Rex heard about the incident that happened with Luo Ru and her ascension with her parents but in the end, he didn't get any necessary information out of it. From the looks of it, her parents didn't consider having a good talk with them either, it was something Rex had already expected.
The cultivators from upper realms view themselves as nobles and the cultivators from lower realms like people living in slums. Especially, the place is Lower Realm, as this realm seriously lacked resources and had no good system governing it.
Xiu Ying told him that Luo Ru suddenly appeared and told her about this, the next day after she did it was the day she left this realm, Luo Ru was sometimes reckless but Rex knew how good she was at hiding her emotions, it could be seen from the very fact that she kept her Soul-Sense innate trait a secret for years and acted normally knowing that she wasn't blood-related to the people she takes as family. One has to know that she was still a teenager at that time.
It was why Rex didn't even bother asking how she looked at that time.
Rex was already somewhat down with the news but just as this story finished, he received another blow, Liu Wei ascended ten days after Luo Ru's ascension. From what she told him after Liu Wei reached the Spirit King stage and all his Qi turned into Sword Qi, his cultivation speed soared to an incredible level, he could have ascended way before Luo Ru, but instead, he was waiting for him but then his inability to stop his junior sister from being taken away made him feel powerless, his battle intent surged so after spending ten days in seclusion, he decided to ascend.
In the past, when Rex had asked him the reason for cultivation, Liu Wei said he wanted absolute freedom, having no suppression from anyone above him, even just getting ignored or looked in disdain by a stronger cultivator was a form of suppression for him.
Rex deeply sighed. He feared Luo Ru's ascension more than others, that's why he warned her several times to not ascend before leaving, it was because, in his eyes, Luo Ru wasn't mature enough to walk alone.
She lacked the cruelty and decisiveness of a lone cultivator.
The incident with her stepfather, where she tried to sacrifice herself for her grandfather was proof of that. Truth should be told, if it was Rex he wouldn't have done that. It wasn't because he was cold-hearted or something but the reason was, it didn't make sense!
Luo Ru was swayed by emotions, but he could see that even if he sacrificed himself it wouldn't change anything.
Trust an Alchemist from Puppet Sect? A sect which is known for its cruelness, and especially when the Alchemist appeared at the perfect moment when they needed it?
It was absurd in his eyes.
He had declined the benefits he could receive from going back to Sura Clan.
At the start, he knew that if agrees and goes back then his parents would try their best to make up for their mistakes, he would receive countless resources, whether it was money or beauty, he would have them all.
But after calmly thinking about it, he refused it.
The disadvantages outwitted the advantages. He would lose his freedom and more importantly, he would inherit his parent's enemies for free.
Parents he didn't even know faces of.
Furthermore, both his elder brother and sister were geniuses, and he would be trash leeching off from his parents' resources, his parents might show him a lot of love in the short run but it would be because of guilt at most.
If they had to choose between two genius children who lived with them all this time and one trash who is going to meet then first time in his life after already overcoming his childhood, then who would they choose? Who would get more benefits in the long run? Who would have more authority in the future?
In a way, Rex would be just distracting the enemies targeting them, telling them to kill his younger and weaker self instead of already matured geniuses.
His cultivation talent, comprehension skills, the very existence of Rose within him could change all of this, but then it would be just like throwing himself in lion layer while being tied with juicy pieces of meat.
Yes, Sura Clan was a den of a lion for him, he would make out to be the perfect weapon any clan would want but at the same time, he would also make them wary because unlike other clan members, he lacked the loyalty gained through brainwashing for years.
Fortunately, the Sura Clan still had a bottom-line and didn't harm the people around him. He confirmed it after Xiu Ying told him about the third matter.
The matter of Luo Ru and Liu Wei greatly surprised him but when compared to his elder brother and an old man coming here for him, they looked pale in comparison. The former two problems can be solved with enough effort, they were easier to deal with compared to dealing with a Great Sect in Higher Realm.
