The Heavenly Martial Empress Returns: An OP Xianxia Returnee LitRPG

Chapter 177: One Week Later Inside The Inner Realm

-----

(Bing Xue’s POV)

After telling my family about this, they seemed to have found it to be quite a good idea. Not only because we would get to rest and relax in between all the chaos. But because it would also apparently give them a lot of time to train, cultivate, and get used to their abilities and skills.

And I couldn’t agree more with them; they indeed required quite some more time to get that done; a couple of months where they’ll train, rest, then continue training and understanding their abilities might be what they need.

I also communicated this to most of my disciples, and most of them also asked me to please allow them to stay in my Inner Realm for this “vacation/training”.

Nicholas, Yanise, John, Francisco, Aiyana, Jackes, Peperina, and a couple more ended up all staying in here. I was rather excited we would spend five months of pure training, so I created unique training methods for everyone.

It has roughly been a week since everything started, though, and after this morning’s breakfast, I walked across my Palace within the Inner Realm. I appreciated the beauty of this world I’ve created, which I’ve shaped carefully through my life in Murim so its growth would be optimal for my own.

Every piece of an Inner Realm affected how the growth of an Immortal progressed. Using special Spiritual or Immemorial Treasures, which come in the shape of nature itself, be it trees, entire forests, bodies of water, or even mountains, it is possible to directly enhance an Inner Realm atmosphere and biodiversity.

Which, as a result, also increases the power of the Immortal; a healthy and lively Inner Realm always means one thing: the Immortal is powerful, incredibly strong. Meanwhile, when an Inner Realm looks badly taken care of, the Immortal will oftentimes be a weakling.

I can’t say I obtained everything here honorably though; I did steal most of this from other Inner Realms; I went as far as devouring them and assimilating them into my own, something possible as long as the bubble where the Inner Realm’s dimension is stored is not destroyed when an immortal is killed.

However, not every Inner Realm could be absorbed; usually they had to be around the Path I was cultivating or close to it. Meaning that a Water Path Inner Realm wouldn’t be very beneficial for me back then, and it would only become detrimental as it would mix my Dao Comprehension and take me further away from enlightenment through specializing.

But well, that’s in the past. Upon achieving Rank 21 and achieving the Primordial Immemorial Venerable Realm, I had no such issues anymore, and my Enlightenment now encompassed the entirety of the Heavenly Dao; all Paths could be assimilated and learned seamlessly over time.

“Ah, there she is.”

I walked past a huge, beautiful forest full of autumn leaves; this was the Perpetual Autumn Fire Forest. All trees look like they are going through autumn eternally and, when touched, release flames.

A dangerous place for most people to train on, except someone that had been rapidly assimilating the element of fire, a cute girl that had grown more and more decided to become stronger. Someone who, despite her initial meek personality, had a heart of gold.

FLUOSH!

Peperina was sitting cross-legged in the forest’s center, where the trees were at their highest heat level; constantly, flames flowed towards her, attempting to burn her body.

However, she was rapidly assimilating the flames into her inner Martial Core, Soul, and Body, refining them while meditating.

The pain of being burned remained though, and she had to endure through it as she assimilated the flames and cultivated.

The Perpetual Autumn Fire Forest is among the highest-ranked Immemorial Treasures I have, which contains a large quantity of Immemorial Ki of the highest purity imbued with the Dao of Fire.

Therefore, it is a perfect place for any Fire Path Cultivator to continue on their cultivation journey, Peperina had been staying here for the entire week, taking breaks to come eat and also for us to spend some time alone chatting and exploring my Inner Realm.

“Hm, I see…”

I nodded, noticing that her body was gaining several near-invisible marks; these were something similar to runes imprinted into her body, but I called them Dao Marks.

Part of why physical objects were imbued with certain Daos was because of this concentration of essence that manifests as tiny marks inscribed into all things.

By now, she had probably refined thousands of Dao Marks of Fire.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and sighed in relief; the flames around her stopped flowing, and the forest became silent once more.

“Ah, Bing Xue, good morning,” she said. “I ended up spending the whole night in here… I had entered into some sort of trance. It was like… I had become a flame myself, a spark that burned through history.”

“Oh, so you went through an Enlightenment of the Path of Fire, I see,” I nodded. “Well done. You’ve worked hard. But I believe fire alone is not the Path you must take.”

