A Gatekeeper & The Celestial Sovereign - Chapter 28

Ben Zi’s eyes bulged, and he began to stutter “That’s… That-that-that that is!” he pointed towards the trio that were buying rainbow milkshakes at the bar.

Ray Xi looked over, “Which one?”

“That one…the tall one with the blue ripped jeans!” Ben Zi said excitedly.

“Ohh, nah he’s way out of your league Ben.” Qui Ten gave Mao Lu a quick glance, “That guy looks like a model. He’s tall, extremely handsome, and that watch on his wrist is a Rolex. He probably won’t even look at your poor ass twice.”

“Yeah I agree with her.” Ray Xi nodded.

Ben Xi stared at them both blankly, “Th-That’s not what I meant…. And what do you mean out of my league? I’m handsome too, and sure I’m not super tall and I’m not rich right now but I will be wealthy one day.”

“Yeah but if your handsomeness is like the $1 edition then his is like $10,000, you’re not in the same league.” Ray Xi smiled as she said these cutting words.

Ben was offended. As far as he was concerned, he was an exotic beauty. Half American half Chinese, he had nice green eyes, an above average face, good natural brown hair.

Sure, he wasn’t as tall as that guy but saying he was out of his league…. That was just cruel. These two were his best friends and yet they could be so savage.

Ben Zi felt like his self-esteem had been attacked…But wait this wasn’t what he’d wanted to talk about.

“No, you’re wrong, it’s not because I like him, no I meant it is him. As in the guy from the story I was telling you about. The one that faded away in the middle of the street that night. He’s the guy!”

Ray Xi and Qui Ten curiously looked over to Mao Lu.

The guy had a gorgeous smile, he was laughing with his friends and seemed perfectly normal.

Ray and Qui didn’t want to question Ben Zi, he was their best friend and they had known him long enough to know he was being serious. But for someone to just fade away in the middle of the street. Such a thing couldn’t be possible, right? They’d assumed Ben Zi had just been seeing things or it was a prank of some sort. But now that the guy that had apparently mysteriously disappeared was now right in front of them, they both didn’t know what to think.

…

Mao Lu was laughing as Tanaka bitched about some new girl at the cafe. But his mind was distracted.

Due to ‘Sense of the Realm’ Mao Lu had realised a while ago that there was a mortal named Ben Zi who witnessed him being carried away by Gates on the night that he had met Chàng Bo.

Mao Lu had mentioned this to Gates, but Gates had said it didn’t matter. “This mortal has no power; he cannot affect you and has no evidence of the event. No one will believe him. It does not matter if he saw something or not.”

Since Gates had said so Mao Lu let it be. Beijing was big, the likelihood of him meeting that Taxi driver again was slim. And even if he did it wasn’t like this Ben Zi could prove anything.

But, luck would have it that they were both coincidentally at the same cafe. “Oh joy.”

Mao Lu easily heard Ben Zi’s conversation with his friends and easily felt them all staring at him.

Mao Lu felt nervous, what if the guy made a fuss in the middle of the cafe. Mao Lu wanted to keep his normal life and his Gatekeeper life as separate as possible. He didn’t want to drag his innocent and powerless friends into dangerous situations.

As the bartender gave them their rainbow pride milkshakes, and Tanaka dragged him and Bei Lao to a seat near the window, Mao Lu decided that if Ben Zi came up to him he’d pretend the guy was crazy and go into full denial.

Although he felt a tad bad for the guy Mao Lu wasn’t going to complicate matters just to help Ben Zi find some closure.

As he sat and chatted with Tanaka and Bei Lao, he heard Ben Zi talking to his friends, “I want to approach him during the speed dating event, and then ask him one on one about what happened that night.”

Mao Lu felt relieved hearing this. A One on One conversation wouldn’t involve Tanaka or Bei.

“Listen up ladies, gentlemen and the non-binary!” Said a Kiss ‘n’ Tell employee. He was holding a microphone and standing on a large round stage. “It is now time for Speed dating Saturday to begin. Now everyone who wanted to enter the speed dating event should all have your wristbands on, if you don’t then quickly head to the counter and get your wristband.

