NOVEL SIMPLE Side chapter-1
5 days ago: Silver Moon Sect: Sect Master's Hall.
A middle-aged man with a salt and pepper beard that reaches down to his chest and hair of the same color pulled back into a small ponytail sits across the deck from a young-looking gentleman with a full head of white hair and some white stubble on his face.
The middle-aged man, looking at the young-looking man across from him, asked, "Why have you called me here, Sect leader?"
The young-looking man who was just addressed as the Sect leader looked at the middle-aged man and replied, "Because of a small issue that, according to the rules, needs to be handled by an elder such as yourself."
The middle-aged man who was just addressed as an Elder raised an eyebrow at this before asking with a slight smile on his face, "And what would that be? Finding something to shave your face with?"
The Sect leader bristled at this and shouted back at him, "Shut it, old man! We both know how busy I've been recently, thanks to a certain someone!"
After hearing this, the Elder's smile was wiped away, and he instead showed a look that was a mix of realization and disgust before saying, "Ah yes... That brat. I say that we just ban him from the Sect and be done with it."
The Sect leader sighed, covering his face with his hand, and responded, "You know very well why I can't do that. But if you or I have a good excuse, then be my guest!"
The Elder's expression lost its look of realization at that and turned fully to one of bitter disgust, replying, "Sadly, that boy is too good at covering his tracks to get caught in anything."
The Sect leader sighed once more and said, pulling his hand away from his face, "Yes, he is. Anyway, enough lamenting about that and to the task at hand. This one is a bit more of an odd one."
The Elder wiped away the previous expression from his face as he got curious and asked, "And how's that."
The Sect leader's face changed to one of concern as he explained, "Well, this task is to find one of the ships we have chartered as they haven't reported in."
Once the Elder finally heard what his task was, his expression flashed to one of disappointment for a brief moment before turning into a natural one. He said, "While that might seem strange, it's not that odd, so just give them a few more days."
The Sect leader nodded along with his words, but the expression on his face never left as he said, "While I might normally be inclined to agree with you, this captain is supposed to be highly reliable if slightly shady. So his not reporting in is of some concern. After all, reputation is the most important thing to someone like him."
Hearing this, the Elder sighed before saying, "Alright then, I might not entirely share your concerns about this, but orders are orders, so I will set out immediately."
The Elder then got up and was about to leave the room when the Sect Master stopped him and said, "Before you leave, take some disciples with you to expand their horizons."
Once that was said, the Elder turned around and stared at the sect master incredulously before saying, "While I might not like circumventing the rules, what levels should they be?"
The Sect leader finally smiled as he answered, "The rules only say that an Elder has to go investigate. It says nothing about some disciples accompanying them, and they should at least be of the golden core level given the potential dangers you might face."
The Elder maintained his look of incredulity as he asked, "Don't you think that is a bit much?"
The Sect leader shook his head and said, "I just have a bad feeling about this one."
The Elder's face darkened upon hearing this, and he said very curtly, "Well s**t."
5 days ago: Silver Moon Sect: Elder Xie's residence
The middle-aged man from the Sect leader's hall was now standing in the middle of a courtyard with two disciples in front of him.
The one on his left was a male disciple with black hair, gray eyes, and a lean figure. His facial structure was fairly plain, with the only notable thing about it being that the proportions of his face looked a little too perfect.
The one on his right was a female disciple with a set of orange hair and eyes that seemed to flicker like fire when the light hit them. She also had a sharp, prominent face that made her look quite fierce.
The male disciple bows to the Elder and says, "Disciple Zhuan Jiahao has answered the Elder's call."
The female disciple, on the other hand, only nodded her head quickly and waited for her partner to finish speaking before saying, "If I may ask, why have you called us Elder Xei?"
The Elder, now named Xei, sighed upon hearing the female disciple's words and asked, "Lou Xia, have you been out for so long that you forgot how to greet your Elders?"
The female disciple, now named Lou Xia, bowed with a complex expression while saying, "This disciple greets Elder Xei."
