Death... and me

Although there weren't a lot of guards remaining after what happened to Tissan, it didn't mean everyone was gone. There were still workers who kept the place clean as common guards that were already there before Tissan moved in. After all, this was still a building destined for Imperial Family Members.

One of the maids just so happened to come to clean Tissan's room later that day when all of a sudden, she noticed the guy sleeping on the bed. Sure enough, that was Tissan, who hasn't awakened yet.

"Ah!"

She was scared to death when she saw Tissan since it was believed that he was dead. Immediately she went out and called the others. Sometime later, Uncle Sam, who had been looking for Tissan all this while, appeared there in a flash.

"Get out of the way!"

Sam entered the room and saw Tissan lying there. He immediately took the other aside and Tissan's hand before sending a wave of Spiritual Energy inside. At the same time, his Spiritual Sense entered Tissan's body to check if there was any serious injury. However...

"What?! Initial Stage of Foundation Establishment!"

Everyone was surprised to hear that since they knew Tissan's cultivation.

Still, Uncle Sam quickly calmed down as he fed Tissan with a healing pill. The swollen part on Tissan's back head slowly disappeared. Finally, Tissan's eyes moved a little until he finally woke up.

"Ouch, my head!"

Uncle Sam sighed in relief as he looked at Tissan.

"Young Master, you're finally back."

Tissan then noticed Uncle Sam in front of him. Following that, he could tell that he was back in his room.

'Those two guys... I wasn't going to escape, you know? Couldn't they have brought me here normally?'

Of course, Tissan knew that there must have been a trick behind it for them to move his body around without anyone noticing. Obviously, that was something he couldn't know about. That was basically Tissan's tantrum due to his pain.

Uncle Sam then quickly asked.

"What happened? You suddenly disappeared out of nowhere! Where did you go? Also, how did your cultivation suddenly jump to the Initial Stage of Foundation Establishment?"

Tissan nodded before changing into a Spiritual Sense message.

'Uncle Sam, there is no need to worry. I left on my own volition. It's just that I wasn't certain if everything would work fine. In any case, everything went well, so I recovered my ability to cultivate.'

Sam was surprised to hear that.

'It's great news that you recovered your capability to cultivate. However, was there really a need to keep it hidden from me? If you had told me, I would have given my full support.'

Tissan shook his head.

'This decision wasn't up to me. But because I had nothing else to lose, I went ahead with the arrangement. Sorry, but I can't tell you about their identities due to the agreement between me and the other part. Nonetheless, you just need to know that they aren't people from outside the Empire.'

Uncle Sam narrowed his eyes. After hearing that, the first thought in his head was that one of the princes or princesses had intervened. However, why would they do such a thing for someone like Tissan?

'No, that's not the point here. It couldn't possibly be something for free. What did they ask you in exchange for fixing your cultivation?'

Tissan shook his head.

'That's a secret too. Anyway, there is no need to worry.'

Tissan then got up before looking at Uncle Sam.

'Ask someone to go underground and destroy all my female clothes. I will not be using them anymore.'

Uncle Sam was shocked! He knew that Tissan considered those clothes as important as his life. Still, he had always asked him to get rid of those things, so he wouldn't complain.

'Very well.'

Uncle Sam quickly passed the orders to his subordinate, who left right after to complete that task. Tissan then went to his wardrobe and took out the Sasamil Imperial Family's robe before putting it on.

"Come, Uncle Sam. It's time for this prodigal son to go back home. Hahaha!"

Uncle Sam's eyes immediately lit up! That's right. With his cultivation capabilities recovered, Tissan had the right to go back to the Imperial Palace again.

"Yes, Young Master. We shall go back now."

Back on Rean's side, he returned to the Formation Repository to continuing his practice with Droman.

As for Roan, he practiced his alchemy skills now that he had some free time. Old Worm would oversee it now and then. However, Old Worm was nowhere to be seen most of the time. Well, Roan knew that Old Worm wasn't simple, so he didn't try to pry into anything. Just like that, a few more days went by in a flash.

