Chapter 179: The Remnants of Fragrance

In school, she always maintained a very low profile.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Though she bore the bloodline of the city lord's lineage, she was, after all, a human-demon hybrid, not a pure demon.

Therefore, the girls from the demon race were unwilling to befriend her and even deliberately distanced themselves from her.

Yet, she remained calm and cold throughout.

The Peacock Demon race might have declined, but it was still a top-tier race.

Song Junhou approached her partly because of her genuine beauty, which bore a softness not found in demon females, and more importantly, because he had heard that Mei Gongzi might be a potential successor to the Peacock Demon King. Despite finding it unbelievable, he thought befriending her could lead to good relations with the Peacock Demons. That was... until Wang Yan appeared.

The threat of Wang Yan was something he couldn't ignore, as Wang Yan was the legitimate eldest son and had brought many strong figures with him. In that short minute, he had reached the conclusion that it made far more sense to befriend Wang Yan.

But who could have imagined that things would go against his wishes, ending up like this?

After their earlier escape, they hadn't gone far and wanted to observe the battlefield. But before they could settle down and turn to look, Mei Gongzi and the Peacock Demons had already disappeared. Everything had happened so fast that they hardly understood what had occurred.

Yet at this moment, Mei Gongzi was still there, while Wang Yan and his party were gone, vanished into thin air. What did this mean?

***

Tang San silently returned to his quarters, acting as if nothing had happened. He relieved Gu Li, who was on night watch, allowing him to rest, and took over the night watch himself. After all, with the mood he was in, rest was the last thing on his mind.

Leaning against a large tree, Tang San looked at his palm. It seemed to still carry the faint fragrance from her palm. Despite the situation's urgency, Tang San vividly remembered her hand's cool and soft touch.

Her hand was cold—was she afraid of the cold?

Even though he knew Mei Gongzi was at least a sixth-order cultivator, he couldn't help but feel such emotions.

This was the first time he had made physical contact with Mei Gongzi since arriving, and the impact was profound. Even now, he felt his heart palpitating.

It took quite a while before Tang San gradually calmed down. He had appeared before Mei Gongzi as the masked Asura to protect her better. After all, his real identity couldn't be easily exposed. The mystery of Asura allowed him to do many things his real identity couldn't. He could fight more freely, too. Mei Gongzi would undoubtedly be puzzled by his abilities, including the Godly Zhuge Crossbow, so he had decided to give her one for self-defense.

He had never expected that she would be a Blue-class member of the Redemption Society, one of the highest-ranking members in Kali City. He had once thought about getting her to join, but who could’ve known that she already was a member? This was good news, as they shared the same ideals, saving him a lot of trouble.

Mei Gongzi was his wife's reincarnation. After reincarnation, everything from her previous life was forgotten, except for a tiny imprint in her soul, making her essentially a new person.

When Tang San chose to die for love and be reborn to pursue her, he considered many scenarios. For example, whether her reincarnation was human didn’t matter; as long as she could cultivate, he could find a way to help her regain her human form.

He also wondered how he would react if Mei Gongzi was not as beautiful in her new life. His love would allow him to accept her no matter her appearance because the imprint of her life, her soul, was still that of the person he deeply loved.

What Tang San worried about the most was ideological differences. For instance, if a different environment made Mei Gongzi into someone whose ideals completely clashed with his, what then?

He had considered all these possibilities. But in reality, it seemed that none of this had happened, and everything was extending in the best possible direction. This was already a perfect outcome that brought him great comfort.

Although this world is highly unfriendly to humans, as long as he could be with the person he loved the most, he was willing to change those unfriendly aspects.

Tang San's feelings were complex at this moment, but more than complexity, there was joy. He was genuinely happy to have followed Mei Gongzi this time, protecting her in secret, as this had allowed him to learn many more of her secrets.

Perhaps this protection was not crucial to Mei Gongzi, as she could resolve all troubles alone, but it was essential to Tang San, as he now had fewer qualms when it came to her. Some of the things he had worried about were gradually being resolved.

