"You sure do have a big plan brewing up in your mind, huh?" Luna mentally asked.
"Shh, you shouldn't interrupt when a man is thinking hard," Damien said in a chiding tone.
"Pah, thinking hard, my foot. But you surely have made a setup for some interesting events," Luna said bemusedly.
Damien casually shrugged, "Not yet. This is just the beginning. Next, I would have to depend on Rhea to get the emperor to favor me somehow. I am sure he wouldn't be able to resist the potential of what my pills can do."
"I take it that your mission now isn't as simple as stealing those Pandemonium Needles?" Luna asked with a certain glint in her eyes.
Damien's lips curled up, "Maybe. I never expected things to develop like this. But because of that, I got more exciting ideas that could potentially affect the entire Gale Empire! How could I let go of a chance like that?"
"Haa, you lover boy...doing all this for a single woman. Should I call you foolish or an idiot?" Luna asked with a lazy expression.
"If you mean ignoring logic and all rationality when it comes to love? Then I guess you could call me foolish because otherwise, it wouldn't mean I truly love her. If I always weigh the pros and cons when it comes to her matters, then my love is meaningless. Instead, what I should do is focus on making her happy," Damien said with a soft smile as he thought about Lily.
Luna shook her head, "Ugh, you sound like a love guru, and such people don't usually live long. To survive, you should be ready to do anything and prepared to sacrifice anything!"
Damien immediately replied, "What's the point of surviving when you are not living? What's the point of surviving when you have no one to share your happiness or sorrow with? What's the point when you don't have someone to accompany you on the journey of life? I would rather die than live such a sad and lonely life.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"The satisfaction and happiness power can bring you is limited. Tell me, as a goddess who stood at the peak of the universe, haven't you ever felt that your life was missing something? Did your powers help fill that gap?"
Luna's eyes flickered for a moment at the sudden question and said defensively with her eyes closed, "Of course, not. This goddess' mentality is not that of a mortal to desire for anything. I am beyond such mundane matters to not feel anything "missing". I can get whatever I want as long as I will it."
Damien only smiled in reply and didn't say anything back. Luna opened her eyes but saw him smiling at her. She closed her eyes again with a snort as if trying to avoid his gaze."
Although Luna said that, she still felt that some of Damien's words hit some spot in her heart. But of course, she didn't want to admit it.
Damien returned to his alchemy session and continued to make some of those blue pills like the one he had shown Rhea before. He felt that he should also work on making more "effective" pills that could help compliment his plans well.
Meanwhile, in the inn where Damien and Valentina were staying, a group of handsome youngsters dressed in extravagant clothes came in with some women in their arms.
They barged inside the inn with a boisterous mood, and instantly everyone else looked at them with annoyance.
However, after taking a second look at their finely tailored robes and their noble faces, no one dared to show any frustration on their faces...because these group of four youngsters were the famous geniuses listed in the Soaring Sky rankings, which was the list that only contained ten people and showed the top ten geniuses of the Gale Empire.
Every single name in this last was bestowed with utmost fame and status that could be given to a young practitioner.
Any young cultivator would kill just to get into that list since once they do, then their future would be smooth sailing for them. They can command respect from almost anyone in the Gale Empire, even if they were their seniors.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"}) Other than those who belong to the top echelons of the empire, everyone else would have to show face to them since offending any one of them could mean that things wouldn't end well for them.
These four were numbered in the last four of the rankings, but still, each one of them was not people others could mess around with.
Their cultivations were all in the top 1% among the population of genius practitioners, and this meant that even without their status, their strength itself was a deterrent for most.
No one was below the High Level of the Earth Ethereal Realm, and because of that, arrogance was ingrained in their bones.
The beautiful women in their arms were not ordinary or commoners they snatched from the road. Each of them was descendants of wealthy noble families, and their disposition was proof of that, thus attracting the attention of many men drinking and eating in the inn.
Still, they didn't dare to stare or ogle at these women any longer since they weren't too bored to attract needless troubles.
These young women were more than happy to attach themselves to one of these geniuses since not only would they be able to secure their own future, but they would also be valued higher in their own families for bringing prestige in case these geniuses took a liking to them.
The youngster in the front who had a cool smile on his face was Reve Marlowe, who was twenty-one years old, while the youngster standing on his other side was Noel Marlowe, his younger brother ranked 8th in the Soaring Sky rankings, just one position below his elder brother.
Their age difference wasn't much, only by a few months. The Marlowe Brothers were quite famous because of the Soaring Sky ranking and because they were siblings who excelled at anything they did together.
They also got into the ranking together, and they both had a bond thicker than any siblings and were like best friends who looked after each other's backs.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})The other two youngsters behind were named Khalil and Leva, who came from less influential backgrounds, nowhere near as wealthy and powerful as the Marlowe family.
Still, because of their present status, their backgrounds didn't matter much since these youngsters would grow up into future powerhouses and elevate the status of their families to newer heights.
Even now, their families were slowly rising up to newer heights and increasing their prestige when compared to higher-ranked families.
All these four youngsters were back after a tournament where many aspiring young practitioners challenged their rankings.
Of course, these four youngsters had an easy time defeating all of them and even "accidentally" crippled those who seemed like a potential threat to their status in the future.
Now, after a long day, they were back to enjoy the rest of the evening with their women and drinks.
The manager straightened his back and put on his best smile as he asked, "Welcome young masters and ladies. How may I be of service?"
"Give us four of the best rooms here, nothing less than that," Reve loftily said.
"Of course, let me pick the best for you all," The manager eagerly nodded as he went through the available list of rooms in his book.
However, he felt like banging his head when he suddenly remembered that there weren't enough vacancies for the best tier room in the inn.
Not for all four of them anyway. One of the best rooms had been booked by Damien too.
He somehow picked up his courage and said, "Young master, I...I am deeply sorry that there are only three available rooms for the luxury class. Is it possible for young masters to adjust with three rooms?"
"What nonsense!" Noel banged the desk with a fumed expression.
In a severe tone, Reve said straight afterward, "Who is taking up these occupied rooms?"
The manager gulped and replied, "Most of them have been occupied by upper ranked noble families while one of them…" The manager thought about Damien and Valentina and didn't know if they were really some noble children from affluent families or just some fools who happened to come upon a large amount of Spirit Stones.
But since their identities were not known, he could not possibly lie about their backgrounds.
"The last one is?" Reve prodded with a stern expression.
The manager sighed and said, "The last room is occupied by a boy and a girl. They were dressed in plain clothes, but I don't know their identities," He couldn't help but state the truth. At least, even if Damien turned out to be someone from an influential family, he could later apologize since he was not at fault.
And if Damien was just someone pretending to be a young master, then it wouldn't affect him at all if these young masters before him took any action.
"Bring them out!" Noel said in a commanding tone.
