Devouring the Heavens (ATG)

Chapter 12: Reunited and Resolve

A/N: So if you guys aren't aware, Webnovel has been 'shadowbanning' comments recently. This means that any comment that contains profanities in any form, will be automatically deleted.

So words like: Fuck, Shit, Bitch, Bastard, Cock, Bollocks are all nonos. Even words such as: Sex, Hell, and Damn are out too. Basically, if you want to comment using forms of those words, you will need to get creative.

Well, Enjoy the chapter...

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Shane looked unblinkingly at the notification in front of his eyes. The same notification brought with it, two very conflicting and extreme emotions. Joy and rage.

Half of him was completely overjoyed that Qingyue had taken that leap of faith and looked into his claims rather than brushing them off. The fact that the quest had completed must also mean that she had her answers and now believed him...

Whether she would take it positively or not, well that was another thing altogether.

The other part of himself felt absolute mind-numbing rage. Not Directed towards Qingyue or even the system for distracting him but towards himself. He prepared those Paracaps for weeks, he trained his wind manipulation specifically for days and he blew it all away in a second because he couldn't keep his mind calm.

He wanted to immediately explore the Dreamwalker ability and talk to Qingyue but he couldn't, not like he was right now, it wouldn't do either of them any favors. So, he picked up his Warhammer and set out into the forest to... smash something.

Around two hours later, Shane returned. He was covered from head to toe in blood and gore and had a feral look in his crimson-red eyes. Eyes that he had noticed, only seemed to gain a more unique color, the stronger he became. He may have looked like a wild animal right now but his mind was at peace.

As he jumped into the stream that ran off from the pool and began to scrub himself clean, he remembered a very fitting quote from his previous life.'Right or wrong, it's very pleasant to break something from time to time.'

After a swift sweep of profound energy to remove any unseen grime from his body and rather annoyingly long hair, Shane surfaced in the now slightly pink stream and leaned comfortably against the bank.

"System, show me the new ability." He said it aloud, because why not? Sometimes he just needed to talk or else he felt like he would literally go crazy.

It wasn't even like he was a social person before but he had his phone, his PC, and his books to keep his sanity intact. Here, well here there was literally nothing for him to do other than kill beasts and although he was not squeamish about it, such things are still mentally taxing.

[Abilities:]

{Dreamwalker - Strength of the ability is based upon the strength of host's Will (NEW!)}

1) When in a meditative state, allows the host to create and shape a dreamscape to their liking - Created dreamscapes are always under the host's complete control.

2) The host is able to form a connection with a selected person or persons and bring them into the dreamscape - Dependant upon the difference in strength between host's Will and target's Will

'The possibilities of this ability are actually endless! I could even use it to play mind games with the Brahma Bae if my Willpower was strong enough or she accepted the connection' *shivers* 'Something tells me that would be a terrible idea. Still, all in good time.'

Stupid, potentially world-ending ideas aside, Shane couldn't wait to give it a try and give Qingyue a nice surprise while he was at it. He was also hoping that he could somehow counter her Frozen Heart Arts with the dreamscape being his own domain.

Nightfall, back in the cave...

Sinking down into a meditative pose, he calmed his mind and 'willed' the Dreamwalker ability to activate.

Feeling a change in the air, he opened his eyes and found himself in a very familiar place. Swirling white fog all around him and soft green grass underfoot.

A small smile played at the corner of his lips as the surroundings brought back memories of the time he first came here, all those years ago.

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Unlike that time, he wasn't confused nor was he without purpose. What had once been a feeling of incongruity, had now been replaced by an instinctual feeling of control. It was an unfamiliar feeling, like a slight pressure on his brain, not unpleasant but more like the feeling of an unused muscle.

'So that feeling is my Will huh?' Remembering back to the ability's description, he could easily put a name to the peculiar sensation.

With an instinctual understanding of how it worked, he caught onto that feeling and tried to feed some basic thoughts and intentions into it. Suddenly, the fog cleared and he was standing in the middle of a huge expanse of green grass.

Excited at the possibilities, Shane began to play around with the area, forming some trees from the forest, changing the terrain, and even adding a copy of the pool from near his cave. It seemed that the response was almost immediate and could replicate things from his memory quite easily.

