Tales of Demons and Gods : The Legend of Xiao Ning'Er

Xiao Ning'Er heard Nie Li's voice calling after her as she walked out of the classroom. She turned around and saw Nie Li, Lu Piao and Du Ze tentatively walking towards her with uncertain expressions on their face.

"Xiao Ning'Er, thank you for standing alongside us just now but you really didn't need to. There was no point for you to get on Teacher Shen Xiu's bad side as well and she's going to make life difficult for you in the Institute if you continue challenging her," Nie Li said in a reserved manner. She could tell that he was still unsure of her motives when she had acted so out of character.

She saw other students standing nearby, pretending to talk to each other because they wanted to know the reason as well, by eavesdropping on their conversation. "Come, let's go somewhere more private so we can talk," she said, turning around and leading the way.

Lu Piao turned to Nie Li and silently mouthed with an expression of astonishment, "She wants to meet with us privately?" He pumped his fist in exaggerated joy and was the first to follow after Xiao Ning'Er, making sure to slowly appreciate how she looked from behind in her short yellow skirt and black high heeled boots. He turns to wink at Du Ze, rubbing his hands together in glee and whispering, "Chance!"

Without turning around, she spoke in a calm and gentle voice, "Lu Piao, if you continue to keep your eyes down there, I don't mind removing them from your head."

He stumbled a few steps back in shock and almost tripped over a rock, as his two friends cupped their hands over their mouth and tried to hold back their laughter. She allowed a slight giggle to escape from her lips as she realised how much she's missed bantering among friends, "I'm just kidding, come let's stop here." Lu Piao did not look convinced at all and stayed behind his friends as they came to a private clearing under an oak tree in the Institute.

"All right, what do you have to tell us? Why did you confront Teacher Shen Xiu?" Nie Li asked.

She smiled faintly and asked back, "Nie Li, aren't you a noble as well? Why did you stand up for the commoners and take such a big risk on the bet?" She paused. "Teacher Shen Xiu was completely out of line. Glory City needs strong fighters to develop. How does it help things if she sows disunity among the students and represses the potential of all the commoners? If she continues teaching like this, how many batches of students will be affected, which will decrease the much-needed strength of our city in the future?"

Nie Li stood looking at her with a small frown on his face, unable to decide whether he could fully believe such virtuous words. After awhile, he could not find any fault in what she said and let out a big sigh as he suddenly broke out into a big smile, "Well, thank you Xiao Ning'Er, let us know if you ever need help with anything."

His face grew serious, "Honestly, I don't have much confidence. I have a crappy red soul realm and have been struggling to even raise my soul force by a little. And my Heavenly Marks Family has been struggling financially lately...I may have to withdraw soon anyway so that they don't have the added burden of paying for my school fees when I have so little potential."

He stopped for a moment, "I'm sorry, I lost myself and didn't intend to share so honestly, I'm not trying to gain your pity." He said resignedly, "I just wanted to stand for something I believe in and hopefully leave a positive impact before I leave."

"Nie Li...would you let me try to help you to reach Bronze rank? Somehow, hearing what you shared, I don't want Teacher Shen Xiu to win and be able to gloat about her victory and your failure, especially when she is so wrong in this matter. I have some ideas about how to speed up your cultivation if you're open to trying."

Nie Li looked shocked, this girl just kept throwing him off balance time after time. He thought to himself, 'What does she want? Is it because she fell for my amazing looks and has lost her mind? Maybe she fell down before class and hit her head somewhere.'

"What do you want in return?" he asked.

"Nothing," she replied. "Just the satisfaction of seeing Teacher lose and knowing that I was supporting the right side."

He looked at her thoughtfully, 'Hmmm, she's definitely fallen for me. What should I do? But what if she could help me? She is from one of the seven noble families in Glory City with access to so many that I do not have. Should I give her a chance? But what if I lead her on? Ye Ziyun is the one I've been having a crush on all this time...'

He finally remembered the most important issue, the bet he had with Teacher Shen Xiu. Somehow, he had felt a sense of hope when he heard Xiao Ning'Er's words and it felt good to have someone believe in him when he was so sure he would fail. Maybe he would give it a shot. It was only two months after all. He might as well do his best.