The wristbands are in 4 different colours based on what you identify as. Our cafe decided that Red is for gay, green for lesbian, pink for bisexual and yellow for transgender.

You have to find a person you like that’s wearing a wristband suited to your tastes before the music starts. And then you have 5 minutes to get to know them.

Every time the music stops your 5 minutes are up and you have 1 minute to find a new partner before the music starts again.

Even if you really hit it off with someone straight away, we recommend that you try talking to three different people before you make a decision.

Okay! Is everyone ready. You need to find your partner…. NOW!”

A loud buzzer went off.

Tanaka, who remained seated whilst snuggling up to Bei Lao shouted, “Good luck Mao Lu, you can do it!”

The moment the buzzer went off and Mao Lu stood up, as expected Ben Zi came running in his direction, but it wasn’t just Ben Zi. There were ten other guys all walking towards Mao Lu. And just as Ben Zi got close, Mao Lu felt his shoulder being grabbed by someone else. The music started.

“Hi I’m Scott. I’m originally from Australia but I’ve been living in China for five years now. My Chinese is good right?”

There was a tall Australian man in front of Mao Lu. He had nice blue eyes, sun-kissed blonde hair and a slight tan.

Mao Lu smiled at Scott and shook his hand.

“Your Chinese is very good. Nice to meet you. I’m Mao Lu, I’ve lived in China all my life.”

“Never travelled?”

“Never really had the chance to, but I plan to travel a lot in the future.”

Mao Lu enjoyed his conversation with Scott. He was a nice guy, but neither of them really felt a spark during their 5-minute conversation and didn’t have much in common.

When the music stopped everyone went running around again like headless chickens. This time Ben Zi pushed right past a man that was heading towards Mao Lu, and jumped in front of him. The music started.

Ben Zi just stared at Mao Lu. Mao Lu smiled back at him.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Mao Lu, and you are?”

“B-B-Ben Zi!” Now that Ben Zi was up close to Mao Lu, he could understand what Ray Xi and Qui Ten meant. He was out of his league. Mao Lu’s skin was literally flawless and looked so soft and silky. His eyes were bright like jewels, he had such a gentle and yet powerful presence. Like he was some kind of benevolent ruler. He was definitely 100% out of Ben Zi’s league.

“I’m a taxi driver. I saw you when I was working three weeks ago near Roaring Tiger, do you remember me?” Ben Zi blurted out.

Even though he was nervous he was also curious. How would Mao Lu react? Ben Zi was certain that he was the person that faded away that night.

“Maybe Mao Lu is a vampire or some kind of demon, or perhaps he has some kind of supernatural ability. Since I’ve uncovered his secret will he kill me or find a way to shut me up? Maybe I should have thought this through before confronting him about it.” Ben Zi thought excitedly.

“Hmmm three weeks ago. I have no idea what I was doing then, but I don’t remember meeting you. You might be confusing me with someone else.” Mao Lu said this with a bright smile.

“….”

“So, he’s decided to completely deny it” Ben Zi’s brain whirled. Maybe this was for the best, if he pushed it and tried to force a confession, he’d end up angering him. And who knew what that could lead to.

But then again Ben Zi had always wished for a life of adventure. Who hadn’t once wished that they could be Bella from twilight or one of Marvel’s superheroes? This could be his big break. He couldn’t let this chance slip away.

“I saw you fade away that night. I know you’re going to deny it and pretend to be confused, but I know what I saw, and I know that I’m not crazy. I’m not going to spread your secret or anything I swear. I’m just really curious about you and about your powers. So, let’s meet up one of these days, I’m really curious about you.”

Ben Zi took out a small slip of paper that he’d written his number on and shoved it into Mao Lu’s hands before running off.

Ben Zi knew that it was unlikely that Mao Lu would ever call him, he had no reason to, but Ben Zi gave him his number because he was hopeful. “I know his weird secret right? Then he should contact me.”

Ben Zi didn’t really want anything from Mao Lu, he just wanted the satisfaction of knowing that the supernatural existed, and he also wanted the excitement that came from knowing Mao Lu.

“I really hope he calls me!” Ben Zi wished as he scampered away.

Mao Lu was dumbfounded as he watched Ben Zi run.

