(MC POV)
"Ara, ara? We did not notice Master had left last night, how vexing," Manami sighed when I told them what happened last night over breakfast.
Akari and Shiori were curled up on my lap looking really fluffy, so I had been busy fluffing them with my hands for a while now.
I could see Tatiana and her followers were a little disappointed that I had changed back to my male form but they said nothing about it.
"Is Master going to do something to those Cloud Plane people?" Brendan asked.
"Papa, 'expwowe'!" Cai Hong squealed.
I patted the little dragon on the head, "Haha, Cai Hong's right, I was planning to bring you all there to explore a little."
Luna turned and showed me a grimace, "Is Husband really going to the Cloud Plane?"
"Hmm? Is something wrong with it?"
"Ugh… There's a lot of things wrong with it but I don't want to talk about it… Mmm… Rina?"
"Yes, Mistress?" The maid girl asked, appearing beside Luna.
Woah wait, where did this maid come from? Didn't Luna leave her behind back at Heaven Sect?
"Answering my Mistress's call is a natural thing for a maid like myself," Rina answered as though she had read my mind.
Yeah, I'm not buying that.
I did a quick check with omniscience and it seems like Luna had teleported her here last night while I was busy with my disciples, so it's not like this maid learnt teleportation on her own yet.
She actually clucked her tongue at me when she realised I figured out her 'trick'.
"Nnn… Tell Husband about the Cloud Plane," Luna ordered, not minding our exchange in the slightest.
Rina's face scrunched up in disgust upon hearing it, "Master… It may not be my place to say this but I would recommend against going there at all."
"Eh? Why not?" I asked, curious.
If you were telling me this before I learnt the truth behind the Earthen Plane, I would have agreed with you since I originally thought that the Cloud Plane had people stronger than the Spiritual Plane. But there shouldn't be any problems for us right?
Sure, I 'died' there but that was because of Iris isn't it? If she hadn't came along, I was surviving just fine, even if I was suffering quite a bit.
Actually… That suffering was more because of Tsuki, wasn't it?! Ughh… Then again I suppose it was also mostly due to her protection that I could also survive for as long as I did.
Still, what made you think whacking me with your 'truck-kun' stick was going to make me get my memories back?!
Now that I think about it… My consciousness did travel back to Earth didn't it? So were Tsuki's methods actually right?
You know what? I don't want to think about it.
Rina gave me a look like she was recalling something disgusting, "Because the people from that Plane are all utter trash. There is no unity in that Plane and every Sect is competing with one another, even members of the same Sect would stab their own family in the back just to get some benefits."
Ah… About that… I actually kind of already knew just how bad that place is…
Yeah… That place was one of the main reasons why I decided to just stay in the Earthen Plane… Not to mention, your Spiritual Plane also has this going on too…
Ok, I admit it's less prominent since Luna ruled over the Spiritual Plane while there was no official ruler in the Cloud Plane to reign anyone in, making that place a free for all.
Not noticing my internal monologue, the maid girl continued, "We've had some visitors come in from that Plane and each and every one of them were different kinds of trash. They weren't even worthwhile to keep around as slaves because of their infuriating attitudes. If Master intends to go to such a place, I strongly advise to not show any kindness for those insects."
Wow, that's pretty harsh. They must have been really terrible huh?
But don't worry, I know exactly what that place is like, I did live there for the last few years of my previous life, after all.
I shrugged, "Well, the good thing is that we're not going there to make friends with the locals anyway, we're just going to take a look around at those portals and see what we can get. It's also a good experience for all of you to see what another Plane is like."
Lian Li clenched her fists in front of her, "Don't worry Master! We will protect you! Anyone who tries to take advantage of you will be beaten away by us!"
Aww, you're so sweet Lian Li, here's a head pat for you!
"Anyway, there's still a few days before it actually starts, now it's just the prelude so we still have some time to kill. Aside from my disciples, anyone else wants to join us?"
"Of course we will go with Divine One," Shiori purred, rubbing her head against my hand.
"Yay! Adventuring with Master!" Akari cheered.
Guiying sighed, "I want to go with Master…"
I shook my head, "Not for you. You still have your duties, don't you?"
"But I already said it will be fine…" She whined, puffing her cheeks at me.
"We don't know how long this trip might take, so no."
"Ugh… Fine, I'll work on the integration with Tatiana then…"
Err… What? Integration? You're not telling me you intend to expand our borders again are you? Is Tatiana even… Oh… Judging by her reaction, it seems like they've already talked about this…
Oh well, this is none of my business anyway, I'm not the one managing the country and Guying is a capable enough leader. This has nothing to do with me. Yep, nothing at all and you can't convince we otherwise!
Of course if she were to approach me and ask for help, I'll still do all I can to aid her.
I turned to the former Matriarch, "What about you, Luna?"
She quickly shook her head, "As much as I would like to go with Husband, I fear we would only cause problems because of our former history with them…"
Oh, I thought for sure she would just ignore all that and just insist on following me, looks like she's at least self aware.
"So what shall we do now, Master?" Eris asked.
"I guess we can just take it easy, Tatiana did request that we spend some time just staying here so just take it as a vacation."
Tatiana suddenly clasped her hands together, "Prefect! In that case, could we prepare Founding God for the rituals we have planned for you?"
I narrowed my eyes at her, "This is the first time I'm hearing about this…"
"Oh! Of course we'll need a grand festival to let people know our God has graced us with your presence! Then we have the blessing, the visits, the consecration, the inauguration, the--"
"Hold it… I never said I'll participate in all of that!"
"Oh, don't worry, Founding God! You don't need to do anything at all, we'll take care of it!"
That… Sounds ominous… Now I really don't want to go out now… Can I just stay in here instead?
