Damien was currently experiencing heaven.
Nevermind Ruyue's soft body being tightly pressed against his own, nevermind the feeling of strength he felt from his improvements recently, just existing in the space around him felt so heavenly it was almost orgasmic.
He didn't have a chance to appreciate it before, since he was continuously busy with other things. Even while moving around the rubble of the mountain range, he had subconsciously ignored the feeling.
Yet, when he flashed away with Ruyue, appearing thousands of kilometers away in an instant, he almost couldn't control himself.
It had been over a year and a half since Damien had been able to properly utilize his teleportation. Whether it be the Myriad Illusion Veil, 3000 Beast Mountain Range, or Primordial Undying Realm, they all had some sort of spatial suppression that didn't allow him to use his ability to its full potential.
But since all three were connected through Alaric, it wasn't surprising for them to share similar restrictions.
Now, though…Damien's perception expanded insanely. His awareness covered tens of thousands of kilometers of land. And until a few thousand kilometers away, his awareness was much sharper than it used to be.
He felt like it had become a spiderweb. The tactile sensation he felt, allowing him to "feel" everything around him firsthand instead of simply "seeing," it made his usage of spatial transportation far more fluid.
It was to the point where he could continuously jump thousands of kilometers without making Ruyue feel nauseous or disoriented at all.
He smiled beside himself. The amount of time he has spent consciously training his space element in this time didn't amount to much, but the passive training he was forced to do by the spatial suppression had boosted his abilities more than he could've ever hoped for.
'If it's like this, it shouldn't even take a day to reach the Empyrean Dragon Realm.'
With Ruyue as his trusty compass and travel partner and the beautiful folds of space as his vehicle, the journey he was on now was sure to be an enjoyable one.
***
The location of the Empyrean Dragon Realm was a large empty plain to the east of the Central Continent, a few thousand kilometers away from the Jade Heavenly Palace.
Due to the movements of the tectonic plates under the continent, as well as a myriad of more fantastical phenomena that had happened in the thousands of years since the fall of the ancient sect, the center of the continent had been shifted so much.
But regardless, the true center of the Cloud Plane as a whole was never changing.
On this plain, a vast amount of people had gathered. The 100 geniuses who filled the quotas of the 5 Great Sects, the 40 from the 4 Great Clans, and a huge number of others as well.
The Empyrean Dragon Realm opening was, after all, a central event on the level of the Nexus Event in Apeiron. It wasn't something that the Great Sects and Clans could monopolize, lest they lose public sentiment.
Therefore, a large number of mid-sized and small clans along the continent were granted 5 spots for their geniuses. Even major powers from other continents, such as the Shen Estate of the Southern Continent that Damien and Long Chen had assisted on their first mission, had gathered as well.
But these numbers only made up the minority. If the amount that came from major powers numbered in the hundreds, the number of rogue cultivators who had arrived was well into the thousands.
These rogue cultivators would often flock to secret realm openings and forbidden zone expeditions like moths, looking for the fortuitous encounters that could possibly turn them into major powerhouses of their own. It was the hope and dream of every practitioner under Heaven to become an unmatched expert.
But of course, the Great Sects wouldn't simply allow others to clog the secret realm and take away opportunities that could fall into the hands of their disciples. The rogue cultivators that were here would have to go through a strict process upon exiting of the secret realm.
A portion of their gains within would be confiscated by the major powers, most of the time including their rarest treasures. It was for this reason that every rogue cultivator present was fidgeting restlessly. Even if it was bound to happen, they would try to fool the eyes of these experts nonetheless.
Nobody wanted to be robbed of what was rightfully theirs, but the secret realm was simply too precious to pass up just because of these restrictions.
Situations like these were the reason Damien had originally joined the Celestial Star Palace. Individual strength wasn't always enough to keep one afloat within this chaotic world. Having a strong backer was equally important.
Apart from the rogue cultivators, segregating themselves as if they didn't want to associate with the former group at all, were the geniuses from major powers who had gathered.
The scions of the Four Great Clans and many other mid-sized clans were grouped together, idly chattering while waiting for the secret realm to open. Those from the Five Great Sects, however, were different.
Indeed, the five ruling sects didn't always shirk politics. The internal battles among them would get especially fierce during times of competition like this. But they had an image to maintain.
Unlike the Four Great Clans who were always veiled in internal and external strife, vying for as much power as they could get, the five sects put themselves above worldly matters. This kind of political power was something they easily trumped with strength alone, so the word games and petty tricks that the scions of those clans were partaking in didn't interest their disciples at all.
Among the group from the Supreme Fairy Paradise stood a pair of women, one blue and one pink. Just the dichotomy of their appearances was enough to draw attention to them.
Their titles, however, did so even more.