Creating things from scratch, such as changes in the height of the terrain and even trees, plants, and flowers that he had seen in pictures but had never actually experienced personally was much more difficult, however, and rather mentally taxing.

With a slight smirk, Shane got to work and formed a rough version of Qingyue's garden. The garden from before it changed into a frozen wasteland of course.

He started from the crystal clear pool and went on to form the dancing Kois, the Water Lillies, and even some Red and Blue Lotuses as a little touch. Next, he formed the old Chinese willow and the stone path, followed by the perfectly kempt lawn.

Before long, Shane had formed an almost perfect replica of the garden and he entered into a sort of trance as the memories continuously flowed through his mind.

His control over the dreamscape strengthened with each passing moment and the garden began to change according to his preferences. It became warmer, brighter, and more vibrant than it had ever been. The sweet smells of fresh grass and flowers hung in the air and a cool, gentle breeze blew throughout the whole area.

Sometime later, Shane opened his eyes and let out a breath of relief, finally, it was ready. With just a thought, his forest attire disappeared and was replaced by something more out of this world...

He was clad in dark brown shoes, sand-colored slacks with a leather belt, and a dark blue, long-sleeve shirt with the top two buttons undone. He ran his hands through his unruly, shoulder-length, mass of hair and managed to tame it slightly.

He was checking his reflection in the clear water of the pool when he felt her presence behind him. 'Come on Shane, you got this buddy!' He psyched himself up and turned around to face her.

Mentally, he was already prepared to see her look at him with indifference once again but he completely wasn't expecting what he actually saw when he locked eyes with her, and so he froze

Inside her beautiful, piercingly, ice-blue eyes, he for once saw not indifference but a myriad of different conflicting emotions. Perhaps it was because this was his world but Shane could feel them all. Fear, confusion, sorrow, happiness, expectation, and maybe even a little infatuation.

This barrage of different emotions stunned him completely for a second, this was quickly followed by confusion as her Heart Arts should have been unable to manifest here, not unable to work entirely. Shanes mind spun... this could only mean that she had broken them of her own accord.

At that stunning realization, he felt relief and great happiness. Not for him, but for her, and he was completely sure from the look on her face that she would never practice it again.

How can one live a life without emotion, is it even really living? He was proud of her and a genuine smile, a rather deadly one at that, unconsciously made its way onto his lips.

As she approached him, she started to avert her eyes a little and Shane could tell she was blushing as the tips of her ears were ever so slightly flushed. Normally one would never notice but Qingyue's skin was as pure and white as fresh snow so it was rather hard not to.

He flashed her a teasing Grin and watched her eyes go wide as he laid it on thick and said. "Like what I did with the place?"

Instead of replying she hurried her steps until she practically collided with his chest, her trembling hands grabbed hold of his shirt and he definitely heard her take a deep breath in through her nose. 'Ayoo, is her true personality a pervert?'

His whole body actually went a little rigid at the unexpected contact of her unbelievably soft and strangely cool body. She also smelt heavenly, like winter honeysuckle. 'Shit, I'm obviously a pervert too. Who goes around just smelling people?'

He felt her spike of fear and the tremble that followed and snapped out of his daze. His arms naturally surrounded her as if they were literally made to hold her. One hand went to the small of her back while the other raised up to her head as his fingers brushed through her stupidly fragrant, obsidian black hair.

*Sigh* "What did I say to you before? You clearly weren't taking care of yourself." As he lightly scolded her, she buried her head further into his chest to avoid his line of sight and hummed in response.

He was feeling rather helpless, obviously, she knew he was talking about the heart arts, but she seemed rather shy about admitting it verbally. This girl, she was gonna make him grow old early. "What am I going to do with you... anyways, welcome back Qingyue."

Qingyue reluctantly leaned back out of his embrace and met his gaze, her eyes now filled with deep regret and she began to speak in nothing more than a quiet but firm whisper. "Shane, I am really s Ouch!"

He flicked her on the forehead mid apology and now she was giving him an aggrieved look. On the outside, he took a serious look but on the inside... 'Damn, I always wanted to do that to someone like in the novels! And now she is actually doing the legendary pout! This is really surreal. What a day to be alive!'

