Devouring the Heavens (ATG)

A/N: Okay, so I wanted to clarify something quick. I am not actually sick anymore, and while I really do appreciate the sentiments from you guys, the pity party feels a little undeserved lol.

I had a rare form of Blood Cancer (Leukaemia - like Shane, who would have thought lol) and now I am in remission (which is the doctor's way of saying ' we think we got it all but it's hard to tell so we will keep testing on you for a few years').

Technically I'm still recovering but it doesn't affect my health all that much anymore.

Enjoy the chapter...

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As Shane walked out into the courtyard, he noticed a pair of excited Xiao's talking animatedly amidst the light of the breaking dawn.

Lingxi, who was fawning over a little chick sized Coral, was the first to notice his arrival and ran over to his side. Coral took this opportunity to hop onto Shane's shoulder and nuzzle against him while the little girl started swinging his arm with stars in her eyes.

"Good morning, big brother Long! Lingxi is so excited for today! I can't wait to see everything!" Her enthusiasm was truly infectious and Shane couldn't help but softly smile and pat her head a pair of times. Looking over to Xiao Che, this kid just nodded at him with a slight smirk.

'Aiya, this kid is now a man of few words. At least he is no longer like a blushing maiden but instead became all stoic and mysterious.' Shane cried inwardly. The kid was always quiet and polite but Shane knew that he was actually very smart and sarcastic on the inside.

Obviously, Shane was the one to blame for influencing him this way. Being as he was the one who always laughed at the kid when he did anything embarrassing or made crude jokes at the expense of those 'Young Masters' and their 'inability' to perform, often within their earshot too, not that he would ever admit it.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Che seemed to have a little penchant for dry humour, especially if the aforementioned 'Young Masters' were involved. Who would have thought?

"Morning Kiddos, are you all packed and ready to go?" Shane asked as he gave their attire a once over and nodded smugly to himself. As his pseudo disciples, obviously they had to match colours with him.

They were both wearing tailored black and crimson robes that looked reminiscent of Darth Maul's combat outfit, just more stylish and with less material. They were also both sporting their new swords at the hip.

While Shane himself liked to wear a minimal amount of clothing, he couldn't have his students, especially Lingxi, do the same after all.

Obviously, Shane was only wearing his usual shorts and open, outer robe combo, still a mix of crimson and red. The only difference to the usual was that the shorts, formed from the recently absorbed Spirit Profound skin, now had pulsing crimson veins similar to lighting running along them.

The reason he still wore the outer robe, despite normal shirts being more comfortable, was not only so that he could show off his chiselled chest and abs, oh no. As stupid as it seemed, he had quickly fallen in love with the snapping sound made by the loose sleeves whenever he flicked his wrists...

When in a cultivation world do as the cultivators do eh.

At that moment, Qingyue and Dongling strolled out into the courtyard, one looking excited, despite the lingering irritation at the presence of her veil, made apparent by her 'casual' tugging on the fabric while the other looked rather melancholic.

Lingxi, this cute little animal, had absolutely no filter and hopped on over to his wife while saying "Big sister, big sister! You look so beautiful even with a veil! Look at my new robes, Big Brother Long got them for me! Can you help me wear my veil?

Are you excited about the trip? What are you looking forward to the most?" She was like a little machine gun with questions for ammo and god was he glad he dodged that bullet with headpats, pun intended.

'Dongling is a little sad, give her a hug' After a Spirit Sound Transmission from Qingyue, Shane offered up a silent prayer for her and stepped towards his maid, who 'coincidentally' had Dusty hanging around her neck.

Then without warning, he pulled her into a tight hug. "Eeeep!"

Dusty swiftly slithered across his shoulders, returning to the tattoo and despite the girl's exclamation, it didn't stop her arms from slipping inside his robe and her fingers splaying out across his back while her whole body melted into his bosom.

The naughty little maid didn't even acknowledge the fact that her fingers were roaming across his back muscles with all the subtlety of a freight train while she not so discreetly rubbed her cheeks against his chest. 'She must have got some sort of permission from Qingyue or she would never be this bold.'