One stood with a playful smile on her face that never seemed to fade. The other was cool and indifferent. Yet, neither was able to fully conceal the hidden excitement behind their facades.
Rose looked around eagerly. Rather than searching by appearance, she was observing the colored strings of karma that tied so many of these people to each other.
However, the red string tied to her that she was looking for was too far away for her eyes to locate properly.
'These people are so interesting.' Rose commented inwardly. Even though she was a bit disappointed by the absence of the one she was looking for, observing these important and even common people was always a hobby of hers.
After all, she could see what others couldn't.
The red strings that tied together people who were pretending to be at each other's throats, the blue strings that tied together supposed friends. Human relationships were so interesting, especially when she had the ability to see through their true nature while simultaneously watching the shows that were put on for the public.
'Oho! The sixth young master of the Shi Clan is actually together with the 4th young master of the Xue Clan! If the public found out, there'd probably be outrage!'
Rose smiled slyly. This world definitely wasn't one that accepted such relationships. It seems she would be gaining a great amount of dirt on the powers she had offended in the past year. Just this was enough to make coming here worth it.
'This Xue Clan is truly something. Not only the Shi Clan, but the Wang Clan, Han Clan, Peng Family…it's like they're selling their geniuses off as prostitutes.'
Rose thought about it more. Of the clans she had dealings with, the Xue Clan was definitely one of the most convoluted. Their patriarch's greed for power had reached a point where it'd be more apt to say he was destroying the clan than helping it grow.
'Now that I think about it, wasn't the little princess of the Xue Clan an abandoned young miss who fled to the Celestial Star Palace? With her talent, she should be among the geniuses they brought…'
She turned her attention to the Celestial Star Palace, but couldn't spot anyone with the signature white hair that all those in the Xue Clan possessed.
'Wait, there's only eighteen of them. Don't tell me…'
She smiled slyly. 'That has to be it. Although I'm reaching this conclusion in the most illogical manner possible, if it's that husband of mine, then I don't doubt it in the slightest.'
Rose almost grinned outright, but she stopped herself. Her smile was too powerful, and it'd be annoying if the young masters who saw that smile came over to bother her while she was busy thinking.
But, the world didn't revolve around her wishes. Even without her doing anything at all, the situation she wanted to happen least appeared without suspense.
"My lady, you are looking especially beautiful today." A soothing voice came from her left. There stood a handsome man with black hair and eyes.
They were eyes that made a great deal of the ladies around her swoon, but to Rose, they looked like the eyes of the snake.
"Wang bastard, we meet again. Though, I would've preferred it if you had died in a ditch somewhere in the time we hadn't seen each other."
Her tone was as cold as it could get, but the first young master of the Wang Clan, Wang Tianhe, didn't seem to care at all.
"My lady's words are as cruel as always. What to do? I don't think my heart can take it anymore. Perhaps if you allowed me to treat you to dinner, my pain would be alleviated slightly."
Rose almost gagged. "For what? With your disgusting personality, you're probably scheming to drop an aphrodisiac in my food and then rape me, aren't you? It seems your younger brother's lesson didn't translate for you. If you want to end up like him so badly, I don't mind making it happen."
Wang Tianhe's face twitched. Remembering the state his younger brother was in due to the woman in front of him, he almost lost his composure.
That trash didn't deserve to be someone from the Wang Clan. Not only had he embarrassed himself by trying to pull a similar trick to what Rose had just accused him of scheming, but he had also failed miserably and suffered horrible consequences for it.
The shame that was brought to the Wang Clan after that event was something they couldn't ignore. In fact, most of the people in his clan wanted nothing more than to kill Rose where she stood.
'But what's the use in that? If she died, I'd lose out on such a good toy, and one that I've been chasing for so long too. I can't let my efforts go to waste now, can I?'
Wang Tianhe quickly regained his composure and tried to approach Rose, but she backed away with every step he took.
"Don't even dare get within 500 feet of me. According to my dear husband, that's how far people like you should stay away from school zones, whatever that means."
Rose chortled inwardly, thinking of the joke Damien had made back then. But it was truly apt when using such a phrase describing Wang Tianhe.
He was a disgusting individual. The type of person Rose absolutely abhorred. If it wasn't for not wanting to trouble her sect by completely falling out with the Wang Family, or more specifically, the Great Clans that backed it, she would've killed him long ago.
But it wasn't simply his character or misdeeds. When Rose looked at Wang Tianhe, she couldn't see the handsome appearance that others saw at all.
What she saw was a bundle of pitch-black karmic strings, tainted by the disgusting scent of death. And behind those karmic strings were those snake-like eyes that couldn't hide their feelings from her at all.
'Not only is he scum, but he's also a traitor of humanity. If only I had enough power, I'd wipe the entire Wang Clan off the face of the earth.'
