"Go away!" Ely shouted at the people that were staring at the two of them.
"Miss, he is…?" one of the guards asked.
"He's my dao companion. Now leave," she told the people.
"But… what about senior Gallow?" one of them asked.
"What about him?" Ely asked with raging eyes. "Are you going to leave or not?"
Ning pushed them all away without waiting and slammed the door shut. "You sounded quite angry there," he said while continuing to hug her.
"Don't speak. We can talk about that later," she said as she closed her eyes and reached up to kiss him.
Ning kissed her back before stopping a few minutes later and embracing her tighter. "This feels nice."
Ely put her head in his chest as she continued holding him as well. "When did you return?" She asked.
"Uhh… 15 minutes ago, I believe," Ning said.
"You came to this city 15 minutes ago?" Ely asked. "Or the planet?"
Ning chuckled. "I actually returned to Kumia 15 minutes ago. I talked with Dahlia there for a few minutes and left. I arrived here just 2 minutes ago."
"And you found me so quickly?" she asked. "Your system must've grown quite a bit," she said.
"It has," Ning replied. "Far more than any of us could have imagined back then."
The two embraced each other for a while before leaving. Once apart, he looked at her from head to toe.
"Don't look at me like that. I know I've aged," she said.
"Hmm? Of course. But that wasn't what I was looking at. I'm looking at your cultivation base, and… I don't know how to say this, but it's rather weak," he said.
"Of course it's weak," she said with a pout on her face. "Your stupid books no longer work for my cultivation base. Even the improvement in my body is so minuscule. Thankfully, I have my artifact system, so I have been able to do quite well for myself."
"Hehe, sorry," Ning said. "I'll pamper you with the best stuff from now on."
"You better," she said with her arms crossed in front of her.
"Alright, can we leave? Or do you have to finish your work?" Ning asked.
"Urgh… I have to finish it," Ely said as she went back to finish making the artifact. "Dammit, I messed up. I'm not going to even make a 6th rank artifact this time around. And here I thought I was going to gain a lot of points this time around."
"Points? From your system?" Ning asked.
"Yes, there's this knowledge about smelting Goldiron that I've been wanting to learn for a while, but it costs 250 points. I'm trying to gather some, but the only way to earn a lot of points is to make new items, and making new items is hard," she said.
"Smelting Goldiron? I can tell you that?" Ning said.
Ely stopped and sighed. "Of course, you can," she said. "Anyway, let me finish this all the same. Stopping halfway through makes me lose points instead."
"Okay, I'll wait," Ning said and looked around the room where Ely was working. "Is this your workshop?"
"Yes, I work here," she said.
"No, I mean, is this YOUR workshop? Do you own it?" he asked.
"No, the owner is someone called Frindal Gallow. He owns the entire building and many other locations in this city," she said.
"I see," Ning said. "That's the same man they were talking about previously?"
"Oh no, they were talking about his son, Trushar Gallow," she said. "His father is not bad, but he is a hateful man."
"Oh, why?" Ning asked.
"He's wanted to make me his Dao companion for the last 300 years," she said. "I keep telling him I already have one, but he doesn't believe me at all."
Ning couldn't help but chuckle.
"Do you think that's funny?" Ely asked.
"Why not? You could beat him up if he got too annoying, right?" he asked. "Or is he too strong for you?"
Ely sighed. "He's in the High Immortal realm, while I'm still in the Low Immortal realm. I could never beat him," she said.
"I see, well I will help you beat him up now," Ning said.
"It's alright, we can leave. Although, I would like to thank senior Gallow for allowing me to work here. I would not have found such a good place to work and make a name for myself had it not been for him."
"After I had to auction off what little items I had from back in Kumia, he was the one that noticed my talent and allowed me to make Immortal items with his own fortune. Had it not been for him, I might have been living like a peasant for a long while," she said.
"I see," Ning said. "Then after I beat up the son, we can go meet with the father."
"No, there's no need to beat up the son. We can just meet the senior and leave," Ely said as she worked on her artifact.
"No, we will have to beat up his son," Ning said.
"Can't we just leave silently? Why do we have to beat him up?" Ely asked with a slightly annoyed look.
"I mean," Ning shrugged. "It's not like we have much of a choice."
"What do you—"
The door slammed open as a middle-aged man walked into the room all high and lofty. "Where is that man?" he shouted as soon as he walked in.
Then, he finally noticed Ning who was standing close to Ely.
"That's him?" the man asked with a slightly confused look. "He's the Dao companion?"
"That's what the miss said, senior," one of the guards said.
The man looked at Ning again and showed a disgusted look. "Hah! No wonder you never fell for me. Turns out you have a thing for younger men," he said.
"You must be Gallow junior," Ning said.
"And who the hell are you?" the man asked.
"I'm Ning Ruogong, Ely's dao companion," Ning said. "And as a show of gratitude towards your father, I will try not to kill you."