"Qingyue, there is no need to apologize to me, I don't blame you. You would know if I were lying. Sure at the time it really hurt and if I had the energy or the strength, I would have spanked your little butt! However, I'm here now and that is what matters. Well, that and one other thing."

He looked pointedly at her for a second. "You aren't going to be practicing those awful arts again are you?"

"...No But if they manage to find out, my sect will force me to practice with them again" She visibly deflated and said in a slightly defeated tone.

"Hmm, no need to worry about that, believe me when I say I have many ways to deal with your sect and almost all of them should work peacefully." She looked shocked because she could tell once again that he wasn't lying.

"Well then if you aren't practicing the art anymore, you won't be needing this, at least not here." Before she could protest, he had swiped a finger across her veil and it fizzled out of existence, leaving her face exposed to Shane's eyes for the first time in years.

She truly was as beautiful as a goddess and if he was being totally honest, she looked almost too unreal. He had absolutely no idea how a person this good looking could exist but he was also in a Xianxia reality right now that was actually a novel back on Earth so he just shrugged that thought off as the universal Grand Dao of BS.

Her creamy white and unblemished skin almost sparkled, her little red lips sat there like a pair of perfectly shaped and alluring flower petals and her high and proud nose was as if made of the purest snowy jade.

Her thin and dark crescent-shaped eyebrows were currently scrunched up at the swift removal of her veil, and her eyes were fixated on his as if expecting to find the lust there she so commonly saw every time she went outside.

What she clearly didn't expect was for Shane to grab her little nose between his middle and index finger before pinching her cheeks and saying. "Hmmhmm, How is it even possible for a person to be this unbelievably beautiful? I bet My Qingyue has all the young masters chasing after her~"

What, did you expect him to freeze and start drooling? Sure she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen and looking at her definitely made him feel hot to the core, but come on! He had the internet since he was 13 and so there wasn't a lot he hadn't seen by now.

Plus, he knew her since he was little and he was definitely practicing the Dao of shamelessness, how could he miss the opportunity to take small advantages. She was still a person, what was there to be embarrassed about anyways?

That's not to say he wasn't attracted to her, because he most definitely was. She was also pressed right up against him which wasn't really helping things. Naturally, inside him, there was a small amount of turmoil, though it was swiftly dealt with. 'Amitabha lust is a sin, lust is a sin'

At first, she thought he didn't find her attractive and her poor little heart almost gave out there and then but once she'd heard the next part, she felt as sweet as honey, right before her face went completely scarlet red. She then scrunched up her nose and pouted her lips before saying

"Who's your Qingyue?" In what she probably thought was an angry voice but to Shane, she just sounded like a little wife airing out her grievances.

Thanks to that, he was now internally fangirling over the fabled pout and squished her cheeks together again. 'My god she is so cuuuuute! Wow, Yun Che really failed super hard at getting this waifu, all I had to do was know her my whole life and... die. Right anyways Yun Che.' He turned a little solemn at that.

She went to slap his hands away from her cheeks but somehow, he was already back to holding her and brushing his fingers through her hair again, making her calm down and subconsciously snuggle further into his chest.

"Right Qingyue, When do you have to leave for your sect?" He wanted to know how much time he had to work with here and depending on the answer, he was either going to take a flashy approach or the preferred diplomatic one.

Either way, he was taking Qingyue and he wasn't gonna let her go and become some ice doll again, nor was he going to let her sect force her to expel her profound arts. So in reality, he needed to speed up his plans and get a move on.

Qingyue, still within his embrace, looked down at the ground, knowing she wouldn't be able to lie in any sort of convincing way, and reluctantly spoke. "...In seven months my master will take me back to Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace. One month after...my wed" She whispered the last part but of course, Shane already knew what she was going to say.

The gears were turning quickly inside his head as he worked out what he needed to do and how long it would take. 'I need at least a few more days here to kill the Wyrm and absorb both it and the flower and to grab some of my money trees hehehe.

Then, allowing for 10 days travel to Cyan Forest Town and another 5 days from there to Floating Cloud City, I could be there in 20 days if I pushed it, less if my realm advances significantly. My best option would be to allow a month to get to Floating Cloud and then I have around 3 months to get the wedding cancelled an'

"ne ane SHANE!" He felt Qingyue shaking him and realized he was going off on a massive mental tirade.