This was the situation he most hoped to see because it meant all he needed to do was to be as good to her as possible.

Of course, Tang San also realized some problems, such as his strength not being sufficient to protect her properly.

Although Tang San's improvement had been very rapid, primarily through devouring plant life force in the Kali Academy store to enhance his cultivation, he limited the amount he devoured each time to avoid being discovered.

If Mei Gongzi herself could resolve the threat brought by five eighth-order Peacock Demons, then to catch up with her and become a strong protector for her, he at least had to reach the eighth order.

And now, he still had a considerable distance to reach the eighth order, and he had to continue to work hard.

Even the best hidden weapons were just external objects. Moreover, the hidden weapons he had produced were far from sufficient to face strong enemies properly.

While cultivating, it was also time for him to start showcasing his skills.

The moment had come for the three primary mechanical hidden weapons of the Tang Sect to make their appearance. From now on, he needed to start searching for materials suitable for their creation.

The three primary hidden weapons of the Tang Sect included the first-ranked Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus, the second-ranked Torrential Pear Blossom Needle, and the third-ranked Peacock Plume.

The Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus was the most difficult to craft, the Torrential Pear Blossom Needle required the most stringent materials, and the Peacock Plume was the most complex.

With the resources and abilities currently available to Tang San, the third-ranked Peacock Plume was the only one he was confident in crafting. Coincidentally, Mei Gongzi belonged to the Peacock Demon race. Tang San decided this would be the next gift he would present to her.

As his thoughts gradually calmed down, Tang San silently circulated the Mysterious Heaven Technique's energy throughout his body, adjusting his state.

With the continuous enhancement of the sixth bloodline imprint, Blue Silver Emperor, and the absorption of life energy from various heavenly and earthly treasures, Tang San's overall condition had improved significantly.

The immense life force refining his body made his meridians more resilient, and his physical strength slowly grew as well. Propelled by this vast life force, the realm of his Mysterious Heaven Technique was also approaching the peak of the sixth order.

However, without a doubt, breaking through from the sixth to the seventh order was a qualitative leap, and it was not so easy to overcome this threshold.

Tang San had a way now, of course. If he took and devoured a precious treasure plant from the academy store's vault, he could potentially make a breakthrough. But that would undoubtedly be draining the pond to get all the fish. Once an item was stolen, it would inevitably be discovered by the academy store, turning it into a one-off deal.

Therefore, to break through to the seventh order, he had to progress step by step, accumulating a lot before making a breakthrough.

Tang San was very aware of his uniqueness. The Celestial Fox Vision greatly aided him, allowing him to avoid many troubles and making his cultivation smoother.

However, the Celestial Fox Vision also had its issues, and there was a hidden danger to Tang San that even luck couldn’t mitigate.

Tang San had consulted Zhang Haoxuan about this issue, and, combined with various changes in Du Bai, he could draw a couple of conclusions.

Due to the favor of fortune, the Celestial Fox race could be considered an incredibly logic-defying existence in this plane, and this defiance came with a price. Namely, the Celestial Foxes could not cultivate other abilities than the Celestial Fox Vision and remained physically frail.

Tang San's existence was undoubtedly unique. He obtained multiple Demonic God Transformation imprints by cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Technique.

Furthermore, after integrating the Celestial Fox Transformation, he was recognized by this plane.

A god was an existence that transcended the ordinary and entered the sacred, detached from yet dependent on the plane. Gods could be said to be the guardians of the plane, in a sense.

Tang San's abilities did not belong to this plane, yet he utilized its resources as best as possible.

Once he broke through to the god level, he would inevitably be subjected to this plane's overall scrutiny. And if anything wrong happened, he might even be targeted by the entire plane.

The more his cultivation increased, the more deeply Tang San felt this issue, and he often pondered how to resolve this problem before he reached that level.

Otherwise, he feared that he would be unable to complete the breakthrough and would be suppressed by the plane during the process.