"...well, damn." Luo Ming cursed under his breath, reading the description over again before shaking his head wryly to dispel the panel.
He sat there for a moment, eyes fixed blankly on the empty space in front of him, turning over what he’d just read, trying to make sense of it.
However...
"No matter how much I think about it, what kind of conditions are these?" He asked himself, puzzled, "no, to begin with, what does ’Prophecy of Wisdom’ even mean?"
He understood "prophecy" well enough. Same with "wisdom." But the two together produced something that didn’t quite explain the title.
On top of that was the fact that another great treasure had turned up inside the Main Treasury.
Luo Ming might not know much, but the Lost Ring of Pengu and the Records of Insight...together?
’Either our Luo Clan isn’t what it seems on the surface, or they’re simply excellent treasure hunters.’
He wasn’t sure which to believe. And for all he knew, there might be a third possibility entirely.
"Strange, I admit." He whispered to himself, "but honestly, the strangest part right now is that I need to find someone who loves me romantically and get her to drink poison from a Rank Two Bloodspirit Snake."
All while accounting for the fact that Rank Two was equivalent to the Sprout Rank.
Luo Ming nearly let out an incredulous laugh.
This would be harder than most people would expect.
Beautiful people often attracted admiration rather than genuine affection.
And with his status, and his engagement to Wei Ting hanging over him besides, women were even less likely to let themselves fall for him.
Exceptions existed, of course. The trouble was finding those exceptions and convincing them to drink a poison potent enough to kill them, depending on their strength.
However he looked at it, this wasn’t going to be simple.
"But I have to do it." He muttered, tossing the box up and catching it repeatedly, his silver eyes tracking the motion. "This is called the Records of Insight, said to hold knowledge of creation itself. How could I pass this up? I need to find a way."
Still, Luo Ming wouldn’t feel right making a woman fall in love with him, then poisoning her purely for power, without at least being ready to take responsibility for it.
So the woman would have to be someone he could genuinely be with. And of the few women he’d come to know so far, only one seemed to fit:
Wei Bing.
At that thought, his lips curled into a tense, wry smile, "I don’t know if I’m courting death or what, but she’s the only one I..."
His voice trailed off as, strangely, thoughts of High Elder Qisi surfaced. Luo Ming shook his head immediately, snuffing out that dangerous, budding line of thinking.
"Heaven’s breath, calm down, Luo Ming." He took a deep breath, realizing a strange new truth about himself.
Ever since his mother had mentioned the possibility of a harem, he’d found himself unusually aware of the women around him.
His thoughts had started shifting, adding a new consideration: a wife.
He told himself it was all in service of his goal: a good family. That was only partially true.
Luo Ming realized he wasn’t actually indifferent to women, or to the idea of having more than one.
Back on Earth, he’d been nothing like this. His focus had been entirely on his one wife, his children, and his career.
Plenty of women had approached him for his wealth, but he’d never once wavered.
So what had changed?
’My body’s changed. I was sterile on Earth. Am I here too? I doubt it. But does sterility even suppress libido?’
Not always. But in some cases, yes.
’There’s also the fact that this world allows harems. So somewhere in the back of my mind, I no longer see having more than one woman as some forbidden sin.’
And once you stopped seeing an act as sinful, nothing much could stop you from committing it.
Luo Ming turned all of this over, breathing deeply to steady himself.
’Slowly, Luo Ming. Your goal is bigger than this. Even without the limit of one wife, you want a real family.’ He told himself, ’One that can survive this world without crumbling to dust. You can’t just attach yourself to anyone. They need to be worthy. And I need to be worthy of them.’
Repeating those words, he grounded himself back in his present reality and feelings.
Afterward, Luo Ming opened his eyes again, now shining brightly.
"Well," he said, cracking his stiff neck, "either way, Wei Bing is someone I want to be close to. So I’ll do my best."
With that settled, he set the box back on his bed, noting mentally that he’d need to ask his mother for a space ring later.
Next, he sat cross-legged on the ground, posture straight and relaxed, and began cultivating using his Cultivation Technique.
After his first attempt the night before, Luo Ming now had a better grasp of the process.
Particles of Qi bubbled in the air, like droplets of water, drifting slowly but steadily toward his body.
Inside him, the Qi traced a path that eerily resembled a screeching bird — a raven, more precisely. Each cycle deepened the potency and purity of the Qi within him.
That same Qi refined his Seed, coaxing Spiritual Roots to grow from it and connect with his internal system.
He was at the Seedling Rank, Second Root. And Luo Ming could sense he was close to the Third Root. With his Seed at Gold Rank rarity, he’d likely reach it in about 5 to 6 days.
But that was slow. Far too slow for him.
He wanted to reach the Third Root before visiting the Wei Clan. For that,
’I’ll need some potions and resources.’ He thought.
As it happened, his mother had left him a fair number of Rank 3 Gathering Qi Pills, each containing a substantial amount of Qi, at least relative to his current level.
There were also Rank 2 Clarity Water Pills, meant to sharpen understanding and clear the mind during cultivation.
Using both, Luo Ming’s cultivation accelerated dramatically, the refinement of his Seed speeding up.
He focused even harder, letting his mind sink deep into the cultivation, tuning out everything else.
His plan was clear: cultivate until he reached the Third Root within 3 days, setting aside the investigation into High Elder Qisi for now.
And somewhere in the back of Luo Ming’s mind, another sly thought surfaced...
’...beauty privilege needs to be used too.’
And that stray thought made him realize he’d already decided what to do, despite all his doubts.
Humans were indeed strange creatures.
And so, with his plan set, Luo Ming wasted no time.
—End of Chapter 18—