Elder Xei smiled when he saw this and said, "Good! Now, the reason why I called you here is because we will be doing a search mission for the Sect."
The male disciple, now named Zhuan Jiahao, bowed his head again upon hearing this saying, "I am ready to begin, Elder."
Lou Xia gained a panicked look and quickly asked, "Wait, did you say we?"
Elder Xei pretended not to see Lou Xia's change in expression and nodded in confirmation, saying, "Yes, I did. Your mission is to assist me in the search."
When she heard this, Lou Xia sighed in relief, while Zhuan Jiahao showed no change at all and looked at Elder Xie, asking him, "When do we leave, Elder?"
Elder Xei saw Lou Xia was about to ask a question and interrupted her, saying, "Now."
The Elder then waved his hand and enveloped the disciples in his Qi before taking off into the air without letting Lou Xia say anything.
He was heading toward a smaller and less developed part of the Sect, at least compared to the rest of the sect itself.
20 minutes later they landed out side of a large barn like building.
Walking inside, they were greeted by a young-looking woman with long, straight white hair and a simple-looking figure.
The moment Elder Xei saw the woman, he smiled brightly and walked up to her, saying, "Yin Rong, we need a mount to take us in search of the charter ship we have just recently signed."
The moment the young-looking woman named Yin Rong saw Elder Xie, she smiled as well. But when she heard what he said, she lost her smile and quickly walked over to him and smacked him in the back of the head, saying, "Xie Zhou, who taught you to speak like that to me?! And you can take any of the girls you'd like."
After being smacked in the back of the head, Elder Xei placed his hand over where he was smacked and looked at Yin Rong, seeing the scowl that was now on her face. He then quickly lowered his head and apologized, saying, "Sorry, Aunt Rong. I would like to take the wind strider if you wouldn't mind."
After hearing this, Yin Rong could not stay mad at him, so she softened up and said, "That would be fine; just make sure she is fed well."
Hearing this, Elder Xei smiled once more and slightly bowed to her, saying, "Thank you, Aunt Rong. We will return shortly."
Leading the disciples, Elder Xei walks up to a pen housing a great white bald eagle the size of a two-story house. Opening the pen, the eagle walks out and bends down to allow the elder and disciples to climb on. Once they do so, she walks outside and takes off toward the skies, circling the Sect.
In the sky now, the elder pulls out a talisman and activates it, causing a shining red beam of light to appear, pointing in the direction of the Forgotten Forest. Seeing the light, the eagle turns in that direction and flaps its wings hard, causing them to seemingly disappear from the world.
2 days ago, outside the skies of the Forgotten Forest.
The eagle, which had been flying in a straight line all the way here, suddenly stopped and began to circle the forest from a mile away.
Seeing this, the Elder on the eagle's back tries to urge the eagle forward, but it stays circling the forest from a mile out.
Since the eagle was no longer moving forward, the Elder decided to have it land so he could investigate what was going on.
Getting off the eagle's back he starts to walk toward the forest before feeling the reason why it would not approach. The entire forest was shrouded in a Chaos Qi that attempted to rip him apart as soon as he got close.
Looking towards the forest in an attempt to understand why there could be Chaos Qi here, he spots a Qi-gathering realm beast meandering around the edge of the forest. Getting an idea, he calls one of the disciples to him.
Seeing him wave them over, they both approach.
Elder Xei saw both of them come over and got an exasperated look on his face as he said, "Why did you both come? I was only calling one of you. Never mind. Do either of you feel any strange energy around here?"
Zhuan Jiahao paused for a moment after hearing the question before tactfully answering only the last one, "I do feel something, but it seems to be fading and not affecting me."
Lou Xia, seemingly against her will, follows the same logic as Zhuan Jiahao and says, "I feel the same."
Elder Xei, confirming his initial thoughts, quickly devises a new plan, explaining to the two disciples, "Alright, then. You two will take the talisman and this tracking talisman so I can find you when this Qi dissipates. Now go and find out what happened to the ship."
When both disciples hear this, even though they have differing thoughts about it, they say simultaneously, "Yes, sir!"
