Anthony woke up to see himself coiled up beside Lan Xuanyu's statue. He was properly covered with a blanket which he couldn't remember when he brought. He pulled the blanket away and sat up, yawning.

He slowly looked at the door, and his heart skipped a beat.

"The walking corpses. They didn't come here, did they?"

He gasped, got to his feet, and quickly rushed to the door. The door was still blocked, just the way he left it that day he ran in to seek refuge in Hua Cheng's temple.

He went to a window and moved the items used to bar it away, and peeped outside. There were discarded weapons which he believed were from the walking corpses, and there was a skeleton on the floor with patches of ashy skin. It was dawn and the sun rays which fell on the corpse was degrading it rapidly. It was melting and disappearing into the atmosphere through grey smoke.

"It seems that sunlight is harmful to the corpse soldiers. That's why they only come out at night." Anthony whispered with a satisfied smile, and shut back the window, carefully sealing it.

He walked back to the altar and placed his hand on Hua Cheng's statue as an idea occurred to him. He poured his energy into the statue, but received no response. Just as he was about to give up, he heard a grunt.

"Go and bother your big brother, I want some peace. Get out." Hua Cheng replied, not hiding the annoyance in his voice.

Anthony smirked and rolled his eyes.

"Grumpy. You too get lost."

He heard Hua Cheng's gasp of anger and quickly let go, scurrying towards Lan Xuanyu's statue with lightning speed.

He collided into the blanket on the floor and lost his balance. With a quick reflex, he reached for Lan Xuanyu's statue, hugging him. He smiled in relief and giggled.

"That was close."

Anthony adjusted himself to stand properly and placed his hand on Lan Xuanyu's statue to call him.

"An'er, you're awake. Did you sleep well?" Lan Xuanyu's tired voice replied him the moment he touched it.

Anthony smiled, feeling happy that Lan Xuanyu replied right away. He frowned the next second.

"You seem tired. I have never seen you tired. Is it still night over there? Did I wake you up?"

"No. In my place, it's always daylight, unless I decide to make it dark. Besides, I'm immortal, I don't need to sleep. I only sleep to fulfill all righteousness, not that my body actually needs it. But to be fair, sleep is very important to the body, even for immortals." Lan Xuanyu replied, and cleared his throat as if something choked him.

"Why do you seem tired then?" Anthony asked again.

"I'm tired because of you." Lan Xuanyu replied, the smile in his tone could not be hidden.

"You mean Hua Cheng, right?" Anthony asked with one of his brows raised.

"Hua Cheng? Does he dare? An'er, you're hungry, right? I made you some food." Lan Xuanyu replied in a cheerful voice, and in the next instant, a table laid out with different exquisitely prepared dishes appeared beside Anthony, smelling all fragrant and appetizing.

"You're tired because you made me food?" Anthony asked in disbelief.

"If not that, why else will I be tired?"

"I thought Hua Cheng made you exhausted." Anthony whispered, hiding his embarrassment.

"A'Cheng? Does he dare make me cook for him? He does not have the guts. You're the only one that has succeeded in making an errand boy out of me. I had to go to different locations to hunt for good and nutritious spiritual materials to make you a good food. And I had to make varieties because I don't know what you currently like. And then, I returned to cook them. I have never been so stressed in a long time. I don't know how to cook but I had to learn because you need fresh food. The only dishes I know how to prepare are barbecues, simple soups and rice. But I can brew wine very well, I'm the top expert in wine making. Go ahead and eat before it goes cold." Lan Xuanyu added, reminiscent of a fussy grandmother. There were the sounds of kitchen utensils being moved, making Anthony realize that the perverted god was still in the kitchen probably cleaning up.

Anthony's heart felt warm at the thought of someone going through inconvenience to get things done for him. From the moment he was born, he was left alone. The woman he thought to be his mom turned out to be his nanny. Worse, she died young, leaving him to fend for himself since he was eleven. He had to avoid people from the social service, constantly on the run. When the nanny was still alive, she was sickly and he had to do odd jobs, just to raise money for her drugs before she eventually died when he was thirteen. He had gotten his grade school certificate at seven, and worked five years for money.

