Returning Home

Nie Li felt Shen Xiu's gaze and the corner of his mouth curled up. Chasing Shen Xiu away wasn't his only desire. He didn't regard Shen Xiu as his opponent because his true target was the entire Sacred Family.

Although Nie Li had provoked the Sacred Family, the Sacred Family probably wouldn't put much attention to him because in their view, Nie Li was just a brat. How could a small brat threaten them? But they would soon realise that the one who would cause the destruction of the Sacred Family would be the threat that they were ignoring.

After his recent training, Nie Li's soul force had already reached 589. Once his soul force broke through 600, he would be able to reach Silver rank.

Once he stepped into Silver rank, he would be able to integrate with a Demon Spirit.

Nie Li had already chosen his first Demon Spirit. But he was still prepared to go to the auction to get suitable Demon Spirits for Ziyun, Ning'er, Lu Piao, and bunch. This way, their group would be able to enhance their strength even more.

But at this moment, Nie Li was preparing to get himself to Silver rank Demon Spiritualist.

After a while, the yearly examination for the Fighter Apprentice class ended. Every student's future class had been decided.

Soon after, news of Shen Xiu's resignation and departure from the institute spread among the students. Everyone's looks towards Nie Li were a little abnormal. After all, it was the first time that someone was able to chase a teacher away.

There were also some students trying any possible way to get close to Nie Li. Although Nie Li was just a 1-star Bronze rank Demon Spiritualist, his knowledge had already far surpassed some teachers'. Those who had followed Nie Li had their cultivation soar to amazing heights. Therefore, it was normal for others to be envious.

Nie Li got Du Ze and Lu Piao to block these bootlickers. He was rather cautious in this matter. The ones he had accepted were those on whom he had an impression of from his previous life that he was able to trust. Cultivation talent was secondary, trust was key.

But even so, those who followed Nie Li had already amounted to more than twenty six students.

After the exams, the notice for entry into the Genius class had also been dispatched. Nie Li inhaled a mouthful of air. It was time for him to go back home. He recalled some memories from his previous life, when his family members fell in battle one after another. Nie Li couldn't help but feel sour in his heart, feeling homesick.

It was finally the Holy Orchid Institute's holiday!

Nie Li's gaze fell afar. Memories from his previous life began coming back like waves.

After a moment, Nie Li laughed out. Since he was back, his clansmen wouldn't need to live fearful lives anymore. The enemies of his clan shall tremble in fear!

The Holy Orchid Institute's holiday was a big event for Glory City. The amount of students attending Holy Orchid Institute was quite a lot. Therefore, many students could all finally reunite with their families.

Groups of students were leaving the institute one after another.

"Nie Li, this is for you. I hope that you can remember me whenever you see it! We'll meet again next term!" Xiao Ning'er passed a ruby over to Nie Li. On the ruby, there was an extremely delicate pattern. When Nie Li raised his head, Xiao Ning'er was already running away with her face red.

On the Divine Continent, a ruby represented a girl's love.

Watching Xiao Ning'er's slender figure, Nie Li couldn't help but smile bitterly. He knew how Xiao Ning'er felt about him, but he had never thought that this ice beauty would actually be so gentle.

When he looked up, Ye Ziyun was smiling as she looked at Nie Li, then looked at the distant Xiao Ning'er and said, "Since Ning'er likes you so much, why don't you just be with her?"

Nie Li kept the ruby, looked at Ye Ziyun and said, "It's a pity, but the one I like is you!"

With love from two lifetimes, Nie Li wouldn't budge. Nie Li had already told Xiao Ning'er about how he felt, however, she still refused to give up.

Ye Ziyun's face blushed red and said, "Nie Li, if you still speak like this, I'll.... Don't think that I'm easy to bully!"

At this moment, Ye Ziyun couldn't help recalling those incidents within the Ancient Orchid City's underground palace. She was feeling indignant in her heart and tightly squeezed her fists.

"I'm serious!" Nie Li lightly laughed with his eyes deeply looking at Ye Ziyun.

"You! I'm not bothering with you any more!"

Ye Ziyun stomped her feet, wanting to leave but suddenly held her step. Pursing her lips, she smiled and asked, "Then, why don't you tell me, how am I better then Ning'er?"

Nie Li shrugged and said, "This is impossible to compare. I can only say, this is all decided by fate!"

Looking into Nie Li's deep gaze, Ye Ziyun was slightly stunned. She felt that Nie Li was keeping a lot of things from her. Within Nie Li's eyes, there seemed to be many stories hidden.

After she paused for a moment, Ye Ziyun raised her head, stared at the clear skies and said, "I wish that my husband could be a great hero like my grandfather. He must have the strength to shake the world, using his life to protect Glory City."

She then looked at Nie Li, pursed her lips, smiled and said, "If you can reach the Legend rank Demon Spiritualist realm, I could give it consideration."

"Hey, how can you say that?! Didn't you say that you'd agree to be with me if I reached Gold rank?" Nie Li said, sounding depressed.

"I was just joking earlier, it doesn't count! Don't you know that a girl always changes her mind?"

After speaking, Ye Ziyun laughed, and hastily ran away.

Seeing her back figure, Nie Li lightly smiled, muttering to himself, "If that's the case, why did you choose me in the previous life?"

In his previous life, Nie Li hadn't even reached Silver rank, but had been together with Ye Ziyun.

"However, it's just Legend rank Demon Spiritualist, not that difficult."