[Shouldn't you be trying to kill that Nulian guy?]

Roan shook his head.

'It will be safer if I use Nightingale's help. There are other methods where I could do it on my own, but they wouldn't be as practical.'

Rean, who heard that through their soul connection, laughed after that.

'Hahaha! It's useless, Sister Orb. Don't forget, Roan will always use everything to get the best result possible. That includes using my abilities even if he hates me to the bones.'

[Well, I guess so.]

Roan narrowed his eyes when all of a sudden...

*Puff!*

The smell of burnt medicine spread in the room he was staying. Sure enough, Rean can make death lose his patience quite easily.

'Instead of talking bullshit, shouldn't you have gotten some free time from Droman already? I've been postponing that trash's death for quite some time while waiting for you.'

Rean snorted.

'Why do you think I wasted my time saying those things? I'm already out, idiot. Droman finally agreed to give me some time to rest. However, Droman and I only have another free week to use the repository before our time is over. That being said, I won't be coming out after we finish this job.'

Roan nodded as he cleaned his cauldron. He could use the Soul Gem System's cauldron. However, he wanted to be able to concoct even without that. Besides, the alchemy guild's exam definitely wouldn't let him use his own cauldron either for the sake of fairness.

'That's good, then. I'll be waiting for you outside.'

Rean then left the repository and passed through the Guild's Main Branch Hall. He also made sure that he didn't meet Qia anywhere. Ever since he talked about the issue with Qia's feelings with Droman, he had been trying to avoid her as much as possible. That was his way to not feed the girl's feelings beyond that starting point.

"Did you hear? It seems like that trash from the Imperial Family came back."

"Oh! I heard about him. Tissan, right?"

"I heard as well. The Sasamil Imperial Family has many direct and indirect descendants, so it's hard to remember everyone. Still, he caught everyone's attention when he was driven out of the Palace."

"Exactly. It seems like not only Tissan couldn't cultivate at all, he also had some kind of weird habit or whatever. Anyway, why would he come back? He's just asking for a beating by doing so."

"That's the weird thing about it. My uncle works as one of the guards in the Imperial Palace. It seems like the trash's cultivation defect has been fixed. In the few months he was out of the Palace, his cultivation soared. It went from the Middle Stage of the Energy Gathering Realm all the way to the Initial Stage of the Foundation Establishment!"

"Wait! He was expelled from the Imperial Palace around half a year ago. How did he cultivate that fast?"

"I don't know, but the Imperial Family couldn't really keep him out anymore now that he has recovered his cultivation ability."

"Hmph! So what? It's just at the Initial Stage of the Foundation Establishment. Tissan is already 24 this year, right? He's far behind everyone in his age. Even Imperial Family Members at the same age with Gray Color Talent would be at least an entire realm above him just using the Imperial Family's resources."

Rean smiled as he heard all of that.

'It seems like Tissan is following the plans well. It would be useless if he didn't show his presence for everyone to see. Hehe... With his Pure Yin Body and the Purest Yang Energy possible provided by me, his cultivation will soar even faster. Not to mention that his own Yin Energy is almost as pure as Roan for the same reason. You are all in for a surprise.'

Finally, Rean stepped out of the Formations' Guild. However, just as he was about to accelerate toward the nearest Teleport Formation, a voice called him from the side.

"Stop right there!"

A chill ran through Rean's back before he bitterly smiled. Sure enough, it was Qia, who he had been doing his best to avoid while pretending that it was all coincidence.

He wanted nothing more than to run straight away. However, it was because he ignored the girl before she took an interest in him. Since she already caught his presence, ignoring her would probably hurt her so-called 'woman's pride' again.

'Act normal, act normal... Pretend that you are only considering the fake marriage thing.'

Rean then looked at Qia with a bright smile.

"Oh! My bride, I haven't seen you in some time. That's a great surprise."

Qia narrowed her eyes as she looked at Rean's expression. She didn't feel even a bit of sincerity there.

"You, come with me."