There was no way Shane could resist teasing her so he held her tighter, stroked her hair and moved his mouth right next to her ear, his lips momentarily tracing along the tip and his warm breath causing her to shiver before he whispered. "Take care of yourself and work hard my little maid.

If anyone tries to bother or pressure you into anything while we are gone, hold your head high and remember my words.

You are a maid to us and us alone, no one else is worth entering your sight. They are beneath you." Dongling stopped her shenanigans, wrapping her arms tighter around him than before and hummed while enjoying his warmth.

A few moments later, Shane pulled back, satisfied to see the fire burning in her eyes as she bowed to him with a hand against her chest and spoke in a determined voice. "I won't let you down, Master."

"Good girl." He gently rubbed her little head one last time and could have sworn he heard her mewl before abruptly turning heel, robes fluttering in the breeze…

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Exiting the courtyard, Shane was unsurprised to find Xiao Lie waiting outside for him with the trio nowhere in sight.

Extending his spirit sense as far as possible and still not finding them anywhere, he asked. "Grandpa Lie, did they go ahead?"

The old man nodded and gazed emotionally at him for a long while. "Little Long…"

Shane patted him on the shoulders and reassured him. "Worry not Grandpa Lie, nothing will happen to them. I will not make it easy for them but I won't allow them to get needlessly hurt, you have my word.

I would like to ask you for a favour though."

Xiao Lie leaned back against the wall, letting out a breath in relief. Shane may be many things but he was definitely a man of his word. "Of course, if these old bones can be of use to you then I won't shy away."

"Good, this matter I can only entrust to you. I want you to keep an eye on Dongling this week, even moving into the courtyard if you can." For a second, he showed a rather awkward and apologetic smile but still continued.

"To be honest, I don't trust anyone here but our own people and if someone were to try and take advantage of that girl, my hammer would surely be itching to pay them a visit.

Qingyue that fierce little tiger would also cause a terrible scene and I can guarantee that neither of us wants that." Xiao Lie gulped when Shane mentioned Qingyue's temper, no doubt remembering the incident in town but quickly schooled his expression.

The old man didn't immediately agree or disagree with Shane's request, he neither nodded nor frowned, he just kept an indifferent expression and extended a hand.

Shane understood what he meant and withdrew ten pouches of Spirit Tea, yet surprisingly the old man remained unmoved.

"50" he said and Shane started choking on the fresh morning air

"*Cough* 50!? Isn't this a daylight robbery? Could you even use 50 in a week!? What the hell happened to what you just said!?" Unexpectedly this old grandpa was acting so shamelessly!

You had to know that one of these Spirit Tea pouches made by Shane would easily last for the whole day!

"50" Seeing the old man's unmoving gaze Shane couldn't help lament inwardly. 'Spoiled them! I spoiled them too much!'

"Truly, never thought that of all the skills I could possibly learn from you, 'iron skin' was your most accomplished." Shane spat while shaking his head and handed over another 40 pouches.

Xiao Lie swiftly stashed them somewhere inside his robes and went back to being all smiles and squinted eyes, acting like a kindly grandpa. He patted Shane on the shoulder and said. "Take care of yourself Little Long", Despite his shady actions, the genuine care in his tone was evident.

Shane began to walk towards the Xiao Clan gates and said over his shoulder. "Don't worry old man, I won't let my guard down, I have too much to lose."

As Shane's back view got further away, a Spirit Sound Transmission made its way into Xiao Lie's ears, causing his whole body to go rigid and remain unmoving for a long time.

'When we return, I will help you break into the Earth Profound Realm. Grandpa Lie you need to stop hesitating, you have things to live for and look forward to now.

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Shane caught up to the trio in the middle of the almost Empty street and they all chatted happily together as they walked the rest of the distance to the City gates.