To her shock, he slapped himself. Hard. "I have time. I just need to kill the Wyrm and move my plans up by a few days and then I will be on my way to Floating Cloud City. When I get there, we can meet in person and I will explain a lot of things to you that are not convenient to talk about here"

She just hummed and nodded at him

"I would also like to meet your father, I have a business proposition for him. That is if he is still a merchant?"

"...He is." She seemed a little anxious at the mention of meeting her father.

"Good. Then can you request a meeting with him for me? I will meet with him exactly one month from today. That should allow me enough time to reach Floating Cloud City and prepare the product."

Shane mustered up his best pleading look with a bit of added puppy eyes and looked directly at Qingyue before saying. "Qingyue my dear, can you put in a good word for me and tell him I have something that will make us both VERY rich!"

It seemed she was rather weak to that look as her anxious expression softened a little and she nodded. He snickered on the inside. 'Hmm, something to remember for later.'

"Well Qingyue, it's time for me to go. I have a lot of work to do if I want to be able to talk on equal footing with your sect and more importantly if I am going to break up your marriage~" He said the last part in a singsong voice.

Qingyue's eyes went wide in shock as her little mouth opened and closed a few times while she was unable to make a sound. Even when she did manage to, it only amounted to a "w-w-w-wha..."

Shane, seeing his opportunity, gave her one last squeeze and whispered a short goodbye, before swiftly kissing her on the cheek.

He then quickly disappeared, leaving a very embarrassed and flustered young girl, trying and failing to prevent a thin smile from spreading across her peerless face.

Qingyue helplessly raised and held a hand to her cheek before muttering. "What am I going to tell my father"

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When Shane woke up in the dimly lit cave, there was a notification blinking away in the corner of his vision but he pushed it aside for a moment and began to get ready for what was probably going to be the most important day since he arrived in this world.

Humming happily to himself, and with a huge grin plastered on his face, Shane couldn't help but recall Qingyue's blushing countenance, cute actions, and incredibly. soft. body... 'Damn, I actually always thought those soft, boneless, body, CN explanations were BS but I guess I was wrong. Thank Goddess, the nosebleed trope was made up.'

He rubbed his head slightly in confusion and his gaze turned warm. 'Qingyue also blushed, like a lot, I've never seen people blush like that before. I thought that was made up too...'

It was safe to say that by this point, Shane had definitely fallen for her. Hard.

And if her actions in the dreamscape were anything to go by, she was probably feeling pretty similar in that regard. This revelation made him even more determined to stop the marriage and convince her sect.

This wasn't just a novel anymore, at least not to him anyway and so not everything would always go to plan. No matter how much prior knowledge he had of the world or timeline this could always differ, in fact, his being here had already changed certain things.

The thought of Qingyue's marriage to Yun Che taking place and the very real possibility of her sect refusing to compromise caused a calculating and ruthless glint to pass through his now glowing crimson eyes.

Quickly pushing those feelings down before they could get stronger, Shane reflected for a moment. He wasn't sure whether he should be more freaked out that he had just seriously contemplated casually ending both a clan and a sect; or that he knew he would actually do it without a second thought if he were forced.

'I will try the peaceful approach at first, it is always better to have friends than enemies. With the Asgard, it is mostly the cultivation technique that makes them as they are, the Grand Mistress should be more open and easier to talk to.' Coming to a decision, Shane's resolve deepened.

He would need to be much stronger if he wanted to be taken seriously in either situation which would cause him to be very busy over the coming months. 'I should get this out of the way first to avoid distractions later. System, show me the notification.'

[Quests...]

Main Quest chain XQ - Save Xia Qingyue from her tragic fate! (you're here now, may as well fuck the plot before it even starts)

1) Dreaming of you (Complete)

2) Wedding Crashers: (New)

Prevent the marriage of Xia Qingyue and Xiao Che by any means necessary.

~ Reward All ATG medical knowledge

Optional objectives:

a) Convince Xiao Che to annul the engagement from his side before the wedding date

b)Reach Earth Profound realm before Qingyue and Xiao Che's original marriage date so that her master will take you seriously

~ Reward Half/Complete Sky Poison pearl

{Time Limit: 5 Months, 29 Days.}

"*Whistles* Them rewards tho..." he really wanted to get all of them, no he HAD to get all of them...