Rex was shocked at first when he knew about their visit, he was panicked thinking if they did something like tacking hostages, he was only relieved after knowing that they didn't do anything to the people here.
At present...
Rex inhaled deeply then looked at Xiu Ying's depressed expression, he faintly smiled.
Luo Ru had a competitive nature embedded in her, Lerna liked to be dominant, Ria had a scheming heart knowing how to take care of her matters alone, Lucia had a strictly disciplined nature, and here was Xiu Ying... In terms of being a capable and responsible person, she had her own unmovable disposition compared to all of them.
She had rich experience as a sect master, she knew when to back down and when to stand up, Xiu Ying took every action after deeply thinking. In the start when she fell for Rex, she suppressed her feelings knowing that she would be just acting as a burden, only when Wang Cang kept consoling her saying that Rex knew these things better than her, did she let herself a little loose.
In the end, she took the lead and showed her feeling before he left. She didn't expect him to truly come back so instead of living with a burden in her heart, she let him know by her actions to keep him alive in her heart as a treasured memory.
She also knew about Luo Ru and his relation but turned a blind eye to it, she didn't hate Luo Ru for this either, if she had any malicious intent then her Soul-Sense would have allowed Luo Ru to sense even the slightest malicious intention from her but she really didn't have any, because she didn't believe it was her fault to fall for him, she accepted her.
Xiu Ying didn't have a special bloodline, high cultivation base, or rare race but based on her current traits alone, she was a perfect wife material any man could desire.
"I understand, leave these things to me, and stop putting pressure on your mind, or else who would want you if you turned into an old hag in a few years," Rex smiled.
Xiu Ying lightly snorted, she was inwardly relieved, carrying so much burden wasn't easy, Rex's words relieved her to a large extent, she rested her head on his broad chest and deeply exhaled.
"I came to Lower Realm this time, it is to permanently take care of all the business here, make use of the unused mineral mines here, build some machinery facilities... Hmm... Before doing that, it would be better to send granny and other trusted people from sect to Middle Realm first so that they can start cultivating earlier. As for you, you have to delay your cultivation plan and stay with me until I finish building my foundation here," Rex said
Xiu Ying's eyes shined, his words meant that he won't be leaving alone this time. She had no idea what method he would use but she believed he could do it.
"Come to think of it, I remember someone telling me something like we can continue after you come back," Rex said in a meaningful tone as he gently held her chin and pulled her closer.
Xiu Ying lightly blushed she let herself get pulled closer, under Rex's control she raised her head to meet his lips. Her lovable body trembled, it as her first time accepting a man's kiss, she could feel his soft and warm lips that seemed like veterans in their field of expertise, her naive lower lip was caught by that slippery pair of lips and mercilessly sucked onto, without getting any chance to counter. She almost gave in but surprisingly Rex retreated after a short kiss.
She looked up at his smiling face in slight confusion, she felt embarrassed for running her imagination wild. She started to wonder if his earlier actions were just for teasing him.
While she was thinking, Rex stepped back and looked to his left.
"See Granny, your naughty disciple is seducing this honest boy of yours," Rex said in a powerless tone.
Xiu Ying's body jolted, she turned to look, and indeed, the figure of two women flew out from behind the Sect Master Pavilion.
When she saw the slightly embarrassed expression on their faces and the way they avoided eye contact with her, she wanted to dig a hole and hide her head inside it.
She looked at Rex and her lips twitched.
Now she knew how this stallion suddenly turned into an innocent soul.
Of course, there was another reason behind it, Rex won't dare go too far even if he got a chance. The problem was just the opposite of the one he had with Lerna.
Rex looked at the approaching Wang Cang and Li Min, he sighed.
Wang Cang was already at the peak of the Spirit King stage and Li Min was just a step away from that. Both of them had what it takes to achieve the Spirit King stage even without Rex's help especially if Wang Cang hadn't burned her blood essence, and now that they got an immense amount of resources, their cultivation speed skyrocketed, they achieved this feat in less than 2 years.
