Return to the Manor

After seeing Shui's gift to Kate, Reinhart knew he couldn't best him, but he didn't want to completely lose his standing as Kate's senior brother. As she was now in the Earth Realm, he presented her with a blessed spirit-rank gauntlet artifact. While she could draw out an astonishing amount of power from the Red Tiger Paws, it was still only a special-rank artifact so she wouldn't be able to unleash her full potential with it anymore. Shui agreed with him, but he had a slightly different proposal. 

"You should use that in the meantime while I get the materials to re-forge the Red Tiger Paws. It should be at least supreme spirit-rank once it's ready."

"Really? Thanks!"

Kate was grateful to Reinhart, but the Red Tiger Paws had sentimental value to her so she preferred to keep using it if possible. Even though he knew that Shui didn't propose this out of spite, Reinhart felt slightly upset. As for whether or not Shui had the ability to forge supreme spirit-rank artifacts, Reinhart didn't see the point in doubting him after all his miracles. 

"It seems like my present was unnecessary."

"No, I would have needed some time to prepare on my side regardless. Oh, how about I forge a sword for you as well? I could make something better suited for that technique of yours."

"Hmm, I would appreciate that, but I'll pay for it. You can send me the list of materials as well."

Shui was fine with giving it to him for free, but he knew that Reinhart wouldn't accept that.

"If that's what you wish. But don't worry about the materials; I have an idea of where to get them."

As the Artisan Palace was built from the Darino Gang, Shui was certain that he would be able to get the items he wanted from them. Since it was normal for crafters to have special connections for getting materials, Reinhart didn't disagree any further with Shui's proposal. After giving Kate the array flags to use in case of emergencies, disabling the other arrays, and erasing any residual traces, the three began their journey back to Silver City.

Some time after they left the vicinity, Kate's enemies learned about what happened to their forces. They could have burnt or hidden the bodies, but in order to provoke them, Kate's group had taken their valuables but left their corpses. Kate had been especially enthusiastic about the plundering, not because she was lacking in wealth, but because she could imagine the frustrated faces of the ones behind these assailants. 

As she had imagined, they were all upset when they received the news, but they didn't intend on giving up on killing her while she was outside Silver City. They arranged for several checkpoints on the way from where the battle took place to Silver City. However, with Shui by Kate's side, their efforts were destined to be fruitless. Although fighting their way through the checkpoints wouldn't have been a problem, Shui gave Reinhart and Kate 'Conceal' cloaks and created a spiritual barrier using his soul to block spiritual sense from reaching them. It was one of the abilities he gained after attaining nebula three-star in soul cultivation, but he was only able to use it after experiencing Calus' test. If the barrier was destroyed, the damage would reach his soul, but thanks to his soul cultivation, even Masters would struggle to breach it without being aware of its presence. 

With Shui's barrier and the cloaks, the three passed through all checkpoints unhindered.

When Reinhart, Kate and Shui arrived at Silver City, they entered through the gate closest to Storm Sky Manor. Since there was no longer a need to hide themselves and they had to reveal themselves to the city guards, Reinhart and Kate removed the cloaks and Shui disabled the barrier. Reinhart and Kate were both famous core disciples, so they quickly attracted attention after entering the city.

"It's Sir Reinhart."

"The Wild Princess is there with him."

"Wow! It looks like she's broken through to the Earth Realm."

"It seems there'll be a big change in the Storm Ranking."

After learning presence masking, Shui tried making it a habit to create a fog of aura around him so that the aura density of his body was the same as the aura density of his vicinity. This gave him a gentler presence and made it easier for him to be overlooked. So while everyone else was watching Kate and Reinhart with excitement and admiration, he was quietly avoiding their notice.

Reinhart was impressed, but as she was bothered by all this attention, Kate was upset that Shui was only trying to save himself.

With spiteful intention, Kate grabbed Shui's arm and pulled him closer to her, as if claiming her possession. Once he was pulled into the spotlight, his technique failed to have its desired effect, so Shui was finally noticed by the crowd. He glared at Kate for messing with him, but he released his grudge with a sigh since he wasn't bothered about being seen with her. That wouldn't have changed even if he knew the trouble that would reach him because of this. 

"Who's that?"

"Is that a boy or a girl?"

"He's quite handsome, could he be her lover?!"

"They look so natural together."

"NO! It can't be!"

Once people began noticing Shui, the commotion they raised became far greater than before. As one of the most beautiful and talented members of the younger generation, Kate had many fans among both men and women, and they were all very interested in who could worm their way into her heart.

"It looks like rumours will be spread across the city before the day is over. Are you sure you won't regret this?"

"Hmph, as if I care what they say about me. It would be even better if certain flies would stop pitching on me because of this. Aren't you the one worried that you won't be able to fool more girls with that face of yours?"

"That's a false accusation. I've never fooled anyone with my face. I can't be faulted because I look so handsome."

"I think pretty is the word you're looking for."

"You...!"

Although she knew that his feminine appearance was one of Shui's sore spots, Kate had never shied away from praising it. Shui knew that if he tried to argue he would only get the tables turned on him, so he clicked his tongue and changed the topic. 

"About those flies, if any of them attack me, how should I deal with them?"

"Hmm, if you don't think they could give me a decent fight, then you're free to crush them. Some of them are a little troublesome though, so try not to kill them."

"Understood."

Shui ensured that their conversation only travelled far enough to reach Reinhart, so the spectators couldn't hear what they were saying. Still, their back and forth only emphasized the closeness of their relationship, so even those in denial couldn't fully believe that there was nothing between them. As the one closest to the two in the manor, Reinhart knew that they weren't in a relationship, but at the same time, he found Shui much better suited for Kate than the others that had tried for her hand. Still, he had little experience in such matters and had no intention of interfering in their relationship.