Wei Nan, Zhu Xiangjun, and Zhang Ming bid farewell to Nie Li, and left the institute for home.

Du Ze and Lu Piao both walked over.

"We'll be off too!" Du Ze said, smiling.

"Okay," Nie Li nodded, "We'll meet again in a month!"

"Meet again in a month!" Du Ze nodded, thinking about going home, Du Ze couldn't help being excited. Going back this time, aside from the skyrocket results in his cultivation, Nie Li had given him lots of demon spirit coins, at least enough to bring his clansmen out of suffering. In his heart, Du Ze felt fully grateful to Nie Li, because it was Nie Li that had changed his life!

Lu Piao had both of his hands on his hips, laughing loudly, "I'm finally returning home! This time, I don't need to fear being smacked by my father on my butt anymore! Hahaha!"

Seeing Lu Piao's current action, Nie Li and Du Ze both looked at each other. They couldn't help smiling bitterly, and distanced themselves from Lu Piao. The surrounding students threw them weird looks.

Lu Piao heavily hugged Nie Li, and drenched Nie Li's face with saliva through kisses as he said, "Brother, I love you to death!"

Seeing Lu Piao, Nie Li trembled and pushed Lu Piao away.

"Get away from me, I'm not gay!"

"I'm also not gay. The sky is so blue, the ground is so green! I'll be going first, see you in a month!" Lu Piao looked a little light headed as he walked out in big steps.

Du Ze waved Nie Li goodbye and left too.

Seeing the happy faces of these two buddies of his, Nie Li couldn't help smiling lightly, and walked towards the direction of his clan.

--- North of Glory City ---

The land of Glory City was rather wide. Aside from the two most prosperous cities within, there were six more subsidiary cities. From the Holy Orchid Institute to Nie Li's house, even by carriage, he would not arrive until two days later.

Nie Li belonged to a clan called the Heavenly Marks Family. The family resided in a valley with a vast land, however, the resources here were very poor. Therefore, the family relied on farming and harvesting mountain herbs for a living. Fortunately, the distance here to the military and the defensive wall was quite short, therefore, it was still rather safe. Generally, there wouldn't be any attacks from demon beasts. Although the Heavenly Marks Family was an Aristocratic family, only the Patriarch of the Heavenly Marks Family had the title of Count. This meant that if the House Master were to pass away, and none of the younger generations had been able to obtain any title, the Heavenly Marks Family wouldn't be as it was anymore.

As one of the most declined Aristocratic families, the Heavenly Marks Family's castle was very worn out and old-looking. The outer wall had been extremely damaged, however, the family did not have enough money to spare to repair it.

Just outside the castle, one could see a large patch of farming field with people planting and farming various crops. When they saw Nie Li walking from far away, the clansmen took the initiative to say hello.

"Nie Li, you're back?"

The clansmen that were responsible for farming didn't have any high positions within the clan, and Nie Li's father was one of them.

Although the Heavenly Marks Family was declining, the population of the family was still high. This area still had thousands of households, which also meant that the population was roughly five to six thousand members.

Within the Heavenly Marks Family, there were a total of twenty-six kids attending the Holy Orchid Institute, with Nie Li being one of them. However, Nie Li's character had always been rather reclusive, therefore, it was less likely he would have contact with other kids. The other kids were all in the Intermediate and Senior classes, therefore their vacation started later. It would probably be one or two more days before they were home.

"Big Brother Nie Li, you're back!"

A barefooted small girl cheerfully ran towards Nie Li. Her hair was tied in pigtails, with cheeks as red as apples, looking extremely cute.

Her name was Nie Yu, his uncle's daughter.

Nie Li's father, Nie Ming, had only one brother. Their status within the Heavenly Marks Family was very low. They would usually rely on farming to feed themselves. Fortunately, only one third of the harvest was required to be submitted to the family, the rest could be kept for themselves. Since the school fees were now going to be paid by Nie Li, they could live a little more comfortably.

In their family of five to six thousand people, a total of sixty members were Bronze rank Fighters, six were Silver rank Fighters, two were Silver rank Demon Spiritualists, three were Gold rank Fighters and one was a Gold rank Demon Spiritualist. This was the strength of Heavenly Marks Family.

The strongest in the Heavenly Marks Family was the Patriarch, Nie Hai. He was a 1-star Gold rank Demon Spiritualist, his position within the family was the highest. Thereafter, two 1-star Gold rank Fighters and one 3-star Gold rank Fighter.

Usually, the Patriarch was hardly seen. He would normally appear at ceremonies only.

Nie Li rubbed Nie Yu's head, he was still able to dote Nie Yu, and smilingly said, "Is Xiao Yu obedient at home?"

"En, Xiao Yu has been very obedient!" said Nie Yu, nodding her head, looking serious. "I also want to be like big brother Nie Li , enter into the Holy Orchid Institute and become a Fighter!"

Nie Yu had been putting Nie Li as her target all along, but Nie Li couldn't help blushing in shame. Before the destruction of Glory City, Nie Yu's achievements had been much higher than his. Nie Yu had been concerned about him, however, even as a big brother, he had been sheltered by Nie Yu. This had caused Nie Li to be extremely depressed. Later on, Nie Yu had died in battle with a horde of demon beasts that had attacked the city, a heroic death.

Although he felt a little sour in his nose, Nie Li bore it down and thought, 'It's good being back.'

Nie Li walked a long distance together with Nie Yu. When they saw Nie Li, Nie Ming and Nie Kai stopped their chores, smiled at each other and walked towards where Nie Li was.