(MC POV)
"Papa! Papa! Cai Hong found shinies!"
I looked up from where I was seated, the cup of tea Rina had poured for me pausing in the motion of lowering from my mouth.
It seemed like Rina had found a rival in Sophia and both of them were having a silent competition on who was the better maid for some reason.
The rest of the girls were still recovering from our outdoor orgy but at least they were all clothed, that's why I wasn't worried when Cai Hong appeared.
My loli dragon ran up to me while hugging something in her arms, only revealing what they were when they reached me.
I nearly spat out the tea that I have yet to swallow when I saw what was in her arms.
Trying to keep myself as calm as I could, I slowly lowered my cup onto the table before turning my body towards her.
"Cai Hong…" I gulped, looking pointedly at what she was carrying. "Where did you find these?"
Not one, not two, but three Origin fragments? That brings up the total of Origin fragments present in this World to a total of five. FIVE.
Aren't these supposed to be like… Rare?
And how the hell did Cai Hong even find these? This is even worse than the first time I brought Lian Li and Manami out and they returned with bags full of gold from nowhere.
Stumbling upon bags of gold forgotten and left behind by merchants that just so happen to be located near where we camped? Completely possible.
My loli dragon taking a nap and somehow finding three Origin fragments? No bloody way.
"Cai Hong found it! Fell from sky! Pretty!"
Fell from the sky?
I… Ah… Hmm…
I suppose that's possible… A cluster of Origin fragments spiralling through space and just so happen to collide with our World, dropping somewhere that Cai Hong found.
Do these fragments even have their own gravity?
Oh well, something tells me that it's better for my health if I don't ask too many questions and just take the fragments.
Just in case… I had to ask, "Is Cai Hong giving these to Papa?"
She nodded, "Shinies feel like Papa! It's Papa's?"
Ah, I guess she thought I dropped it or something so she's returning it to me. I suppose that's not inaccurate considering these fragments really are dropped from me, just at a different time.
I took the fragments from her arms and patted her head, "Yes, it's Papa's. Good job Cai Hong!"
"Ehehehe~ Papa pats!" She squealed, looking absolutely adorable as always.
I quickly absorbed the Origin fragments, already used to the motion of doing so after doing this multiple times already.
I was already anticipating the same feeling I had with the other few I absorbed, simply just the feeling of something clicking into place and then nothing happening afterwards.
Naturally, that happened but at the same time…
I felt a shift.
Like the feeling you get when a roller coaster starts its descent after a long climb, or those kinds of rides that bring you to a certain height before dropping you.
It was a very minute shift and it lasted only for a split second but I still felt it.
I looked around but no one else seemed to be reacting to it so I looked at the last person who might have felt it.
"Iris? Did you feel that?"
She tilted her head at me, "Feel what, Master?"
"That shift just now… Or was it just me?"
"Ara? That was merely just the fabric between Planes opening up, Master."
"Eh? Does that mean the Convergence of Planes is already happening? I thought we would have a few more days?"
"Ufufufu~ If that term is to refer to the fabric between Planes opening up, then it has indeed already happened."
Hmm… Sect Master Qing did say that it would be happening soon but never said how soon… Who knew that it was going to happen in a few hours after our conversation?
Unless… Did my absorption of these three fragments do this? Nah, I guess it's just a coincidence… I hope.
Well, just because it's started doesn't mean anything is going to happen right awa--
A beam of light crashed down in the middle of my courtyard from the sky, surprising all of us at the unexpected sound.
The light quickly subsided to reveal an old man kneeling there, slowly standing up on shaky legs.
He didn't even notice us since he was busy looking at his hands.
"I… I did it… I did it! Wahahaha! I did it!! The Earthen Plane! The fabled Earthen Plane! I've set foot on it! Now I shall be a God!!!"
Ah… Looks like someone from another Plane ascended here.
He finally noticed all of us sitting at the pavilion and staring at him.
I most definitely did not expect him to suddenly turn up his nose and point his finger at us, "Ah! You peasants! I allow you to worship me as your God! Kneel before me!"
I was still stuck in expressing my disbelief when several figures moved towards him, all of them striking him down in an instant.
Two fists went straight for both sides of his face, breaking his jaw and sending several of his teeth flying.
Another went to his abdomen and two more to his sides, which was accompanied with two kicks that shattered both his kneecaps and a final kick in between his legs.
As though that wasn't enough, the moment he fell onto his broken knees, another kick went to the back of his head, smashing him face first onto the ground.
I blinked and standing over the old man were all of the servants including Sophia and Rina, every single one of them looking at him with disgust.
"Master, please allow us to get rid of the trash," The former demon lord requested with a smile that did not reach her eyes.
The other servants had a similar expression as hers but Rina kept her face neutral, though she was giving out the same kind of pressure as they were.
I nodded dumbly at them and they moved to pick the old man up before making their way out of the courtyard, presumably to dump him outside the Sect.
Just as I thought that would be the only problem, several more flashes of light started raining down from the sky, only that this time they were descending elsewhere further away outside the Sect.
As though that was the signal for things to really start going crazy, several hundred beams of light joined them and rained all around the land.
"Isn't… Isn't the Earthen Plane something that Practitioners normally can't get into? Is the thinning of the fabric between Planes this significant?" I asked no one in particular.
"Ara, ara? The fabric did not thin, Master. It was blown wide open~" Iris giggled, as though she had simply made a comment about the weather.
I frowned, "What do you mean 'blown wide open'"
"Exactly what it means, Master~ The barrier between this Plane and the rest has been blown clean open. Anyone with the ability to ascend can do so and reach here without any obstacles right now~"
What.