In fact, a normal genius in Middle Realm could do it in less than 1/4th of a year but it was because of the natural environment there, Spirit King stage was nothing special because of that. But here it was different, the one who could achieve Spirit King stage here had very high chances to achieve Core Breaking stage in Middle Realm if nothing goes wrong.
From Wang Cang's personality, he could tell that she was probably waiting for him instead of trying to ascend.
It was an act that deeply relived him, or only Heavens knows how long can she survive in upper realms with her personality.
Wang Cang was speechless. Although she arrived late but even she could see who was the striker and who was at the receiver end.
She had completely believed it was Rex, with just a look.
Unlike her, Li Min faintly smiled on the surface but was highly vigilant from inside, the reason she didn't move was because of unsureness of his battle power.
He would say 'I am Rex' and she would believe it? What a joke.
It was this vigilance and cunning personality that Rex left Wang Cang in her hands. On one hand, she hated men and on another, Wang Cang was her cherished friend.
Rex naturally felt her doubt, he was even slightly waiting for it, he didn't use any words to pursue her and used his actions.
He raised his hands towards the sky while looking at her with a smile.
Li Min was wondering about the meaning behind his smile, when all of a sudden, she noticed something, she looked up and saw the clear night sky was now covered in black clouds.
Countless tiny snowflakes began to fall from the sky.
Li Min extended her hand and felt the touch of those snowflakes on her palm.
"It's real snow?" She muttered in surprise, she was thinking that this was one of the illusion arrays of Rex, Wang Cang had told her about but now she wasn't sure.
"Just a little gift, it should be beneficial for the cultivation of the women cultivating ice element here," Rex said with a smile.
Li Min was stunned.
Xiu Ying was also at a loss. Only Wang Cang was smiling with a proud expression on her face.
Their knowledge of laws was almost nonexistent among cultivators of Lower Realm.
Even if Rex had just made the ground freeze, they would be shocked but he directly used Atmokinesis to alter the atmosphere itself.
It was simply a Godly act in their eyes.
Xiu Ying looked at him with wide eyes. She began to realize that the gap she was trying so hard to close had widened again, and it was widened by a huge margin!
"Cough* don't look at me like that, I just received more of... What was it? Yeah, Spiritual Wisdom and had some fortunate encounters, as a result, I gained a few abilities like this, although I got these but my cultivation base has been halted for quite a while now," Rex sighed.
When Xiu Ying saw his expression, she decided to never ask the rest of the story because... She had seen this face before!
Whenever he made this face, he would give a heavy blow to her motivation for cultivation.
Albeit not everyone was aware of this fact.
"What is your current cultivation stage there?" Li Min curiously asked, from his display of strength she had mostly believed that it was Rex or else there was no need for him to fool people like them.
Xiu Ying regretted not warning her in advance, she turned to Rex and as expected, she saw the faint grin on his face.
"One cultivation stage..." Rex said with a deep sigh.
Xiu Ying raised her eyebrow, she felt like this sentence was the calmness before the true storm.
"It's all right, it was Higher Realm, starting from nothing and cultivating to one whole stage is already something praiseworthy. The realm above the Spirit King stage is the Dao Comprehension stage, right? Such a stage naturally takes more time, it has nothing to do with cultivation talent, you will definitely progress faster after this stage, just like before," Wang Cang consoled him in a gentle tone, she carefully chose her words to motivate him.
Rex had shared the information related to cultivation stages in the upper realm from Alfred's inheritance before ascending so they knew about it in advance.
"Er... No, you misunderstood, I meant that even after trying so hard and following multiple cultivation paths, I was only able to reach Core Breaking peak stage so far, sigh... I'm still one cultivation stage away from reaching the peak cultivation stage of Middle Realm, my talent really isn't that great," Rex said in a 'helpless' tone.
"..." (Wang Cang)
"..." (Li Min)
Xiu Ying facepalmed. She saw it coming long ago.