A meadow of silver flowers s.h.i.+mmered with the fine stardust that coated their petals.

Their shape was similar to a lotus yet also similar to a rose.

This meadow of silver star flowers sat in the wide expanse of s.p.a.ce.

A waterfall made of liquid metal fell down from the chromosphere of a blue star, it sparked like magnesium as it landed near the meadow of silver star flowers and flowed around it.

In the middle of this surreal scene, a woman with hair as white as moonlight, lay in the meadow. Her white robes floated and rippled due to the zero gravity, her dainty brown hand slowly caressed one of the flowers.

"I hear a key was used recently." Her voice was clear and gentle.

A man appeared next to her, in a deep contrast to her white robes, silver hair, and brown skin he wore black clothes, had black hair, and white skin. His eyes were like bottomless black pits.

"You've heard correctly. After so long a key has resurfaced." His voice was deep and coa.r.s.e.

"Have we found out who used it, where they got it from, and if they have more?" she inquired as she continued to lay in the meadow of flowers, her eyes still closed.

"We have discovered that the key was used in the Celestial Realm 348, the Star realm, and the user was transported to the Offal ream, Mortal realm 145. We got an alert from the Gates belonging to the Gatekeeper of realm 145, that contact had been made with the user of the key. The Gates informed us that it's Gatekeeper has the user in his custody for the moment."

"The Gates of realm 145 told you this and not the Gatekeeper himself?"

"The Gatekeeper was training when the Gates decided to alert us. The Gatekeeper of realm 145 is new. Only recently appointed, so his Gates took the role of informing us for him."

"I see."

"It is also interesting to note that this newly appointed Gatekeeper is on the path of Time just like you, I and the other three." The man's deep sonorous voice had a hint of interest and excitement as he said this. "I'm sure soon he will be paying the a.s.sociation a visit to update us on the Key situation, aren't you excited to be meeting a new Gatekeeper on the path of time, Argenti?"

"I am. As a Gatekeeper of time his fate won't be mediocre. It seems that realm 145 will see a change in fortune. However I can't be excited when this key has popped up. Who knows what this could mean."

Argenti sighed wearily. "I guess I must clean up after my predecessors mistakes. It was his daughter that made the keys, he was the one that violated the rules, and yet as his successor I must clean up the mess. It's hard having to bear the mistakes of the past, it's hard keeping those Others at bay, it's hard waiting for One to return. But I guess that is life, hard and unavoidable. Do you agree Obsidian?"

"Life is many things, hard and unavoidable is only one feature. It has many beauties towards it. Us bearing the hards.h.i.+p allows many others to exist, and live. Whether those lives be bad or good, the point is that they lived." Obsidian replied solemnly. "As Gatekeepers we must protect our realms to protect the potential and life within them. No matter what hards.h.i.+ps we are given this is our role, this is our destiny.

Sighing again, Argenti opened her eyes, In them were burning hot white stars, that glowed iridescently.

"Gates dress me." She muttered as she stretched out her dainty hands. A silver earing that was shaped like a book, flew from her ear, expanding and wrapping around her.

Soon she was dressed in white billowing robes, much like a long das.h.i.+ki, that had time essences flying across the fabric.

She was Gatekeeper Argenti, Gatekeeper of Realm 1, ranked 1st.

_________________

CHAOYANG MAO LU'S HOME

Chàng Bo had planned on getting closer to Mao Lu from the beginning, since getting close to a Gatekeeper had many advantages. But the fact that the Sovereign System had now given him this once in a lifetime deal, he felt 1,000 times more motivated.

A lifetime supply of fate points could allow him to buy an unlimited amount of skills, and upgrade them/ transform them as much as he liked.

This wasn't an opportunity he could pa.s.s up on. He must get closer to Mao Lu.

"Since he's so gentle and likes to ignore the barrier between our social statuses then I should allow that. I'll act comfortable around him, I'll ignore our social statuses and I'll make sure we become the best of friends, no sworn brothers that are inseparable. With Mao Lu, I might really become peerless and unbeatable throughout the realms!"

Chàng Bo thought of this with glee as he smiled back at Mao Lu even brighter then he had before.

Mao Lu felt his heart annoyingly beat faster again but this time, he didn't know why, but he felt slightly uncomfortable with Chàng Bo's smile.

...

Chàng Bo helped Mao Lu wash the dishes. He wore arm length rubber gloves as he scrubbed the pots, pans, and bowls. Every dish he scrubbed he'd hand to Mao Lu and Mao Lu would rinse it, dry it, and put it away in its correct cupboard.

"Why do you do something so menial, why not use essence to clean the dishes for you, or use water essence to cleans these things. Isn't there a spell for this? There are so many faster and more advanced ways to do this then physically scrubbing these dishes. This is such a mortal method." Chàng Bo complained.

He'd never been made to wash dishes before and he found the task menial, repet.i.tive and boring. He couldn't help but complain to Mao Lu. He was also inwardly surprised that Mao Lu did such tasks as cleaning and cooking.

