Things were quiet when we returned to the Celestial Dragon Palace, too quiet. A suspicious lack of shouting, screaming, and stuff breaking.

  All color drains from my face. What has Sam done in my absence?

  Fearing the worst, I enter inside, and I see Ruby, Ket, Saph, Sam, and Gora all sitting at a table, with books.

  I had to trick Gora into learning how to read, through promises of great power, how is she reading voluntarily?

  And Ruby! Our fiery, energetic teenager, is sitting still?

  I have much to learn from Sam it would seem.

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  I snuck past them, softly speaking, "Don't mind me, I don't mean to interrupt reading hour."

  Looking more closely at Sam, I'd never seem him with such bags under his eyes. Poor guy, it must've been tiring to keep this place from falling apart.

  He looks like he hasn't slept for a week straight, and I thought cultivators didn't need sleep.

  Every grunts, not looking up from their books. After a few moments, Serket suddenly jerked her head towards me.

  "Old man, you're back! How was the trip?"

  "Great to see you Ket." I wave at her with a smile on my face. "We learned a few things about this world. I'll explain later, when everyone's here. Could you fetch the others?"

  "I can do that," She said, slowly getting to her feet, "but Ikki won't be coming." She let out a heavy sigh. "He blew up half his lab again and his face isn't healing quite right." Ok, so one person is injured. That's acceptable.

  "Will he be okay?" I asked, only slightly worried.

  "Eh, don't sweat it. He's been through worse. I doubt he even feels pain anymore" Serket responds without missing a beat.

  "Ok, then I suppose we're all accounted for." The others are also looking up at this point, eager to ask their questions.

  Before they could launch their barrage of words at me, I held up my hand in a gesture for silence.

  "First of all, I am sorry for leaving you all behind while Gerard and I went to explore. Knowing all of you, it must've been difficult to stay cooped up inside." I look at everyone currently gathered. And besides Sam, who's about to fall asleep, they all look eager to learn about this new world we've found ourselves in.

  "It wasn't that bad, I got to catch up on a lot of material on how to make improvements upon existing formations without damaging them!" Sapphire adds enthusiastically.

  "Oh shut up you," Ruby says with a twitch in her eye.

  *Clap* Sam disapprovingly taps Ruby on her head with one of his shadows.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Ruby lifts her feet up and assumes a crouching position on her chair, ready to pounce on Sam.

  "Guys, please remain calm for a little longer. Once this meeting is over, you can all go outside."

  The mood shifted instantly. Faces lit up, and the energy in the room became electric. They were ready for action, and I couldn’t blame them. We had been in this world for weeks now, and the novelty of our new surroundings was wearing thin. It was time to get moving.

  As Ruby sat down again, I continued.

  "Now that I have your attention," I coughed into my fist, "the first thing we desperately need is money. We have a lot of high-quality items, but suddenly appearing as master alchemists, blacksmiths, or formation masters would raise too many eyebrows. So, here’s the plan: we’re sending you all into the Sacred Cloud Mountains."

  With dramatic flair, i unfurl a scroll onto the table, pointing towards the mountain range the clerk had mentioned earlier. "There’s an earth drake active in that region. Its core and body parts are valuable, and there’s a bounty on its head. While you’re there, feel free to collect any other cores or materials you come across. Just try not to disrupt the ecosystem too much."

  I paused, scanning the room. "Little Saph, Rue, and Finn, you’re coming with me to the Midor Forest." I pointed to a dense woodland closer to town. "We’ll encounter fewer spirit beasts there, and since you’re still new to the Martial Lord Realm, I’m not letting you anywhere near an earth drake. That’s final."

  I expected Ruby to protest, but she seemed surprisingly content. She was probably just happy to be leaving the house again. I didn’t know exactly how powerful a drake was, but given that it was likely a descendant of dragons, I wasn’t taking any chances with our younger members. They might outrank it in cultivation, but they lacked real combat experience.

  "Remember," I added, "we’re not in the Void Reality anymore. Don’t go full power and blow everything up. Making a mountain disappear didn’t matter when we were in a temporary realm, but this is the real world now. Let’s avoid angering the locals by destroying their backyards, alright?"

  I turned to the older members of the group. "Ket, Sam, and Gora, I need you to suppress your cultivation bases. This world doesn’t have too many high-ranking cultivators it seems, and we don’t need to draw unnecessary attention. Limit yourselves to the Spiritual Realm for now. Gerard and I have been pretending to be in the Nascent Soul realm while we were in Iroh, so we’ll have to stay at that level for the time being." When Gerard and I were in Iroh, I did sense 1 person just above the threshold of the Spiritual Realm, barely having dipped his toes into the Dao Crystal realm. But I didn't sense any Celestials.

  I glanced at the map again. "We’ll meet at an inn in Kirome called the Fluttering Leaf in exactly three weeks. It should take you about a week to reach the mountains, then five days to get to Kirome from there. That leaves you a little over a week to explore the mountains. Once you’re in Kirome, feel free to look around, but stay out of trouble. Iroh is the inner city, and it’s off-limits. Too many powerful people there who are too easy to offend."

  Before wrapping up, I turned to Serket. "Can you prepare some first aid kits for everyone? And Gerard, make sure everyone gets one snack each before they leave. Finally, no one leaves until Sirin, Cal, or I have checked their weapons and defenses."

  Sirin and Caladrius, standing in the corner, spoke in perfect unison. "We’ve already checked everyone’s weapons. They’re flawless."

  I suppressed a shiver. Their synchronized monotone was always a little unsettling. They shot me identical cheeky smiles, clearly enjoying my misery. I made a mental note to have Finn play a prank on them later. Revenge, after all, was best served cold.

  "Can we really only have one snack?" Little Rue’s voice broke through my thoughts. She was giving me her best puppy impression, and Sapphire quickly joined in, adding her own pleading look.

  I glanced at Gerard, who shrugged with a small smile. They must have bribed him beforehand. "Et tu, Gerard?" I muttered under my breath.

  I acquiesced and the group dispersed, each member picking up their snacks and first-aid kit and heading to their rooms to prepare. I stayed behind, rummaging through a chest of talismans that had been stored in the palace’s new basement vault. As I searched, I caught sight of Ruby skipping through the courtyard, humming a tune.

  "Ruby," I called out, "can you make sure everyone gets one of these teleport talismans? Just in case something goes wrong."

  "’Kaay!" she chirped, taking the talismans and continuing her skip through the courtyard, her song growing fainter as she moved away.

  I shook my head, a small smile tugging at my lips. Her tune reminded me of that goblin song about the scandalous shaman with the donkey... I made a mental note to have a serious talk with Gora about that later.