“I believe the same; the powers my father inherited aren’t just fire-related, but the control of the elements themselves… I mean, mostly metal, but mine has manifested slightly differently, right?” she asked.

“Yeah, we’re still trying to figure out how to release all of that hidden power,” I nodded. “But your practice so far has been great.”

“Yeah, look what I can do now,” Peperina smiled, licking her lips as she placed her hands into the ground.

“{Worldsmith}!”

RUMBLE!

The ground shook, as roughly twenty meters from her, a large wall of stone was lifted, and then a giant hand too.

She was also able to do the same with the trees; those around us suddenly transformed, shaking into giant hands, wooden blades, or spears.

“Interesting! So your range has increased to twenty meters?” I wondered.

“Hahh, yes, but it’s tiring… Ugh…” She groaned as she let go of her powers, the ground and the trees returning to normal. “Back then, when I fought Inferno, I was able to use Worldsmith to manipulate his weapon and armor into a living, destructive liquid metal that helped me kill him. But that was actually a very weak way to use this power. I could probably exert a stronger authority around my surroundings, but I need to keep cultivating. Skills or Leveling alone won’t do. This is… a power more intrinsic; it exists within the depth of my own soul.”

“Indeed, you’re not wrong,” I nodded. “While Shapesmithing Arts is what you use to modify your weapons or armor and change their appearance, structure, or even magical properties, it doesn’t work on others, right?”

“Yeah, it only applies to things that belong to me,” she nodded. “However, Worldsmith is its "upgrade,"  a power that converged the legacies of my two parents together… I don’t want to let them down, so I need to continue practicing it.”

“It seems you’ve gained a lot of resolve, Peperina,” I giggled. “You’ve changed more than most other people I’ve known since I came back.”

“A-Ah, really?” She wondered, suddenly blushing and feeling embarrassed. “M-Maybe… I mean, I wouldn’t say I changed, more like I just let out what I had within me.”

“So you’re saying you were always like this deep down…?” I wondered.

“I mean, kind of,” she muttered. “The whole cute girl is mostly like, a thing I do just so people like me more. But this overly niceness and all, it’s just part of my job as a Guild Receptionist.”

“I see…” I nodded.

So those are her thoughts regarding the matter, huh?

There is some truth amidst her lies, but I can clearly detect when someone is pretending or acting.

She wasn’t acting or pretending back then; Peperina simply is too embarrassed to accept that she has a cute side.

Is she trying to look and be rougher for me, or perhaps to protect her parents?

After what we went through back in Elios, it wouldn’t be surprising that she’s forcing herself to act more "mature,” maybe.

But I wasn’t anybody to tell her how she should act; I am only guiding her because she wanted my help.

“How do you feel then?” I wondered. “About your current strength? Not only there is this power, but also the Spiritual Divinity that the Hare left behind with you.”

“Oh that, that’s a whole other subject,” Peperina giggled. “I have yet to perfect or train that one, but it is related to Moonlight, right? I’ll have to do it at night then.”

“Seeing how far you’ve come, I think you’re soon to hit a wall regarding your comprehension of the Fire Dao,” I explained. “If you want to further specialize, you’ll need more materials and assimilate them through a special Ritual Formation to change your physique.”

“So that’s what I need to do, huh…” Peperina didn’t really like the idea. “Aah, I don’t really like the sound of it… Not one bit! Can’t I do something differently?”

Despite how she tried acting “mature”, she was still very cute.

“Hm, certainly,” I said. “You can try to also gain enlightenment in the Dao of the Moon. Once you’re done with that, perhaps beginning walking the Path of the Dao of Earth wouldn’t be so bad either.”

“The Moon and Earth?” she wondered. “I see… Is Earth because of Worldsmith?”

“Yes, we still have yet to see its full power, but it seems to encompass every element,” I explained. “In a way, it could be said you are capable of understanding and comprehending most Daos to an extent thanks to this talent.”

“Oh wow,” she gasped.

“However, it won’t be an easy task,” I said. “As there are so many elements, it’s quite ridiculous to even think you can just begin to comprehend them all; you’ll end up spending hundreds of years only doing this. So it’s not cost-effective nor time-effective… You’ll have to first enlighten yourself with the Dao of Earth and perhaps Nature. Once you get Earth, Nature, Fire, and Moonlight, I believe you’ll be able to pass the wall I see within your growth and break it apart into pieces, ascending further into higher realms.”

