"Damn kids today."
The door of the cultivation roomed clicked shut once more only for the aged voice of one of the Martial Tower's guards to ring out.
"Renting a Tier 9 cultivation room just to impress a woman? I wish I could be so extravagant." Another guard muttered.
"Was the cultivation room always so broken down, though? It was a complete mess."
"Maybe the kid's fiercer than we gave him credit for." The third guard said, words laced with innuendo.
"It's a shame, though. We didn't get to see what kind of beauty he was playing with. A kid who could afford such a place just for some fun is definitely not toying around with a normal woman."
"Excuse me, gentleman. Might I ask you a question?"
A young man suddenly appeared in the circular shaped lobby area.
This floor was one of the highest in the Martial Tower and only had nine rooms in total, equidistantly spaced in a circular pattern. Each had large metallic and round doors fitted with complex gears. They were both works of art and feats of engineering all at once.
In such an open floor plan, it was nigh impossible for someone to sneak up on three Immortal Ring level guards. Yet, this was exactly what had happened.
"This young master… How might we be of service?"
Compared to Neil who Ryu had met ten days prior, this person was decidedly darker though he wore a similar half-mask. His brooding aura almost coalesced around him into a tangible form, swaying in the air like the tentacles of a lingering beast.
"Who was in that room?" The young man asked.
"This…"
The three guards looked at each other.
"We are not sure. But, there were two of them. A man and a woman. We only faintly saw the long hair of the woman, but the young man wasn't someone we had seen before."
It was impossible to see behind his mask, but it felt like the young man frowned. His aura became slightly gloomier, darkening by a measure.
"… A man and a woman…? A powerful dual cultivation technique, perhaps…?" The young man muttered to himself as though the three guards before him were nothing but air.
At that moment, the door to Ryu's cultivation room opened. His presence held an imposing might, the kind that spread out regardless of his own wishes. The air simply seemed heavier around him.
But, there was a devastating beauty beside him that carried a directly opposing and exceptionally light air. Ailsa wore a flowing white gown, her golden hair and ruby eyes glistening like rays of sunshine. However, her smile was the brightest of them all. She clung to Ryu's arm with both of hers, unwilling to let go.
The guards and the half-masked man were left in a daze. This was the woman that was with him? They had assumed that she couldn't be normal but… Wasn't this a bit too exaggerated? Was it even possible for such a beautiful woman to exist? And weren't women like this meant to be distant treasures one could look upon but never touch? Why was she so infatuated with this young man?
However, after finally prying their eyes from Ailsa and looking toward Ryu, they suddenly felt like they understood. They both seemed like people of the same world…
Ryu's black robes and Ailsa's white gown should have clashed, but they rather seemed meant for each other.
Ryu suddenly felt that he might have brought another headache upon himself. Most people assumed he was traveling alone since they couldn't see Ailsa, so he was rarely bothered with trivial things like people lusting after women by his side. But, he couldn't take his words back now. He didn't want to be the one to take that smile off of her face.
It wasn't like he had never dealt with this before, anyway. Elena might not have been as beautiful as Ailsa when she was by his side – possibly due to her weaker cultivation back then in comparison to Ailsa currently, not to mention the innate disadvantage humans had in that department compared to Faeries – but she was still the object of affection for countless people.
Back then, Elena could only rely on herself to swat these annoying flies away because he was too weak. But in this lifetime, Ryu didn't plan on taking a backseat in such matters again.
At least that was what he had thought until…
"Hmph."
A violent aura erupted from Ryu's side. It was such a raging torrent of oppressive energy that even Ryu's own heart seized, his gaze whipping about as though trying to find the source. But, when he did, it took all of his self-control for him not to display a surprised expression.
The three guards and the half-masked man all simultaneously turned various pale shades of white.
"W-we're sorry, Noble Lady." The three guards bowed their heads immediately.
After being stunned for a moment, the half-masked man cupped his fists. "I apologize for my rudeness, Noble Seat. This Junior comes from the Nightingale Mansion, might I ask where Noble Seat and her partner hail from?"
The three guards turned paler hearing the half-masked man's form of address. In the Moon World, a 'Seat' was a title reserved for those above the Immortal Ring Realm. If this Seat's temper was bad, their referring to her as simply a 'Noble Lady' could result in their deaths.
To make matters worse, they had just been talking about missing out on seeing her body just moments ago. What if she heard and decided to kill them for their words?
Thinking to this point, they trembled and fell to their knees.
Ailsa looked toward Ryu as though asking his opinion. Seeing this scene, the half-masked young man could hardly control the cold sweat to his back. Had he made a mistake in addressing Ailsa instead of Ryu?
Ryu, who had been lost in thought, looked up and shook his head.
"I guess you could say that we will be your rival soon." Ryu said simply before leading Ailsa away.
'Rival…? He will join the Moonlight Blossom Sect…? The Black Winds Kingdom perhaps…? Or is he one of their Starred Recruits? But I would have met him by now… At the very least, there would be some intelligence on someone like this…'
"I didn't know you had regained some of your strength." Ryu said to Ailsa after they left the range of the four of them.
"Of course!" Ailsa said brightly. "The better our intimacy, the more of my strength I will have. I can easily stay in my full form now, and I can display the strength of a Path Extinction Realm expert for a few minutes."
"I see… That's good then." Ryu said lightly.
"Will you take the Martial Tower's Trial?"
"I'm not very interested in it, but I have no intention of working my way up from the status of a Working Disciple.. The only way to enter these powers as an Outer Disciple without being selected as a Starred Recruit is to claim both a Challenge Badge and a Tower Badge. I might as well do the latter now…"