And soon they arrived near the city as Hun Yu gradually slowed to a halt.
"You should go. I'll enter the city from the backside," he said, his voice calm and resolute.
She nodded, understanding his wish to remain unseen.
Huang Yi walked toward the city gate. As the city guards noticed her approaching, they recognized her and hurried to greet her.
Hun Yu, seeing the commotion, slipped away and entered the city through the less-guarded back entrance. Swift and silent, he made his way back to his room.
He looked at the golden screen in front of him.
{Mission "Gain Trust Of Huang Yi" Has been completed}
{You can claim +1 in cultivation. Note - Can only be claimed in lower realms}
"Hmm, this place might not be good for a breakthrough," he thought, curious about the element he might have. But he decided to check later.
{Cultivation: Body Tempering 9 (0/2500)(+)}
After laying on his bed, he didn't know when he fell asleep.
Three days passed in a blink of an eye.
Hun Yu sat on the ground in a meditative state.
"System, I am ready," he said.
He suddenly felt his cultivation rising, breaking through the realm.
This feeling was entirely different; he felt much stronger, infinitely stronger than when he was in the body tempering phase.
{Elemental Affinity: Holy}
"Holy?" he murmured, looking at his element. "System, this doesn't make sense. My physique seems to be dark type, and my element is holy?"
Even the System was silent.
"Combination of dark and holy?"
{Congratulations Host! For Being Unconventional, Holy, and Dark in One Body, You Are Rewarded With:
- The Paradox Elixir (Tier 7) - Temporarily boosts both light and dark abilities.
- The Duality Cloak (Platinum Grade - Mid) - Grants invisibility in shadows and radiance in light.
- Helper Card (One Time Use Only) - Summons a King Realm Cultivator to help. Time limit is 5 minutes; the person will disappear automatically.}
{Shop Level 0 → Shop Level 1}
He smiled at the sudden notification.
"Hehe," he chuckled. If he had known that reaching this realm would provide so many rewards, he would have worked even harder to achieve it.
{In Shop Level 1, you can now buy maps, slaves, concubines, food items, clothing items, and cultivation for others.}
"Yo yo, system, what the..."
"What is all this? Slaves and concubines? Are you supposed to sell those?"
{...}
Not interested, but he opened the Concubine category.
"Hey, system, why is there no details? Why does it only have a call option?"
{Because it is random. The system will look for someone who is in danger and offer them to become the host's concubine in exchange for saving them.}
"So it's like taking advantage of people's vulnerability," he thought and closed the shop.
"Why would I want a concubine when I don't even have a wife? Isn't having one sect master enough?" he pondered.
He looked at the rewards he got from the system. His eyes fell on the Helper Card. The things he just got are top-tier, but this...
"System, you still haven't told me about this King Realm."
{It comes after High Lord.}
"As the system said, it comes after High Lord. Doesn't it mean I could summon a very powerful person? Though five minutes might look short, it will be enough to get me out of trouble."
"This is too good," he muttered, carefully tucking the Helper Card into his robes. "I'll save this for a dire situation."
Lastly, he examined the Duality Cloak, feeling the fabric shift between shadow and light in his hands. "This will be useful for stealth missions," he thought, draping it over his shoulders and watching as he disappeared into the shadows, only to reappear when he stepped into the light.
With these new tools and rewards, Hun Yu felt more confident than ever.
He looked at his fist, feeling an entirely new energy inside of him. The cultivation technique he was using, the one Yun Xiu gave him, also taught him how to use energy the right way after reaching this realm.
He slowly concentrated the energy into his hand, which soon started to glow golden. With that, he punched a huge boulder nearby, destroying it entirely into pieces.
"There really is a big gap between body tempering and this realm," he muttered, feeling how much power he could use.
{Reminder: Holy is the weakest element.}
"What?!?!"
Holy is the weakest element?
{98% of organisms in this world are resistant to Holy. That's why it is the weakest.}
Though he wanted to cry, he realized he got some good rewards because he awakened Holy, so it wasn't that bad.
"Well, whatever. It's not like I can change it," Hun Yu muttered, turning around and walking back toward the city.
After some time, he arrived.
As he walked through the streets, he overheard a conversation.
"Hey, have you heard there was an assassination attempt on the Princess?"
"Yes, it was done by her own guards!"
"Do you think this is part of the throne struggle?"
Hun Yu listened to the gossip but didn't care about the affairs of the imperial family. He returned to his room and sat on the chair.
He began writing a letter to Miss Sect Master.
Dear Miss Yun,
This is Hun Yu.
I hope you are well and fine. I have also been fine these days. I have been focusing on cultivation, and I have successfully broken through to the Elementalist realm. I have not left a single time and did not put myself at risk.
Yet, despite my progress, I find myself often thinking of you. My heart cultivates an affection as deep as my training.
Though I have not left the grounds, my thoughts have frequently wandered to where you are. I hope we can meet soon, as your presence is a realm of its own that I yearn to reach.
With warm regards,
Hun Yu
He added some sweet words at the end. As he wrapped up the letter, a pigeon appeared at his window. He carefully tied the letter to the pigeon's leg, and the pigeon flew away.
Just as the pigeon disappeared into the distance, a knock came at his door. Hun Yu opened it to find a cloaked figure standing in the shadows.
"I have a message for you," the figure whispered, handing him a sealed scroll.
The figure left, and Hun Yu looked at the scroll and soon opened it. It was from Huang Yi.
"Hello, though I don't know your name, it might not be appropriate to ask, but I wanted you to meet me at this XXX place at XXX time. Alone. I wanted to talk to you about something."
After reading the contents, he sighed. But then he remembered the good rewards he received from the system because of completing her mission. Doing this much shouldn't be a problem.
The time she mentioned was probably about an hour later, so it shouldn't be a problem for him to reach there already.
As he stood up, he didn't worry. With the Helper Card in his pocket, he felt invincible for now.
He swiftly walked away from the crowd and arrived at a dark, deserted alley. In just some time, a woman wearing a cloak, entirely hidden, arrived.
As she took her cloak down, revealing her appearance, he asked directly, "What did you ask me to meet here for?"
She stepped closer. "I need your help!"
There was no one she could trust now in this city. The only one she had some trust in was this masked man.
"What help?" he asked.
"I am in danger," she whispered urgently.