Upstart’s Advent

Letting Cheong Suhyeon incorporate all of the regular civilians in the cities which he had been to in the past into her ranks barely took an hour. Most of this time was spent on instructing her newly acquired flock members to embark on a pilgrimage to Qinglong City, with the actual teleportation and 'enlightenment' taking up a mere fraction in comparison.

Initially, Theodore had been a little worried about the logistical nightmare that would result not only from so many people travelling, but also from the need to house and feed them all. Yet, this was when she casually revealed that another one of her Talents allowed her believers to sustain themselves on pure faith alone.

Legitimately somewhat stunned by this, he reduced his role to that of a mere chauffeur, bringing her from place to place and observing her actions while keeping an eye out for anything noteworthy. He didn't touch the wooden signs which his 'rival faction' had put up, feeling grateful to them instead. By aligning themselves against him, they had given him as good of an excuse as any to reap their lives, bolstering himself in the process. How could he possibly be mad at them for that?

When late evening eventually rolled around and his entire group reconvened in Qinglong City, he brought everyone back to their current actual headquarters–the underground temple structure. Yet instead of staying there himself as well, he merely introduced it to Cheong Suhyeon and Navya, before making his way back to the Arrays which he had to reside over.

Left all to his lonesome, he started his daily cultivation session. Fortunately, it was not an issue for him to do so while overseeing his creation, as any unusual movements would be automatically reported to him, therefore snapping him out of his focused state. Normally, this would be an issue, as there was a danger of damaging his meridians as a result–however, his outlandish Endurance made it feasible for him to proceed in this reckless manner.

A night flew by before he knew it and the first rays of the sun caressed his cheek gently, waking him from his non-stop efforts to get stronger. Ever since he had taken over this place, he had not got a single wink of sleep, instead opting to cultivate. Resting was nothing more than an unnecessary leisure to him at this point, and currently, he truly didn't feel like indulging in it.

The warnings which his gut was sending him had woken him from his slight complacence, making him choose to postpone excessive luxuries until an opportune moment for them rolled around again. He did miss those daily relaxing hours, but that was not reason enough to potentially shoot himself in the foot.

'The 208,872nd realm, huh? My progress is almost depressingly slow, but it's alright. I've still got plenty of time. To those of us who want to attempt more unorthodox approaches to cultivation, it's a good thing that the first round will be a hundred years long.'

Sighing to himself, he got up and stretched a little, then double-checked his entire area of surveillance. Only after he had made sure that nothing unusual could be seen did he go and pick up everyone else. The plans for today had long since been made.

Xie Mei, Han Junqiao and Li Shuying would be focusing on their cultivation, while Navya would be manning the Arrays for the first half of the day. Later on, Cheong Suhyeon would take over her place, so that the Spirit girl would get a chance to break through to the Soul Sculpting Stage as well.

During the early hours of the day, the goddess-to-be and Vigdis would be following Theodore on his daily cleansing spree. Luckily, another Storage Ring had been found in Qinglong City, so both of them could play the role of porters. At the same time, their routine would now begin to include a segment where Cheong Suhyeon would add all newly 'freed' civilians to her collection of believers.

With everything properly laid out, the three of them set off after a quick breakfast. Their first cleansing didn't go off perfectly, as the new addition to their group did not yet have any experience in this regard. Yet it only took her another two cities to get the hang of it. By the time that the fourth city's 'prey' was put on the chopping block, her inclusion even caused them to surpass their previous record!

'If it continues like this, then tomorrow, we can try going for five cities!'

Reinvigorated, Theodore teleported them back to Qinglong City, then he sifted through all of the notifications which had piled up. Apparently, two of today's target locations had housed a low number of Parasitic Flies, causing an amused smile to play across his lips as he noticed them. Based on the timing of when they had popped up, he marked the respective cities on his self-created map. In this manner, he might be able to discern a pattern sooner or later if their creator had slipped up. It was unlikely, but it was worth the few seconds which it took him to do this.

Looking up at the sun bearing down from above, he deduced the current time and rose from his seat. Motioning at Vigdis, the two of them returned to the meeting spot where he had interviewed Navya and Cheong Suhyeon the day before.

A certain vulgarian Heaven's Chosen was to arrive shortly–at least according to his own words–so he couldn't possibly be an impolite host. No sooner had he got comfortable than the communication artefact at Vigdis' hip rung out. Naturally, she picked up almost immediately.

"Miss Rún, I just wanted to inform you that I'll be there in ten minutes. See you then!"

She couldn't even respond before Satoru had hung up. Somewhat speechless, she and her Leader exchanged a glance. Had this call truly been necessary? All that he did was tell them that he would be on time–which was polite and all, but within a few more moments, Theodore would have spied him via his Arrays anyway.

'Speaking of, there he is.'