Any Gatekeeper had trillions of pract.i.tioners that would swear loyalty to them. Shouldn't he have his own servants or something else that could complete such tasks. Why didn't he?

Mao Lu simply smiled at Chàng Bo and didn't reply to his moaning.

"Even though he complains he's still diligently was.h.i.+ng the dishes." Mao Lu liked that Chàng Bo was the type to still do a job even if he didn't like it, and he was also pleased with Chàng Bo speaking his mind around him. Chàng Bo wasn't holding back like he had done before, and wasn't being too conscious of Mao Lu's status as a Gatekeeper. Mao Lu liked sincere people and he liked people that didn't change to meet society's standards or social norms.

When they finished was.h.i.+ng up, Mao Lu showed Chàng Bo how to heat food in the microwave.

"So if you're hungry just read the back of the package and it tells you how long you should set the timer. You then switch it on like this...and turn the k.n.o.b like this…If the food doesn't have a package, like food I've cooked that's gone cold, then setting the timer to two or three minutes is fine….Remember don't put any metals or plastics in the microwave, that can cause a fire."

Chàng Bo couldn't help but audibly say "ohhh" and "ahhh".

To think this devilish machine was so simple and easy to use. When he thought of what he did last time….he didn't even want to remember, just the thought made him flush in embarra.s.sment.

"But if you're hungry for something else then you can also order some things to eat." Mao Lu picked up some local food pamphlets and showed them to Chàng Bo. "You call the number on the pamphlets and tell them the food you want, and then a delivery person will come with the food, and when they come you can pay them."

Mao Lu took the house phone and dialed the number on the pamphlet.

"h.e.l.lo this is w.a.n.g's eatery, how can I help you today?"

"I'd like your special set of spicy wings and fried squid...yes for delivery...the address is… yep Thank you."

Fifteen minutes later Chàng Bo watched as a delivery boy on a motorbike handed Mao Lu a package. As Mao Lu paid the delivery boy, the boy looked at Chàng Bo curiously, "Bro, is your friend partic.i.p.ating in some sort of event? His outfit is awesome!"

Mao Lu chuckled, "Something like that."

In less than a minute Mao Lu was opening the box in the kitchen. Chàng Bo salvated as he stared at the set of spicy chicken wings and fried squid.

The smell was just so tantalising.

"That's how you can order food if you can't be bothered to cook. Though it's cheaper to just cook food for yourself. You can also order using some apps, but you don't have a mobile so it's easier to just call using the house phone. I'll give you some money to order with later so you don't go hungry if i'm preoccupied. Before I teach you about the currency…" Mao Lu's words trailed off as he looked up at Chàng Bo and realised the man was practically drooling over the squid and chicken.

"Didn't he just eat?!" Mao Lu was surprised.

"He's a Dao stage pract.i.tioner, his body requires a lot more energy than your body does, and he digests quickly. Not only that but he is perfectly at the Dao stage, all of his 10,000 meridians have been opened, his 1,000 acupoints are breathing, his blood is at the level of mercury and I can tell he has two twin souls and can easily live even if his body were destroyed. To be in such perfect condition despite that poison living in his veins for years, it can be seen that he is a talent that was nurtured with the best resources and spiritual medicines. He even rejects the essence of this realm because he finds it too impure and of low quality, not worth his pallette. How could your simple mortal level dish quench his hunger, all it achieved was wetting his ma.s.sive appet.i.te." Gates informed Mao Lu.

"Meridians, Acupoints, twin souls, and can exist without his body?????" Mao Lu had no idea about all the things Gates had just listed off, it sounded like something out of a fantasy novel.

"These things are mostly only relevant to other pract.i.tioners, not Gatekeepers, and twin souls, when you get to the Dao Stage I shall explain it to you."

Mao Lu felt his head buzz a bit with all this new information, but he understood Gates, and if he didn't need to understand it yet then it meant it wasn't relevant to him right now. So he shouldn't waste time thinking about it.

"If you're hungry just go ahead and eat. Don't think I'm stopping you." Mao Lu quickly told Chàng Bo. It took less than a second after he answered before Chàng Bo was picking up the spicy bbq chicken wings and swallowing them down with gusto. He didn't even pause to spit out the bones he just sucked them in whole.

It was a fascinating sight that was for sure.

"But if he still gets hungry and this type of food isn't enough, then what am I supposed to do?" Mao Lu asked Gates as he watched Chàng Bo move on to eating the squid.

It was funny how his face remained beautiful and his movements remained graceful, yet he ate like a beggar that hadn't seen food in months. Mao Lu couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene.

"Do you think all the guests came empty handed? Even though you seem not to have noticed, but when you're training and busy, I go out of my way to reject the trillions of visitors that try to see you. Many, in an effort to gain your favour, leave gifts at your doorstep and I have collected them and stored them for you. The same thing happened when you met your guests the first time. At the moment I have acc.u.mulated 5 million tier 3 treasures, 60 billion tier 2, 200 trillion tier 1, 300 billion C grade medicines, 4 trillion B grade, 60 trillion A grade medicines, 88 billion B grade spiritual plants and 40 trillion A grade spiritual plants. And that isn't counting the resources you inherited from w.a.n.g Cao.

