Fighter Apprentice Class.
Nie Li watched with mixed emotions as Ye Ziyun and Xiao Ning'er sized each other up.
Nie Li didn't need to know the history between those two to see that there was tension between them.
Nie Li's eyes moved from them to the well-dressed man standing not far from the two.
Suppressing his intent, Nie Li didn't want to draw Xue Hui's attention like before.
Last time, seeing how close Xue Hui and Ye Ziyun were, Nie Li grew careless and instinctively leaked a faint trace of killing intent.
It was subtle, yet it was enough for Xue Hui to notice him. That was a frightening level of soul perception Xue Hui possessed, especially for his age.
'Xue Hui,' Nie Li uttered his name in his mind.
Xue Hui's existence had been a cause of headaches for Nie Li ever since he returned.
Leaning back in his chair, Nie Li watched as Xue Hui approached the two and greeted them, making the girls stop their intense staring.
Seeing Ye Ziyun gentle smile aimed at Xue Hui, jealousy crept into Nie Li's heart.
Ye Ziyun was his lover in his previous life. After the fall of Glory City, the two of them braved the outside world to escape the onslaught of demon beasts.
During their journey, Ye Ziyun unfortunately died at the hands of a Desert Horn Crawler, separating them forever.
As per Ye Ziyun's request, Nie Li persisted and continued his journey while barely surviving.
In the end, Nie Li found the Temporal Demon Book, a treasure that allowed him to alter his fate and the key factor in him becoming a supreme expert in his previous life.
It was also responsible for sending Nie Li back to his younger self after he died fighting the Sage Emperor.
You can't imagine how happy Nie Li was when he returned, seeing the love of his life and realizing he could change the fate of Ye Ziyun and everyone dear to him.
Then Nie Li realized that something was amiss in the past he was sent to. There was an anomaly, and that anomaly had made huge changes to the Glory City Nie Li was once familiar with.
To his shock, the City Lord's wife, Ye Ziyun's mother, was still alive.
Glory City now had two Legend Rank experts: Lord Ye Mo and a mysterious expert from the Divine Family.
Speaking of that clan, Nie Li discovered that the Divine Family had risen to power equal to the Snow Wind Family, both in strength and influence.
Besides having their own Legend Rank expert, the Divine Family had managed to unearth enormous wealth, increasing their fortune many times over.
Their Divine Medicine Pavilion had become a leading alchemy business, second only to the Alchemy Association itself.
With such rapid growth in status in such a short time, Nie Li couldn't help but grow suspicious.
Another thing that baffled Nie Li the most was the presence of the Withered Princess among his class.
In his previous life, the existence of the Withered Princess was nothing more than a tragic tale passed around in casual conversation.
Many of them, including Nie Li, didn't even believe that the Withered Princess actually existed, since she never showed herself to the public.
Nie Li's eyes darted toward Chen Linlin. She had a healthy physique, full of vigor, with no signs of any soul force withering at all. More importantly, Nie Li could sense a faint trace of the purest kind of soul force aura within her.
Something a Nine Crystal Yin Physique, which she was rumored to possess, shouldn't have.
Intrigued, Nie Li's eyes narrowed, his gaze zeroing in on the immortal treasure attached to her arm.
Mask Realm Bracelet, a powerful treasure capable of hiding oneself. It could even deceive the spiritual senses of experts above Legend Rank.
With that item attached to Chen Linlin, Nie Li could surmise that her current strength had at least surpassed that of a Bronze Rank or even a Silver Rank Demon Spiritualist.
And all of those anomalies were somehow connected to that person.
Xue Hui.
Mysterious, strong, and possessing a keen sense, and most annoyingly, he was far too handsome.
Usually, Xue Hui's kind of appearance was something you could only see in places with dense spiritual energy or in planes with pure heavenly energy, not in tiny worlds like where they were.
Unlike in a tiny world, higher planes were almost devoid of impurities in the air, meaning people had fewer physical flaws.
Nie Li wouldn't feel insecure toward Xue Hui. After all, Nie Li had his own pride. So what if Xue Hui was strikingly good-looking?
He was a supreme expert in his previous life. Nie Li had reached a mysterious realm that the likes of Xue Hui couldn't even imagine existed.
How could Nie Li feel inferior to someone like Xue Hui?
But the issue was that Xue Hui had a good relationship with Ye Ziyun, far too good for Nie Li's comfort.
It didn't help that Nie Li had no clue what kind of person Xue Hui was.
Besides yesterday's encounter, all the rumors circulating about Xue Hui's character were superficial.
Nie Li's lips curved upward, his expression turning challenging. 'It seems that I need to search on my own to know more about you, Xue Hui of the Divine Family.'
Nie Li's eyes flashed with a dangerous glint. 'And if I ever find out that your only intention is to cause harm to my Ziyun, then don't blame me for being impolite, you'll need to die,' Nie Li thought.
