Davis had to change the topic a lot of times because he had plenty of things he wanted to know about, besides, he felt that he should stray away from the previous topic since it felt like gunpowder.

"Oh them, they've gone to partic.i.p.ate in the Youngling Expert Compet.i.tion," Claire replied.

"Youngling what?" Davis felt confused but then he remembered, "Wait! I've heard about this somewhere before..."

"Yes, you would've. It's held once every ten years, and anyone whose age ranges from 9 to 12 can partic.i.p.ate in that compet.i.tion," Logan replied in a casual tone.

"Right!" Davis remembered as he was too busy to care about that lousy compet.i.tion but at that time he was only 7 or 8 years old, so of course, he couldn't partic.i.p.ate in that compet.i.tion.

"So to which place did they go?" He asked.

Logan shrugged, "Here, the capital..."

"Here? Where?" Davis remembered that he had already mapped out the north and some parts of the east and west of the capital.

He didn't find any of them though.

If so, "They're south?"

Claire nodded, "Almost near the southern gates..."

"I see..." Davis held his chin and thought of seeing them, especially that little brother of his whom he had never interacted with before.

"When does the compet.i.tion end?" Davis asked for more information.

"Both the semifinals and the finals are held a day later, but if you're trying to go meet them, then forget it. Likely, they have already heard rumors of you returning back, so they are probably on their way back as we speak." Logan said as he shook his head.

Davis blinked but he then realized.

This father of his had shouted about his return to the surroundings of the Royal Castle, so it wasn't surprising that rumors about his return had already started to spread.

But even so, at their cultivation, it might take them half a day to return from the southern gates.

The distance between the Royal Castle and the southern gates were as such, but if it was the distance between the Royal Castle and the northern gates, then it might take only less than an hour for them to return.

Yes, the Royal Castle was near to the northern gates but far from the southern gates.

"Alright then... I'll wait for them to return." Davis nodded as he thought about another topic to discuss.

Just as he found one, Logan interrupted.

"Don't you feel like narrating your experience to us of what happened on the other side?"

"Hmm... I thought about gathering all our family members before talking about it, so don't be hasty."

Logan nodded but wanted to ask something but what Davis said next cleared his confusion, replacing his face with a complicated expression.

"And what I meant before by family members is that it only includes us three, Clara, Evelynn, Diana, and Edward."

Davis then shook his head, "As for whether I accept the others as my family members or not, it all depends on how they are..."

"I understand..." Logan replied while Claire raised a brow, but she didn't give an input in this matter either, deciding to stay neutral.

Silence reigned after they all delved into their own thoughts.

Davis noticed Claire's reaction and half-heartedly made a mental note to never set his sights on another woman while being with Evelynn.

From what he had seen, having more than one woman seemed like a pain.

While the idea of marrying multiple women had crossed his mind, even in his previous life, he always felt that it wasn't feasible as there was a lot of complicated emotions to process.

'One is better...' Davis sighed as he pitied his father but he instantly doubted himself, 'Probably, right?'

Shaking his head, he said and left, "Then I'll take my leave..."

======

Randomly roaming around the Royal Castle, Davis took in the sights of the interior walls and decorations.

Most of the castle had been improved from the last time he had seen.

Now that he thought about it, wasn't the Throne Hall the most improved, with new chandeliers, pillars, and even the throne.

But he then took note of the formations placed, seeing that they were improved as well from the previous Earth Grade Formations just as Claire said.

They were all powered by the spirit stones gifted by s.h.i.+rley.

Well, he knew these formations existed and also thought of powering them up through the spirit stones he brought.

Most of them were all Low-Level and Mid-Level Sky Grade Formations, constructed by the ancient people but not used since spirit stones dried out, so he figured that he didn't need to buy the Sky Grade Formations at Xuan City.

Instead, what he thought of was buying King Grade Formations for the Royal Castle, but seeing as they were expensive and rare in the Tripart.i.te Alliance, he seemingly had not enough resources to buy in multiple quant.i.ty at that time he was acting as an Alchemist.

Then again, if he sold all the magical beast corpses he obtained in the Tripart.i.te Alliance Territory, then he might've been able to buy those King Grade Formations in multiple quant.i.ties but since he was dragged away by Isabella in a hurry, he couldn't do these things.

Inwardly berating her for a while, he made a mental note to buy those the next time he visited.

In fact, he had a lot to buy as a souvenir but due to his longing for Evelynn, he had pushed aside other matters to return.

'Or maybe if I hadn't met Isabella, I would've gone through cities, buying all the things I needed before returning...' He once again discerned that it was entirely Isabella's fault that made him unable to buy a lot of things that he could use to entertain and protect his family.

But then, if he didn't follow Isabella, would he have been really been able to return this soon?

Shaking his head while realizing that there's no use in thinking about this matter, he found himself arriving at the Royal Training Grounds, exclusive to the descendants of the emperor.

He surveyed the scene and saw those step-brothers and step-sisters, training like they've been giving it their all.

Their figures entrenched in sweat as they swung their weapons at the training equipment.

Not feeling like meeting them, Davis silently left in another direction and entered the inner courtyard as a paradise of flowers greeted him, a garden.

Taking in the fragrance, he tried to move forward when he noticed another one of his step-sister, contemplating in tranquility.

He took a step back and left again, thinking some of the places had become off-limits to him right now.

'Nah, I just don't want to meet then right now...' Davis smilingly shook his head.

He moved to a few more places and it was all occupied by his new family members for some reason.

What can he do? Feeling irritated, he returned outside his room and stood in front of the door.

Inside, he could feel Evelynn's presence, likely cultivating as he could feel her energy undulations.

He blinked and snapped his fingers, "You three, get down..."