Devouring the Heavens (ATG)

A/N: Another savage week we had there guys! 3.15k Power Stones is a phenomenal amount and I couldn't have done it without you.

Your reviews, comments, likes and power stones are great motivation for writing so keep em coming!

Enjoy the Chapter.

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Shane was currently sitting at the table in his courtyard, absentmindedly running his fingers through Coral's silky plumage while sipping tea and enjoying the cool night air.

He was thinking of how to approach the following conversation. How to seriously warn the maid without seeming like an asshole and also convince her to follow them. 'Fucking character growth eh, I feel like I only act serious recently. It's not fun at all.'

Shane's heart was restless and he had been starting to feel cooped up recently. It was a strange feeling, like his body just wanted to move and no amount of training could satisfy the desire. His thoughts always drifted back to the days when he sprinted through the forest, free and unfettered.

He yearned for adventure, he wanted to travel, to see the world and experience everything it had to offer. Of course, he didn't need to go on some big journey alone, he just wanted to do all the things that he couldn't before and share it all with the one he loved.

He also felt a longing for battle against tough opponents. That feeling only got stronger as the days passed, he needed to find some opponents that were at or above his level to vent on.

Shane had always been interested in combat, even when he was on Earth and sparring daily with Qingyue had awoken an insatiable hunger for battle from deep within.

Having to constantly beware of his actions when he was with Qingyue on the outside, so that her reputation wasn't spoiled was also extremely annoying.

She didn't really care about things like face or reputation and neither did he but if people started talking bad about his wife, he would probably blow a gasket and kill some young masters, so it was for the best.

The more he thought about it, the more irritated he became with the situation. In some ways, he wished he just broke the engagement in the first place. 'That's it! Enough is enough! There is no way I will accept being anything less than lovers with Qingyue any longer!'

Shane decided that he would push to advance to Earth Profound Realm before the teahouse opened and announce his engagement to Qingyue, hopefully along with Xiao Che's engagement to Lingxi at the same time.

He didn't want to be the reason why the kid was mocked and bullied, although, not many people in Floating Cloud would dare to ridicule a 15-year-old middle stage, Nascent Realm cultivator.

By the time the teahouse opened in three weeks, Shane would make sure Xiao Che and Lingxi were both in the middle stages of Nascent Profound at the very least.

Then he would help Qingyue and Xiao Lie break through into Earth Profound Realm and even if all of Floating Cloud had some thoughts about the situation, they wouldn't dare speak.

Surprisingly, his restless heart calmed down a fair amount after making the decision and he rubbed his chin. 'Umu, I suppose I wouldn't have been so attracted to the Warhammer if I wanted to be low key.'

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Shane was brought out of his thoughts by the return of Qingyue and Dongling who were carrying a few dishes of food. Both were smiling happily and when Shane raised an eyebrow at them in question, the maid gave him a deep bow.

His little wife pulled a chair close and sat down right next to him. Coral gave her the stink eye for a second, but changed her tune when Shane tapped her on the beak a pair of times.

He casually glanced over to the maid and gestured towards the table with his hand. "Dongling, sit with us."

"Master Long, I don't thi-" Shane raised his hand to stop her and said. "You have spoken with Qingyue, correct?" She nodded "And you agreed?" She nodded again.

"Good. Then sit. We have some things to talk about." It wasn't an invitation, and she quickly caught on to the underlying tone of seriousness in his voice.

Shane cleared his throat and began swiftly setting up a pot of fruit tea, using his profound energy to chill it and pour it into cups, while seemingly considering his words carefully. "Just to let you know, this is a one time offer, there won't be another chance if you refuse and there is no going back once you accept."

The maid held his gaze and nodded again. "Good. By choosing to stay with us, work for us and travel with us, it naturally means that you will be with us for a very long time.

I want to make sure that you completely understand, the 'long time' I am talking about, will be unquestionably hundreds, perhaps even thousands of years." Her ears perked up at that, after all, who didn't want to live a long life.

"I can promise you now, that if you do choose this, not only will we never mistreat you, in fact, we will gladly treat you akin to family.

The thing I am mainly concerned with is where your allegiance lies. In the future, while working for us, you are bound to see some things that are for lack of a better word, secrets.

It goes without saying that these 'secrets', naturally need to be kept as such.

If you can do that, and your job, then you will always have your share of the best things we can offer. Even reaching the peak of cultivation in this world, would not be a dream for you." Those words struck like hammer blows onto the little girl's chest

Surely he was joking? Dongling, of all people, knew her talent for cultivation was very weak. She had been stuck at the peak of Elementary Profound Realm for 2 years now and it would likely still take her a few more to break through.