He had played dumb because he thought that if he pretended not to know what Ben Zi was talking about, Ben Zi would just drop it. But who would have expected the guy to be so stubborn?

“And he even gave me his number. Does he really expect me to call him? He doesn’t know anything about my secret, and he just stated that he wasn’t going to spread rumours, and it’s not like he knows me. So, what does it matter.”? Mao Lu just sighed as he crumpled the piece of paper into his pocket.

At that same moment there was a loud “bleeeeeeppppppp” from the buzzer. The music stopped and another guy was soon in front of him, trying to start a conversation.

Mao Lu generally enjoyed getting to know these people, and he was flattered that they seemed to like him. But he wasn’t exactly feeling it. Some of these guys were drop dead gorgeous, yet Mao Lu felt like something was missing. His heart wasn’t beating, his blood wasn’t rushing, and he wasn’t blushing. That spark was missing. That spark that he’d felt when he’d spoken to Chàng Bo. That powerful feeling of attraction. He didn’t feel it with any of these men.

In the end, after an hour of the speed dating Mao Lu sat down with Tanaka and Bei. “I don’t think this speed dating thing is for me. I’m just gonna sit this one out.”

“Sit this out!” Tanaka stared at him with round eyes.

“I’m just not really feeling it.”

“Not really feeling it. Almost every guy in this joint has their eyes on you. All of them were trying to get your attention. I even saw one guy give you his number earlier and then just run off scared. Literally all these guys are super into you, you can probably find a really nice person here.” Tanaka was so exasperated that he felt like shaking Mao Lu.

“I know but I just wasn’t really feeling any spark.”

“Spark! It’s not like you have to find your soulmate here or something, just find someone nice, go on a few dates and relax with them. And if you give up now only an hour in, how the hell are you gonna find someone who gives you that damn spark.

First you were reluctant to date because of your financial situation which I understood but now you have no excuse and are just being seriously picky. Honestly Lu you always say you’re jealous of me and Lao, do you think we just came together randomly, we worked hard on our relationship you know. So, you need to work hard too Lu.”

“I know that. I know but it’s just I want my heart to race. Like doki doki and for my face to blush, and to find them so attractive that it’s hard to look at him and every part of him just makes me melt, you know?”

Tanaka was about to yell at Mao Lu but then stopped himself.

A thought came to him.

Even when Mao Lu was still pining after Zhao Detong, he didn’t mention anything about his heart racing like crazy and being unable to look at Detong and melting. That wasn’t Mao Lu’s style…

“Don’t tell me you’ve met someone! ” Tanaka exclaimed, “You’ve met a guy you’re seriously attracted to that makes your heart race and you melt just by looking at him!”

Mao Lu sweated and blushed slightly; he waved his hands in front of him in protest. “No-no-no-no I didn’t say that.”

Tanaka’s instincts were freaking scary.

“You don’t need to say anything. I see I see. You’ve met someone and now that you’re here you’re comparing everyone to him, and no one seems better than him. That’s why you’ve decided to quit the speed dating. I get it I understand.”

Mao Lu opened his mouth to object, but Tanaka put his hand across Mao Lu’s face, with a devious smile he said, “I hope you introduce us to him soon Lu.”

_________

CHAOYANG MAO LU’S HOME

Chàng Bo meditated quietly in the courtyard, despite being put in this new environment he didn’t slack in his training.

Every day he would practice his movement techniques and skills, improving his proficiency inside of them for several hours.

He would then spend the remainder of the day meditating under the sky. Drawing on the celestial star essences from the atmosphere, so as to improve his mental strength.

Sadly, Chàng Bo wasn’t a mental practitioner. Even with the Sovereign system mental power was the hardest thing for him to train in. It took the most work. Heaven’s Grace, which was his main mental skill, had taken many years for him to upgrade/train it yet he was only at 20% proficiency in the skill.

Of course, 20% proficiency in a mental skill was something normal practitioners would only attain after thousands upon thousands of years of practice. Chàng Bo was only 100 years old, if Mages that spent most of their lives training in mental skills heard his complaint, then they’d probably spit blood in anger.

