Author's note: This chapter is sponsored by Gary R. Thank you for your donation. Next chapter is also sponsored by Gary!

Host's note: As you might be able to tell from the early donations, this story had quite the popularity when it started out. Posted by host, not author.

Early in the morning, Xie Mei awoke and began to go about her duties as a servant. She is the only maid servant of Jin Xia.

Living as an orphan in a poor orphanage house, Xie Mei was one day adopted into the Jin Clan when she turned fourteen. Afterwards, she was assigned to be Jin Xia’s personal maid. Little did she know, her master was a ruthless and arrogant. Whenever the former Jin Xia felt sour or angry, he would always vent it out on Xie Mei. This was how her life proceeded for the next two years of her residence in the Jin Clan.

But Xie Mei have never once fought back. It’s not that she cannot, but that she could not. With the assaulting party being a young master of a major clan in Tian City, it was simply suicide to go against him.

Besides, it is not as if her master always abuses it, so it was bearable to some extent. More so, Xie Mei was able to eat and sleep under a proper roof so it could be said that while her situation may not be ideal, it would still be several times better than living in a poor orphanage. Anyhow, all servants in the Jin Clan has a small, private dorm to themselves.

So as usual, Xie Mei woke up early and went towards her master’s residence. After walking through Jin Xia’s yard, Xie Mei stopped in front of her master’s room. She took a deep breath before calling out to her master.

“Y-young master Jin Xia! It is time to wake up!”

But no sound came from within the room. After calling out a few more times, Xie Mei took a few steps forward and pushed open her master’s door.

The moment the door opened, a huge billow of white-like clouds bursted out.

“Ahhh~!” Xie Mei shrieked as she stumbled backwards from the sudden force before landing backwards on her bottom.

“Is there fire in young master’s room?!”

Xie Mei alarmly thought as she hurried picked herself off the ground.

But before she could rush away to call for help, a young man wearing a blue garment stepped out from the room. The young man was extremely handsome with his thick brows and bright eyes. His skin seemed like it was made from jade, smooth and white. And the aura this young man gave off at the moment was like that of royalty.

Xie Mei was in a dazed as she stared at the new Jin Xia. A brief moment later, she quickly snapped back to reality.

“A-ah…y-young master Jin Xia so you are safe…I-I thought there was a fire in your room so I was about to go call for help..”

Xie Mei lowered her head as she spoke. Although she noticed a slight change in her master’s appearance, Xie Mei still remembered “Jin Xia’s” cruel personality and thus, would always end up stammering when she talks to him.

Suddenly noticing Jin Xia’s figure moving towards her, Xie Mei tightly shut her eyes and her body tensed up as she prepared for an incoming blow. But the usual fierce slap never came. Instead, Xie Mei felt a warm hand patting her head.

Startled, Xie Mei looked up and saw Jin Xia smiling gently at her. Although she felt suspicious of Jin Xia’s sudden action, upon looking into his clear eyes, Xie Mei was once again shocked to find that there were no malicious intent hidden beneath. This was sincere gesture from her young master.

“…You’ve had it tough all this while, huh…but don’t worry, I’ll be sure to make up for all the unreasonable trouble I’ve caused you over the years, little Xie Mei.”

Jin Xia smiled as he lightly stroked Xie Mei’s silky black hair.

“I’ll be going out today, so don’t look for me.”

Jin Xia said as he retracted his hand and began to walk away. After a walking a few steps, Jin Xia stopped in his tracks. Without looking back, he said in a carefree voice.

“Oh, and don’t worry about doing any chores anymore. From now on, have the other servants take care of them. You may take a rest for next few days.”

Having finished what he wanted to say, Jin Xia leisurely continued his stroll out of the Jin Clan’s residency.

All the while, Xie Mei was silently looking at the fading silhouette of her master. In her eyes, various emotions were swirling and crashing against each other: hesitation, confusion, relief, happiness, but most of all, shock.

“What happened to young master Jin Xia? Is this still the same cruel man I have been serving these past two years?”

Xie Mei furrowed her brows as she wondered.

“No, no, it cannot be. He must be testing my diligence as a servant. Right, there’s no way for a person to just change overnight like that. Though, he did get better looking for some reason…ahh, no more, no more. It must be because I’m not still fully sobered in this morning…I’d better get working now…”

With a light sigh, Xie Mei turned the other way as she went the opposite way Jin Xia had went.

***.

With his right hand behind his back while his other hand rested in front of his body, Jin Xia lazily walked through the street towards the Black Pearl market through the woods.

In Jin Xia’s memory, the Black Pearl market is located at the heart of Tian City, a few houses down from the Jin Clan’s residency, and is liveliest part of the city.