She was nobody, just a maid to the young miss of a small clan in the Blue Wind Empire. How could she become a mighty cultivator? Looking towards her young miss, the maid felt as if she were struck by lightning to see her nodding.

Many others didn't know about Qingyue's ability to detect lies and her own inability to lie to others, but how could Dongling, her personal maid, not know? If the young miss was agreeing, it meant that she completely believed in what the young master said.

What magical means did her new 'Master' have on his body that could so thoroughly convince her Young Miss? The maid glanced at him, her little pink tongue darted out of her mouth and licked her dry lips… Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to find out.

Shane watched the myriad emotions churn within the girl's eyes, her subtle exchange with his little wife and the moment when her interest in him peaked, with abject amusement. He held her gaze and let the suspense build for a few more seconds.

"You will gain people that care for you, power and riches beyond your comprehension and the authority that will naturally come with your position.

All we ask for, is your loyalty..." He finished with a warm smile, his fingers gently running across Coral's little crest.

Suddenly, Shane's whole demeanour changed in an instant, his very being radiating extreme seriousness and solemnity. His aura and killing intent billowed out, blanketing the entire courtyard. When he spoke again, his voice was grave, the surrounding pressure growing steadily stronger with each word uttered.

"Just know that if you were to ever betray our trust then there is only one path ahead of you. Death.

Believe me when I say that nothing in this world or any other, will be able to save you at that time.

Do. I. Make. Myself, Clear?"

As he finished, his eyes glowed bright crimson and Dongling no longer felt as if she was in front of her usually kind and caring young master but a great primordial beast instead. A predator that needed nothing more than a shallow excuse to devour her whole.

The girl shivered madly in fear and quickly nodded. She was terrified, strangely not so much of her new Master but of the very real possibility that he may find her unworthy, although she couldn't deny also feeling a surge of heat in her core as the air thrummed with his power.

Shane laced his fingers together and placed his chin on top of them while looking into the maid's eyes, searching for anything that could give him cause for doubt. His aura saturated the air and droplets of sweat started forming the girl's forehead, yet still, she held his gaze.

Although afraid, her eyes were pure and he was satisfied with what he saw in them, she had the strength of will and the determination needed for greatness, she just lacked the talent and the confidence. Nothing he couldn't fix later.

After just a few short seconds, Shane took a long, deep, breath in through his nose. "Good."

With that single word, his aura, pressure and serious demeanour, all disappeared as if it were a lie, seamlessly replaced with the gentle one from before.

When that irresistible aura of power disappeared, Dongling sighed in relief, she was just a few seconds shy of having a minor crisis in her underwear. Still, a slight flush decorated her neck and cheeks.

Shane felt a little bad for pressuring the girl but it needed to be done, nobody under his cultivation could effectively lie to him, especially under such pressure. He could always make it up to her later. "That being said, your dedication to your job has already greatly impressed me, even now you remain calm and professional despite being scared.

Normally that professionalism would be much appreciated but I already dislike the formalities that everyone else here seems to thrive on…" He grumbled while selecting some dishes for Qingyue and swiftly filling her plate.

"I guess what I am trying to say is that when we are alone, you can relax a little, talk to us, call us by our names, ask questions about cultivation or anything else, and of course, join us for meals."

Shane pulled a clean plate from his storage and began selecting some dishes for the girl before passing it across the table to her. She thanked him with a slight blush... that he 'ignored', already filling a plate for himself and Coral.

He obviously noticed the girl's reactions but was helpless about it, he wasn't doing it on purpose okay!

What Shane tended to forget was that he was already uniquely handsome, and that, coupled with his display of power could be quite fatal to the women of this world. Even Qingyue felt a stirring in her heart and her loins when he released his domineering aura and she was already his in mind, body and soul!

Unfortunately, someone else saw the maid blush at her husband's care. For a brief moment, Qingyue narrowed her eyes at the girl, giving her a calculative look... until a piece of chicken was held in front of her nose by Shane

"Say ahh". All other thoughts seemingly forgotten, Qingyue's eyes lit up in joy, and she opened her mouth to delicately take in the tasty looking morsel.

While chewing the piece of salt and pepper chicken, she couldn't help but think it was the sweetest thing in the world. Yup, she was completely beyond saving.

Shane was incredibly relieved that the maid accepted his offer, he really didn't want to do what came next if she were to refuse...

Some may say that what he was offering the maid was too much and the benefits that she was gaining were not equal to what she provided. Shane didn't think so, he would naturally treat his subordinates well in the future.

That was where he believed Yun Che went wrong in the novel. He had so many abilities that could have garnered many allies yet he decided not to. He didn't even open up all of his women's entrances for Goodness sake.