However, to Chàng Bo only 20% proficiency in the skill after 100 years of training was very slow. It was the only mental skill he practiced so he’d never deviated from it, yet it had barely any progress compared to his other skills. When he looked at his system screen staring at Heaven’s Grace really made him frustrated. And until he reached 100% proficiency in the skill, he couldn’t refine it or merge it with another mental skill so as to improve it.

Name: Chàng Bo

Title: Celestial Apprentice

Age: 100

Stage: The Dao

Skills:

Supernova- proficiency 50/100

Starlight – proficiency 30/100

Celestial dance- proficiency 60/100

Angel flight- proficiency 80/100

Heaven’s Grace- proficiency 20/100

Fate points: 10/10, 000 [Warning! Low points]

Health: 90/100 [-10 poison still in system]

Strength: 800/1000

And if levelling up his mental skill was hard before; it was even harder now that he was in this crappy mortal realm. There was barely any star essence in this realm, and it was of such a low quality that meditating gave him less than half of his usual progress. Even practicing his other skills only yielded half the usual results.

What annoyed Chàng Bo more was that his Fate points were seriously depleted. He only had enough points to open the library two times, let alone buy any worthwhile skills. The only skills Chàng Bo used were ones that were aligned with the Celestial path. And Chàng Bo only used skills that were of the highest supreme grade. All other skills of lower tiers were beneath him.

The average points he needed to purchase these skills were around 10,000. But to get fate points he needed to change people’s fate. It was a lot easier said than done. He only got 20 points for every fate he changed. Trying to get points had caused Chàng Bo a lot of pain over the years. That’s why he only had five skills that he practiced; it had taken a lot of points to get them from the system.

“It seems like I’m going to have to go out of my way to change some people’s fates soon if I want to get points.” Chàng Bo sighed.

He then clicked on his title “Celestial Apprentice”. The display changed.

Title: Celestial Apprentice

Cultivation Technique: Celestial Sovereign

Progress: 10%

Features:

-The Celestial Apprentice title is between The Dao and Allfather stage.

-50x stronger than practitioners at the same stage

-50x Luck

-500x cultivation speed than the average practitioner

-Unlimited Grace

– Apprentice to the stars

Next title level: Celestial Steward ( Shall be awarded at Ancestor stage)

Chàng Bo stared at the display, only 10% progress he wouldn’t be able to reap the benefits of Celestial Steward until he reached the Ancestor stage. That would probably be a long time to come. Even with his tremendous speed at cultivation, he might be 500 years old plus before he reached the Ancestor stage.

If any other practitioner heard Chàng Bo fretting about being 500 years old when he reached the Ancestor stage, they would spit blood.

Chàng Bo sighed he would just have to train harder. One day he would become unbeatable throughout the realms and would be able to find out why his Mother really disappeared. He just had to bide his time.

Just as Chàng Bo was about to meditate again his stomach let out a loud grumble.

Due to the low quality of this Realm’s essence it wasn’t adequate enough for him to feed from it. And after that horrific experience in the kitchen last time, Chàng Bo was rather reluctant to enter there again for some food.

He had wanted to ask Mao Lu to help him get something to eat, but the Gatekeeper had shut himself up in the west building for an entire week, and when he finally emerged from it he completely brushed Chàng Bo off and left in a hurry.

Chàng Bo had been fasting for nearly a week now. His stomach was consistently gurgling. And the thing was he hadn’t prepared to travel to this realm, so he didn’t know anything about its customs or currency. Leaving the house in search of food would probably be more problematic.

“When is Mao Lu going to come back exactly?” Chàng Bo felt very helpless and irritable.

Just as he thought this, he heard a sound at the gate.

_________

As Mao Lu drove back home, he remembered that he’d left Chàng Bo alone for a week. He felt a bit bad, but Chàng Bo was a grown adult, he should be able to look after himself. He shouldn’t have suffered much right?

Mao Lu walked through the vermillion entrance and straight away saw Chàng Bo sitting in the middle of the stone courtyard with his legs crossed. He seemed to be meditating.

Just as Mao Lu was about to say hi and apologise for not greeting him earlier, Chàng Bo was already next to him.

He grabbed Mao Lu’s arm and like a whimpering puppy said, “You’re back finally.. I’ve been starving for a week. Please feed me!”