Chapter 13
Ch.13 Won’t You Default on Payment?
“What about cultivation?”
Luo Nan asked the question he cared about most.
He was now afraid he couldn’t cultivate. Just earlier, he had experimented and discovered that during cultivation, his power uncontrollably got swallowed by that tree.
[Face your desire, Luo Nan.]
“Face my desire?”
[Why do you wish to cultivate? Why do you wish to enter the supernatural realm?]
“I…”
Hearing Cheat Device Miss ask this, Luo Nan fell silent.
Honestly, ever since transmigrating here, his mind had been entirely occupied with changing his ‘tragic fate’. His desire for the supernatural path was born solely from the goal of ‘changing fate’.
“I want… to change my fate!”
Luo Nan carefully recalled his fate in ‘The Shining Myriad Trails’—the heroines trampled him underfoot as a stepping stone; the female villains treated him like a lackey, barking orders at him; he alone bore the burden of multiple villain archetypes.
In the end, because his presence lacked sufficient gravitas to generate enough explosive plot points, he was killed off before the ‘Final Battle’.
This was Luo Nan’s fate.
His very existence was defined by this.
“But… I simply cannot accept such a thing…”
“I don’t want to oppose the heroines, nor do I wish to destroy any worlds. I merely want… to quietly live as a noble young master, marry a beautiful noble lady, and spend this life in peaceful mediocrity.”
“This… is my desire. This is the original driving force behind my wish to change fate!”
[I understand. Then, please strengthen your conviction, Luo Nan.]
“Strengthen my conviction?”
Luo Nan closed his eyes. Seizing the moment while the body-tempering potion’s effects still lingered, he once again began practicing the Seventeen Forms of Body Tempering.
Only this time, he no longer let his mind drift blankly. Instead, empowered by his core motivation, he meticulously practiced each form, one movement at a time.
“I am Luo Nan.”
“I don’t want to oppose the protagonists, nor do I wish to destroy the world.”
“I only want to live out my own happy, peaceful life.”
“I want to change my original fate.”
“Therefore, I need… to grow stronger!”
“I need… power!”
“…”
After practicing an unknown number of repetitions, Luo Nan felt the battle aura surging powerfully throughout his body—cheering, leaping, rushing like an ocean within him.
“Indeed, this time, the battle aura I cultivated was not swallowed by that tree.”
[Precisely so. He harbors no malice toward you. Quite the contrary—in His mind, He is assisting you.]
“Is that so? So that tree absorbing my power… is actually for my own good?”
[You may say so.]
“Is it helping me lessen the impact on the worldline?”
[Yes.]
Just as I thought.
Realizing this, Luo Nan emptied his mind—thinking nothing, doing nothing.
“Mm, just as I expected—my power is being absorbed again.”
“I want to reclaim my power!”
Buzz—
Battle aura surged back into his body once more.
Feeling the fullness of power returning, Luo Nan finally calmed his heart. He addressed the voice in his mind:
“Thanks, Cheat Device Miss. I forgot to ask—how should I address you?”
[…]
“Not responding again?”
“Well, never mind. I believe Cheat Device Miss will soon take the initiative to contact me again.”
…
The first rays of dawn spread across the land. The White-Gold City of Opalia awakened amidst the clamor from its streets.
Luo Nan opened his eyes and stretched his joints, which crackled audibly. “It’s already morning?”
“No wonder some powerful experts can seclude themselves for decades or even centuries. Even I, a mere novice who just entered the first tier, managed to pull an all-nighter with the help of body-tempering potions.”
Luo Nan stood up and glanced downward. “Holy shit, are these impurities expelled from my body?”
Last night, after mastering the ‘deposit and withdraw’ mechanism of his power, Luo Nan consumed two more vials of top-grade body-tempering potion, channeling all their potency through the Seventeen Forms of Body Tempering.
After finishing his practice in the first half of the night, Luo Nan sat cross-legged in the training chamber, quietly sensing the changes within his body.
Muscles tore and restructured; meridians expanded and extended…
After enduring the initial pain, Luo Nan immersed himself in this bodily ‘rebirth’.
Until now.
“Huh… let me test it.” Luo Nan threw a punch, carefully sensing the coordinated operation of his entire musculature and the amplification of physical strength provided by his battle aura. “Early stage of Warrior Tier One—realm stabilized.”
From touching the black stone and entering the supernatural realm last night, to stabilizing his realm through potion-assisted tempering, Luo Nan completed the journey from ordinary human to early-stage Tier One Warrior in less than twelve hours.
“Even my sister—if she learned of my advancement speed—would be astonished.”
“Mm, I stink. Need to take a shower.”
Splash, splash, splash…
Luo Nan didn’t have time for the full bathhouse experience of steaming, soaking, and pampering. After a quick rinse, he changed into fresh clothes and stepped out of the training chamber.
After breakfast, Luo Nan checked the time. “I originally planned to visit that place last night, but plans changed faster than expected. No matter—it’s the same if I go tonight.”
“As for now… I’m kind of addicted to cultivation.”
The value of the top-grade body-tempering potions Luo Nan consumed last night could buy a toilet in Opalia’s Upper District!
Keep in mind—even a middle-class citizen of the capital, working themselves to death for ten years, could only afford to buy a toilet in the Upper District.
“So this is what ‘pay-to-win cultivation’ feels like,” Luo Nan couldn’t suppress the smile curling at the corners of his mouth. “Continue, continue—after all, if there’s one thing the Duke’s manor doesn’t lack, it’s money.”
Thinking this, he hurried toward the training chamber.
“Young Master, a young lady says she wishes to see you.”
Maid Aina ran breathlessly to Luo Nan’s side and reported the situation.
A young lady wants to see me?
Surely another daughter from some family trying to curry favor with the Medillions?
For such vulgar people, Luo Nan might have previously met them with a ‘hunting’ mentality, but now… cultivation was preferable.
“Nope, I’m gonna grind hard!”
“That… that young lady said she’s here to report on work progress, and mentioned there’s important information.”
“Hmm? What’s her name?”
“Anya Sivans.”
“I suddenly feel I should balance work and rest. After working hard all night, taking a short break is only reasonable.”
“Then…”
“Aina, lead the way.”
Tap, tap, tap.
Thick-soled, high-top boots struck the red wooden floor of the reception room, producing crisp echoes.
The chestnut-haired, golden-eyed girl paced back and forth inside the room, her expression somewhat restless.
“This Luo Nan von Medillion sure has a proud attitude—I’ve been waiting here for an hour.”
“He wouldn’t be planning to stiff me, would he? I worked hard for him all day yesterday!”
Anya walked back to the tea table and lifted the teacup—which had already been refilled three times—downing it in one gulp. “Damn nobles, even drinking tea is so extravagant. If you don’t come soon, watch me drink you bankrupt.”
Just as the girl drained the last drop from the teapot and even chewed up and swallowed the leftover tea leaves in the cup, the door to the reception room finally opened from the outside.
“Miss Anya, Young Master has arrived.”
This was what maid Aina, who entered the reception room first, said.
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