After leaving the City, they continued to walk for a couple of km until Floating Cloud was out of sight. Shane summoned Dusty to transform into her full size, while the silvery liquid essence poured out of his wrists, fully armouring him up in seconds.

His hammer appeared in a miniature size on his waist in a sheathe made from Organic Constructs. He would be taking this trip seriously from the get-go.

He helped Xiao Che and Lingxi get seated on Dusty's back before sweeping Qingyue off her feet and jumping up on top of the huge Draconic head. Coral took flight from his shoulder and reverted to the size of a large peacock mid-air, circling above their heads and rising in altitude with each passing second.

The now gigantic Draconic Wyrm just chirped a couple of times as if she didn't even feel the extra weight on her head and Shane barely had a chance to yell out. "Coat yourselves in your Profound Energy or you will regret it!" before she took off at a blistering speed.

Shane himself just casually waved a hand, a wedge-shaped Wind Barrier forming in front of them and allowing Dusty to concentrate on manoeuvring across the terrain while his little wife was content to stay in his embrace.

She wasn't unguarded, however, as he could feel her spirit sense unleashed and spread out to its full capacity within the sphere of his own senses.

His spirit sense was considerably stronger than Qingyue's, extending for hundreds of meters in each direction, although, even after noticing that fact, she didn't let her guard down or return it.

Shane was proud, It would seem that all the training together had paid off and she was using this opportunity to train her Spirit Sense. He just held her tighter and kissed her hair as a reward. "Good girl"

Even the kiddos seemed to be alert and observant of the surroundings, although only being at the [1st of Nascent Profound], their Profound senses were pitifully weak, their determination to follow his teachings were still admirable.

Among warnings of vigilance and to never underestimate an enemy, Shanes creed was basically that by thinking outside of the box, everything can be further improved beyond preconceived notions. That, and to always look for an opportunity in every situation.

This was one such opportunity...

The speed of Dusty, if compared to the two kiddos, was exceptionally fast, although they may be able to reach it in short bursts if they were to push themselves to the limit.

The point here is that if one were to extend their Spirit Sense while travelling at that speed and in their realm, normally they would be overwhelmed and confused, causing them to pull it back in.

These two were keeping it extended and if they could manage to do that as easily as when walking around, it would improve their awareness and response times immensely.

Qingyue was also training this way but with her, Spirit Sense extended to the absolute limit.

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Despite the rather worn-out condition of the roads, it only took around three hours for Dusty to traverse the 200km distance and reach the outskirts of Cyan Forest Town.

Holding Qingyue close, Shane jumped the last few meters to the ground before gently placing her on her feet. He turned to see Xiao Che smirking a little while doing the same for an absolutely lovestruck little Lingxi. 'Ah, there might be hope for this kid yet.'

Lingxi started securing a black veil to her face and Shane nodded approvingly, they were only passing through today, so the less trouble the better.

Her looks couldn't be mentioned in the same breath as Qingyue's, who could cause the fall of a country and its people but she was undoubtedly still a beautiful girl.

With an Emerald flash, Dusty wrapped herself around his arm and his wife started spoiling her plenty, sneakily feeding some vitality pellets and rubbing her little horns all over. "Thank you little Dusty, who's my beautiful girl." Qingyue cooed and the snake jumped ship!

Shane's mouth opened wide while he screamed 'Traitor!' in his head. He was about to call Coral to ease his lonely heart when he heard another sweet voice loudly shout out, making his eye twitch in the process. "Fen Se, Fen Se! Come here, girl!"

With a loud and sonorous cry resembling an Eagle's only much more melodious, a white and crimson blur dived towards them at a frightening speed only to pull up at the last second and land smoothly on Lingxi's shoulder. She too proceeded to take out some vitality pellets from somewhere and 'sneakily' fed them to Coral.

What injustice was this!? He made those Goddess dammit pellets in good faith and now he was being ignored in favour of them!

Shane snorted derisively, his Warhammer appeared in his hand at full size and already slung across a shoulder. He tightly grabbed Qingyue's small hand and started dragging her towards the town.