A fairly dashing, yet not too extraordinarily magnificent young man entered his range of surveillance, hurrying onwards just quickly enough to not exhaust himself. An uncontrolled bloodlust was radiating off of him, shrouding him in a chilling air and scaring off any and all small animals in his vicinity. Even the bugs and butterflies hid as thoroughly as they could.

In Theodore's eyes, Satoru appeared like a standard fortunate 'genius' of common origin. The way in which he carried himself exuded pure arrogance and belief in his own abilities, to the point that he would find it difficult to truly put others in his eyes. Yet, more often than not, these people would be taught a harsh lesson the moment that they came in contact with some of the considerably outstanding Named Family members.

'I wonder if you'll be able to surprise me.'

With a slight smile on his lips, he stopped paying excessive attention to his soon-to-be interviewee and waited patiently instead. Naturally, he still noticed Satoru look up with a hint of confusion in his eyes, mouthing the words "Huh? Where did that feeling from before disappear to?"

Perfectly punctual, the youngster arrived at their point of rendezvous, immediately stunned by Vigdis' beauty upon laying his eyes on her. It wasn't that he hadn't seen any gorgeous women before since the Heavenly Succession had started, but those Han demonesses had usually been trying to harm him, their attractive features warped into rather unsightly visages. Vigdis, on the other hand, exuded a sense of exotic allure, her runic tattoos only adding to her charm.

"Welcome, Mr. Saitou. Thank you for making the harsh journey and coming all this way. I'm Theodore Winter, and this here is the secretary whom you've interacted with until now, Vigdis Rún."

These words snapped the new arrival out of his infatuated state, a slight sense of shame for his displeasing actions making him look away with a guilty conscience. Scratching his cheek, he 'stealthily' checked if there was any drool to wipe off–yet fortunately, there wasn't.

'Phew, at least I didn't embarrass myself 'that' badly.'

Finally gazing at Theodore, he couldn't help but raise in eyebrow in shock at his outstanding looks. The advertisements really didn't beautify him in any way, which made a slight sense of inferiority sprout within Satoru's heart. But luckily, he hadn't come here to become his lackey in the first place!

"Ahem, excuse the disagreeable display. Miss Rún had simply taken my breath away. Yes, I'm Saitou Satoru, and it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Although his words sounded kind, the second half of them had been exclusively spoken to Vigdis, who had to try really hard to keep an amused smirk from stealing itself on her lips. However, there was still a hint of pity shimmering in her eyes when she looked at him–naturally, Satoru didn't notice it whatsoever.

"Now that the pleasantries are out of the way, let us begin the interview. Why have you decided to work for me?"

Right as he was attempting to butter up the lovely lady, that third wheel Theodore just had to speak up again, causing the displeasure in Satoru's heart to deepen. With annoyance written all over his face, he turned to glare at the young man who had been calmly observing him all this while.

"Who said anything about wanting to toil away for you? That's not what I'm here for."

Raising an eyebrow in undisguised mirth, a grin caused Theodore's lips to widen. Despite the bloodlust the youngster was exuding, he didn't feel the slightest bit uncomfortable.

"Oh? Then enlighten me: Why are you here?"

Breaking out in a smug grin, Satoru flexed his muscles and stretched, a blatant desire to battle–or rather, to beat up–the guy in front of him emanating from his very being. Shooting another quick glance at Vigdis, who he had had a crush on ever since he had first heard her voice, he finally said what had been on his mind all along.

"It's to teach you a lesson, of course! Who do you think you are to look down upon everyone else from your high horse? And what makes you worthy of having someone as divine as Miss Rún at your side!? I'm sure you've pissed off many others already, too, but it looks like I'm the first one to make it all the way here. If you're not too afraid, how about a spar?"

His smile widening, Theodore rose from his seat, walking a few steps closer to Satoru, until merely a few meters separated them. Not bothered in the slightest, he tilted his head a little as he made another inquiry.

"Naturally, I'm always up for an exchange of blows. Shall we begin?"

Evidently annoyed at having the majority of his impassioned speech ignored just like that, Satoru grit his teeth and clenched his fists, then took a few deep breaths. When he stabilized his mood once more, he was akin to a volcano which was about to erupt. His muscles swelled and pulsated with ferocious might, whilst the murderous air all around him enveloped his opponent, threatening to strangle him.

"... of course. Let's start as soon as you're ready."

Nodding in approval, Theodore turned to face Vigdis, whose desire to break out into laughter had only intensified ever since this interaction's inception.

"Good! Then Vigdis, you shall be the referee. And Mr. Saitou–do your worst."

Giving a nod of her own, the beauty agreed, almost clutching her stomach in pain due to her suppressed amusement. Of course, Satoru's mind didn't register these details. Instead, he focused entirely on Theodore's hatefully handsome face, which he had already designated as his first punch's target.

"Clench your teeth, this is going to hurt."

In an attempt to sound as cool as possible in front of the current goddess of his heart, he uttered these words and rushed forward, closing the distance between him and his opponent almost instantly.