Chapter 279: Black Dragon Leads the Harem

Damian immediately raised both hands. "Okay, okay. Enough with those faces."

Unfortunately, the four women continued staring at him with exactly the same expressions.

Damian’s eyebrow twitched.

"Yeah... changing the topic sounds like a very good fucking idea."

He quickly cleared his throat. "Anyway, since we’re leaving the Heavenly Sword Sect and pretending that I’m stepping away from cultivation, we obviously need to hide our identities."

Helena crossed her arms. "Obviously."

Damian nodded seriously. "Exactly."

He raised one finger. "So from now on, we’ll use codenames."

Linsey blinked. "Codenames?"

Damian proudly pointed toward himself. "Call me Black Dragon."

He raised his chin slightly. "Same name I used back when we went to destroy that underworld group."

Linsey immediately remembered.

Damian pointed toward her next. "And you’ll be Wind Dragon, just like before."

Linsey’s eyes brightened. "Oh?"

She seemed surprisingly pleased. "Alright, then. I like it."

Damian shifted his finger toward Helena. "And you’re Earth Dragon."

Helena thought about it briefly before giving a small nod. "Fine. It’s acceptable."

Damian turned toward Cynthia. "You’re Poison Dragon."

Cynthia blinked once before her gentle smile became slightly more amused. "That sounds rather dangerous."

She tilted her head. "I like it very much."

Damian somehow felt like the name suited her a little too well.

He immediately decided not to think about it and turned toward Evelyn. "And you’re Frost Dragon."

Evelyn quietly repeated the name. "Frost Dragon..."

She considered it for several seconds before giving a short nod. "Fine."

Damian clapped his hands together. "Good!"

He looked across the four women proudly. "Now that our extremely professional secret organization has officially been created..."

Helena immediately interrupted him. "Don’t call it that."

Damian completely pretended not to hear her. He reached into his storage ring and pulled out several masks.

Each mask looked simple at first glance, but the workmanship was extremely refined.

Faint formations had been carved along the inner surface, designed to obscure the wearer’s facial features, slightly distort their voice, and suppress recognizable traces of their aura.

Damian placed the masks in front of them. "I also prepared these."

Linsey picked hers up and turned it over curiously. "Oh?"

She inspected the formations. "You actually came prepared."

Damian immediately placed one hand proudly over his chest. "I’m always prepared."

Helena snorted. "You’re always troublesome."

Damian ignored that blatant slander.

Cynthia carefully examined her own mask. "The formation quality is quite good."

Evelyn simply took hers and stored it away without wasting any words.

Damian nodded in satisfaction. "Perfect."

He looked around the courtyard. "Since everything’s settled, it’s finally time to leave."

Damian had already begun turning toward the gate when something suddenly occurred to him. "Right."

He glanced back at the four women. "Before we go, do any of you want to leave a message for your friends here?"

The courtyard became strangely quiet.

Several seconds passed.

Linsey blinked before pointing toward herself. "Friends?"

Damian’s expression stiffened slightly.

Helena answered far more bluntly. "We don’t have any."

Cynthia’s gentle expression remained unchanged. "Not anyone important enough that we need to inform them personally."

Evelyn remained quiet, which was already enough of an answer.

Damian stared at the four women.

For some reason, their responses felt both slightly fucking sad and completely fitting at the same time.

Considering their personalities and histories, none of them had exactly been social butterflies inside the sect.

Damian eventually gave a small nod. "...Alright, then."

His usual casual expression gradually returned as he turned toward the courtyard gate.

He adjusted his storage ring and glanced back at the four women one final time. "Let’s go."

---

All five of them had already left the Heavenly Sword Sect.

Once they were far enough from the sect’s territory, Damian and the four women stopped near a quiet stretch of road and immediately put on their masks.

Their appearances changed subtly beneath the formations.

Their facial features became harder to recognize, their voices shifted slightly, and even their auras grew faint and difficult to identify.

For a while, none of them spoke.

Eventually, Damian glanced back at the four women. "Right. Do any of you know anything about the Valeria Family?"

Linsey shook her head.

Helena did the same.

Evelyn remained silent before giving a small shake of her head as well.

Cynthia, however, did not.

Damian immediately noticed and shifted his gaze toward her. "Oh?"

Cynthia paused briefly before giving a small nod. "I know a little."

Damian’s interest immediately grew. "Go on."

Cynthia walked beside him, speaking in her usual gentle voice. "The Valeria Family is an old sword cultivation family. They’re especially famous for Metal Qi and extremely sharp, aggressive sword techniques."

Damian listened carefully.

Cynthia continued, "They also used to possess a very famous genius known throughout the younger generation as the Valeria Princess."

Damian raised an eyebrow. "Valeria Princess?"

Cynthia nodded. "Cassandra Valeria."

The moment that name was spoken, Damian’s expression became noticeably more interested.

Of course, he knew exactly who she was.

Cynthia continued, unaware of his thoughts. "From what I heard, Cassandra possessed a Royal Grade Metal Sword Spiritual Root and a Royal Grade [Gifted Sword Physique]."

Linsey let out a low whistle. "Royal Grade for both?"

Cynthia nodded. "Many people once believed she would eventually become one of the strongest sword cultivators of her generation."

Helena crossed her arms. "Once believed?"

Cynthia’s expression became slightly more serious. "Yes."

Her voice remained soft. "Later, rumors suddenly spread that Cassandra Valeria had secretly practiced demonic cultivation, stolen forbidden sword arts from her family, and betrayed the Valeria Clan."

Evelyn’s gaze sharpened beneath her mask. "Rumors."

Cynthia glanced toward her before nodding calmly. "Exactly."

She continued, "Whether those accusations were actually true or not, no one outside the major factions really knew."

Damian’s expression gradually became colder.

He knew better than anyone that Cassandra’s story was nowhere near that fucking simple.

Cynthia continued walking. "After that incident, the Valeria Family’s reputation suffered considerably."

She lightly adjusted her sleeve. "They didn’t collapse, but their influence weakened, and several factions that had previously been close to them began distancing themselves."

Damian nodded thoughtfully.

Cynthia paused briefly. "Currently, however, the Valeria Family is closely allied with the Valehart Family."

Damian turned toward her. "Valehart?"

Cynthia nodded. "They’re another righteous sword family, famous for their Radiant Sword Qi."

Her usual gentle smile remained, although something colder appeared behind it.

"They publicly supported the Valeria Family during Cassandra’s scandal and defended their reputation when many other factions began abandoning them."

Linsey tilted her head. "Sounds surprisingly honorable."

Cynthia’s smile became faintly mocking. "That’s what most people believe."

Damian chuckled beneath his mask. "Honorable, huh?"

Cynthia’s eyes immediately shifted toward him.

She stared at Damian for several seconds.

A moment later, realization slowly appeared in her expression. "Don’t tell me..."

Damian’s grin widened beneath his mask.

Linsey immediately noticed.

Her eyes lit up. "Oh?"

Helena frowned. "Damian."

She gave him a suspicious look. "What exactly are you planning?"

Beside her, Evelyn quietly moved one hand closer to her bow. "Say it."

Damian looked toward the distant road stretching ahead of them.

His voice carried obvious amusement. "It seems you already figured out our next destination."

Cynthia’s gentle expression gradually sharpened. "The Valeria Family."

Damian chuckled softly. "And depending on what we find there..."

His gaze became colder. "Maybe the Valehart Family too."