"I don't know the details, but based on what I heard, that is what happened. And if any of them survived, they would look for a way to get revenge."
"Somehow, that feels like a story plot my brother likes to read a lot," Emily said with a chuckle.
"Story plot?" MingYue then started remembering many novels she had read.
Emily was right; she often read stories about the village being destroyed, and one of the characters survived.
They usually then find out their hidden potential and ability or get a godly artifact.
"If you mean those stories in anime and novels, then no. If only the world was that good to them.
From 1,000 tragic massacres, if even one could grow as a cultivator and survive, that would be good. What often happens is something different.
They usually report it to the opposite sect, and depending on their level of hostility, the other sect will use the information to their advantage.
The worst I've heard is making a rumor that the culprit was a demonic cultivator with a good artifact. It's like painting a huge target on the culprit."
"I never knew the competition was that high. In that case, don't cultivators die all the time?" Emily asked.
"They do. The survival rate of cultivators is very low. Most lose their lives in the pursuit.
Hearing of a whole family destroyed is nothing new nor surprising." MingYue wanted to continue but stopped as she felt someone coming.
Turning her gaze, she quickly recognized him. "You are William."
"Yes, and who are you?" He then turned his gaze to Emily.
"Welcome, Lady Emily. You should have told me if you wanted to come. I would have prepared the report for you."
Since the money used to open the restaurant came from Alex without anyone asking, William still sent the report to Emily. The profit is then shared 50:50, as Alex hasn't told him anything more about the share.
William just thinks it's a fair share since he does all the work, while Alex only provides the capital.
"How many times have I told you to just call me Emily? As for the report, we are not coming for that. It's just your food is good, and I want to show it to my sister-in-law."
"Sister-in-law? You mean she is Alex's wife?" William asked.
He always addressed Emily formally since, in his opinion, that was needed as she was officially the guild leader. Alex, meanwhile, doesn't hold any formal position in public, so he just addresses him by name.
It's a habit ingrained by his parents since he was a child.
MingYue's cheeks turned red. "We are not married yet."
"But you don't deny you are my brother's lover," Emily said in a teasing tone.
"I think calling us lovers is also not right. We are more like partners at this point," MingYue replied in a flat tone.
'Damn, brother, you need to put more effort. All this time, it seems you are not that close to her.'
"Just call me MingYue," MingYue said while her gaze was fixed on William.
"So I heard you are the chef in this place. Is opening a restaurant your hobby?"
"Yeah, I just need to take my mind off things."
"Understandable," MingYue replied, confusing William.
He didn't know MingYue already knew everything that had happened to him.
"If you like it so much, why not come to my world then?
We need people to build up a restaurant chain. Based on how it runs, I think you're pretty capable."
"Wait, let's talk about this later at our guild place. It's not good talking about this in public.
Anyway, we just came here to taste your dishes. MingYue here is quite a gourmet."
"I see. Then I will return to prepare the meal."
After he left, MingYue and Emily talked more, comparing the differences in their worlds.
Meanwhile, Alex was now stuck. He had the idea, but the result was not satisfying for him.
Since carving the magic circle on his golden core was out of the question, he tried to do it on his brain.
He didn't know how his golden core would react, but in his brain, the worst would be it being destroyed, like what happened before.
Alex thought of this since magic circles work using mana; it should be able to enhance his brain.
But the problem came when he modified the circle to focus the power on his frontal lobe; it didn't hold.
He felt like he was missing something about how magic circles really worked.
"I am sure that old fox modified it like me. There is no way he will release all the information.
That means I will need to translate how this magic circle works.
So far, it's just like runes but using different formations and styles. What if I could mix it with runes…"
Then, an idea came to Alex's mind. He remembered how Vesa had carved a rune on Emily's forehead.
He started recalling every single moment of it. In the past, he didn't understand any of it, but as he mastered blood manipulation and learned how to use basic runes, he could at least tell what really happened now.
The rune Vesa carved is a modified one from the one she used to hold their attack before.
'So Vesa basically made something like a storage in Emily's body. She then added some automated functions.
For example, when the body got wounded, the life force would pour out and automatically heal it.
As for the magic circle from the association, it should function the same. Only this time, it holds mana, and then it functions in a way that allows the user to manipulate it based on their will.
In that case, part of the circle should be able to read people's intentions and react to them.
I now wonder if someone could crack how it really works. In theory, wouldn't someone be able to infuse mana and interfere with how the circle works?
Considering it's that old fox, I think that is what he probably would do.
This way, he gains a lot of people with power while at the same time making sure he has control over them.'