Wang Qi wasn’t the only one staying at Immortal Institute between the Lunar New Year and the 15th. Some kids didn’t much care about reunions. Either their parents were both cultivators, finding no pressure to go back, or were so focused on Dao that the mortal coil had no hold on them, or, like Wang Qi here, had nothing to return to.
However, the odds were slim at best for Wang Qi to find a familiar face among them. Even if he wouldn’t go socializing. A fact Wang Qi was most clear on. After saying goodbye to Wu Fan yesterday, he should have half a month all to himself. Xiang Qi and Su Junyu, both Foundation Establishment teaching assistants, would have also gone home.
[But what did I just hear? Nya?]
[Has my cat owner index been increasing so much lately that I can’t be happy without hearing cat sounds? Am I now hearing things? And double too?] The source of this content ɪs 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝕟𝕖𝕥
“Nya!” A young voice echoed.
Questioning his character once more, Wang Qi used spiritual power to halt his calculations on gauge theory. The electromagnetic spiritual power around him paused, turning into a much simpler electromagnetic field. As the electromagnetic force spread out, it swept away the snowflakes.
A hundred meters around him, the snowing stopped.
“Sister, nya, the snow, nya…” The girl next to her wasn’t as sharp, thinking the snowfall stopped, and tugged on her clothes. From her appearance, the girl had to be seven years old, the ripe time for humans to articulate their words, but due to being a demonborn, the girl would ‘nya’ away whenever in a rush.
The girl’s hair was black, unlike her sisters, and while she sported triangular ears, they were on the sides of her head. Atavism in cat demons appeared as a secondary sexual characteristic, making the girl still resemble humans for the most part.
Mao Zimiao shook her head, speaking with severity, “Little Min, you can’t just ‘nya.’ You already learned how to speak properly, nya.”
[You aren’t convincing anyone, not while your quirk shows up at the end every time…]
Wang Qi asked, “Hey, Ah’Zimiao, what are you doing here?”
“Nya! Little Qi, you’re also here! Why?”
Wang Qi rolled his eyes. “Where else am I supposed to be?”
Mao Zimiao recalled how Wang Qi explained his home village situation after the event with Yang Jun and rushed to say, “Sorry… Little Ya! Don’t run around, nya!”
A three-year-old boy ran over to Wang Qi. He was almost identical to a human if one ignored the sharp canines. For a second there, Wang Qi doubted Mao Zimiao’s siblings were all born of the same parents.
The boy was too hasty and plunged face first in the snow and started wailing with a mix of nyas in between.
Wang Qi facepalmed. “I hate brats.”
Mao Zimiao spent a lot of time calming her young brother down. She then brought the kids below Wang Qi’s roof, letting them make a snowman while she jumped up next to Wang Qi. “Sorry you had to see that, nya.”
Wang Qi shook his head, putting his hand on the roof to melt another spot for her. “Sit. Didn’t you leave for Western Sea to visit your dad? How come you’re here?”
The girl’s gaze fell. “Western Sea’s demons are at war with the Immortal Alliance.”
Wang Qi cried out. “And you escaped with your siblings?”
[Did the demons breach the western border? Talk about an explosive opener.]
Mao Zimiao shook her head. It’s not that bad. Father is an Immortal Alliance frontier guard and doesn’t have the time to look after Little Min and Little Ya, so he had me bring them here until the 6th, when they’ll be sent off to a relative in the central area.”
Wang Qi scratched his face. “Aren’t you all overreacting? The western border hasn’t been breached. Western Sea’s back area should be safe…”
Mao Zimiao shook her head. “Not that much. Little Qi, do you know why it snows on Argent Apex?”
Bookworm Wang conceded. “Nope. I have no clue why the snow is so thick.”
“Western Sea’s Dragon King used his mighty innate ability to send huge amounts of seawater at the coast, pushing an endless flow of wager vapors in the form of clouds into Divine Province in an attempt to break Immortal Alliance’s army by striking from within and outside through shaping our lands to more suit sea demons.”
A Great Ascension human, with their weak body, was no match for a Great Ascension demon in ancient times. Recent years had shown how Unfettered crushed the nine demons’ rampage, proving that humans stood above demons, be it alone or together.
But there was one type of demon humans would never slight.
They were the symbol of invincibility. A mature dragon, at around the Great Ascension Stage, overpowered all the other races and proclaimed itself the overlord of Divine Province. Tens of thousands of years ago, they just had to send one such specimen over to crush all of humanity. Even an Unfettered would have a hard time against a Great Ascension dragon.
The Western Sea’s Dragon King title alone spoke volumes of this specimen’s might. [Guess it’s a trifle for it to change the weather on a global scale.]
Wang Qi sighed at the Western Sea’s Dragon King’s overpowered skills, but the lament soon turned into elation. [I’ll one day surpass it.]
[How can a modern cultivator, with his understanding of Dao, fall short of a demon? How can an art born of Dao lose to some instinctual skill?]
Mao Zimiao’s long sigh drew his attention. He noticed the girl’s worry for her father and shook his head, pushing the wine cup into her hand. “It won’t change anything by thinking of your father’s situation. You’re better off focusing on the two brats—stand!”
The boy below made a snowball and flung it at his big sister. But the frail strength in his tiny arms led to the snowball breaking up in the air. The little girl’s was better.
Mao Zimiao guffawed, “No worries. They’re always , nya.”