“Ohh,” she nodded, looking excited. “I really want to get even stronger… Fighting on the Second Floor taught me quite a lot of things. About how this Tower works and about our future. If I don’t fight and continue growing stronger, when a foe that could threaten my parents or those I love appears... I won’t be able to do anything, and I’ll feel so useless. I don’t want people to die helplessly anymore, seeing how most of my tribe was slaughtered, all because they were peaceful, because they didn’t choose to fight…”

So that’s how it is; I think I understand her mentality a bit better now. She wants to honor her tribe, which had perished almost completely aside from a couple of them that managed to escape to the first Floor or the third Floor of the Tower.

My guess is that she desires to grow stronger to become a symbol for her kind and perhaps for all other “small” and “weak” races similar to the Rabbit-kin.

She kind of wants to become a figure people can rely on and someone that will teach them that they need to fight back.

Perhaps that’s it.

What a noble cause. In Murim, you would never see someone with such an innocent yet beautiful, righteous resolve.

She is, without a doubt, an exemplar member of the Heavenly Court Sect!

“I promise you to guide you on the Path you’ve chosen to walk through, Peperina,” I said. “As your master, it is my duty.”

I extended my hand towards her as I helped her stand up from the leaf-covered forest floor.

She blushed a bit as she held my hand and stood up.

“Thank you, Bing Xue… Since you showed up that my life changed a lot,” she giggled. “I kind of feel guilty that I am being helped so much by you… H-Have I ever done something to deserve this much kindness?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “Being born, perhaps. As the Empress of Heaven, I am dutiful to guide lost souls, those that suffered, those that saw their families die… You come from a tribe devastated by cruelty and misery. You might have slain the one that killed them, but that doesn’t mean that the pain your family went through is gone. Isn’t that enough of a reason for me to extend a hand? Maybe I’m indeed too kind… But that’s why I am so strong. This power is not to be a tyrant, and it is not to torment innocents. I became stronger because I wanted to be kind and selfless.”

“Ahh,” she gasped, looking at my eyes with such surprise. “You're truly someone incredible… I… I understand now. Thank you…”

“It’s alright, Peperina! You make me so proud,” I giggled. “Shall we get moving then? I think Nicholas is nearby, inside a volcano.”

“Sure… But wait! Wait a bit, Bing Xue,” she called, grabbing my robes.

“Yes?” I wondered.

“Um… C-Can you lower your head a bit?” she wondered, looking embarrassed.

I did as she asked; I was indeed quite tall compared to her.

And when I did so, well…

“Mooch!”

She kissed my lips. Her little lips were soft and warm; it was a brief kiss, but it was sweet.

“Peperina…”

Despite all of my wisdom and experience, when I was kissed by a cute girl, I couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

“There… I gave you a kiss,” she muttered, blushing. “I-It’s the least I could do… after everything. I… I always say I want to take my time with this, but I just couldn’t help it anymore.”

She held my hand.

“Can I kiss you a bit more?”

“…Of course.”

I smiled, embracing her as I hugged her and lifted her off the ground, and we kissed passionately in the middle of the autumn forest.

I held her gently; her body was small and delicate to me, so I held her gently like a little cotton ball; her little lips, however, were fiercely kissing mine.

“Hmm~”

She moaned lightly as I grasped her buttocks tightly; they were big, and I couldn’t help it in this position at the end.

This rabbit girl mercilessly played with my mouth and my tongue, sucking my tongue and then licking my lips with her own.

Her kisses were so sweet and full of heated passion, I couldn’t resist her.

Eventually, after a couple of minutes, our lips separated.

“Hahh… Hahh… Ah, that was my first kiss,” she muttered.

“Fufu, you were quite amazing for your first time~!” I giggled, kissing her nose. “And so cute! You’re so cute! I can’t stop hugging you~!”

“E-Eeh? I-I’m trying to be a bit more mature, and you’re calling me cute all the time, Bing Xue!” She complained adorably, as she didn’t fight back my hugs.

“I promise to protect you and love you, Peperina.” I said, looking at her eyes as I caressed her tender face.

“I-I promise too,” she nodded. “A-Ahh, this is so embarrassing…”

She ended covering her face in embarrassment, as if she hadn’t been eating my lips with her kisses a few seconds ago!

-----