Well, the cultural exchange is ruined. I thought I could experience foreign customs without an issue, but no. I should’ve known the instant I heard Lucia’s voice targeting those poor Great Poison Sect members that something was going to happen. Lucia was shot in the chest by an arrow. And now she’s gone berserk. Everyone between her and the archer that shot her is dead. Luckily, there weren’t any Shadow Devil Sect members ahead of her. They learned their lesson and trailed behind her when she cut off some of their limbs.

But I guess this puts me in an awkward situation, huh? My master told me not to worry since she’s an earth-realm expert and she could defend me, but I can’t help but feel that I have to worry considering I’m the person here who knows Lucia the best. It’d be nice if I could give up feeling responsible for her. But why did she have to tell Durandal to attack those White Crane Sect people? Ugh. This whole battlefield is a disaster.

“Unbelievable! Chosen Lucia is forcing back Thirtieth Prince Yi!”

…Thirtieth? There’s at least thirty princes? Wait, there are princes? “Who’s Thirtieth Prince Yi?”

My master tore her gaze away from Lucia’s battle and smiled at me before turning back towards the archer that shot Lucia. Was she not going to answer me? “The Yi family has ruled King Province for the past hundred millennia. Emperor Yi is a sky-realm expert who’s fathered over a thousand children. Thirtieth Prince Yi is an earth-realm expert who enjoys scouring through cultural exchanges for talents that he can recruit for himself.”

A thousand children…. Well, if sky-realm experts really live for a thousand years, it makes sense for them to have a lot of children. I mean, after a few hundred years, I imagine life would get pretty boring and what’s a better pastime than copulation? After all, Lucia enjoys it a lot…. I really wish she’d keep it down at night. Wait. What would happen if…? “Say Lucia kills this prince. What’ll happen?”

My master sighed. “Honestly, it depends Emperor Yi’s mood. Since he has a lot of children, he’s not really attached to any of them. But he’ll think of the murderer as someone not giving him any face. If he’s in a terrible mood, our Shadow Devil Sect could face the wrath of the royal family. If he’s in a good mood, then nothing will happen.”

Is that normal? That’s not normal at all, right? It can’t be normal. “Out of curiosity, how many children do most people have?”

“Hmm? As many as their resources can support. A rich man can easily have up to a hundred children. A poor man can easily die a virgin. Of course, cultivators are a bit different; some vital essence is lost while creating children, so cultivators won’t have offspring until they feel like they can progress no further in their cultivation.”

Well. I guess the fact that the emperor can’t keep it in his pants is pretty normal then. And it’s not too unreasonable if I try to justify it. Some animals have lots of offspring with very little care given to each one: spiders, frogs, clams. Some animals have very few offspring with lots of care devoted to each one: monkeys, dolphins, whales. It just so happens that this Emperor Yi is similar to a frog. After all, there can only be one successor to the throne; he can’t care about all the princes. But there’s still the risk of retaliation simply from the blow to his reputation he’d suffer if someone killed a prince. Despite knowing this, not a single person from the Shadow Devil Sect is trying to stop Lucia from killing Thirtieth Prince Yi. “Shouldn’t someone save the prince?”

“Hmm? Why?”

“Didn’t you say our Shadow Devil Sect would suffer the wrath of the royal family…?”

“That’s the worst-case scenario. And the wrath of the royal family can easily be settled with a payment of spirit stones.”

…I’m starting to feel bad for these princes and princesses. Their lives are worth so little simply because their father’s an unfaithful person. I’m sure he’s unfaithful. There’s no way one woman gave birth to over a thousand children by herself. But I don’t feel bad for this Prince Yi. He’s the one who had to shoot Lucia with an arrow. Of all the people he could’ve shot, he shot Lucia. I bet all the arrogance he has as an earth-realm expert is being washed away at this very instant. There’s no way anyone would feel good after being swallowed by over a hundred of Lucia’s Tides of Blood. Well, taking a second look at him, it seems like more than his arrogance is being swept away. Like his skin, flesh, and bones. And … he’s dead. Lucia’s killed royalty of the Immortal Continent in less than a week.

“Chosen Lucia’s killed an earth-realm expert!”

“As expected of the one brave enough to violate my Wife Moonlight in front of me!”

“Chosen Lucia! I’m proud to be in the same sect as you even though you terrify me!”

“Chosen Lucia!”

And everyone’s treating it as a momentous event. Jeez. What is wrong with people here? They have zero common sense. Their personalities are twisted too. How can they celebrate someone’s death but not expect to die during a fight? It’s clear that many of the people here don’t have any experience with actual combat. I’ve been watching a lot of the fights out of curiosity because I’ve already seen what Lucia could do, so there was no point in watching her. A standard fight, from what I’ve observed, goes like this: two natives lock eyes with each other, they bluster and curse at each other while hurling insults, one or both of their faces turn bright red and they both start radiating qi, both of them perform a single technique, whoever spits out blood first instantly surrenders and offers up the tribute interspacial ring, and then the fight is over. There’s no desperate struggle. It’s like … watching the mating dance of a bird. If the discrepancy between two natives’ strengths is too great, then after locking eyes, they disengage and find someone else. If they spit out blood at the same time, they nod at each other and shake hands before disengaging. There’s some unwritten agreement to not kill. And that’s not a bad thing at all, really. Unless you throw in someone like Lucia who doesn’t even know the meaning of the word customs. Even though these natives won’t kill anyone, they get extremely happy and riled up when someone dies. That’s the weird part. The Shadow Devil Sect members behind Lucia have been whipped up into a frenzy.

“Assist Chosen Lucia!”

“Chosen Lucia! Please, marry me!”

“No! Marry me instead! I’ll let you do whatever you wish to me!”

…These people are hopeless. They’re literally courting death. My lord, why was I even remotely worried about their mental health? It’s clear they’re too damaged to be helped. Hmm?

My master nudged me. “You’re not going to take part in this battle? It’s a good time to obtain experience.”

“No. I’ll pass.” This isn’t the kind of experience I need. After facing down death by staying with Lucia in the desolate mountains, this kind of battlefield isn’t stimulating at all. …Wait. Wait a minute. Am I the broken one? I’m turning down a perfectly safe and good chance to experience the techniques of the natives because it’s not dangerous enough for my liking? Ilya! Clear your head! This is a golden opportunity to see how you compare to others! Before Lucia fully clears the battlefield, I’ll harvest as much experience as I can! “Actually, I’ll take part. Please, watch over me. I don’t want to be hit by a stray earth-realm expert’s attack.” Lucia got shot by that prince because she was attracting too much attention. Thankfully, I even have a master to aid me in times of trouble. Right?

“Yes, I’ll watch over you carefully, disciple.”

She’s so much nicer than Teacher Winemark and Lucia….