The Almighty Ring

Since the game no longer had any stronger NPCs, Jiang Fei initially wanted to enter the game for the last time to say his farewell with all the members of the Empyreal Dragon. However, after thorough consideration, Jiang Fei had decided to investigate the “thing” that Akatziris might know, that they do not. Most importantly, he was reminded of another task that he was supposed to do but was long forgotten.

Jiang Fei had already revived Isabella, Ariel, Nina, and Sylphy but the females that he had “wooed” were more than he could count. If Jiang Fei did not have a conscience, 0541 might persuade Jiang Fei to actually “get down” with 10,000 girls!

A lot of things happened since then and Jiang Fei was not willing to even approach new girls in the game. He already had a harem troop in the game and out of the sea of girls, the four girls that he treasured most were revived, Sharaz was killed, but there was one left, Hua Mulan.

Compared to the four girls in the real world, Hua Mulan was the only one that was truly a soldier. Being raised to fight, it was difficult for her to cultivate her emotions, especially romance. This, unfortunately, hindered her progression, which hadn’t achieved 0541’s standards.

It had truly been a long time since he had actually talked to her since he had gotten so busy with the Battle of the Heavens and the search for the Primordials. Hua Mulan was unable to help him since she was only of Overlord tier. It was a cruel treatment for her since Jiang Fei had truly forgotten about her existence in the Demon Dragon Fortress.

Besides Hua Mulan, the other NPC girls that were in the same squad as she showed very little progress. Still, there was still hope. Jiang Fei had too many enemies to count and considering the convoluted situation with Akatziris, Jiang Fei would be rendered moot if she suddenly retracted her friendship. One way to prevent that, or rather, an insurance against it, Jiang Fei could build his own army. He could not rely on martial artists. After interacting with them for so long, he understood their code of conduct. These bunch of self-righteous folks would only work with you if they could each earn a slice of the cake and would disappear when there was nothing to be gained.

The only reason they were still “lovey-dovey” with Jiang Fei was because of Zhuge Shanzhen. They wanted to befriend Zhuge Shanzhen through Jiang Fei. That aside, Jiang Fei knew that if the Unknowns worked closer with the Mutants, the persona of Zhuge Shanzhen would be torn to shreds. When that happened, even if the Martial Artists Alliance would forgive him, they would not be willing to work with Jiang Fei ever again. Worse things would happen when the threat of the enemy grew stronger. Once the situation escalated to the point of complete annihilation, these bunch old farts might even abandon Jiang Fei to fend for his own.

In the end, the best person to rely on, was not of outside forces, but of one’s own.

Jiang Fei reconsidered what Nina said earlier and thought it might actually work out to enter the game. The physical server was in his hands now—there was no need for him to worry about psychic attacks. It was the best time for him to just connect with the girls in the game. Even though non-Celestial tier NPCs were not as intelligent as Celestial tier NPCs, their evolution rate was still high. The chances of them actually evolving further, in terms of intelligence, was certain.

Once Jiang Fei entered the game, he ordered all officers of the guild to gather for a grand meeting. There, he promptly handed over the title of guild master to Lady Casanova. Jiang Fei demoted himself to become a regular member with a title called elder.

Jiang Fei, being just a guild master of Empyreal Dragon, was merely a symbol. He was the number one player in the entire game and his presence alone would bring prosperity to the guild.

When all things were settled, all the contracts were signed, all the power relinquished, Jiang Fei returned to the Demon Dragon Fortress. There, Jiang Fei was hit with a powerful sense of nostalgia. Almost everyone in the game had ventured into the Primordial Realm. The Demon Dragon Fortress, one of the many player bases in the Faction Region, was empty. It took him quite a while to remember the last time he had set foot in this fortress. Just as he did, the swarm of NPC girls came to him.

“My lord! You’ve returned!” Hua Mulan rushed to his side to report for duty. Although she did maintain her posture as the general of the army, the look in her eyes betrayed her.

“It’s good to be back,” Jiang Fei replied, softly and warmly. He could not help but feel a sharp pain in his heart when he saw how Hua Mulan reacted to his presence. It had been more than two months since he had last seen her.

“My lord! Have you missed us? Have you missed me?”

“My lord! I have long waited for you!”

“My lord! I love you! Please allow this one to service you tonight!”

…

Before Hua Mulan could say something, the Naga Priestesses came and swarmed Jiang Fei like flies to a cup of sugar water. These Naga Priestesses too had missed Jiang Fei dearly and did not care about their stature. It was as if they had starved for two months and Jiang Fei was the piece of steak that was fresh out of the oven.

“Holy shiiieeeet!”

Jiang Fei was taken aback. At that moment, Jiang Fei immediately gave up wanting to revive all the females that he had under his wing. If he had revived these Naga Priestesses, Isabella would tear him a new one, before the Unknowns could.

“Mulan, come with me!” cried Jiang Fei as he grabbed Hua Mulan’s jaded hands and ran away.

“My lord! Please don’t leave me!”

“My lord! I assure that tonight will the night you’ll never forget!”

…

When Jiang Fei heard how the Naga Priestesses suddenly suggested a night of pleasure, he increased his speed and actually ran out of the Demon Dragon Fortress. The Naga Priestesses dared not follow him as Jiang Fei himself did not give them the order to leave the fortress.

“It’s been too long. You must have waited for me this whole time. I’m truly sorry. Please forgive me for not coming over to see you,” said Jiang Fei apologetically.

“My lord, you need not apologize. You must have had things to tend to. I am but forever loyal to you,” said Hua Mulan as she held back her tears. She was trying extremely hard to not let her emotions get the better of her but there was still a limit to what she could do. Her trembling lips and cracking voice had betrayed her too.

“Mulan, would you come with me? To the outside world?” Jiang Fei asked.

“I do,” said Hua Mulan almost instantly.

“Alright. Thank you for your answer. I needed to hear that. Sometime later, I will come and get you but before all of that, I have some lessons that you need to learn,” said Jiang Fei with a smile. Before he entered the game, he had discussed with 0543 about Hua Mulan’s progress. Even though the general’s progression was significantly slower than the other girls, Jiang Fei had been cultivating her emotions towards him for a long time. Right now, the progression rate was reaching the standards 0541 had set. All Jiang Fei needed to do now was to further develop those feelings. It would not take too long before Hua Mulan would be ready to come to the real world.

“Yes, my Lord. Mulan would not let you down!” said Hua Mulan with a stoic expression. All of her sisters—Isabella and the others—were already in the real world with Jiang Fei. She would be lying if she admitted that she could wait longer.

For the next few days, Jiang Fei would enter the game and spend all his time with Hua Mulan. His lessons were actually general information about the real world, about how human society worked. During the day, Jiang Fei would be with Ariel and the other girls, training the lower rank martial artists, to help them master the new weapons.