He replied to her, "Very well, Xiao Ning'Er. I don't know why you want to do so much to help me but I hope you can work with me to raise my strength during this time. Whatever happens in the future, you have a friend in me, and I, Nie Li, am in your debt!"

Behind him, she could see Du Ze and Lu Piao subtly wink to each other while showing each other two thumbs up.

"Don't worry boys, I'll do my best to raise your strengths as well." As she saw their shocked faces, she continued, "And Lu Piao, it's not what you think. I don't have a fantasy of being with three boys at the same time, so please get that sick thought out of your head."

"How did you..." Lu Piao muttered.

Without bothering to answer him, she spun around and walked away, "There are some things I need to prepare first so we'll meet in the library tomorrow after class and you can decide whether I truly have the capability to help you. You can bring the other three boys who stood with us as well if you want."

.....

Xiao Ning'Er arrived back home and sat down cross-legged in the private courtyard in front of her room to cultivate. There were a few hours before sundown and she needed to make use of whatever time she had to gain strength as fast as possible.

As her mind settled down, she began practicing the Lightning Dragon Technique which Nie Li had taught to her in her past life. Even after journeying across different realms for so long, she had never discovered a cultivation method more powerful or uniquely suited to her, and after many years of practice, she had raised her practice of it to the maximum level of efficiency.

She felt noticeable surge in her cultivation as her soul realm trembled with energy and her body glowed with a faint blue light.

By the time she opened her eyes, the sun was setting and she began to feel a burning sensation radiating down her legs. At the same time, she felt a piercing, cold pain on her right rib area. She had forgotten how painful the Arctic Disease was, caused by training at night when her cultivation was too weak because chilled air would enter her body, blocking her veins.

She blushed as she remembered that Nie Li had massaged the affected areas with the Daoyin technique and was glad that she did not have to rely on the same solution this time. Where was she going to find someone who knew this lost technique anyway?

She closed her eyes and reached into her soul realm, which was filled to the brim with soul force from her cultivation. It looked like a dense ball of lightning that rotated as sparks and electrical static could be seen on the surface of the sphere. She channeled some of that energy into her index and middle finger on her left hand, then began to slowly breathe in a profound, unnatural rhythm.

She had encountered this technique in the tomb of an ancient emperor during the adventures of her previous life. The name of the technique written on the piece of old parchment was the Purifying Art of Sacred Lightning, and it was most likely one of the most precious legacy techniques of an ancient empire. She had found it placed in a treasure chest in the most esteemed position of the tomb, an elaborate altar next to the emperor's coffin.

The two fingers glowed with a blinding white light as electrical charges flew off towards different parts of the room. When she sensed that she had reached her optimum condition, she gritted her teeth as she thrust her fingers into the bruise on her ribs. She felt the violent and berserk energy rush into the affected area and inadvertently moaned in pain as it felt like a red-hot dagger were sliding into her flesh.

The technique could only be used by a user who had a lightning attribute soul realm because a natural resistance to lightning was necessary to counter the rampaging energy which would be released through the body. She would not have tried this if she had not practiced this technique painstakingly for many years but even so, she almost fainted as her thirteen year old body could barely handle the strain.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she felt the toxins which had built up from absorbing too much moonlight essence begin to break down and be refined by the powerful purifying art. She moved on to the bruises on her feet, which were not as painful to treat and was satisfied to see a noticeable improvement in the condition of the bruises. It would take around a week of treatment to completely clear the disease from her body, which meant she could not train at night unless she could reach 1-star Bronze rank before then.

Since she could not cultivate anymore tonight, she sat down in her room and began to write down cultivation manuals for the group she would meet tomorrow. Although the only legendary cultivation technique she possessed was the one she was using, Nie Li had previously imparted a range of cultivation techniques to her when he tasked her to raise up a force in the Heavenly Note Sect.

These techniques had helped her to raise up numerous Dao of Dragon Realm experts, and so the comparison between them and the ones found in Glory City were as different as heaven and earth. They would be more than sufficient to raise the group's strength at a speed never seen before in this era.