“I’m not looking for a husband, but a cultivation partner. Did you think that I was so cheap?”

“Sorry if this offends you, but after what just happened, I was positive that you were. Anyway, what do you mean by cultivation partner?”

“Because I plan to join Peach Blossom Peak once I get into the sect. You only need to make it to the third floor of the tower to be admitted, so it’s basically guaranteed.”

“I don’t know what that is.” Faced with a disbelieving and skeptical stare, he rolled his eyes. “Am I supposed to?”

“What, you mean to say that you’ve come to participate in the tower climb but you don’t even know what kind of place the Falling Rain Sect is?”

“I just sort of wound up here on a whim.”

“I guess I can tell you about it, even though you’re so stingy.”

Apparently the sect was divided into five branches, each with its own core cultivation methods and different styles of training. And one specialized in dual cultivation, which was…

“You cultivate by having sex? Is this real life?”

For the first time since his arrival on the island, he considered the option of joining the Falling Rain Sect. If he and Nyla could join this Peach Blossom Peak, then he would make it a point to cultivate during all of the waking hours of the day. Even when they ventured into the world of the Millennial Ring, they could still continue on without missing a beat.

“Yes, which is why I’m looking for a suitable partner. After seeing you defend those kids, I figured that you were a decent guy, and then I saw your fight with that geezer and literally couldn’t believe my eyes. If you were my cultivation partner, surely I’d see some tremendous gains.”

As his face began to heat up, he took a long, calming breath. Technically, he was already in a sect, and he and Nyla still had to visit the three locations that had been marked on her ancestor’s map. Once she had obtained her clan’s inheritance, they would retrace their steps and recruit all of the Otherworlders that he’d met throughout his travels, and then bring them all back to the Three-River Valley, where he owned a substantial amount of land and had earned the right to settle it. Perhaps after he built up the Earth Sect, he could toy with the idea of introducing a branch that operated in the same way as the Peach Blossom Peak, though that would only be possible if he managed to get his hands on what Avril referred to as a dual cultivation method.

No matter how much I have to spend…

“What are you thinking about? I’m curious.”

“Oh, just thinking about my Bible.”

“What’s a Bible?”

“Ah, never mind that.”

He sat with Avril for another twenty minutes or so, nursing his drink with caution as he slowly became more talkative. He was curious about the local area, particularly the Deepwater region where the brash girl had been born.

“It’s along the lake’s northern shores, or at least it used to be. It was destroyed by the spirit of the lake about a decade ago, so I ended up moving to a town near the villa where the ships picked us up.”

“The spirit of the lake?”

She nodded, a bit more drained than her usual demeanor. “It’s a powerful being that lives at the bottom of the lake, or at least it used to. Now it lives along the coast by my old hometown.”

“How strong is it?”

“If the sect hadn’t settled on this island, then I’m afraid that nobody would still be living here. Actually, some say that it’s beginning to demonize, so there might be a chance that that’ll actually come to pass. Still, the process would take centuries for such a strong creature to lose its mind, and if the change just started, then there’s plenty of time before that day arrives.”

Seeing that her eyes held a hint of sadness, Nolan felt a tinge of sympathy. “Your hometown, what was it called?”

“Shellson. It was a small town where people lived off of the lake. We had a small orchard behind our home, and Mother made a modest living by selling apples to our neighbours. If only she’d come with me when I went to visit my brothers after they succeeded with the tower climb…”

He didn’t respond immediately, and let the sounds of the lake settle in for a few moments. “You know, all of my family and friends were killed a little while ago. That was really hard to deal with—it still is—but thinking about it does me no good. Before I knew it, I made a bunch of new friends, and I found a reason to keep on living in this fucked-up world. There are a lot of bad moments; honestly, sometimes it seems like it’s mostly bad.” He stared up at the dual moons, both waning at different degrees. Sipping his drink and looking out at the glistening waters, a faint smile found its way onto his face. “But some moments aren’t so bad.”

Nolan finished off the rest of his ale, and then quickly followed up with a cup full of Divine Spirit Fountain water. Avril still wore a look of melancholy as he stowed his cup away, which prompted him to take out one of the many barrels of energized water that he had in his possession. He placed it down in front of her.

“I’ve only got a couple of these," he lied, "but here.” Even if she was trying to manipulate him with sympathy, he suddenly felt that she wasn’t so bad a person as he’d initially thought, annoying and selfish as she could be. “You can head to the tower with us tomorrow if you want, but only if you stop bugging me and Ian about being your partner. That shit’s not gonna fly.”

He imagined Nyla flinging the girl out of town, just as she’d done with the man that had harassed her back in the tent city that had temporarily existed on the opposing shore.

“I might take you up on that,” she said. “Thank you, Nolan.”

“I don’t remember telling you my name.”

Her face reddened, but only slightly. “Your friend said it when you stopped us from fighting.”

“So even you have a sense of shame, huh.”

“That’s some opinion you have of me.”

He left without another word, and this time she didn’t rush forward to stop him. A few minutes later and he was back at the inn, the Varai siblings still sipping away at the same table.

“You get lost on your way back?” said Ian, his face red with inebriation.

“He probably killed a few p—people,” hiccupped Lyra, who was looking at him with amusement. “After budding into somebody’s business, like he always does.”

“Yeah?” he said, pulling out two barrels and placing one beside each of the siblings. “I guess I won’t give you guys these gifts then. I went to a lot of trouble to get them, but who knew that you wouldn’t be grateful…”

Recognizing the barrels from earlier in the day, their eyes widened and they both flew to their feet.

Ian threw an arm around him in the same way that Shain had always done. “Nolan, my brother!”

Lyra patted him on the back in a friendly fashion. “I was j—just saying how generous you were, always looking out for strangers and r—respecting people’s privacy.”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” He filled a few cups and then sat down with a smile. “Wait until you see how awesome this stuff is.”

As he settled into his spot, Avril’s melancholic expression passed through his mind, and he was suddenly aware of how lucky he was to have made so many trustworthy friends since the Interspatial Migration. I wonder if she’s still sitting out there.

Ian’s eyes were shining as he stared at his drink. “I’ve never heard you talk up a drink like that.”

“Are we just going to stare at it all night? Come on, guys, let’s give it a go!”

He shook off such thoughts and clinked cups with his friends. He only needed a couple hours of sleep to satiate his fatigue, so there was plenty of time to party before they had to pack things up.