Since he had returned, Nie Li would surely protect everyone, especially Ye Ziyun.
But for now, Nie Li had to swallow the bitterness in his heart, watching Ye Ziyun act flustered around that person.
'And to think I really thought that, other than the Sage Emperor, I wouldn't find a person who would make me feel threatened,' Nie Li thought to himself.
'And I still need to find a way to get close to Ziyun.' Nie Li sighed. The current Ye Ziyun didn't have a good impression of him yet.
After a while, Xue Hui broke the awkwardness between Ye Ziyun and Xiao Ning'er by talking to them.
Xue Hui had to juggle conversing with the two, but in the end, he managed to have a pleasant talk with them.
Of course, by doing so, he earned the ire-filled stares of the boys, they truly loathed Xue Hui in their hearts.
Minutes passed, and Shen Xiu finally arrived in class. Trailing behind her was her nephew, Shen Yue, who didn't waste a second glaring at Xue Hui, his angry scowl prominent.
Many of the students bit their tongues upon seeing him, avoiding laughter. The last thing they wanted was to incur Shen Yue's wrath.
Xue Hui didn't pay any attention to him. To Xue Hui, a brat like Shen Yue wasn't worth his time, nothing more than an annoying, spoiled child.
Nie Li and his group were about to stand at the back when Shen Xiu stopped them, asking them to stay where they were.
Shen Xiu's unusually perky attitude threw everyone off.
Unlike yesterday, when she didn't bother to hide her disdain for the majority of her students, she was now more accommodating, asking everyone to settle into their seats as she began her lecture.
'Bullshit,' Xue Hui and Nie Li both thought to themselves, seeing through Shen Xiu's current demeanor.
Curious about what made Shen Xiu act like a proper teacher, Xue Hui circulated his soul force to heighten his senses, identifying the reason for her change in attitude.
'No wonder. It seems Senior Ye Shuo is currently on the hunt for recruitable talents,' Xue Hui concluded.
Outside the Fighter Apprentice Class stood a group of people. One of them was Ye Shuo, an elder of the Snow Wind Family, someone Xue Hui had met before.
He had previously heard from Chen Zhenlong that Ye Shuo was in charge of the faction of hidden experts within the Snow Wind Family, much like how the Divine Family had their own hidden experts.
Many members of this hidden faction were unknown experts, mostly of commoner descent, since they were the easiest to blend into the shadows.
Shen Xiu enthusiastically began her lesson, talking about inscription patterns of various kinds, focusing on the Scarlet Sunburst Pattern of the Sacred Family.
From the get-go, Xue Hui judged that Shen Xiu's knowledge of inscription patterns was severely lacking, though not bad for someone of her standing.
Not everyone could end up in a mysterious space to study inscription patterns and reach a supreme mastery level after death like him.
So Xue Hui would at least give Shen Xiu some credit for the little knowledge she had.
But that didn't mean he wouldn't fault her for making a fool of herself for different reasons.
'The Sacred Family is a truly shameless group of people, aren't they?' Xue Hui thought to himself, genuinely taken aback by how shameless they could be.
A faint smile crossed Xue Hui's face as his eyes settled on the Sacred Family's self-created Scarlet Sunburst Pattern.
Just like him, another person caught the glaring violation the Sacred Family had committed, and unlike Xue Hui, this person couldn't wait to expose their hypocrisy.
What occurred next marred the reputation of the most respected Sacred Family's ancestors in the eyes of everyone present.
It started when Shen Xiu angrily called out Nie Li, who happened to be dozing off in the middle of her lecture.
Shen Xiu demanded to know if Nie Li already understood the Scarlet Sunburst Pattern well enough to dare to sleep during her class.
Nie Li said he did, and then began explaining everything about the Scarlet Sunburst Pattern in well-defined detail, including things even Shen Xiu didn't know.
"Ridiculous! Such a book does not exist in the world!" Shen Xiu yelled in anger.
Nie Li had essentially revealed in front of the class that the "self-created" Scarlet Sunburst Pattern of the Sacred Family's ancestors was nothing more than an inferior version of an already existing enchanted pattern called the Divine Lightning Fire Pattern.
By cutting out a large portion of its inscription pattern and leaving only the fire aspect, they had turned a powerful enchanted pattern capable of massive destruction into a much inferior version that could only be used to boil water. Yet the Sacred Family's First House Master had claimed it as his own creation, violating a major rule in the Demon Spiritualist Code of Conduct, which states that inscriptionists must indicate their sources when copying or taking inspiration from inscription patterns to avoid plagiarism.
This was something the Sacred Family's First House Master had clearly failed to do when creating the Scarlet Sunburst Pattern.
While Nie Li, Shen Xiu, and, by extension, Shen Yue argued about the severity of the issue, Xue Hui listened attentively to Nie Li. The more Nie Li spoke, the more clues Xue Hui gathered about his sudden change in behavior.