With that, the two enter the forest following the direction of the talisman.
Elsewhere in another plain of existence.
A girl with golden blonde hair, a youthful face, and a young body appearing to be nearing the end of her school years and the beginning of her years as a young adult is sitting on a sofa watching something on a movie theater-sized flat screen surrounded by a sea of clouds.
Then, as the girl was just getting engrossed in what she was watching, a swirling pink portal appeared behind her without a sound.
Stepping out of the portal is a woman of indistinguishable age, with dark purple and black hair and eyes and a well-endowed figure in a pure white sleeveless dress.
The Unknown woman then snuck up behind the woman sitting on the couch without making a sound and shouts, "Elinaria!"
The unknown woman's shout startles the girl on the couch, making her fall off onto the ground before she gets up and turns around in one fluid motion, scolding the unknown woman, "Stephanie, don't jump scare me like that!"
The unknown woman, who was called Stephanie by the goddess who reincarnated our dear protagonist, had a hard time stopping herself from laughing. When she did manage to calm herself down somewhat and saw the still fuming young goddess across from her, she said, "Sorry, but it's too much fun. Anyway, what are you doing?"
Elinaria, forced herself to calm down slightly and looked at the Greater goddess that should be busy doing many other things and asked, "How do you even have time to come here and ask that? Shouldn't you be either reincarnating someone or checking on someone you reincarnated?"
On the other hand, Stephanie did not seem concerned about this and said nonchalantly, "I got one of my clones handling it. While I could also, technically, be considered checking on someone I helped to reincarnate because you asked me for help."
Hearing this, Elinaria sighed before letting it go and said, "Fine, and I was just watching that person anyway."
Stephanie perked up upon hearing this, flipped herself over the back of the couch, and landed sitting on it. She excitedly said, "Oh, really, so how are they doing?"
Elinaria acted calmly when she heard this, unlike what anyone who would know most of these types of goddesses would think, but the slight smile on her face as she talked betrayed her inner feelings. "Well, they seem to be doing quite well. As you know, after I asked you for help, I granted their two remaining wishes, then gave them my grand blessing and-"
The moment Stephanie heard the words 'grand blessing,' she freaked out and immediately interrupted Elinaria, shouting, "Wait! You gave her your grand blessing!?"
Elinaria blinked a few times, hooked that she had been interrupted before saying in a calm manner as if nothing was wrong, "Yes. Why are you freaking out?"
Stephanie, seemingly taking Elinaria's calmness the wrong way, continued shouting even louder this time, "Of course, I'm freaking out! You gave her your grand blessing! You're just a weak goddess right now! Do you know what will happen if they die before, at most, the peak of their world, if not ascension?!"
Elinaria still maintained her earlier calm and said, "Of course, I know what will happen but I have the feeling she will make it up here to meet me in person again if not reach higher than me in the future."
Stunned by this answer, it took a few seconds for Stephanie to respond again, but when she did, she exploded again, shouting, "Elinaria! That is absolutely insane! Do you not realize that you don't even have a set divinity yet?! If she portrays you wrongly or others begin to think of you differently, you won't even have a choice over your divinities!"
Elinaria replied to Stephanie with a calmness that seemingly betrayed her age saying, "And that is the risk I am willing to take. I also have the sense that I will be able to get far more powerful than I ever could have otherwise from her."
Elinaria's calmness once more took Stephanie aback, but she finally managed to calm herself down enough to consider things more clearly. She took a few seconds to comprehend what the girl sitting next to her said. "You know you sound insane, right? I mean, what could she give you that would make you more powerful?"
At this question, Elinaria finally gave a bright smile and said, "I mean, she already gave me this."
Elinaria then pulled out what looked to be a floating holographic metal framework made out of metal grids. There was also some of the spots on the grid that had pieces of machinery attached to it with what looked like metal cables connecting them.
However what made this stand out to the two goddesses was that this cube was slow drawing in small amounts of divine energy from the space around them and funneling it into Elinaria.
This was a copy of the system our protagonist helped make.