Once they had passed the gates, little Linxi's head was as if on a swivel pointing at all the new shops and restaurants and even Xiao Che, this recently pretending to be a mysterious and silent guy, was no different.

Qingyue's eyes also lit up with interest but she had already had a broader view of the world than the other two through the words of both her husband and her Master, and all the images shown in the dreamscape, so this much wasn't enough to impress her.

Shane took them all to a fancy looking and lofty-sounding restaurant in the middle of the town, called something Profound Charming Fragrant something House, and the six of them ate a hearty breakfast, knowing it could be their last proper meal for several days.

Thankfully, it was still early in the morning and 'Young Masters' clearly don't wake up before noon, so even their return journey back to the town gates went unimpeded. A few men did stare at Lingxi and Qingyue briefly but the size of that huge Warhammer hefted across Shane's shoulder and a quick flare of his Killing Intent did the trick.

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As soon as they left the town, the training began and Shane had them run the 30km of distance over the rolling, grassy hills between the town and the forest edge. It took around an hour and a half, but he was impressed to see that everyone still looked chipper.

*Whistle* "Coral!" This time his little birdie came to him and so he looked left and right before 'sneakily' turning around to feed her some vitality pellets mixed with his own Profound Energy. The other three just momentarily stopped chatting, shared a look and simultaneously rolled their eyes.

"Hey, girl~ Can you fly above the canopy and locate any late True Profound or Spirit Profound beasts and lure them to us?" He asked while running his fingers through her feathers. There shouldn't be any Earth Profound beasts near here or the town itself would actually be in danger.

*Phi Phi* Coral took off again in a blur and Shane turned to the other three with a serious gaze. "Brother Che and little Lingxi, any Profound Beast below the [5th of Nascent Profound] will be yours to kill." They shook a little but neither said anything.

"You both have a True Profound weapon and although you cannot bring out their full strength, there should be no problem damaging any profound beast below the peak of Nascent Profound.

I also want you to fight together every single time. The whole style of your swords and attacks are based around and depend upon the quality of your teamwork.

So, don't be afraid to rely upon each other and trust your already impeccable coordination but remember to communicate. You always go all out against me so it shouldn't be hard to do the same against something that actually wants to kill you."

He wasn't joking, With his Body Cultivation being at the peak of True Profound, there was no way either of them could put a scratch on him, even with their new swords, so he always encouraged them to try to kill him during the spars.

There was also a good reason why Shane had always trained the two of them together, sparred against them both at the same time and forged them sister swords.

They had a great understanding of each other on an almost instinctual level and could easily fight enemies a few small realms above when working in tandem. They were only lacking the experience of actual combat.

He smiled proudly at them and patted Xiao Che's shoulder, staring into the boy's slightly nervous eyes. "You are no longer weak, you are no longer frail, have confidence in yourselves and remember to always stay vigilant of your surroundings.

There will be real danger here and you. will. get. injured if you are careless. Neither I nor Qingyue will step in to help unless you are about to lose your lives.

So, make sure to never underestimate an opponent and always go all out, no matter their strength."

They both nodded and Xiao Che smirked while giving Lingxi a meaningful look. Shane had a bad feeling all of a sudden and narrowed his eyes while his brain started running at a million miles an hour. 'What is this kid planning?'

They both quickly took a step back, fell to their knees and Kowtowed ""We won't disappoint you, Master!""

Contrary to his original bad premonition, Shane could still feel the genuine sincerity used by both of them to perform this Kowtow, the smirk was merely Xiao Che finding humour in how awkward Shane would be after the fact.

Qingyue had already started snickering into her sleeve by the side and although Shane himself was touched, he could feel that small blood vessel behind his left eye, the one that made itself known every time someone did some stupid cultivation world bullshit, throb painfully.

Nonetheless, he decided to play along, stroking his imaginary beard as he lifted them off of the ground with a wave of his hand. "Good Good Good! Let Master take a look at you."