I only accepted the C grade and B grade items because they were somewhat rare, but of course you only deserve tier 1 and A grade. As a Gatekeeper receiving such gifts are commonplace. Ahhh that reminds me that I have yet to show you the treasury, I will show you that later, but my point is you have more than enough plants and medicines to feed him with. One A grade plant will be enough to keep him satisfied for a few months."

Gates said all of this very casually but Mao Lu's eyes were bulging.

He'd received that many gifts. Trillions????? And he hadn't even noticed. No actually he had noticed Gates taking things from visiting pract.i.tioners, and he had noticed Gates sending many Guests away but he'd only noticed on a subconscious level and never paid attention to it all. To think he was getting so many items, and they all sounded like super high level resources. And Gates was so chill about it, like this was normal and to be expected. Mao Lu still found it hard to remember that he was Gatekeeper and someone of such great importance.

"Give me two seconds, I will get you a spiritual plant." Gates said.

Mao Lu noticed the miniature keychain version of Gates, that was connected to his belt, vanish momentarily. When it reappeared its pages flipped open and a orange plant, that looked like a hybrid of an onion and a grapefruit, popped out and into Mao Lu's hands.

Chàng Bo, who was mid devouring the last squid, paused when he saw the plant.

"Is that a heavenly Po plant, said to taste like the nectar of the heavens?" he said quickly, he swallowed as he looked at it.

Mao Lu didn't really know whether it was or not and just answered, "Yep probably, it's for you since you seem really hungry."

"For me!" Chàng Bo exclaimed his voice going high and squeaky.

Mao Lu nodded.

"Thank you so much!!!" He shouted as he s.n.a.t.c.hed the plant, as if he thought Mao Lu was going to change his mind any second, and bit into it.

An o.r.g.a.s.ming, moaning sound of bliss erupted from Chàng Bo the moment it entered his mouth. He looked so happy.

Chàng Bo was freaking out. "I can't believe he gave me the heavenly Po plant. This is crazy, they're so rare that they only grow in the Deity realms, and one of these costs 60 trillion Essence stones. Even my Father would hesitate before giving this away to someone. This should be locked up in a treasure vault, just eating this alone can help me progress to the Ascendance stage in half the time I would have normally."

"I know Gatekeepers are crazy rich but to just give this away. Whoa. Even the Gatekeeper of one of the most c.r.a.ppiest mortal realms is still easily richer than the richest pract.i.tioners."

Chàng Bo felt a little jealous of such wealth, but then felt even more encouraged to deepen the bond between himself and Mao Lu. "When we're best friends, what belongs to him will easily be mine."

Mao Lu was none the wiser towards Chàng Bo's vindictive and plotting thoughts. All his mind was filled with was, "How is he so cute when he eats!!! That precious smile and those filled up cheeks, he's like a little hamster storing it in his mouth. Bless."

Just as Mao Lu thought all of this he mentally slapped himself for the third time that day.

"What is happening to me?!!!!!!!" He mentally screamed.

Gates who was listening in on Mao Lu's thoughts, flippantly commented, "I've been wondering what the h.e.l.l is wrong with you for a while now."

….

As evening popped around, Mao Lu went into his quarters in the west building to train. Since he didn't know how long his daily training might take him, before he went he gave Chàng Bo some more spiritual plants and some money in case he grew bored and wanted to go and explore.

After teaching Chàng Bo about the chinese currency, renminbi/yuan, Mao Lu sat cross legged on his bed.

"Before we begin todays session, I thought I should inform you that during the week you were training, I informed the Gatekeepers a.s.sociation about the Key user. They expect you to come to the a.s.sociation for a meeting within the next two weeks. So I suggest that after this training session we should head straight there." Gates advised Mao Lu

"I see. Then we will head straight there when we finish this training session."

After saying that Mao Lu entered the s.p.a.ce within his mind. He saw the seed of the information he'd absorbed from the realm, last time it had sprouted a silvery stardusted leaf, now it had four more leaves.

Whilst Mao Lu concentrated on training his Sense of the Realm, he didn't notice his phone buzz on his bedside table.

Wechat app Notifications:

You've been added to a group chat with FEI BING BING, ZHAO DETONG, TANAKA KATO, BEI LAO, and FANG KAI named HOUSEWARMING PARTY.

Message from FEI BING BING:

"Hey Lu, I'm sorry for being a major b.i.t.c.h the last time we saw each other. I've had time to cool my head, I'm such an idiot. I'm sorry. Forgive me.

Also all of us know you've moved house so we've made group chat for your housewarming party. I'm sure you're all set up by now and even if you're not, we'll come over to help out. Perhaps sometime around next week. I'm not sure if you've deleted wechat or not since you haven't responded to anyone lately, so even if you don't see this message we're still gonna surprise visit you okay. Lol. You've been forewarned."