Would anyone want to fight for you if you held back on the good things? No, what Shane wanted was loyalty over strength, he could easily fix the latter with his abilities and as long as the former was already present, it would only increase over time.

Well anyway, if Dongling disagreed, she was already too much of a risk to them and he was prepared to deal with her. It may seem harsh but he would never hesitate to go that far to protect himself and Qingyue.

Luckily for her, she was already loyal to his little wife and the fact that Qingyue was no longer an ice sculpture probably helped immensely in that regard. All Shane had to do to breed that loyalty was to improve the girl's life and make sure his benefits far outweighed what others could offer.

Simple matters.

The three of them enjoyed the rest of the meal in a comfortable silence without one of them ever realising how close she came to an unfortunate end.

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After dinner, Shane was sat cross-legged in a spare bedroom, eyes closed and eyebrows furrowed in concentration while an unremarkable-looking white jade pendant floated in the air in front of him. His profound energy gradually wrapped around it and he used his senses and intent to probe the jade stone...

It was Qingyue's Pearl of Frozen Deception.

This plain-looking necklace could be used to hide the wearer's profound strength at will! It was powerful enough to even avoid detection from a Throne level cultivator. Unless they were actively examining the necklace itself of course.

For tens of minutes, he sat unmoving, garnering no reaction from the pendant and disappointment began to well up from within...

Suddenly, as he was on the verge of giving up, Shane felt an incredibly small yet familiar pull on his energy. It was such a minuscule amount of feedback that if he wasn't concentrating so intensely, he would have missed it. Thankfully, he didn't.

Shane's eyes opened and his hands started tapping his thighs with excitement! He had done it! In the last seconds there, he instinctively felt that his ability wanted to activate meaning that there had to be a formation of some sort inside of the pendant!

Wasting no time at all, Shane relaxed his mind and burrowed his intent into the jadeite again. This time it took only seconds before he felt the pull and immediately activated his ability {Pirate Library}.

Shane's eyelids fluttered as a complete image of the specific formation and the knowledge of how to replicate it was branded into his mind. The formation letters were then broken down and further refined within his mental palace.

Unnecessary pathways were erased and new connection channels were formed, simplifying the formation and also increasing its effectiveness.

Shane sighed, that ability really was a massive cheat.

He spent a few moments in wonder, thankful that the ability was his alone, as he poured over the newly refined formation before releasing another long sigh and standing up. He went to grab the now completely ordinary pendant out of the air but it turned to dust in his palm and shortly disappeared.

Frowning a little, Shane used his understanding of the Frozen Cloud Arts and water laws to create a small translucent crystal of the purest ice. Using the knowledge he had just gained and his great control over profound energy, he withdrew a Coral feather quill from his storage and began writing glowing letters in the air.

The formation letters joined together in the air and began to shrink down before smoothly entering and inscribing themselves within the newly created crystal. Along with the refined version of the standard formation, he also added an extra layer that inscribed itself along the outside..

The crystal glowed once to signify the activation of the formation, before returning to normal. It had cost him around a third of his profound energy to create, but this one should be able to fool the senses of even a Tyrant Profound cultivator.

The crystal was around the size of a fingernail and diamond in shape but the strangest thing about it was that it was only cool to the touch and gave off no indication that it was anything but a cheap gem.

He withdrew some 'Profound' white silk thread from his storage and under his direction, the crystal opened a tiny hole to allow it to pass through. He then spent a few minutes braiding the rest of the thread with his own profound energy, making it much more durable.

"There." Using a small amount of Ice profound energy to secure the two ends of the braid together, the simple bracelet was completed.

Satisfied with his work, Shane went to find Qingyue and tell her the good news. He clenched his fist, that was another card in his hands that could be used to convince Frozen Cloud.

Call him paranoid, but there was always a chance that they refused to cooperate or deal with him in any way. There was no way he would ever let someone take Qingyue away from him and he really didn't want to wipe out a sect full of beautiful women who had unknowingly turned indifferent to the world.

Plus the two Chu sisters were there *Cough Cough*

Qingyue had told him how the Frozen Heart Arts had locked her emotions away and was restrictive to the point that it almost controlled her actions. Allowing her to feel the sadness, fear and loneliness but never being able to act upon it.

Shane wasn't sure if it was only her that felt like that inside but he was willing to take that chance to 'help' them all.

After the technique was broken by Qingyue, she became like a cuddly cat, always asking for love and attention.

Shane licked his lips. Would he even be able to call himself a man if he had the chance to become the benefactor of a sect full of possibly affectionate and definitely beautiful big sisters and didn't take it?