At the Black Pearl Market, many things could be found and traded for in this market, ranging from herbs to weapons and technique books to even slaves!

WIthin a vicinity of a thousand li (miles), no other market may rival the size and popularity of this Black Pearl market.

As for the reason why Jin Xia was heading towards that place was only for one reason: enjoyment.

That’s right, the ancient deity who had lived for aeons, and who had forcefully occupied and transformed a mortal’s body in one night, had decided to play the moment he was out in the world.

But this kind of behaviour is more or less tied to Jin Xia’s original disposition. Even when he was a great deity, Jin Xia had a frivolous, and often punk-like, personality that was not befitting of a god. While his mind may have grew wiser over time and his body have lasted aeons, Jin Xia’s heart have always remained as a child, carefree and youthful.

Yet it was also because of this contrast in mind and heart that Jin Xia became an anomaly during his stay in Heaven Domain. At times, the deity would seem childish and simple, at other times, cold and ruthless; and yet at another instance, he would engage in mischievous and capricious actions. His unpredictable, and often eccentric behaviours, caused Jin Xia to be widely feared for strength and generally avoided for his character.

And as a residence of the Heaven Domain, Jin Xia was often forbidden to travel to the Mortal Domains in the Passage of Space and Time because of his status as a great god. The times that Jin Xia had went to the different dimensional worlds, he had secretly sneaked out of the Heaven Domain.

And even during those times, Jin Xia would only be able to stay in one of the Mortal Domains for, at max, a month before he was forcefully summoned back to the Heaven Domain by the Jade Emperor’s order.

Every time that he sneaked into one of the Mortal Domains, as a treasure-seeking fanatic, Jin Xia had only focused on finding treasures due to his limited stay. But now that that Jin Xia possessed a mortal body and could stay in this Mortal Domain for as long as he wished, he would naturally want to enjoy it to the fullest.

Besides, Jin Xia had decided to walk his own path towards the peak, and would only bother with the former host’s problems if they became an obstacle to him. But other than that, he would not make a move until he decided exactly what he wanted to do.

After walking for a while, Jin Xia arrived in on a street where there were many people bustling around. A feeling of familiarity floated up in Jin Xia’s heart. His former host was quite knowledgeable of this place, having traveled here often for eating dinner and purchasing herbs for cultivation.

There were several fancy decorated stores lined up along each other down a straight path, each equipped with a huge sign written in powerful strokes the name of their respective business.

At every corner, the Black Pearl market was bustling with people.

“Low-grade Spirit grass for sale! One batch for only ten coppers!”

“Come look! Come look! Body Strengthening Pills, Six for twelve silver!”

“Iron Fist, Mid-grade martial technique for eighty gold!”

“Cheap carpets for your house! Just twenty copper! Don’t miss out!”

Loud shouting echoed across the street, as vendors who had set up their store out on the sidewalk clamored for prospective a customer.

As Jin Xia slowly strolled through the marketplace, suddenly he felt several pairs of eyes locking in on him. Jin Xia’s body immediately tensed up as his eyes flashed.

Jin Xia’s eyes quickly swept over his surrounding as he tried to trace the stares. Upon finishing his observation, Jin Xia’s body relaxed. He noticed that there were many women, ranging from young to old, who were staring at him. Each of them had a dreamy look on their face and when Jin Xia locked eyes with one of the young girls, she immediately looked down while her face turned a deep shade of red.

Around him, he heard various people’s whispers.

“Hey, hey, isn’t that the first young master of the Jin Clan?”

“You mean the one from the main family? How is that possible! That young man over there looks a hundred times better than that short-tempered little master!”

“Right, right, how can he be that Jin Xia, who was recently crippled? I sense a great aura coming from that man. It’s impossible to be him!”

Jin Xia faintly smiled but said nothing as he continued to walk on. It seems that news of him being crippled by Feng Hao traveled quite quickly around this small city.

But even then, the deeper into the Black Pearl market he walked, the stronger he felt there were increasingly more people looking at him. Though, it did not bother him at all, and he did not care.

“This place is quite lively. But what’s interesting is how there’s so much tasty-looking foods around this kind of place! By the time I became a deity, I had long surpassed the need for mortal delicacies, yet I can never seem to get enough of those dishes! And thinking back, the foods in the Heaven Domain were all so bland and similar in taste that I grew tired of them after eating a hundred years…”

Jin Xia thought to himself as he looked around him.

“Hehehe, but now I can once again taste such mortal meals!”

Jin Xia excitedly thought as found a nearby restaurant and began to head towards it.

But just as Jin Xia was about to enter, he suddenly stopped.