Come to bed

"That's one of the advantages that people from this realm do have if they enter the upper realms. There they usually only take a few weeks for the Flesh Refining Realm. Although this makes their cultivation increase much faster, they won't have a foundation as stable."

"If a foundation is that important, then why are they rushing like this?"

"The situations are too different. In this realm, there is no problem if you take your time, but up there you will have to increase your strength fast. The only laws there are those of the jungle. Only the strong rule. Only in the really big sects and clans is it possible for the most talented to slowly strengthen their foundations. If not, they will lose the constant contest for resources."

"That sounds brutal.", Ivan was appealed by what he heard. Ever since he could remember he had lived in the capital or the alliance. Both places were ruled by laws which were independent on personal strength.

"It is. And that is the reason why so many retire here or don't even leave this realm. They rather live a peaceful, safe life, then have to constantly strive for more power. Of course, this option is only open for those born here or having married someone from this realm. If you go to the upper realm, you can even find people who would pay you an enormous amount just to marry you, so they can retire here."

Celine fell silent, seemingly relieving some old memories. Ivan didn't disturb her but waited patiently for her to continue on.

"Anyway, all this doesn't matter to you right now. You just have to remember not to hurry towards level 1000, but to take your time. The optimal time depends on the person, but you should at least wait for two more years before advancing to the Blood Refining Realm. Until then slowly train and increase your skills and combat experience.

As for the mysterious realms. They aren't that dependent on your cultivation, but instead, they require you to have skill. Only then can you fight against those one realm above you."

Ivan felt intrigued. From her words, he could guess that while dangerous, exploring mysterious realms, should also be very profitable. Not only the honor points but also the items one could find. Still, it wasn't anything he should try for now. But later he would surely try it out.

After finishing his conversation with Celine he went upstairs into his room. When he entered, Lara was lying on the bed, reading a book. She put down the book and looked at him carefully.

"How was it?"

"It went great. She just laid her hands on my back and transferred the Spiritual Qi. After that, I felt a cool and comfortable sensation.", Ivan explained what had happened.

When Lara heard the way Celine had transferred the Spiritual Qi she surprisingly felt relief. *Why is that?*, she wondered. *It can't be that I don't like him spending time with other women right?* It wasn't the right time to think more about it, so she pushed it to the back of her mind and instead focused on what Celine had told him about mysterious realms.

"I have heard about them. And I think you should talk with uncle about it. I think he could evaluate your strength the best."

"You are right.", Ivan agreed with her. His mentor knew about most of his skills such as his reincarnation skill and he guessed that he too knew about the difficulty of the mysterious realms, so he was the most qualified person to give his recommendation.

"Alright. Go wash and then come to bed.", Lara interrupted his thoughts. She hadn't thought anything when she said these words, but now that she heard them they sounded kind of ambiguous. But she chose not to say anything more, or she would just make it even worse.

Ivan too didn't misunderstand and after taking a shower he slipped into the bed, staying on his side. It then didn't take long for the two of them to fall asleep.

Soon it was the weekend. Today Lara had set up the meetings with the other candidates for the position of a concubine, but this was only in the afternoon.

When the family sat at the breakfast table, eating a hearty breakfast, the doorbell rang.

Madam Tanner wanted to open the door, but Ivan stopped her.

"I'll go.", he said to her while getting up. Madam Tanner was still working in the kitchen. Jane had wanted an extra portion of beacon and egg, so she had gone into the kitchen to make it.

When Ivan opened the door, he was surprised to see Jenny standing in front of him. Behind her stood her husband and his mentor Carl, who gave him a grimace, which told him, that Jenny had forced him to come. Besides the two of them, there was another beautiful woman. It was Tang Lin, his other nominal wife.

"Come in.", he invited them in, without waiting for them to say anything. There wasn't really a need to especially greet them since they were family.

"Aunty!", Jane greeted Jenny with a loud shout when she entered the dining room.

"Haha, Jane.", Jenny too enthusiastically greeted her back. One could think that they hadn't seen each other for a long time, when in fact they had met just yesterday.

"Uncle, Aunty, you are here.", Lara too greeted them before inviting them to sit down, "Come sit down. Have you eaten yet?"

"No, we didn't. I thought we might as well eat here since Madam Tanner's cooking is absolutely delicious." She then let her gaze roam over the others on the table.

Seeing her unspoken question, Lara introduced everyone to each other. "This is Celine and her daughter Lucia. Because of some reason they are currently living with us." She wasn't willing to tell them everything here. That had to wait until they were alone. "And this is?", she then asked, while looking at Tang Lin.

When the woman had entered, she had felt some weird connection with her, which made her curious. Thus she took a closer look at her. She was beautiful but appeared a bit cold, similar to her own disposition towards strangers.

"You don't know?", Jenny seemed a bit surprised. She then threw a questioning look at Ivan, "You didn't tell her?"

*I knew it. She has something to do with him. He really is a womanizer.*, Lara internally scolded Ivan, who in truth hadn't done anything to earn this title. It was just that he always got entangled with women, without him even having to do anything.

"I told her about it. But since I don't have any image, I couldn't tell her how she looks, so how could she recognize her.", Ivan hurriedly defended himself. He was scared of this woman. If Jenny got angry, he absolutely wouldn't want to be the target of her wrath. It was bad enough if she was only targeting him, in order to help him. Or at least, what she herself thought of as help.

"Hello, I'm Tang Lin.", at this moment Lin came forward herself, in order to calm the situation. She knew her aunt and if she got rolling, then there was no stopping her, so it was better to directly shut her down.

Hearing her name, Lara instantly understood who stood before her, as well as the weird connection. It should be because of their rings.

"Nice to meet you.", she politely greeted back. "How about we sit down. I'm sure Madam Tanner has already started to prepare your portions."

Everyone sat down and then started eating. Ivan and Carl started talking about mysterious realms, with Jenny and Celine trowing in some sentences, while Lara and Tang Lin too talked. They talked about how they got to meet Ivan and why they had married him. During their talk, they found out, that they were quite similar. Both had been forced into marriage by the rules of their family. Both were outwardly cold, but warm towards those they cared about. All in all, they hit it off pretty well, which came as a huge relief to Ivan and Jenny who were watching them from the corner of their eyes.

If they were completely incompatible, then this would make all their life hell.

After they had finished talking, they sat on the couches in the living room. Jane and Lucia had gone out to play, which left only the adults.

"So what brings you here? You didn't just come here to introduce Lin to me, right?", Lara asked Jenny. She clearly knew who was responsible for this visit.

"Can't we just come for a visit?", Jenny asked innocently. To her question, Lara only reacted with a raised eyebrow. There was no way, that this aunt of her would only come to visit. Not once in her life did she come to visit without an agenda.