At thirteen, he registered at a school and immediately took the Junior high school certificate examination. He didn't dare start from the first year because he couldn't afford the school fees. He spent a month covering the syllables from junior high one to three, and took the certificate examination to enable him enter high school. His nice result got him a scholarship, but someone from a wealthy family took his scholarship away and kicked him out of the school. He moved again to another town, holding nothing but a bag containing his certificates, a few old clothes, his life savings and a few tins of expired food bought at a cheap price from the local supermarket.

He began to sleep in a Catholic Church which he noticed left their grotto open for people, bathing very early in the morning, using the tap in the grotto, before worshipers could arrive for morning mass. He leaves during morning mass and returns late at night. After a year, he saved enough money and the process repeated itself. He took the high school certificate examination after two months of intensive study. Thus, at fifteen he got the best results in the high school certificate examination and university entrance examinations, procuring scholarships from four different universities.

Anthony chose the one with the best benefits where he only needed to cover the fees for his food, clothes, and books. He became a sixteen years old university student doing numerous part time jobs. Soon, reward money from competitions began to come in and his life got better. His exceptional intelligence got him into the accelerated program where he did his full courses within two years instead of four, graduating university at the age of eighteen with a million dollars in his account, which were cash prices from numerous competitions. It was at eighteen that the hazy memories in his mind became clear and he mysteriously discovered numerous medical and tech formulas in his mind and each turned out to be correct. That was when he chose to establish K-City, his exotic gaming experience.

In a few months, the pauper became a multi millionaire, while still a teenager. And unlike those that had help, he was alone. He rose from the trenches without anyone's help. He didn't know the meaning of love or family because he had always been a lone wolf, watching his own back while trying everything to survive, unable to keep friends.

And that was solely the reason he fell for Priscilla's charms, elated at finally having a family who loved him. She had hugged him like a koala, refusing to let go, while telling him how much she loved him, and that she couldn't live without him. The last nail in the coffin was when their inexperienced selves got entangled in bed, letting the pleasure scatter his mind. His new found feeling of love drove him crazy, and he was ready to give his life for that love of his.

He married really young, and also divorced very fast, making him realize that love and family was not all that rosy. As always, he received the rude awakening that the only person that could be trusted was himself.

As for the Winthrop family, it was only in recent years that his parents began to search for him because they felt that things had stabilized, with Kaiser being the main force that turned everywhere around to find him, till fate brought him to Ava Smith.

Even in the Winthrop family, the experience was nothing to write home about. Kaiser was the only one who offered him the warmth of brotherhood.

However, at this point, things were very different. Someone went out of their way to make him happy, and cooked breakfast even though he was not an experienced chef.

Anthony sat down and looked at the table of exquisite dishes.

"All these are spirit beasts. The plates are brimming with spiritual energy. Even the vegetables are immortal herbs. Lan Xuanyu, isn't this too lavish? Who are you trying to impress?"

Even though Anthony's voice seemed as if he was scolding Lan Xuanyu for being too extravagant, he was grinning from ear to ear in joy. The feeling of being cared for was indeed beautiful, making his heart feel warm and happy. He couldn't help but like this perverted god more and more.

He took the first bite of the golden spirit mushroom and shut his eyes in ecstasy. The taste was heavenly and melted in one's mouth. He felt a warm stream of energy flow down his throat to his body.

Boom! A blast of energy immediately exploded in his belly making him nearly have a heart attack.

"Shit! The energy is too much. If I give in to hunger and eat this, I will end up breaking through to the saint realm which will harm my body." Anthony muttered, holding his belly with a look of dismay. He only took a bite, and the energy was already so big. What if he had swallowed the whole piece? The energy kept rolling around his body, making sweat break out on his skin.

"Oh! No!"

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