracted to trouble.”

“He’s hooked on some kind of herb, I heard, and is tangling up with some more unsavory kind.” Winston said. “Trouble all around, though I hear he used to be quite talented. He’s just an outer disciple now.”

“Shit.” Connor cursed. The mention of the word herb immediately caused him to remember the presence of the Mistsnow Leaves. It was a pain relief that’s used extensively by the commoners as a drug. It shouldn’t affect him-

No. He’s just an outer disciple. That meant he wasn’t even in the 3rd realm yet. His tolerance to mortal drugs isn’t that high. 

But he’s tangled with villains now. He might as well go all in. Connor looked at Winston, and Winston shook his head. “-you’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?”

Connor found it amusing that Winston suspected something. As the main character, drug busts and attacking hideouts were extremely normal quests. Indirectly, it meant Connor knew exactly where their hideouts were. 

“What do you think I’m thinking, Brother Winston?”

“You look like you’re planning to commit a crime.” Winston said. 

“Does the Sect have rules against business interests, Brother?”

Winston frowned. “No. You shouldn’t.”

If the criminal gangs had their hands on Lucas Goldcircle, the natural way to stop his death was to take control of these small-time criminal gangs himself. 

Connor always wondered what it’s like to be a drug lord.