'Temporal Demon Book,' Xue Hui mused, like a puzzle piece clicking perfectly into place. He began to realize where Nie Li came from, or more precisely, when.
'Interesting. Emperor Shen Jiao Dao once mentioned the Temporal Demon Book and its importance in defeating the Sage Emperor.' Xue Hui only had limited knowledge about it, since even Emperor Shen Jiao Dao had only heard of it and never found it herself.
'If Nie Li is someone from the future who was sent back by the Temporal Demon Book, that means, just like me, he experienced the destruction of Glory City.' Xue Hui's eyes lingered on Nie Li, who wore a confident expression. His attitude remained unyielding, even while going against a powerful family like the Sacred Family.
On the other hand, Shen Xiu and Shen Yue's faces turned ugly, their usual haughty expressions twisting into hateful scowls.
Nie Li had just discredited their ancestors in front of everyone, and the worst part was that there was evidence backing his claims.
'No wonder you're so ready to clash with Shen Xiu. That explains everything,' Xue Hui pondered.
With this new information, Nie Li became someone who could be both a help and a problem to him. 'Well, this is troublesome,' Xue Hui let out a faint chuckle, a subtle glow flickering in his eyes.
In the end, after being exposed, Shen Xiu stormed out of the classroom angrily, not before threatening Nie Li.
She left everyone dumbfounded.
At the same time, Ye Shuo and the others who had witnessed everything also left quietly. What they had discovered was a huge scandal for the Sacred Family.
While everyone was still in shock, Nie Li steadied his breathing and turned his focus to Xue Hui. His sharp glare was enough to catch Xue Hui's attention.
Noticing it, Xue Hui returned the look and activated a communication soul technique, connecting it to Nie Li.
Sensing the technique attempting to form a connection, Nie Li hesitated for a moment, pondering whether it was a good idea, before allowing it to link with him.
'I've been observing you during the lecture. You also noticed the obvious flaws in the Sunburst Pattern, but you didn't say anything. Why?' Nie Li asked, his heart pounding. He had no idea who Xue Hui truly was, but the telltale aura of a formidable expert emanating from him made Nie Li wary.
'In my defense, you didn't give me a chance to intervene at all,' Xue Hui replied, his laugh resonating in Nie Li's mind.
A bead of sweat trickled down Nie Li's forehead. He hated how confident Xue Hui sounded. 'Who exactly are you?' Nie Li asked. This question had been bothering him since he returned. Nie Li's fist clenched unconsciously as he waited for Xue Hui's answer.
Nie Li heard Xue Hui making "tsk tsk" sounds in his head, which only annoyed him further.
'Now, now, where's the fun in that? Isn't it far more entertaining for both of us if we figure each other out on our own?' Xue Hui replied in a playful tone.
Nie Li cursed to himself. He wasn't expecting Xue Hui to reveal everything, only to glean a bit of information from their exchange. But the more Xue Hui spoke, the more Nie Li was reminded of the Sage Emperor.
'I can at least assure you that I'm not an enemy of Glory City. I'm actually doing my best to find a way to protect everyone.' Nie Li's eyes narrowed, his glare boring into Xue Hui's face, searching for any sign of deception, but finding none.
'Anyway, you did well exposing that shameless bunch. I hope I don't hear news of you being found dead in some alleyway or something.'
Nie Li snorted. Him dying at the hands of the Sacred Family? He wasn't that easy to deal with.
'If you're afraid of them, you could just stay in the Divine Family mansion and not come out. Let me handle everything. I alone is enough to deal with them,' Nie Li huffed, which made Xue Hui laugh.
'Don't mind me if I do.'
Nie Li choked at Xue Hui's reply. He hadn't actually expected him to agree.
Unbeknownst to Nie Li, due to Xue Hui's unique cultivation technique, he needed to go out into the outside world quite often to find opportunities to break through.
Simple elixirs and pills, no matter the quantity, wouldn't affect Xue Hui's soul realm. So if Nie Li was going to handle the Sacred Family, he was more than welcome to do so, that was one less problem for Xue Hui to worry about.
'I'm really curious who you truly are,' Nie Li added, his tone serious.
'Like I said, telling you would ruin the fun. But unlike you, I at least have an idea who you are.'
Nie Li's eyebrows lifted. He was genuinely curious if Xue Hui truly knew about him.
Nie Li was about to ask, perhaps even provoke Xue Hui a little, but his words got stuck in his throat when Xue Hui stood from his seat and turned in his direction.
The lilac glow in Xue Hui's eyes intensified. His usual elegant demeanor shifted into something sharp. The grin on his face unnerved not only Nie Li, but everyone who saw it.
Xue Hui clasped his hands toward Nie Li, as if greeting him.
'Welcome back, Emperor Nie Li.'
The words were like a sun exploding within Nie Li's mind.
Nie Li's entire body shook. Blood rushed to his head as he became lightheaded, stammering in his seat.
Only one thought echoed in his mind:
"This person is dangerous."
End of Chapter 44