"Teacher, why are you hiding your true Realm?"

When the pain finally subdued by a bit and only the Mental Exhaustion remained, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and was planning for a bit more then depart but Jian Si was as resilient as ever, questioning him after cultivating for ten hours straight.

Arthur suffered a ten-hour long pain and it is one the worst nights he experienced since his reincarnation.

"What did I say about personal questions? Are you actually dumb or what?"

This time, Cold Sword didn't glare at him or anything of the sort, she just closed her eyes again and returned to cultivating. Her plan to consistently ask him similar questions until he gives up, however, it doesn't seem to be working too well as nothing was answered. She was feeling irritated but she didn't show it lest he changes his mind, which may be an unfortunate thing for her as she'll be the one getting the short end of the stick since he has nothing to lose.

…

In the blink of an eye, three more hours passed, the agonizing pain has almost disappeared so Arthur decided it's time to depart to the city. He couldn't overuse powerful skills but he can more or less defend himself if they were attacked.

"Let's go."

He retrieved the body of the woman he used inside the tomb, possessed it with great effort then changed in a more appropriate attire. The chains were well-hidden, there were no signs of injuries except the slightly pale face due to possessing a corpse when he's still mentally injured. Amidel and co knew the woman and not his real appearance, moreover, the Kang Family leader saw him fight with the old man so he would recognize him if he went with his real appearance.

When he finished dealing with his appearance, he took out the Dark Cloud, he hopped on it and left, without waiting for Jian Si, who looked at him with a strange look, she literally saw Arthur transform into a black whirlpool which soon became a woman. She was curious about how he changes appearance, even the aura seemed different, which was all thanks to the Ethereal state that Arthur just activated.

Secret techniques that change this appearance this much are priceless and scarce in the world, even in all the Cloud Sea universe, so the girl speculated that he may be from a very powerful background, possibly from a High-Realm.

Not getting her countless questions answered and seeing him leave just like that, she harrumphed and followed right after.

One was sitting on a Dark Cloud and the other behind, standing on a large flying sword, the duo headed for the city with a decent speed.

They met a lot of cultivators roaming the area, either leaving the city or curiously checking the destroyed land.

North-West of the city, there existed a forest that was no more. A jet black land, consumed by Dark Magic, withered plants and an enormous abyss that spanned for several hundred kilometers. It's as if a big meteor had crashed here, extinguishing all lives and corrupting the land.

Very soon, Jian Si and Arthur arrived at the city gates, they were stopped by the guards which quickly let them in when they saw the black-haired girl, who is rather famous in every corner of the world.

Even for people who never saw her, they're able to recognize her almost immediately by the covered sword on her back, the expressionless face and the murderous aura emanating from her.

It didn't take long before they arrived before the Kang Castle, where they were stopped by the guards yet again. Before the guards went to check, three figures arrived with one of them welcoming them with a friendly smile.

It was none other than the Kang siblings and Swain, who looked at Jian Si with a piercing glare. The girl stared back at him, unfazed by the bloodthirst he was directing at her, after a while, she looked away, not wanting to bother with him.

"Welcome back, Miss."

As enthusiastic as ever, Kithel welcome Arthur with a polite bow. He glanced at Jian Si and waved his hand in greeting, clearly not as respectful as he is toward Arthur. Jian Si didn't mind and only remained silent, just like usual, which was something the young man didn't mind at all since his eyes were locked onto Arthur, creeping the latter a lot.

"Yes, I'm back."

"Hey hey, why is your cultivation lower?"

Emily glared at Arthur suspiciously, still not having a positive opinion about him. She immediately that the woman who her brother was attracted to was different than usual, not only did was she weaker, her face was pale.

"It's nothing, I was poisoned and had to use a lot of Blood Essence to get rid of it, it's nothing special."

The little girl didn't quite believe Arthur but she didn't insist, she stared at him with a weird look as if she thought that all his words were lies.

As for Kithel, he looked at the woman with a worried look and said

"Poisoned? We have a good alchemist, maybe he can see what's the problem."

"It's nothing, I'm alright right now, I just need a bit of rest, that's all."

"Then, please let me guide you to your room."

At this point, Kithel was no different than a servant or a guide, but it's not like he minded that. As long as he passed time with Arthur then he'll be content.

"That's not necessary, I'll stay with Swain."

'Since when does a master stay in the same room as his servant?'

That's what Kithel wanted to say but he restrained himself, he let out a helpless smile and proceeded in leading both the red-haired youth and the woman to their room. His father wanted to talk with Arthur but that could be scheduled after he had rested.

Jian Si also followed them but Kithel didn't pay too much attention to her, she was a woman so he didn't consider her as much as love rival as Swain, which is rather funny since Arthur's servant and the two of them were men, however, the young man didn't know that, fortunately…

If he were to know that Arthur is a man, or that he's already married, the look on his face would be hilarious, or so thought Arthur.

Soon enough, Kithel and Emily led them to Swain's room then they departed after Swain refused to hang out with the little girl, saying that he needs to talk with his master first.

With a pouting face and an angry stomp, the girl left with her brother, who was also unwilling to part with Arthur.

"A man has never seen such a shameless girl, where are thou going?"

Swain stopped Jian Si from entering the room, not bothering to hide his killing intent. He noticed the poor state of his master and the dangerous killing intent around her so he thought that she's partially evolved.

He was certain that a person of her strong can't reduce Arthur to this poor state but her coming with him is suspicious.

"I go wherever I want."

Cold Sword saw this youth a couple of times and knew he was dangerous but seeing his young appearance, she guessed that he's younger, so she became angry when a kid was talking rudely to her.

Arthur could badmouth her all day yet she won't retort since he's good with words and he's way stronger than her, moreover, he became her teacher recently, however, for such a kid to disrespect her too crossed her limits.

If not for the presence of Arthur, who forbade her of acting recklessly and angrily attacking anyone who annoys her, she would have cut this red-haired youth into pieces.

"She's not an enemy, do not mind her."

Hearing Arthur talk, Swain nodded a did a low bow to Jian Si, as if welcoming her.

"Master, who were these guys?"

Swain dived into the main problem, wanting to know who wanted to eliminate Arthur to the point of sending a Sovereign and a small group of Peak Gods.

"I don't know exactly. They mentioned the Holy Echelon, do you know anything about them?"

The two pupils of the youth pulsated with a dim red-light before it soon disappeared.

"The Holy Echelon, The Holy Order. Righteous Knights of light, just and pure, always helping the weak and purify the evil, that how they proclaim themselves to be. They are a strong power in The Cloud Sea universe and their power even stretch to the other two universes, although it's lacking compared to the mainland."

Jian Si joined the conversation out of nowhere and said

"I've heard about them too, they participate in taking important decisions in the council yet they don't help when a crisis arrives. They oppose every faction associated with any form of evil energy and slaughter them all while giving the world a simple excuse, the opinions about them are varied but as far as I have seen, most people fear them but do not respect or admire their causes."

Arthur has always hated such people, on Astria it was also the same. The Holy Church must've been part of them a long time ago until Astria became an abandoned world.

"The Holy Order managed the political power, as for the Holy Echelon, it represents the military strength, where the real strength of the Holy Dominion lies."

Arthur remembered the old man and his strong strength and techniques then said

"Then, that old man must be from the Holy Echelon."

Swain nodded in confirmation and said

"Most likely. I don't know how they managed to locate you but if they did once, they can do it twice. Fortunately, it'll take some time before they do so, not until they're sure of the death of the group they previously sent to hunt you."